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Plaintiffs in the Mercedes Rim Defect Class Action Lawsuit last week filed a motion to certify a class of nearly 1.6 million in New Jersey Federal Court.
Lead plaintiffs Vincent Luppino, Cliff Stern and Noel J. Spiegel, filed their class action lawsuit in 2011, alleging that the Mercedes light alloy rims were not strong enough to endure normal driving conditions. The plaintiffs also alleged that Mercedes refused to cover their repair costs under the vehicles’ warranty.
In their motion filed, the plaintiffs in the class action contend that all of the members are identically situated by having purchased or leased Mercedes-Benz cars from model year 2006 to the present with allegedly defective 17-inch, 18-inch or 19-inch aluminum, cast-alloy wheels.
“The complaint is predicated on the position that the wheels suffer from a fundamental design defect, affecting all wheels, that renders them susceptible to failure over time,” the plaintiffs say in their motion. “This design defect is common to all class members and can be proven by common evidence. The plaintiffs also point out that “if there is no design defect, the case is over, and individual questions as to each class member’s wheels will not arise.”
The plaintiffs also point out that certification of the class is appropriate because people will only have to show proof of warranty and occurrence of the breach to establish that they are class members. Thus, warranty claims “are tailor-made for certification,” the plaintiffs argue.
According to the motion, a nationwide class for the approximately 1.6 million Mercedes-Benz vehicles sold or leased with 17-inch, 18-inch or 19-inch wheels from 2006 to the present should be certified for the class action. In the alternative, the plaintiffs are seeking certification of a New Jersey class of drivers, estimated to number about 155,000.
According to court documents, approximately 30 percent of the 50 wheels the plaintiffs’ expert tested, including ones that didn’t appear to be abused in any way, had visible cracks, say the plaintiffs. The expert determined the cracks were “clearly induced by cyclic deformation” during normal use of the cars.
In November 2013, one of the defendants, Daimler, moved to dismiss the Mercedes rims class action lawsuit, arguing that because the warranty was issued by Mercedes, Daimler was not liable for the repair costs. The U.S. District Court judge agreed with Daimler and dismissed the claims against the company. Daimler was again included in an amended complaint, but the parties later agreed to dismiss the claims against it.
The class action lawsuit seeks compensation for replacing the rims, treble damages and an award of attorneys’ fees.
The plaintiffs are represented by Nadeem Faruqi, Courtney E. Maccarone and Antonio Vozzolo of Faruqi and Faruqi LLP; James J. Sabella, Shelly L. Friedland and Michael Manuel of Grant & Eisenhofer PA; Mark Gardy, James Notis and Charles A. Germershausen of Gardy & Notis LLP; James E. Cecchi and Lindsey H. Taylor of Carella Byrne Cecchi Olstein Brody & Agnello; Douglas Hirsch of Sadis & Goldberg LLP; and Steven N. Berk of Berk Law PPC.
The Mercedes Rim Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Vincent Luppino, et al. v. Mercedes-Benz USA LLC, et al., Case No. 2:09-cv-05582, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
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19 thoughts onMercedes Rim Defect Class Action Lawsuit Seeks Certification
The problem is with New Jersey court system, and most of our beautiful USA. It is a shame our Government and corporate criminals bribe judges and officials get away with everything and will never, be Held liable.
until we the people stand up. we need to start a lawsuit in a state and court that we can trust.
I have a 2019 CLA 250C4 Mercedes. I bought the car from Brooklyn Mercedes in December 2021. Two weeks after I purchased the car it had 2 crack front rims. The dealership never honored the damage rims so they sold us 2 rims at cost (the y said) for $600 each. The new rims also cracked after using only a few months. The car was bought certified (whatever that means). We bought the car for our daughter but because of the constant repair of rims she has not used it much. We have had to repair 3 out of the rims a few times. It has been a living nightmare.
Mercedes should be ashamed of themselves for selling cars to anyone knowing that the rims need constant repair or replacement. Please help.
What is the status of the class action concerning cracked wheels on Mercedes Benz E class cars?
I have a 2014 e 250 with a cracked rim.
Thanks,
Merle
I have an E350 2013 Mercedes AMG wheel package that I purchased brand new from dealer. I have had over 10 flat tires and various damaged wheels just from normal driving. I was never told by dealer there was this risk & problem. I would have not bought the car.
