Mercedes-Benz USA told federal regulators on October 2, 2026 that the front brake hoses on certain S-Class sedans may rupture and leak brake fluid, and the filing puts 30,064 cars in the recall. The list runs across two badges, Mercedes-Benz and Mercedes-Maybach, and across four model years, 2022 through 2025. Owner letters are scheduled for the end of November.
The company’s stated consequence is narrow and mechanical: a brake fluid leak can extend the distance needed to stop the vehicle, and a vehicle that needs more room to stop is a vehicle more likely to hit something. The campaign, numbered 26V638, is not a fresh problem so much as a widening of one that Mercedes-Benz already recalled in 2025.
A ruptured hose and a longer stop
In NHTSA’s campaign record, MBUSA describes the defect in a single sentence: the front brake hoses may rupture and leak brake fluid. The remedy is equally plain. Dealers will replace the front brake hoses, at no cost to owners, and owner notification letters go out November 27, 2026. Owners who want to ask questions can call MBUSA customer service at 1-800-367-6372.
The record is silent on cause, production dates and incident counts, because the fields NHTSA publishes in its open data are limited to the summary, consequence and remedy text. The fuller Part 573 report for this campaign was not among the documents read for this article.
Twenty-one model lines, from AMG S 63 E to Maybach S 680
NHTSA lists 21 vehicle records under the campaign. On the Mercedes-Benz side they are the S 500 4MATIC and S 580 4MATIC for 2022 through 2025, the S 580 E 4MATIC plug-in hybrid for 2023 through 2025, and the AMG S 63 E 4MATIC+ for 2024 and 2025. The Mercedes-Maybach side adds the S 580 4MATIC and the S 680 4MATIC, each for 2022 through 2025. The recall summary leads with the 2022 to 2025 S 500 4MATIC and refers to the remaining models in a table.
The 30,064 figure is a potential-affected count for the whole campaign; the open data does not split it by model or badge.
The 2025 recall this one expands
The remedy text states that the new campaign “expands previous NHTSA recall number 25V116.” That earlier recall, which NHTSA’s database shows was received on February 24, 2025, covered about 20,339 S-Class and Maybach sedans from the 2021 through 2023 model years. Its Part 573 filing, submitted by Mercedes-Benz USA, said the front-axle hoses may leak brake fluid over time in hot and humid environments, because climatic factors and the resulting material behavior mean the hoses may not meet durability specifications.
The earlier filing also describes what a driver would notice: no warning before the failure, then possibly a red brake fluid message afterward. A leak affects one of the two brake circuits and reduces braking performance. The hoses in that campaign were replaced with a revised part, A2234203101, in place of A2234201800. The 2025 population was built between June 20, 2020 and March 23, 2022, a window that excludes every model year in the new campaign except 2022 builds.
Trade coverage of the first recall, such as a March 2025 write-up citing The Brake Report, tied the rupture risk to material degradation in hot, humid conditions. Whether the 2026 expansion rests on the same cause is not stated in the NHTSA fields reviewed, and the 2025 filing’s own chronology records durability testing that could not reproduce damage at standard pressure.
The chronology shows how slowly the first recall came together. Mercedes-Benz had individual reports of a front brake hose issue by the end of 2023 and identified two U.S. warranty reports in February 2024. Endurance testing in August 2024 found the hoses could handle up to ten times normal driving stresses, and added climatic pre-aging in the autumn of 2024 still did not reproduce damage at standard vehicle pressure. The company filed anyway, as a precaution.
Dealer work and the November 27 letters
For owners of a 2022 to 2025 S-Class, the practical step is a check of the vehicle identification number. The remedy text says VINs involved in the recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on October 9, 2026, a week after the report date. Replacement is the only remedy listed, with no interim instruction on driving or fluid checks in the open record.
The overlap between the two campaigns is where the numbers get slippery. The 2025 recall counted 20,339 vehicles and the 2026 expansion counts 30,064, but NHTSA’s data gives no count of the cars that sit in both, so the two figures cannot be added together to describe how many S-Class sedans have been called back for the hoses. The 2026 record is also the first to name 2024 and 2025 model-year cars, including the AMG S 63 E, and it sits on NHTSA’s list of recent filings alongside campaigns from other manufacturers received the same week.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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