Mercedes-Benz Class Action Lawsuit Says HVAC Systems Emit Mold Smell

UPDATE 2: On Dec. 26, 2020, Top Class Actions viewers started receiving settlement checks from the Mercedes HVAC class action settlement worth as much as $300. Congratulations to everyone who filed a claim and got PAID!

UPDATE: January 2020, the Mercedes HVAC class action settlement website is live. Click here for more information. 

A class action lawsuit claims that the HVAC systems in many Mercedes-Benz vehicles are moldy and emit “foul” smells.

Plaintiffs Rosa Grue of New York, Nicholas Baise of New Jersey, John Dudasik of Illinois, Gail Mahoney of Florida, and Todd Basler of Missouri have launched a class action lawsuit against Mercedes-Benz LLC and its parent company Daimler AG.

The five plaintiffs all drive Mercedes-Benz vehicles and claim that their vehicles’ heating, ventilation, and air condition (HVAC) systems possess a defect that caused them to grow mold and emit a strongly foul smell. The drivers say that the air emitted from the HVAC system is “highly unpleasant and can cause respiratory problems and aggravate allergies.”

Allegedly, the mildew smell gets worse after rain, and the smell permeates the whole vehicle when the air is turned on.

According to the class action lawsuit, the mold problem affects many Mercedes-Benz vehicles made between 2001 and 2018 because most of the company’s vehicles are equipped with the same HVAC system.

The customers claim that when they complained of the mildew smell to Mercedes-Benz, they were advised to fix the vehicle’s air filter or “flush” the HVAC system. However, the customers argue that these solutions were temporary and did not prevent the odor from returning.

The class action lawsuit alleges that Mercedes knew or should have known about the mildew problem but failed to reimburse customers for the costs of replacing the filter or flushing the system, and did not provide customers with an in-warranty fix that would correct the problem permanently.

The Mercedes-Benz class action lawsuit says that luxury car maker knew of the problem as early as 2008 because that year, customers launched an arbitration proceeding over the same issue. The complaint notes that Mercedes-Benz lost this arbitration proceeding.

Additionally, the class action lawsuit says that Mercedes-Benz has received numerous consumer complaints submitted directly to Mercedes and posted in online forums about the HVAC mold smell. To further support their claim that the company knew or should have known that the HVAC systems were defective, the customers note that the National Highway Transportation’s Office of Defect Investigation collected data related to the complaints made by drivers.

According to the class action lawsuit, “despite this knowledge, Mercedes failed to disclose and actively concealed the HVAC system defect from class members and the public, and continued to market and advertise the class vehicles as ‘sophisticated,’ ‘comfortable,’ and ‘state-of-the-art’ vehicles.”

The drivers’ lawyers went on to say in an email to Law360 that, in stark contrast to the vehicles’ adverting, the mold defect and Mercedes-Benz’s response to it is a “staggering betrayal of its so-called ‘luxury brand.’”

The drivers say that they were financially injured by Mercedes-Benz because had they known the vehicles were defective, they would not have purchased the vehicles or would not have paid as much for them as they did. They seek damages on behalf of themselves and all other similarly affected consumers.”

The drivers are represented by Jonathan D. Selbin, Annika K. Martin, Jason L. Lichtman and John T. Spragens of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP, Ketan A. Patel of Corpus Law Patel LLC, and Brandon J. Hill of Wenzel Fenton Cabassa PA.

The Mercedes-Benz Moldy HVAC Class Action Lawsuit is Nicholas Biase et al. v. Mercedes-Benz USA, Case No. 2:18-cv-17128, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.