fantasy521

So my 2016 W205 C300 has been out service for

various reasons for over 40 days.

Which is enough to qualify for a "lemon" in CA.

My lawyer wrote a letter last month and also got a confirmation from them

they got the case on 04-19-2017. So my lawyer said they HAVE to replay back

05-19-2017 but as of 05-17-2017 I haven't heard from them.

I know MB will respond in matters of days if they are willing to do the right

thing. But is MB's unresponsiveness means they won't buy the car back?

I have had so many issues... I simply don't want the car.

My family (my dad) has bought MB for decades including the 2016 S550 and I've

always liked them growing up with them. My first car W163 ML500 is still in my

garage. I have been pretty loyal to the company but disappointing

Gungaslow

Have the lawyers send them another letter of intent..tell them they will have to pay your expenses for not having a usable car the longer they delay..

removedCFGaccount

Tell em "stronger letter to follow....".

Mike5215

The fact that your lawyer sent a demand letter and MB acknowledged receiving it doesn't mean MB isn't going to defend the case rather than settle.

The process of the pre suit demand and an attempt to settle without litigation normally but not always results in a pre suit settlement. Sometimes, your attorney is forced to actually try the case in civil court, and a jury (or judge) will determine if MB owes you anything and if so, what.

Most lemon law attorneys operate like a high volume mill, filing and settling cases pre suit in a continuous stream, collecting a few grand in fees and moving on. Since actually litigating cases is time consuming, expensive and risky, a lot of these guys will simply drop a case rather than try it. Occasionally the big ones will try a case thru to verdict just to send a message to the manufacturers that they're not afraid to try cases.

Contact your lawyer and ask if the demand letter he sent was a time limit demand or not. A time limit demand gives MB a fixed number of days to settle or risk a lawsuit. Without a time limit a demand letter is pretty useless.

fantasy521

My lawyer told me there is a 30 day time limit and that time limit is the 19th. He said he is WILLING to take this to a court since it exceed it the lemon law guideline. However, he told me that it can be very much likely a cash and keep settlement.

Mike5215

Looks like they still have a couple of days to meet the time limit. Is this an attorney who specializes in lemon law or does he have a general practice?

fantasy521

The lawyer is a guy specializing on lemon.
They got until Monday. However I have a feeling of
getting the lemon denied. Have to do it in long hard way.

removedCFGaccount

Cali likely has a CPA, too.

Mike5215

If the car meets the definition...three or more unsuccessful repair attempts for a single issue, or 30 or more total shop days (not including days when the shop is closed) for any combination of issues...that's usually sufficient to trigger the law.

Remedy is a buy back less a mileage offset or a replacement vehicle of equal or lesser value. Settlement usually takes 90 days from receipt of the demand if the claim isn't especially complex.

Cases taken to trial are rare. There have been some astonishingly high verdicts in lemon law cases, but also plenty of defense verdicts where the guy got nothing. Both possibilities keep everyone motivated to settle. Taking a case to trial can take many months or even years.

The fact MB didn't respond as quickly as you hoped shouldn't be considered an indication they plan on fighting it. They have a small unit of adjusters dedicated to working lemon claims and things move slowly but they do move.

fantasy521

Thanks.

But the 90 days is usually counting the 60ish days for processing after MB decides to purchase back the car. I still haven't gotten the buyback letter yet despite being almost the due date for a reply.

Mike5215

Figure 90 days from the time the MFR agrees to the buy back to get the thing wrapped up.

fantasy521

Hey Mike.

Still haven't received anything from MB.

It passed the deadline on the pre-litigation.

My lawyer will start the process on Monday....

Does MB just not respond if they reject the buyback offer?

Mike5215

Not necessarily. It's a bureaucracy. Stuff gets missed. See what your lawyer says when he follows up with them Monday.

swagger_jacker

Im currently going through a lemon law process with my '15 and its been a little over a year. they drag their feet cuz they are hoping you will just go away. good luck

Mike5215

Up until very recently MB, Audi, BMW, VW, Honda, Subaru and Toyota all had thinly staffed buy back departments because cases were rare. All the money in lemon law litigation was concentrated on the Big 3, especially Chrysler. They have huge buy back departments.

But recently, MB has had an uncharacteristic bump with the W205 and my understanding is the new E is giving them headaches too. That said, no buy back should take a year, and it may well be your lawyer who's dragging his feet.

fabbrisd1

Now this is funny.... a version of Forum Fake News....... "But recently, MB has had an uncharacteristic bump with the W205 and my understanding is the new E is giving them headaches too."

Like YES - more MB units are being sold in the US - and the C-Class and E-Class are two models with strongest unit volume - so let's twist that inside-out and report as Forum Fake News !

Mike5215

The C has always had the strongest sales volume, back to the first model. The fact is Mercedes until recently has not been a player in lemon law. My best friend is a lemon lawyer, and I ran his website for several years. I also managed his pay per click keyword advertising on Google. I can tell you which search terms have high click rates and which are duds. We never bought "Mercedes lemon" or "BMW lemon" or "Subaru lemon" because the traffic was non existent. In Mercedes case they built reliable cars and when they had issues the dealers took care of the customers. Buy back on a Benz was rare.

I also saw the daily reports from the website submission requests that people completed for free case reviews. Almost entirely GM, Ford and Chrysler. Those guys made my buddy rich. There was huge volume being done between lemon lawyers and those three companies, and the companies created huge buy back divisions to deal with it. The Asian brands and the German brands did not.

The W205 had a very rough first year. It doesn't get any more serious than an engine tear down and rebuild. Seats that oozed waxy residue, multiple recalls, ill fitting door seals, squeaky roofs, etc.

Pop on over to the new E board and you'll see buy back stories for electronics that crash, unexplained vibrations, etc.

jatt143

MBUSA just offered to repurchase mine. I'm going through buyback audit process with 3rd party. So far from start till now, it's been 35-40 days.

I have 2015 c300

Terminator1

Could be that MB is overwhelmed with lemons and they cannot process so much requests A dealer kept me in dark for 7 months intentionally by giving me wrong information. *******s.

swagger_jacker

Jatt, if you dont mind me asking, what was the reason for buy back?

jatt143

oil pan leaked 3x times
piston cracked
transmission pump leaking 2x times
multiple times had to take it in for engine check light and they found minor issues every time.

So car spent over 50+ days at the dealer within 4-5 months. Dealer himself told me it's a lemon call mbusa and get the process started.

now after 45+ days yesterday, i was offered buyback price from 3rd party i didn't accept it yet because I had few questions but mbusa is deducting $8k for 21k miles usage. rest is coming back to me minus the tax

Mike5215

I've seen more MB buy backs on this forum than I saw in the five years I was working in Lemon Law. It does seem like MB is reasonably responsive and fair though.

dieseldoc

The deduction is pretty standard based on the mileage of the car.

jatt143

I'm happy with the outcome but i thought i would get sales tax back as well? but i guess not

here is the break down that 3rd party came up with and send it to MBUSA and MBUSA agreed to pay me the amount.

I paid 49,800 for the car out the door with 10k down. car had every option that you can add.