Bought a 2016 Mercedes cla 250 but it came with the amg sport wheels and tires. 2 months after purchase, I was told I had a cracked wheel and 2 bent wheels. I was furious. I later found out that one wheel that cracked was already cracked and then repaired. I had a bill for $3700. No way was I paying that. I kept fighting and fighting till the dealership agreed to pay all but $1000. I wish I could say that I was happy about this but $1000 before I even started making payments on the car? The best or nothing??? They will fix a cracked wheel and sell you it in a heart beat. I will never ever own a new Mercedes. With that said, I was given a loaner of the 2020 cla 250 and you could tell that this was no longer an issue. The ride is night and day softer and feels more confident
I reently bought a used 2014 CLA 250 4Matic that had 40,000 miles on it and 4 18in blak AMG multispoke wheels. After I drove off the lot I noticed that the TPM was on and informed the dealership that I wiould liek that iixed before I purchase. They agreed to but however they did not so I pulled over to fill with air for I thought tire was low but soon found out it was not just a leak or low tire, it was a cracked rim that was more then 80% cracked in half. Now that said the car was given a full 150 point safety inspection so that th dealerchip could sell the car and it wwas road legal and had no issues. There is no way that a crack the size the rim has was not able to be seen by a macanic that would have for sure looked at the TPM issue for the light was on durning his inspection. I called the delaership to tell them they needed to fix this issue and giv eme a new rim and tire. They gave me a chek for 1000.00 to get new tire at discount tire. However the AMG rim is 1200.00 itself and I could not get a different rim for all the other rims are the AMG rims so being a 4matic all wheels and tire have to be the same and correct size or it will cause issues. Log story short I had to buy 4 new tires and wheels and it cost me 1500.00 and I got tires that were very bad compared to what I orgianlly purchased and thought I was getting when I prchaed my new car, The rims were a big reason I chose that car. Since they had runflat Perrlli tires on the rims it was a big reason I bough the car. I have a tire and rim warranty and the manufature warranty and aslo an additonal full coverage top level warrenty that will kick in when manufature warrnty expires at 50k miles. All I neeed was one AMG rim with tire and I would have ben fine now i am out 500.00 and have rims and tires I do not want. Do I have any legal recourse and if so do I take this issue up with mercedes the warrenty company or delaership. The dealership is liabilbe to sell a car that is road safe or the lemon law can come in effect of fraud for this is not an isssue that was not discussed prior to the purchase. I told them ther was an issue with a tire for the tire pressure sensor was indicating an issue and they said it would be fixed. After I drove off and sa wit was still there they toldd me it was just not reset but fine then after I go to get tire looked at and fixed at discount tire i see how bad the rack is. I feel this is illigal and that they owe me the fulll cost fo the repair and not just a partial payment. because it is awd 4 matic it equired all 4 tires to be changed for they id not give me enough to buy a replacment AMG rim to match the other rims on the car so I ha to replace all so they would not damage he 4matic timing and programing. This is a unique issue but with it being an issue that ame up 1 day after drove off lot and i have 3 arrantyys and it was sold by the dealership who had to know about this isssue but sinsce the rims were so expnesive tried to ignore it and hope it would go away. then tried to pay a small amount to fix but still did not cover the cost I had to pay i got the aposlut cheapest set up I could and that was even with every discount and rebate that the discount tire rep could help me with he even did not charge for the service fees only the rims and tires. The tiresthat were in ar when purchaed car are 900.00 a piece and the AMG rims 18 in are 1200.00 they found one used for 900.00 plus tax no tireso the $1000.00 provided to repair would not ee cover the tire or the rim. I got the cheapeat rims and cheapest tire disount tire sells. please let me know what i an do I have 30 days to retun the tires to discount tire if I can resolve in another way.I want to take legal action but want to mke sure i have the gound ot do so. I was discevied and solid a car that was not legallyy safe to drive so should have been not approved as a road legal vechile which is the most basic thing a dealership needs to make sure is addressed. This is not a small dealership it was the Large Ford Dealership in Renton WA. Let me know if i an go after ompenation for the fraud or msleading sale that took place an safty issue that it casued I could have been really hurt if I just drove like they told me to saying it wa ok just neededd to reset the waring light.
Unfortunately, this class action has ended with no succes. The court has dismissed both claims against Mercedes Benz, as well as Daimler.