Mercedes-Benz Defective Fuel Tank Class Action Lawsuit

UPDATE 6/11/13: Judge trims several claims from the Mercedes-Benz Gas Tank Leak Class Action Lawsuit, but allows plaintiffs to proceed.

Mercedes-Benz knowingly concealed a defect in the duel tank assembly of model year 2003-2009 Mercedes-Benz E-Class vehicles that poses a severe safety risk to consumers even when there is no collision or impact to the vehicle, a federal class action lawsuit claims.

According to the Mercedes fuel tank defect class action lawsuit, the alleged fuel tank defect causes gasoline vapor to leak inside the vehicle cabin and liquid gasoline to leak outside of the vehicle. 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 safety hazard, the alleged defect also wastes money owners spend on gas, the class action lawsuit says.

Failure to adequately contain raw gasoline and gasoline fumes render the Mercedes vehicles unsafe to drive and unsafe to store in garages due to the potential for explosions and sickness, the class action lawsuit continues. The lawsuit further alleges that exposure to gasoline vapor is dangerous for vehicle occupants, and can cause respiratory problems, nausea, loss of coordination, loss of consciousness, and even cancer.

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.

Class Members of the class action lawsuit say they never would have purchased their Mercedes-Benz vehicles had they known of the safety defect contained within the fuel tank. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into the gasoline leaks in 2003-2006 Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG vehicles on January 23, 2012. A subsequent recall was issued, but only applied to E55 AMG vehicles. On top of that, the class action lawsuit says, the recall didn’t work, as many consumers are still reporting gasoline leaks.

The federal government, through NHTSA, requires car manufacturers to notify consumers of known safety problems and fix them at no charge to the consumer.

The Mercedes-Benz Gas Leak Class Action Lawsuit covers model year 2003-2009 Mercedes-Benz E350, E500, E55 AMG and E63 AMG vehicles. A copy of the class action lawsuit can be found here.

The case is McCabe, et al. v. Daimler AG, et al., Case No. 12-cv-2494, Northern District of Georgia.