# 2025 MERCEDES-BENZ GLE 350 4MATIC — SEAT BELTS
> NHTSA complaint `2257825` · 2026-10-17 · Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC
## Severity
- **Deaths:** 0
- **Injured:** 0
- **Fire:** Yes
- **Crash:** No
- **Police report:** No
- **Medical attention:** No
- **Vehicle towed:** No
## Vehicle
- **Make:** MERCEDES-BENZ
- **Model:** GLE 350 4MATIC
- **Year:** 2025
- **Manufacturer:** Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC
- **Component:** SEAT BELTS
## Narrative
On XXX, at about 3:30 PM, my wife was driving our 2025 Mercedes-Benz GLE 350 (under 10,000 miles) home with our [XXX] son in the front passenger seat. Smoke began coming from the seat belt area and from under the front passenger seat, and the vehicle caught fire while being driven. The fire started under the passenger seat where my son was sitting; he got out in time and was not injured, but he could have been seriously burned. We called [XXX] and the fire department extinguished the fire. The vehicle is a total loss. Mercedes-Benz USA opened case #XXX; after almost two months the case remains 'under review' with no findings, and the assigned case manager has not returned calls. We also continue to be billed about $1,149/month on the lease for a vehicle that burned and cannot be driven. I am reporting this as a serious safety defect: a fire originating under the front passenger seat / seat belt area of a nearly new vehicle while in normal operation. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
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*Source: [NHTSA ODI](https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/downloads/) · MORVS · CC0 1.0*