I was changing a flat yesterday, and did everything as the manual says (not my first time changing a tire, but my first time using the jack kit that came with the car). I had the car jacked up and the wheel off, but before I could get the spare on, the jack point completely broke off the car, car when to the ground, and the jack went up through the side faring and dented my door.

WTF? Has anyone ever heard of this happening before?

I was in a parking lot, on level ground.

I'm sure I'm screwed as far as warranty is concerned, but these things seem a bit flimsy as it is.

Don't understand why you would be screwed on warranty. You need to be clear that you used the jack consistent with owners manual because that will be where you will get challenged. Assuming that you used the jack correctly Mercedes needs to address this pronto as it is an absolute safety issue for more that just you.

not sure maybe its just me but i am kind of confuse. please correct me so the jack points on the car itself broke off? I thought those were metal jack points along with the under body of the car rails. if that is not what broke off, is it the plastic jack point on the factory jack that broke off? cause when i change a flat about a month ago it was also the first time changing a tire on the benz. when i look at the factory jack i was like WTF that is some cheap ****. lucky for me someone had a floor jack in the trunk that i borrowed to jack the car up. on my mz3 the stock factory jack is ten times better that benz. please keep us updated on what happen next.

The jack point where the little white plastic dohiggy on the jack fits into is plastic. And it straight broke off the car.

I contacted MBUSA and they told me that it might be under warranty, but there are certain exclusions, and that I would need to go to the dealership to have the service manager determine if it is under warranty. Basically said that service manager's word will be taken as fact, so I'm hoping our service manager will be on my side! I'll update after I take it in.

I thought they were hard rubber, with a rectangular cavity where the plastic piece from the OEM jack fits in. Either way, I don't see how either part could "break off"... Tho only way I could imagine something like that happening, you'd have to have some sort of horizontal shearing force that might cause some damage to either.

If the car had been jacked up properly, then the forces that are in play are vertical -i.e. the weight of the car loading down on the jack... A wild guess is that in this case, the car rolled in one direction or another at which point, the jack swung up and out from underneath it and dented the door!

Jksooner,

You didn't mention this but which wheel was it you were changing? And more importantly, which wheel did you have choked off?

I highly doubt this will be covered under the Mercedes warranty but your automobile insurance policy should take care of it... Less your deductible!

The hard rubber piece with the cavity is what broke off:




The tire I was changing was the driver's front... I had the passenger rear chocked. Here's the confusing part: The manual says to use the chocks, if so equipped, and then says to chock the front and back of the tire. My car is only "so equipped" with one chock, not 2. Since I was jacking the front of the vehicle, I chocked the rear of the opposite rear tire, as per the instructions... assuming that if I was jacking the front, movement would more likely be backwards than forwards. Anywho... My kit doesn't even have a space for a second chock, so not sure how I could have chocked the front of the tire anyway.

But isn't it odd that the manual would show you how to chock, but some cars are not equipped with the chocks??? I dunno... first time I have ever used the jack on this car, and I've never had another vehicle that came with a wheel chock. Nice to have, but not sure it really helped me. I dunno. Just glad it didn't do more damaged (i.e. brake caliper, rotor, etc.).

And I don't want to claim it on my insurance because they like to bump my premiums for ANY claim. Suck.