busted benz

I bought a 2011 E350 Bluetec with 20k miles on it two months ago. When I purchased the vehicle I was told it was up to date on the services and was good to go until it hit 30k miles. 2 car payments and 4k miles go by and the engine seized. When the dealer called with the bad news they also told me that the car only got its 10k mile oil change. So 14k miles into the oil change and the oil is sludge and the engine blows? What on earth am I going to do? Mercedes wants 25k just for the new engine! I did purchase an aftermarket warranty (PWI) and apparently they are a scam as far as paying claims is concerned. I highly doubt they will cover this due to the sludge the oil turned into. Is this my fault? I never had a single dash light come on or anything. Engine seized 5 minutes into a drive to class. Please give me some insight on this. I'm very knowledgeable with cars but this is too much for me to bear. I'm looking at the worst case scenarios and I literally might have to declare bankruptcy. I can't pay the other 82 payments on a ruined car. With the car being so nice and new to me, I never even considered the car was late on the oil change.

gcssat

I have a 2012 E350 Bluetec with 40k. So, a couple of questions. Where did you get your car that they told you it was up to date on services? Did you get it a MB dealer? When you put in diesel, where do you pump? Do you pump a chevron, exxon, shell, a top tier fuel station or just whatever is the cheapest? I ask b/c our cars do NOT like anything with anything more than 5% biodiesel. There is something that I've read of high concentrations of biodiesel causing engine oil sludge. Perhaps this is what's happened. During your time with the car, did the car notify you of low oil pressure or oil? Did you have the car inspected before you bought it? Lastly, in your time with the vehicle, did you ever check the oil level? Let us know so we can help you.

Greg

homeofstone

When purchasing a used car never, never believe the service records unless it is on record with the brands dealer service database. When I purchase a used car the first thing I have done is an oil/filter change, air filter and any other services that could be critical. If you have nothing in writing documenting that the proper services were performed then I think you are left holding a car with a bad engine.

busted benz

okay, so when I purchased the vehicle it had normal oil level. I had been buying fuel from sheetz (4 full fill ups) since it was cheaper than gasoline. Something I always did with my diesel truck. I would of used shell gas but the nozzle was too big. I bought the car from a non MB dealer, which sold me the aftermarket warranty. I never got a single dash light, just a loss of power immediately followed by the car shutting off. I put exactly 4k miles on it before it failed. It died 5 minutes into a drive on a very cold day. I had intended to service the car fully at 25k miles. Just in case anything was not right and because a window switch was broken. I planned for this car to last for hundreds of thousands of miles since its an MB diesel.

busted benz

On another note, since there is a good chance ill be footing the bill for a new engine. Is there other engines that I can swap in? 6.3? How complicated would a transformation be to a v6 gas version? Is this issue common among this type of diesel engine? I'm looking at a rebuild from a shop on the other side of the country or buying a used engine from a scrap yard for $8,500.

ItalianJoe1

Insurance? It's still a big loss, you could file a claim and pay the deductible and get it replaced at MB.

Oil sludging killing engines is actually a common issue on these new V6 turbo-diesel benzes, sucks but it does happen.

IMO, the factory oil change interval is too long, they need to be suggesting it every 6-7K tops, sooner if more idle/poor conditions are encountered.

busted benz

what do you mean by insurance Italian Joe?

ItalianJoe1

You have car insurance right? You could open a mechanical claim with them, if the damage was severe enough, like in this case, it could possibly be covered depending on how your policy is worded.

Or push it into a canal and see what happens. Might be harder to explain though.

busted benz

I doubt there is a mechanical claim option. I will explore that option for sure though. The cost of repair easily totals the benz.

homeofstone

You can also appeal to MB for factory warranty claim.

JALLEN4

Unless there is more you are not telling us, you are a long way from paying for the engine just yet. The first step would be to call Mercedes Benz N/A and ask for them to review your situation for assistance. Regardless of exactly when the last oil change was done, 24,000 miles is very low mileage for a diesel to seize. If there actually was a dealer service at 10,000 miles, there is no way that 14,000 miles was the reason for failure without contributing factors.





Have you contacted the selling dealer and asked about assistance with the extended warranty? The dealer has a responsibility legally if he sold the warranty and also has a responsibility if he represented the vehicles service to be up to date. If all else fails, I would contact an attorney in your area that specializes in automotive law.

jahquan3

^This

pamiboy

Exactly.... A reasonably new car seizing it's engine inexplicably is not common. May be an attorney will put good pressure on the selling dealer to divulge more information. May be they could assist you in replacing the engine / cover the costs significantly. An attorney can help with the aftermarket warranty as well. BTW who is the selling dealer?
There is no reason whatsoever you should be liable to pay the bill in its entirety. When did the factory warranty expire? Call MBUSA and explain your situation. Be nice to them. May be they can help you in good faith. Keep us informed. Good luck.

