tomtomuncle

Hello everyone, just want share my experience.

I find myself at a crossroads with my once-beloved Mercedes GLS 550, and I need your collective wisdom. After just over 80,000 km, the engine of my meticulously maintained and family-driven Mercedes has suffered a catastrophic failure due to timing chain fell off. The price quoted for a new engine is a staggering $65,000 — a figure that leaves me astounded and questioning the integrity of the luxury car promise.

Here’s the twist: my car was serviced exclusively at a Mercedes dealer, driven conservatively (as befits a family with young children), and still, the engine gave out prematurely. This raises a profound question: Is this a case of a single defective unit, or is there an underlying defect in Mercedes' flagship engines?

Now, I face a daunting decision: should I initiate a lawsuit against Mercedes and the dealer? Is this a fight for consumer rights against a giant in the industry, or am I standing on the precipice of a fruitless battle?

This is not just about one engine or one customer. It’s a matter that could affect any owner and speaks volumes about the expectations we should have from premium automakers. Your feedback is invaluable to me — should I pursue legal action, and how might this stand to impact the Mercedes community at large?

Let’s start a conversation that could potentially shape the future of how automotive giants address the concerns of their customers. Your insights, experiences, and opinions are crucial to this discourse. Should I sue?

Crito

The automotive giants don't give a rat's assets about their customer's concerns. They only care whether the corporate government/state allows them to do business or not. It's not a free (as in freedom, not as in price) market. The legal system has endowed corporations with human rights and undermined our rights to do things like insurrect against fascist regimes.

Sue if it makes you feel better but in the end nothing will change by playing their game by their rules.

MJ50

moved to X166 forum...

HAILERS2

Not much help here, but there is a 2018 S560 Coupe on Carvana for approx 67K bucks with only 13,000 miles on it. But I suspect your in Europa or the like so..........

WillieMack

This is not the norm, however mechanical failures can happen on any brand of vehicle even those categorized as “reliable”. Since you are outside of factory warranty and did not purchase extended CPO or factory warranty, Mercedes has no legal obligation to you. This is not a common occurrence for class action lawsuit, you are in the minority so suing is a waste of time.

Your best course of action would be to contact corporate Mercedes non combatively and ask for some sort of goodwill given these unusual set of circumstances. Do not come off aggressive realizing they have no obligation to do anything for you. Attitude goes a long way.

If you get nowhere with that route, there’s no need to spend 65k on a new engine. Find an independent German mechanic near you specialized in Mercedes and take for a second opinion/diagnosis. Do a quick Google/Ebay search there are plenty of used GLS550 engines varying mileage in the $10,000 ballpark.

BlownV8

There are enough engine failures documented on this site that it appears a fairly common issue. I'm not telling you to file a class action, but it seems that there is substantial evidence that the engine has a defect.

mercedesmax

Only if you feel like throwing money away. Manufacturers warranty new cars for a finite period of time. The understanding is that once you are out of the warranty period any repairs no matter how much they are are up to you. You could approach the dealer and see if Mercedes would offer any goodwill to offset the cost of the repair.

ygmn

what your lawyer say?

tht is whom to ask if the case has merit since they will be the one doing the work.

mercedesmax

Lawyers just see dollar signs. Of course they will want to sue.

ygmn

Not good ones as they do not want losing records.

Good lawyer will look to see what merit the case has and can he/she win or get to arbitration.

mercedesmax

They don't post won loss records like baseball pitchers. It's how many billing hours can you generate. Why do you think there are so many frivolous lawsuits these days. People will sue for anything. It's ridiculous. Look at the OP. His car breaks, which sucks but that's life. He took a chance on driving a complex car with no warranty and he lost the bet. It happens. Instead of acknowledging that he made a bad bet he wants to sue someone.

ygmn

Oh well, we should let the OP decide what he wants to do with his issue.

thtguy

If you can get enough people with similar failures with the same class of engine compared to the number built. you would likely need 10k failures or more to even consider a class action considering how many M278 engines have been produced. and I am not sure if the location that OP is in has Class Actions suits.
Few countries are as litigious, or have as much tort as the good ol' USofA.

mikapen

Just buy a used engine. With a warranty, if that's important now

BlownV8

A used one will probably suffer the same fate. Get someone to rebuild yours with iron sleeves. Should be bulletproof after that.

jbaahern

Even bad ones avoid difficult cases unless you’re paying upfront and you gather all the evidence . Find 3 good lawyer s in your area and if 2/3 say no don’t sue .

dbellon22

Bought a A220 new from dealer. At 30,000 miles all cylinder heads had to be replaced, it was a total nightmare. Flash forward to today, in a day my car started acting funny, check engine light never came on. Engine is toast. They quoted me 17,000 to repair. Sad i see all these lawsuits about Mercedes knowing their entire engines are faulty. Such crooks. I also keep up on all service and maintenance premium gas only.

chassis

MB makes garbage, pure and simple. It's written all over this site in plain language.

John CC

And, yet, here we are...