To begin with, I'm an ordinary guy, from Georgia (country in Eastern-Europe), who has always dreamed about a Mercedes car since the age of 10. From the early childhood, I could differentiate between car makes and models, and whenever a MB car would pass, I would feel caramel flavor pour into my soul, because I knew, I was going to get one at some time in future.

And there I was, at the age of 18, I got my first and the loveliest car in my life. I got granted to the No. 1 college with a 100% scholarship and my parents decided to fulfill my dream. They bought a 1996 C 200 with mechanic transmission. I called him Jay. We became friend from the very first day and we would always care about each other - I would take good care of the parts and he would never let me down.



As soon as I got used to the quality, comfort, stability, driver space, maneuver and all the small details that make up the Mercedes-Benz, I knew, I would never change the make.

After 2 years, when I got my first job and for the first time received a stable salary, I updated my car to newer model. I bought 2001 C 270 CDI, W203. That car was something new in my life. I could pimp my ride every day with the appearance and with speed. I would beat most of my friends even those with BMW 530. The car was more girl-ish so I called her Daisy and we were like lovers (except for one thing, we could do anything what lovers do ).



Then again I decided to change my car and I wanted a coupe. I sold Daisy and bought Jimmy - a 2002 CLK 320 W208. The car was definitely a he, so we were just friends, only friendly love connected us While I enjoyed a better comfort than of C class, I pretty soon got fed up with 2-door car. I had a girlfriend, so every time we would pick somebody up, I was the one to get out of the car to let other passengers in. In 9 months I broke up with my girlfriend and Jimmy at the same time. I sold the CLK and prepared myself for something better.



Here I am now, I got promoted at work, got higher salary and decided to buy an E class W211, a car of my next dream. As long as I already got used the comfort of huge engine, I couldn't downgrade and bought 2003 E 500, with panoramic roof, wooden wheel, start-button and so on. And only then I found out what a real Mercedes Benz was. That is what I would call a perfect car. A brilliant combination of style, comfort, speed, quality and the car has so many secret functions, so many small comfort details, that I totally fell in love with it. I called her Sharlie. We were true lovers )



The fact that I upgraded my car as I progressed in life gave me a direction to go. I decided that my success would be measured with my car. I started with 1996 C 200 and now I have 2003 E500 and as long as now I'm in pursue of Harvard Business School MBA, I definitely know that I have way more cars to experience the best quality of car. I even made my life's epigraph "The best or nothing!".

But!...
Suddenly, at the mileage of 95 000 miles, when I was driving back home at 80 m/h and tried to stop on a red light, the car gave me a sign:



And, in fact, I was not able to stop the vehicle. I would press brakes as hard as I could but the car wouldn't slow down. I was saved by miracle. No car hit me while passing the red light and I don't even remember how I avoided collisions.

To make it short, I was saved and I went to local MB service shop and got Sharlie diagnosed. This is what I received:
The SBC module of the car turned out to be defective. It didn't get damaged by me or someone else, it was defectively manufactured by Mercedes-Benz factory and the whole part needs to be replaced. I was also told that when MB found out about that problem initially, they confessed in manufacturing defective brake systems and offered free replacement for every car, but now they stopped doing it and I was only offered to buy a replacement for 2,000$.
As long as I neither have that money available right away and it is absolutely dangerous to drive a car with defective brakes, which could fail at any moment, I switched to public transport and taxis for the first time in last 5 years.

I know that I will progress in life and I am still willing to have all my next cars MB ones, but with this problem I got poisoned in my soul.

Shame on you Mercedes! Shame on you!

 

1. Why did they extend the warranty by 10 years if they did not confess in defective manufacturing ?

2. I am pretty sure that owners in countries like Georgia were not notified at all. There are dozens of other guys who had the same problem as mine. Living in other countries than USA still makes you the rightful owner of the car.

My reasoning is simple:
-I trust MB reps who told me that for 10 years MB has been replacing those parts
-I therefore conclude that the module in fact was really defective, otherwise MB would not have replaced them for 10 years
-Fact that the defectiveness of my module showed up in 2015 and did not show up in 2013 does not make it non-defective

 

I don't think that computers are expected to last as long as cars are. Some of the cars, in deed, last for more than 30-40 years.

Time is not the only factor of amortization. Mileage must also be taken into consideration. My car did not show up the problem in 10 years because it simply did not run much. Mileage is only 110,000 miles whereas those cars which showed the problem earlier most probably could have driven more than 150,000 miles.

I don't see any reason why would MB Georgian reps tell me that the module is factory-defective.
It could have been a miracle for some low-brand make car to work after 10 years, but Mercedes is known for its higher quality which results in increased durability. Some of the G classes can last even more than 30 years without a problem. That's what differs MB from other cars.

Automobile is not as small investment as laptop. Nobody expects from a 500$ laptop to last forever, plus laptop can never kill you, whereas the unexpected problem with the module almost ended my life. And I can surely say that I am a responsible owner and failure of the Module cannot be attributed to my poor maintenance or wear issue.

And yes, I expect the SBC module to work for 15 years, because one fault could be a reason for my and other people's death.

Had I been notified about the possibility of that problem, I would not even have bought that car.

This is a real world, not a critical reasoning test in GMAT exam. No factory replaces parts for additional 10 years because of the wear or maintenance issue of the owner. It seems absolutely logical to me that after finding out the problem MB, as a brand with high sense of responsibility, admitted manufacturing defective part and offered free replacement for extended 10 years.

Toyota recalled every single car when finding out the defectiveness of brakes.
They did not extend a warranty. That's a real approach, that can be qualified as "The best". It took responsibility for every defectively manufactured car, not part of them.

I deliberately mentioned mileage of my car in the post. I think that for MB car 100 000 miles is not such a big number that it is permitted to kill you.

The fact that I am writing this reply is a miracle not 10 years durability of brake system.

 

:|

A+ for knowledge of MB history
A+ in critical reasoning skills
E- in reality comprehension skills

I hope you don't critique my painting skills as well.

Where is the mechanical backup? Just imagine a kid running on Zebra or any other car in different position.

 

Wow, quite a story. One way to look at it, if you amortize this one incidence over all of the MBs you've owned over all of the years, you're still head of the average car. Hopefully, one incidence will not turn you off.

 

I just got a letter from Mercedes that Extended Warranty coverage for 25 years on the SCB system with unlimited mileage.

 

Very nice outcome.

 

Maybe Tornike110 could use a copy of that letter. My experience is that M-B cannot always be trusted to do the right thing without some pressure. Sadly, citing the longevity of older M-B cars compared to the more recent models only demonstrates that they don't make 'em like they used to. That's why I'm hanging on to my 99 E300 turbo-diesel. Speaking of sad, my M-B mechanic cautioned me about buying a new or newer one. But, my God, a failure that results in NO BRAKES? Holy Hindenburg!