Plaintiffs Want Mercedes Held Liable in Engine Defect Class Action

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The plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit accusing Mercedes-Benz USA of manufacturing and selling defective engines in certain models filed a motion for partial summary judgment in California federal court early last week.

Lead plaintiffs Majeed Seifi and Tracey Deaken allege that Mercedes-Benz violated state consumer protection and unfair competition laws by knowingly manufacturing and selling Mercedes’ V-6 M272 and V-8 M273 model vehicles with defective engines. Last Monday, the plaintiffs petitioned the court for partial summary judgment in the case arguing that undisputed evidence establishes that Mercedes knew about the defect and failed to disclose it to consumers.

“Plaintiffs now move for partial summary judgment as to liability or, in the alternative, summary adjudication because the undisputed evidence — often found in [Mercedes-Benz’s] own documents — establishes the existence of a defect, [Mercedes-Benz’s] knowledge of it, and [Mercedes-Benz’s] nondisclosure of the defect,” the motion for summary judgment states.

The class action lawsuit alleges that Mercedes-Benz knew about the defects in the balance shaft gears in M272 engines and the idle gears in M273 and Mercedes concealed the information. The plaintiffs further allege that Mercedes-Benz made misrepresentations about the reliability of its vehicles with M272 and M273 engines.

In October of last year, the class action lawsuit survived a motion for summary judgment, but the judge tossed express warranty claims. Plaintiffs were given leave to amend their complaint, which was due earlier this month. The judge retained the plaintiffs’ claims for violations of California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act and Unfair Competition Law.

The Mercedes class action lawsuit was originally filed in October 2012. In the original action, the plaintiffs alleged that Mercedes’ V-6 M272 engines were defective because they contained gears in their balance shafts that wore out prematurely, excessively and without warning. The class action lawsuit further alleged that V-8 M273 engines, installed in models including the E500, have defective idle gears that have similar issues.

The plaintiffs argued that the engine defects cause the affected vehicles to malfunction, misfire or stop running because of the problems and also present a significant safety risk for drivers. “They render the subject vehicles nondrivable without prior warning while the vehicles are on roadways and often times surrounded by heavy traffic,” the plaintiffs’ amended complaint alleged. “The only recourse is to have the balance shaft or idle gear replaced,” the plaintiffs continued, “which is a large-scale repair job, taking numerous days and thousands of dollars.”

“Entering partial summary judgment as to liability now, or alternatively summary adjudication as to those elements of Plaintiffs’ claims that are not subject to dispute, would leave only the remedies phase to be adjudicated on behalf of Plaintiffs and the class members,” said the plaintiffs in their motion.

The plaintiffs are represented by Roy A. Katriel of the Katriel Law Firm and Gary S. Graifman of Kantrowitz Goldhamer & Graifman PC.

The Mercedes-Benz Engine Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Majeed Seifi, et al. v. Mercedes-Benz USA LLC, Case No. 3:12-cv-05493, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.