Snowbird12

drwolf

i think its because of what happened with VW

Diabolis

Yes, I got it too... it is because some a$$hole got together with large law firm and decided to see how much they can milk Mercedes too. The lawsuit essentially alleges that the AdBlue system does not get activated below 10C, which is true and has always been publicly stated... the AdBlue (DEF) fluid freezes when it's cold, and until the heater in DEF tank melts enough of it it, it does not get enabled. It is no different than any gasoline powered car made in the last 30+ years that has a catalytic converter, which only starts working when the temperatures exceed 300°C/600°F - yet no one seems to be going after every single car manufacturer on the planet alleging they were cheated about how "clean" the car is because it takes at least 15-20 minutes for the cat(s) to reach the temperature at which they begin to reduce emissions. Diesel is now a bad word in North America, and some degenerate bottom-feeders decided to see if they can capitalize on it.

The kicker in this whole mess is not that Mercedes may have cheated or done something wrong (which so far appears not to be the case)... it's the fact that even if Merc doesn't settle and goes to court and wins, the three words that most people will remember are "Mercedes, diesel and lawsuit" - and that is what's going to devalue the diesel cars MUCH more than anything else. If they had anything concrete and if Merc was indeed cheating, then yes, I would have no sympathy for MB and I'd be the first one to scream bloody murder, but as it is, I would like to launch a class-action lawsuit against the ******s that launched the class-action lawsuit against Merc... that is what's going to cost me money, not diminished value because MB allegedly didn't publicly disclose in big bold letters that it was a clean-running diesel only most of the time instead of all the time.

audi40

Same in the US:

https://www.hbsslaw.com/cases/merced...etec-emissions

No update/activity on the case since Sept. though.

marchgroupinc

What Law firm is it? I have ongoing unresolved issues (we think is related to the emissions) and I would like to follow this case. The US lemon law forces the manufacturers to buy problem vehicles back if they can't solve the problem after 3 or more attempts. Here we have no other fair way to solve these issues with the manufacturer because the arbitration (in Ontario anyway) is self regulated so it is restrictive and does not favour the consumer at all.

Diabolis

The law firms involved are Koskie Minsky LLP and Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith Griffin LLP, but the administration of the lawsuit for all class members goes through a third party. Info regarding the lawsuit and current developments is at https://kmlaw.ca/cases/mercedes-bluetec-class-action/. If you have or have had a BlueTEC Mercedes you are automatically included in the class action unless you explicitly opt out.

What you are describing however - unresolved ongoing issues - has absolutely nothing to do with the class action lawsuit. What is the unresolved ongoing problem you are referring to? There is a manufacturer warranty against defects in material and workmanship, so if they can't resolve a defect and the vehicle warranty is still valid, you have other legal options available.

Diabolis

Here's another law firm's view on the status of the lawsuit. It is just an unbiased look at the technicalities of what's what here and in the US and how far the cases have gotten (the link opens a PDF file): https://www.bennettjones.com/-/media...n-23-2018.ashx.

marchgroupinc

My unresolved issues are a result of the dealer not knowing 100% what is the problem. Over the past 3 years my ML keeps going into limp mode without a check engine light coming on and they don't know why. It has happened more than 60 times in 2018 alone. I also get a check engine light for a back pressure sensor for the emissions system and they can't resolve that either. My ML is now 4 years old and only has the emissions warranty still. Mercedes continue to cover the recurring problem of limp mode because it has never been resolved and the emissions check engine light is covered under warranty for now. I am still interested in solving the problem and not taking legal action at this point. I intended to keep this vehicle for 12-15 years so I bought it fully loaded which also means I won't get much for a trade in because these vehicles are depreciating at a high rate. I think legal action is not the way to solve many problems and tend to exhaust all other options first (no pun intended). I just think my treatment is really unfair because if I had purchased this ML in the US I would have had a full refund of my purchase price by now.

Diabolis

I feel for you, but something doesn't make sense here. If your dealership has been unable to resolve an issue that you've been having for three years, they would have escalated the issue to head office a long time ago. In fact, they would have no choice but to do that. A dealership still needs to pay their technicians and buy the parts... the only difference when it comes to warranty service is that the money comes out of MB's pocket instead of yours. So - if the same vehicle is taken in for service multiple times for the same defect, MB themselves would eventually want to have one of their "corporate" techs / foremen have a look and deal with it as it is costing them a lot of money. I completely support your decision to not to engage in America's national sport - suing / litigation - and try to resolve things to everyone's satisfaction amicably, but if I had been dealing with a warranty issue for three years on an $80K+ CAD car (that is what my fully loaded 2015 diesel ML cost) without a resolution, I am afraid I would have run out of patience a long time ago. I have a great relationship with my dealership and in particular their service department, but if they were unable to fix an ongoing issue for three years, I would have certainly escalated things by now.

As for your expectation to keep any new MB vehicle for 12-15 years, I am afraid you're going to have to DRASTICALLY readjust your expectations. No one builds things as good as they can (which used to be the case with MB of, say, 30 years ago). New cars are all designed and built with built-in obsolescence (or in this case, "fall-apart-by" date). Mercedes is in the business of manufacturing and selling new cars. If the cars they make last (or are feasible to keep on the road) for 12-15 years instead of 6-7.5, they are only going to sell half as many cars. The concept is exactly the same with everything from light bulbs to appliances, and now cars. They are designed to only last as long as they need to... in other words, as long as the warranty lasts plus a couple of years after that (i.e. for as long as you can get a CPO warranty from a dealer or for them to be able to offload them on the auction block) and no more. This has nothing to do with the issue that you are experiencing - it is true for all MBs and other cars.

Good luck... let us know how you make out.