skyfree

In light of today's EPA actions against FCA http://www.detroitnews.com/story/bus...ions/96485778/, is MB next?

I'm still looking at a GL350, but as the current owner of a VW Touareg TDI, I'm not sure I want to go through this again with another vehicle.

fabbrisd1

No... Mercedes is not next .... Fed's went thru the rest of the Germans 1st thing when the VW debacle hit...

Hey - get your money from VW as soon as you can - no awards for being the last guy out ...

skyfree

Ha ha, thanks, I will. This is good to know.

anothercar

So where is the GLS350?

fabbrisd1

March-April production this past in special VPC holding yard - had Fed approval - then the nature of the Fed debacle with VW is the Fed's got "fooled" - and approvals were pulled pending release of final new testing procedures from the Fed's - which haven't come - and now a moot point I guess..

anothercar

Hmm..............something just doesn't feel right about this. A little fishy smell in my opinion. Towing the company line are we?

fabbrisd1

No - just not buying into the internet conspriracy/conjecture bullsh*t - for owner's it's about their next GL/GLS - or about the GL/GLS they own now - where it's one SUV for a owner - it's important to my customers - which to me is about 35 GL/GLS a yr...

anothercar

While my hope is that MB is not guilty, it's not out of the realm of possibility that something is not right. The EPA has approved other manufacturer's diesels and they are For sale in dealer's showrooms. I doubt that the EPA has different standards for MBenz. So given that MB USA is being very closed mouth and secretive I'm gonna stick with the theory that something is out of compliance with MB diesels. Model year 2017's are on hold and MB is not being forthcoming with a plausible explanation.
Give me something logical and plausible. History tells me that fraudulent activity by one manufacturer is often industry wide meaning the German automobile industry.

larrypmyers

Looks as though the EPA is about to charge Fiat Chrysler with cheating on EPA testing of their diesels. The allegation is similar to the Volkswagen issue.

skyfree

Looks like your opinion is that there will not be a problem with them, but the original stop sale came back in May 2016. That's a long time ago now, so not sure what to read into that.

Has anyone looked at some technical measures comparing the VW 3.0 to the MB 3.0? In the Touareg the DEF (AdBlue) consumption was considered to be lower than you would expect, at about 3-4gals / 10,000 miles which makes sense if the emissions systems were turned off part of the time. Does the MB 3.0 use more DEF than that? In order to handle more urea injection, the system would require more catalyst in a (larger) catalytic converter. Does the MB have a larger or way more expensive catalytic converter?

So all those 2016's are just sitting there. I hope they are running them periodically.

Anyway, I'm trying to make an informed decision. I guess in the end it doesn't matter that much because if I buy the car and there is some EPA action it could probably be resolved with a fix and compensation.

cadetdrivr

Don't know, but the DEF tank on the X166 is 8.4 gal compared to 4.5-to-6 gal tank in various VW/Audi 3.0TDI models.

captivabenz

With almost 40,000 miles, my GL uses approximately 1 gallon of DEF every 2500 miles.

Mike450

Yes, that about right, we have 55k miles on the 2014 Passat TDI, and this is the defblue usage with the cheating software still in place.


That said, Fiat is telling a different story than the EPA. Fiat is claiming the EPA is flagging them for "not disclosing software" installed on cars. Evidently the issue is, all cars have undisclosed software on them and the EPA never cared, at least according to Fiat. Seems as if the EPA changed the rules of the game after the VW fiasco and didn't bother to alert or allow manufacturers to fix issues.


All of that is not inline with what VW admitted to doing BTW.

skyfree

Looks like this might be coming to MB now after all

http://www.autonews.com/article/2017...alties-recalls

cadetdrivr

Yeah....that's not a good statement.

IMHO, it will be interesting to see if the actual EPA enforcement of this is different under the current administrator. The regulations haven't changed but there is wide latitude for enforcement.

If nothing else the class action attorneys are gonna be more excited.

Peter R.

I am willing to bet a sizable volume of Belgium's finest that not a SINGLE (current or fairly current) vehicle, be it gas or diesel powered, meets the published number when driven 'normally' in 'daily traffic'.


Therefore the whole thing is academic, and political. And when politics are involved, there's no way of telling either way.

cadetdrivr

FWIW, MB has stopped certification for all diesels in the US (except Sprinter). There will not be any 2017s after all.

http://www.autonews.com/article/2017...rcedes-diesels

4everalone

I absolutely love the VW/Audi Diesels. I owned a V10 before the GL and a V6 Diesel as well. They are extremely stout and reliable engines. So much of me wishes VW had fixed them in newer models and continued to offer them.

yk0786

It looks like Mercedes is updating the emissions software in the diesel cars in Europe. They are in talks with the US regulators. Anybody know if/when the software update will be required in the US? I wonder if this will have a negative impact on the performance of these cars like it does in the VWs.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/18/b...emissions.html

In another article they said that Mercedes has a new line of diesel engines. I wonder if those engines will make it over to the US?

Peter R.

Yes, they just presented the new S here, with the I6 diesel and the funky turbos.

I don't expect to see that engine in the current x166, but it will undoubtedly find its way into the redesign.

However, I do not think MB will support light diesels in the US in the future. These are very uncertain times for diesel passenger vehicles in the US and Europe.