Mercedes Brake Boosters and Corroding Housing Class Action

German cars have a reputation for exacting and superior engineering, but this class action questions that assumption. It sues Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC, Daimler North American Corporation, and their German parent companies about brake boosters and corrosion, claiming that Mercedes has done little to address the problem, although the complaint alleges that the companies have known about the problem for many years.

The class for this action is all persons and entities who bought or leased a class vehicle in the US, including its territories. A Florida Subclass has also been defined, for those who bought or leased their class vehicles in Florida.

The class vehicles include the following:

• 2009 Mercedes-Benz GL320BTC
• 2007-2008 Mercedes-Benz GL320CDI
• 2010-2012 Mercedes-Benz GL350BTC
• 2007-2012 Mercedes-Benz GL450
• 2008-2012 Mercedes-Benz GL550
• 2009 Mercedes-Benz ML320BTC
• 2007-2008 Mercedes-Benz ML320CDI
• 2006-2011 Mercedes-Benz ML350
• 2010-2011 Mercedes-Benz ML350BTC
• 2010-2011 Mercedes-Benz ML450H
• 2006-2007 Mercedes-Benz ML500
• 2008-2011 Mercedes-Benz ML550
• 2007-2011 Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-AMG ML63
• 2009 Mercedes-Benz R320BTC
• 2007-2008 Mercedes-Benz R320CDI
• 2006-2012 Mercedes-Benz R350
• 2010-2012 Mercedes-Benz R350BTC
• 2006-2007 Mercedes-Benz R500
• 2008 Mercedes-Benz R550
• 2007 Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-AMG R63.26

Mercedes uses the motto “The Best or Nothing,” but the complaint alleges that the company has had a number of recalls in recent years, including for Takata airbags, electrical grounding, and a different brake problem.

But identifying problems isn’t the only difficulty, the complaint alleges: “In November 2017, Consumer Reports found that of 19 automakers in the United States, Mercedes-Benz appears to be the worst when it comes to fixing recalled vehicles, having fixed only 2% of the vehicles recalled due [to] its use of deadly airbags.” It also quotes a November 2018 Consumer Reports article as reporting that US auto-safety regulators had “launched an investigation into whether Mercedes-Benz has been too slow to disclose safety defects and make needed repairs.”

The recall at issue in this case is a May 20, 2022 Mercedes recall involving certain Mercedes brake boosters. The complaint alleges, “When exposed to moisture, the brake booster housing corrodes and the function of the brake force is reduced[.]” It quotes the Part 573 Recall Report as saying that, where the corrosion is severe, “the connection between brake pedal and brake system would fail” completely, which poses a significant threat of a crash or injury.

The recall may be recent, but Mercedes’s knowledge of the problem may not be. The complaint alleges that the company issued a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) to its dealers in June 2009 on corrosion and brake components, and most likely knew about the problem earlier than that because of testing, failure mode analysis, reports to dealers, and complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Despite all this, the complaint alleges, Mercedes has “concealed this information, delayed issuing a recall, and still to this day has not sent notification letters to owners of the defective vehicles.”

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Automobile
Tags: Brakes, Defective Automobile