Henry Kahn

So... I bought a GLC300 for my parents back during December 2015 brand new had like 5-10 miles on it or something. They just got the Service A done earlier this week...

Yesterday night they drove to the grocery store here and barely made it into a parking spot when the vehicle suddenly turned off and there was smoke coming from the front end of the vehicle. They freaked out and got out of the car thinking it was going to catch fire (my mom tends to freak out over these things). We got the vehicle towed through MBrace (a whole other ****ty experience) to the MB dealership near our house where we got the vehicle.

Today after checking the vehicle they tell me that a piston broke in the engine and they will need to replace the engine.... WHAT?!!! Brand new car, barely hit 10,000 miles and a damn piston broke? I am not an expert on cars but I know this is not something normal this is extremely weird. The service manager at the dealership is in awe. I called MB USA Customer Service and they were shocked as well. I don't know if this is something other people have experienced but this is potentially a manufacturing defect according to the dealership. I need advice on what I should do because if this is an issue with the engines on all or some of the GLC's that were produced this is a serious recall. Thank God this didn't happen while they were driving down the highway or something. Maybe I am freaking out over nothing but I dont think that is the case.

I was told that the Regional Customer Service Manager for MB USA would be giving me a call on Monday but I just wanted to make people aware and if anyone else has had any issues like this please come forward because if this is class action level I will take it that far. This is an embarrassment in my eyes for Mercedes and German Engineering in general. I know this can be a rare one in a million case but still I am shocked that THIS type of issue is happening with a brand new car.

Any input and advice on how to handle this would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Henry

Lurkerlisa

Damn. That is scary. I hope some of the more some of the more savvy members weigh in in this.

MB190

WOW,
As you said, it could be a rare one in a million case, but that still doesn't make it better. I'd push the rep to replace the car, not just the engine. They should ship it back to Germany and find out if other factors outside the engine such as the transmission may have contributed to the failure. And yes, very lucky it didn't happen at high speed and everyone was thankfully okay.

index1489

Every production car has premature engine failures, your one of the unlucky ones, don't fret, your getting a brand new motor under warranty, and presumably a loaner car during the time in service.

JEVA

^^^this. It's rare but there are manufacturing defects that slip through. As long as they are making it right and compensating you with a loaner etc you can't get too upset. Now, if this was widespread and there was clear negligence that's another story

Henry Kahn

I completely understand the rarity of it but from your responses it makes it seem like this is a completely normal thing when I don't think it is. They are and will definitely take care of it for me. My only concern is that with this being a new line just introduced in 2016 they should be replacing the car not just the engine. They should take this car back to Germany and find out wha caused it because maybe it's not wide spread now but if this starts happening to other people this will be a serous safety issue.

I am a fan of German engineering and that's precisely why we pay premium prices for these vehicles so I would like to see them proactively back their engineering up by testing and learning from this. If I get a new engine and this happens again on the freeway? Would you be willing to risk that knowing your parents and nephew are driving around in this? It's easy to be on the other end of this but only the person experiencing it can understand how dangerous it is for a piston to blow on an engine. I've had Nissan, Infinit, Honda cars our whole lives all driven past 150-200,000 miles. Not one time did the engine have any issues.

I am sure when I speak with MB USA on Monday they will do what it takes to make this right so I am not necessarily bashing them but as a fan of Mercedes and German engineering in general I would like to see them proactively study this issue and make sure it's not a design flaw or something where it will eventually turn into a recall. If I'm the first unlucky Guinea pig to a recall they should use my case as such and learn from it.

larrypmyers

Unfortunately it happens. In my business its called, "infant mortality."

Am guessing MB has informed the dealer to not touch the engine, except to remove it and return it to MB. Engineering will want to tear the engine down to determine root cause of the failure. Hopefully its an anomaly not affecting the rest of us.

In the meantime, hopefully, someone in the MB hierarchy has directed a replacement engine be placed in priority transportation to the dealer.

Relax...easy for me to say...drive the loaner and be glad warranty is in effect.

This may be the first catastrophic GLC engine failure so its reasonable to assume it will be a front burner issue within MB engineering.

Hopefully Henry will keep us apprised as the issue progresses.

index1489

You obviously have very little understanding about cars, and production processes and failure rates, so I won't bother participating in this thread anymore,

Are you really so naive to think out of the millions of vehicles and engines nissan or honda have produced they have never had a premature engine failure?

Perhaps if this is so inconceivable you should consider a simpler form of transportation like a bicycle.

Go find another place to yell fire in a building. Troll alert.

larrypmyers

Its not a normal thing, but it does happen.

And when it does one must allow the system to react.

In this case MB has a two pronged problem. First, they need to do what ever it takes to return your GLC to service. Second, and perhaps more importantly, they need to determine the root cause of the engine failure. Of particular concern for MB is this is a new engine used across several different models. The above will not happen overnight.

Catastrophic engine failures are not normally dangerous. What happens is the engine emits a loud expensive noise, much smoke, spews oil and shuts down. One then looks for a place to steer onto the shoulder. Ask me how I know.

No doubt a serious issue. We'll be watching closely how MB handles the situation.

Count Laszlo

Glad your parents are okay. Although rare for something like this to happen - things do happen. Have them fix it and move on. It's just a car and no reason to get too rung up over this.

dieseldoc

+1

fabbrisd1

There are those that would consider asking for BuyBack replacement - which is dealer-management/MB-Customer-Care discussion - since they "purchased" the MB - as compared to "lease" - unusual mechanical that requires warranty engine replacement - which WILL show both on the Mercedes vehicle "VMI" record - and will show on CarFax - "diminishes" future value. The objective would be identical/MSRP new vehicle - at no additional cost to them.

It is a exceptional situation - unless this is owner misuse - and frankly nothing here that has been said indicates this - in this case there is a Mercedes procedure at dealer-management/Mercedes-Customer-Care-Management that can be accessed/claimed - to handle this.

07SGT

would the car fax indicate a diminished return? The owner is getting a brand new engine with 10 K fewer miles. That is a plus when trading in. The dealership will be familiar with the issue.

MITCH1975

If it was a Chevy, Ford, Chrysler they would rebuild the engine and send you on your way. No new engine for you.






I would not be happy either.

TSchuettinger

Despite the fact these are well built vehicles, these are still cars and cars are NOT immune to problems and failures. Like others said, there will always be the chance that you could end up with an engine failure, early on in the car's life. The only problem I've heard so far with this engine is some early builds of the 2015 C300 had a wrist pin issue that caused engine replacement. Similar thing happend on the new Honda Civic (yes you heard that right, Honda). Some Toyota/Lexus engines from about 98-02 had sludging problems that damaged some engines. Some Lexus IS cars from 06-13 had faulty timing belts that would break and destroy the engine. The point of my blurb is to tell you that no matter how much you pay for a car, no matter how good the reputation is of the manufacturer you choose, there will always be the chance of a dud. This engine is used in several MB models and is even going to be used at Infiniti. I trust that if there is a problem for it to be taking care of quickly.

07SGT

If you have a loaner and are getting a new engine this is win win. You are saving miles on your car, you will have a new engine with 10,000 fewer miles. If this were a collectible car in the old days it would be a different issue as the serial number of the block and the vehicle would not match. But it is not a collectible. I do hope MB will tell you the results of the tear down and what the problem was. Please keep us apprised.

B2FiNiTY

go buy a lottery ticket. that was a one in a billion chance.

kmarnes

One thing not mentioned. Is it possible someone screwed up the Service A routine? Could be human error. The timing is impeccable.