Mercedes Class Action Says HVAC Defect Merits Warranty Coverage

UPDATE 4: 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 3: January 2020, the Mercedes HVAC class action settlement website is live. Click here for more information. 

UPDATE 2: On Dec. 18, 2018, a Georgia federal judge denied Mercedes-Benz’s motion to dismiss a class action which alleged that the vehicles’ air systems smell moldy.

UPDATE: On March 12, 2018, a federal judge trimmed claims from a class action lawsuit alleging that Mercedes-Benz HVAC systems are defective, allowing mold to grow.

Two Georgia vehicle owners allege Mercedes-Benz has failed to offer an adequate solution to a defect in Mercedes HVAC systems.

Plaintiffs Sunil Amin and Trushar Patel say the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems in several models of Mercedes vehicles allow the growth of mold and mildew inside them.

This accumulation then causes Mercedes HVAC systems to fill the vehicles’ cabins with an unbearable mildew smell, making them unusable for their intended purpose, the plaintiffs claim.

According to this Mercedes class action lawsuit, the HVAC system fails to adequately drain the condensation that it produces. The buildup of condensation creates “a moist, hospitable environment for the growth of bacteria, fungus, mold, and spores, which then are blown into the passenger cabin when the HVAC System is in use.”

“The mold-carrying air has a foul, mildewy smell that is highly unpleasant and can cause respiratory problems and aggravate allergies,” the plaintiffs say. They claim the smell happens every time the HVAC system is turned on, and that the problem gets worse during humid weather or after rain.

The company has failed to adequately address the alleged defect through warranty claims, according to this Mercedes HVAC class action lawsuit.

Plaintiffs say all that Mercedes has offered to do in response to customer complaints has been to offer temporary fixes that fail to address the root cause of the problem. The company has allegedly tried to remedy the defect by cleaning out the Mercedes HVAC system and replacing the cabin air filter.

But according to the plaintiffs, these fixes are only temporary. Even after implementing these fixes, the Mercedes HVAC system continues to accumulate condensation, mold and mildew, and the mildew smell eventually returns, the plaintiffs say.

And instead of covering these proffered fixes under the manufacturer’s warranty, Mercedes requires vehicle owners to pay for them out-of-pocket, according to the plaintiffs.

The vehicles in question come from more than a dozen different Mercedes classes, from model years as early as 1999 to as late as 2017. Amin and Patel say the Mercedes HVAC systems on all these vehicles are substantially the same, and they all have the same defect that causes the mildew growth in question.

Amin and Patel propose to represent a statewide plaintiff Class consisting of residents of Georgia who purchased or leased any of the Mercedes HVAC-equipped vehicles at issue.

They seek a court order requiring Mercedes to repair the HVAC defect on Class Members’ cars, expanding warranty coverage as needed to make the repairs free of charge and reassessing all prior warranty claims related to the defect.

The plaintiffs also seek an award of compensatory, exemplary and statutory damages, restitution and disgorgement of profits, and reimbursement of attorneys’ fees and costs of litigation.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys are Ketan A. Patel of Corpus Law Patel LLC, and Jonathan D. Selbin and Annika K. Martin of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP.

The Mercedes HVAC Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Sunil Amin and Trushar Patel v. Mercedes-Benz USA LLC and Daimler AG, Case No. 1:17-cv-01701, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.