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A class action lawsuit accusing Mercedes-Benz USA LLC of concealing a fuel tank defect in its 2003-2009 E-Class vehicles has survived a motion to dismiss but with some pared down claims.
On June 7, U.S. District Judge Timothy C. Batten Sr. trimmed several claims from the proposed class action lawsuit, including the plaintiffs’ breach of warranty and implied warranty claims, unjust enrichment claims, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and claims under the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.
Judge Batten Sr. did, however, allow the plaintiffs to proceed with claims of fraudulent concealment and violations of state consumer protection and unfair competition.
Plaintiffs from all over the country sued Mercedes-Benz in July 2012, alleging that Mercedes-Benz E-Class cars from model years 2003-20009 contain a fuel tank defect that allows gasoline to leak outside the car and emit gas fumes into the cabin.
Mercedes owners have reported a strong odor of gas in the vehicle following refueling, while others have reported liquid gas pooling onto the ground or other vehicle parts beneath the fuel. In addition to posing a severe safety hazard to consumers – even when there is no collision or impact — the alleged defect also wastes money owners spend on gas, the class action lawsuit says.
The class action lawsuit claims Mercedes has known about the fuel tank defect since at least 2008, but has failed to disclose the safety hazard to consumers and has even instructed Mercedes-Benz technicians to only replace fuel tank parts that were under warranty after repeated owner complaints.
The Mercedes-Benz gas leak class action lawsuit covers model year 2003-2009 Mercedes-Benz E350, E500, E55 AMG and E63 AMG vehicles. Plaintiffs say the E-Class vehicles should have been included in a January 2012 recall of 2003-2006 Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG vehicles over gasoline leaks, but never was.
The Mercedes-Benz Gas Tank Defect Class Action Lawsuit case is McCabe, et al. v. Daimler AG, et al., Case No. 12-cv-2494, Northern District of Georgia.
The plaintiffs are represented by Cale Conley, Ranse Partin and Matthew Q. Wetherington of Conley Griggs Partin LLP, and Neil A. Goro and Joseph M. Dunn of Wigington Rumley Dunn & Ritch LLP.
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7 thoughts onJudge Trims Mercedes-Benz Gas Tank Leak Class Action Lawsuit
In Short, you are screwed and will be by MBUSA especially if you own an E-class. I just got off the phone with Mercedes Benz USA specifically one of their executive committee reps Eric although after speaking with him I have no confidence that he was telling the truth and was much more than a clerk as he seemed very undereducated. In fact Eric claims his contact is 800-367-6372 ext 7806 but i’ve since learned when calling it it is a non-working extension? Say allot about a company when their employees outright lie.
We never received any communication about this known defect nor any warranty extension nor throughout the known failure period. Keep in mind MBUSA had to be forced to fix this known defect. They did not take this on because they care about their customer’s safety and surely could not give a damn about my wife or children who rode in the E500 Quite the contrary, they knew and didn’t willingly address this defect galvanizing the absence of any concern for their customer’s lives.
My wife’s car a 2004 E500 wagon has developed a sudden leaking fuel tank. I thought owning 4 Mercedes and spending over $300,000 to buy their products was enough…nope. So imagine what they are going to do to you? Thought they knew so they would simply fix it. Afterall, it is a defect in their product that they knew about yet, for whatever illogical reason, did not trigger a recall or any notice to customers.
They are refusing to fix this defect claiming it is months beyond their “legal obligation” so any moral obligation means nothing to them. According to Eric who initially said he didn’t then later said he did support the denial so the double talk was more than offensive. Speaking with MBUSA was like speaking to a child who continues to make up reasons why he has chocolate on his face—none of them true yet all designed to avoid any responsibility. This response from Eric was very telling. According to Eric, their reason for not honoring the repair is that while I have been diligent with all A, B, C, D etc services (the current interval notice on the dash is 9000 miles till next) that because I didn’t have and A or B service done at a dealer they won’t repair their failed product? To suggest A or B services consisting of oil and filters not to include any gas tank inspection would have enabled their tech to anticipate a sudden failure in later years was one of the most idiotic statements ever.
MBUSA really needs to hire both people who know something about the products their companies sell AND be customer service focused. Eric was confrontational and aggressive all the while thanking me for my brand loyalty while telling me too bad we aren’t going to do anything. The wishing me to have a nice day while explaining that he/ MBUSA wasn’t going to do anything drove the point home—a big FU for being dumb enough to think that you; the customer matter.
My take away is we are selling all our MB cars. There is no point buying any products from a company who does all they can to avoid accountability to stand behind their failures and this gas tank issue is uniquely their failure compounded by their cover up. Now onto BMW’s, who I understand actually value their customers from peers.
It’s your money spend it buying quality products from a company with integrity and MB products have long since lost any cache due to poor build quality since 2003 and known grossly deficient engineering now acknowledged throughout the market.
Look at the catastrophic depreciation losses of their C, E and S class models in particular. This is beyond build quality it is their customer experience is one of the worst I have ever been subjected to. Just my thoughts and experience with MBUSA regarding their product failing.
Of course, do what you want but you’ve been forewarned. My money is too hard earned to give it to unethical companies selling now inferior products relying on days of old when their brand may have stood for quality. Those days are long since passed.
I have paid for this repair on my 2004 E55 AMG. Further investigation through a VMI revealed this was repaired before I bought the car in 2008. So far it has cost over $2k to fix and our local dealer is not accepting any responsibility, even though they performed the repair once under my ownership (recently repaired for a third time).
Had to pay $3,600 to repair gas tank leak problem. As of 8-11-14 Dealership denies any knowledge of Class Action Lawsuit.
My 2006 Mercedes Benz E500 has a strong fuel odor in and outside of the vehicle.
How do i file for the action lawsuit? Please help.
How do I file for the class action lawsuit.My 2006 mercedes Benz has a fuel leak and the dealer wants to charge me for the repairs
Does anyone have the email or phone number to the attorneys representing the class action?
My 2003 E320 has this fuel leak resulting in fuel pooling beneath the car and strong gas odor in the cabin..