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A class action lawsuit has been filed against Mercedes-Benz USA by eight customers who allege that the vehicles contain a defect in the headrests which compromises the safety of the occupants.
The plaintiffs claim that an “active head restraint” (AHR) is implanted in the headrest which is supposed to spring forward if the car is involved in a rear-end collision.
The AHR is designed to catch the occupant’s head and prevent whiplash. The AHR on the Mercedes is known as the NECK-PRO.
The Mercedes class action lawsuit states that, under normal conditions, the NECK-PRO can deploy without having an impact from a collision and hit the back of the occupant’s head.
“The force of the impact not only causes serious bodily harm to the head and neck, but also creates a risk of collision when the headrest deploys—suddenly and without warning—while the vehicle is being driven,” the plaintiffs say.
The Mercedes class action lawsuit notes that there is a plastic piece that is inside the AHR that fails prematurely. The plaintiffs say that this piece is made of an “inferior and inexpensive form of plastic which cracks and breaks down prematurely under the constant pressure exerted by the springs in the AHR.”
The plaintiffs allege that there are at least hundreds of thousands of vehicles equipped with the defective plastic piece and there is no warning as to when the AHR in the headrest will deploy.
The Mercedes class action states that the defendants knew about the safety defect when customers started bringing in their vehicles into dealerships and from looking at consumer complaints that were filed with the National Highway Transportation Administration.
In addition, the plaintiffs maintain that Mercedes was “intimately involved” with the testing and design of the AHR systems and were aware of the inferior plastic being used in the headrests.
“Despite this knowledge, Mercedes nevertheless approved the defective AHRs for use in its vehicles and denies that this defect exists,” the Mercedes class action complaint argues.
The plaintiffs state that regardless of knowing the dangers caused by the defect in the headrest, Mercedes has not taken any action to fix the problem and still sell cars that have the defective NECK-PRO. In addition, Mercedes reportedly hasn’t issued a recall on the defective part or contacted vehicle owners to apprise them of the defect.
To be sure, Mercedes has refused to cover the costs of replacing the defective AHRs after they deploy and, in fact, blame the customer and deny any responsibility for the defective part, the plaintiffs say.
In addition, the Mercedes class action lawsuit states that the defendant hides the defect in the AHR by blaming the spontaneous deployment on other problems with the car.
“Mercedes has at all relevant times, been aware of the true issue: the AHR was designed with an inferior, inappropriate, and inexpensive plastic component that breaks under the tensed force of the springs,” the plaintiffs state.
Potential Class Members in this action include: “All persons in the United States who currently own or lease, or who have owned or leased, one or more vehicles manufactured by Mercedes, or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates, which are equipped with headrests containing the defective AHR.”
Have you experienced the AHR suddenly deploying? Share your story in the comment section below.
The plaintiffs are represented by Benjamin Widlanski, Harley S. Tropin, Gail McQuilkin, Rachel Sullivan, and Robert J. Neary of Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton LLP, George Franjola of Gilligan Gooding Franjola & Batsel PA, Jack Scarola of Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley PA, and Michael Burger of Santiago Burger LLP.
The Mercedes Active Head Restraint Class Action is Lewis, et al. v. Mercedes-Benz USA LLC, et al., Case No. 9:19-cv-81220, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
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78 thoughts onMercedes Class Action Says Active Head Restraints Suddenly Deploy
My car was a 2013 C250 Mercedes
Mine too
7/28/22 I was driving to lunch and suddenly as I went to turn into the restaurant parking lot my headrest deployed hitting me suddenly in the back of the head. It took me a minute to realize what had happened. I thought I was being hit or something. Very dangerous and a very sore neck.
What can I do to get this repaired.
Omg me too mine deployed popping me in my head
Same issue with me. I thought something flew out of the back of the car and hit me!!
Head rest on pax side e350 2010 just randomly deployed. I thought maybe this extreme heat caused it, but repair center sent me this info. It is not fixed.
It already happened before on drivers side too-while at the car wash. Thank God I was not in the car.
It is truly a poor design.
And Mercedes will not admit
To poor design.
My driver’s side headrest deployed in 2020 while a 4 year old was letting the seat back. I contacted Mercedes-Benz and spoke with an Executive Referral Manager name Andrea who offered me an insufficient 10% discount on a $700 defected product. I never repaired the seat. A couple weeks ago my passenger seat headrest deployed while I was at work. When I came back to the car it had deployed with the black plastic pieces on the seat and inside the open headrest. I called and spoke with an Executive Referral Manager name Hona who offered me a 20% discount, which was basically just another 10% off of the other headrest. I called back and the representative claimed no manager was available to speak with me, but I had to wait up to 4 days for a manager to call me back, yet she placed me on hold for about 5 minutes in which time I am sure she spoke with a manager. This treatment is shameful coming from Mercedes. I want both my headrest fixed free of charge as soon as possible. I would like to be involved with a suit and may even call the news to report these incidents.
Unfortunately, I am just learning about the Mercedes headrest defect. My son just brought it to my attention about this lawsuit. I’m setting here in the hospital as I am posting this comment waiting for the doctors to come out to tell me my husbands surgery went well. Our Mercedes headrest caused his neck break.
My C300 2014 deployed both headrests unexpectedly. My head snapped forward like I had been rear ended. My dealer says they will charge $200 and upwards to reset. I’d like to join the class action lawsuit but don’t know how to get on board. Any ideas?
I have a GLK350 2013. It just happened to us. My husband was driving on a flat road 40 mph, and all the sudden, it was a loud explosive noise. The headrest hit the back of his head. Initially, he thought he was hit by another from the back, but found out it was the headrest deployed. I took my car to dealership, they wanted to charge me $919.50 plus tax for a new headrest. When i questioned What if I get a new headrest and that deploy again and what about the passenger side? what if it deploy? dealership responded “I have no crystal ball to see the future”. I am not sure if I should pay for a brand new headrest but it may deploy again. I am pregnant I feel not safe to drive my GLK now.
Hello, I have a 2013 Merc my drivers headrest deployed for no apparent reason hitting me in the back of my head/neck causing in my option at the very least a mild concussion Ive had a headache for days now! This is not laughable matter who should I contact about potential recourse. Any information will be helpful ty rob
Same thing happened to my 2008 c300. How do I join this?
The head restraint in my 2015 GLK has failed during a drive on a very smooth section of road I took it to the dealer and was charged approx. $85 to fix only to have it happen a couple of days later, this time I reset the head restraint but couldn’t reset the message of failure in the instrument cluster I went to the dealer to have reset and they said they would not reset unless they did the repairs.