Quadcammer

good grief...no car is worth a 7 year loan.

Bankruptcy?

I think you need to pray MB fixes this, or your warranty comes through, or you can get the seller on the hook.

Then sell the car and buy the cheapest most reliable car you can find.

Arrie

First of all, the oil does not turn to sludge just because it is used 4000 miles longer than the 10000 miles normal change interval.


In the post you say "I would of used shell gas but the nozzle was too big". What do you mean by that? Did you actually try to fill it up with gas instead of diesel? Did you accidentally somewhere have gas pumped in your diesel car?


If you don't get any kind of oil pressure warning it means the oil level is adequate and the oil is in good enough condition to be pumped thru the engine. Who told you the oil turned to sludge?


The diesel engine locking up means either the lubrication does not work or wrong type of fuel is used. Diesel fuel provides an important part of the engine lubrication. Gas in the tank does not and will cause the engine to lock up.


#1 rule with a used car purchase is to immediately change engine oil regardless what the seller says.


To repair this engine will not cause $25000. MB will charge that for a new one as they do not fix engines. Ask a local diesel engine shop what the engine fix would cost.

YYZ-E55

It is imperative that the service intervals are respected with the OM642 and that the proper oil is used. Who knows what oil was used at the 10k mark (if the service was even done then).

Regardless of mileage, the car is a 2011 - it should have had at least 3 services (oil changes) in that time period.

beejAMG

OP, its the sellers responsibility or extended warranty, not yours.

i would rule out you accidentally putting petrol on a diesel engine since you mentioned you have a diesel truck so i assume you know which is which. although im confused with your statement about the "nozzle being too big", isnt there one size for petrol and another for diesel?

and seems like you already brought the car to a mechanic so they should know straight away if petrol was pumped into your diesel engine.

call the place where you bought the car. tell them exactly what happened and if they wont assist you, call a lawyer. filing for chapter 11 for a car should NEVER be an option. goodluck mate and please do keep us posted.

PS, please tell us the name of the car yard and the place you got the car from for other members to avoid similar incidents.

YYZ-E55

There are two (and occasionally three) nozzle sizes for diesel fuel at North American pumps; a larger nozzle for trucks and a mid-size nozzle for passenger cars/vans. Some stations have one or the other or both.

The rare third is roughly the same size as a petrol nozzle.

Why make it easy, right?

beejAMG

ahhh there you go, thanks for clarifying. not really familiar since i never owned a diesel car but i always thought there were just 2 different nozzle sizes.

Arrie

Well, the purpose of the different nozzle sizes is to keep wrong fuel from being pumped in the car. This should mean diesel cars are protected from receiving gasoline so the gasoline nozzle should be bigger than the diesel nozzle so that it will not fit in the diesel car filling port. But is it like this I do not know in the U.S. but I think in Europe it is.

looney100

Here in NA, diesel nozzles are larger. They prevent putting diesel in a gasoline car, but not the opposite.

fosterelli

Keep us updated, this is interesting. Definitely if you have full coverage insurance that is your best bet if Mercedes won't help you.

Usually you'll have no luck at non-MB dealerships and aftermarket warranties...most of them will tell you to pound sand - dealer says car was fine when you left - warranty says prove the maintenance was performed properly with documentation and receipts (which you don't have).

I'm in the oil business, and I've never heard of a modern engine oil "sludge" causing seizure after 4K over change interval...lots of people ignore their change intervals...if cars seized up at 4K over there would be a TON of seized engines floating around this planet.

Get to the truth - something caused this and it wasn't the oil without another contributing factor.

sghokie

I knew a guy that had a mazada for well over 100k miles without an oil change. He thought it was funny that he never changed the oil.

YYZ-E55

A model year 2011 vehicle has been on the road and driven for upwards of 5 calendar years. In that 5 year span it has only had one documented oil change. As someone "in the oil business", you are surely aware that lubricants absorb moisture and become contaminated (and therefore less effective) over time.

This isn't just a discussion about 4,000 miles - the buyer should have seen big red flags even having been told the car was serviced twice (in five years, once documented)! MBs have a recommended mileage-based or annual service interval, whichever comes first (and it's not just so the dealer makes extra $$ as this buyer learned).

CEB

Oil business means a cashier in the automotive section at K-Mart