Not to be Trusted

[sean sherry]

New A 200 caused a four Car Noise to Tail accident today..... The front and rear cameras are supposed to apply the brakes in an emergecy situation . In a 70k line of thaffic today with no Car in front of me the system suddenly slamed on the Brakes. Following Car was able to pull up but not the other following two. A lot of damage. My Car caused the crash. Many reports on the Net about this and that Mercedes is well aware of this problem. It seems it can't be switched off... We now feel very unsafe ,, it has happened on Motorways at speeds up to 120KPH . After a life time in the Motor trade I know what to expect from the Dealer.... We can't see anything wrong with the System "Sir "...
Then our only course of action will be to give them the Cars back, both of them .... Or we will see them in Court via Fair Trading. As a friend has sucessfully done with V W.

 

[BenzBoy]

Sean, what is the outcome of this? Have you asked for a field report from MB?
Regards,
Brian

 

[c107]

wow I hope you are ok Sean, that sounds terrible that the safety systems actually caused an accident.

 

[c107]

I assume this is the same issue:

Emergency Stop!

www.aclassclub.co.uk

 

[Oversize]

This will become more of an issue as electronic devices control critical systems. What was once just a minor glitch or gremlin could now be fatal. Be stuffed if I ever use a self driving car!!

 

[Patrick_R]

This is scary stuff.
I’ve not heard of this en mass before and I’m sure it was a terrible fright Sean.
How did the other people handle it, are they holding you responsible ?
What is the latest Sean, have you returned the cars?
Great info Bryce, thanks for posting.
Why is this still happening if it’s been an issue for so long?

 

[c107]

Presume Sean is not legally responsible even if his car caused the accident in reality. The normal expectation is that you should leave a gap so you can stop without impacting another car if the car in front of you panic stops (eg cat runs on road).

 

[Patrick_R]

Very true mate.
wouldn't stop me feeling like an a hole though.

 

[c107]

This is another tale, that is not quite the same, but ultimately a car stopping suddenly at freeway speed and the family feeling the car is not safe to drive even if its repaired:

https://www.news.com.au/technology/motoring/on-the-road/we-were-team-byd-canberra-familys-chinese-ev-nightmare/news-story/68e4c5c1640b75df2fa46d26a3b160c0

 

[Patrick_R]

There are a few holes and a few inaccuracies in that Bryce, but overall, not a good situation for the customers that’s for sure.
It's a real Shame as the customers seemed really nice and easy to work with.
FYI,
These people would have been put onto me if this sort of thing happened where I work. Totally different outcome for them, even though the issue would have been the same.

The biggest inaccuracy there is that yes the Chinese Government heavily subsidises the BEV’s for China domestic sales only.
They aren’t subsidised here.

 

[Michel]

There are a few holes and a few inaccuracies in that Bryce, but overall, not a good situation for the customers that’s for sure.
It's a real Shame as the customers seemed really nice and easy to work with.
FYI,
These people would have been put onto me if this sort of thing happened where I work. Totally different outcome for them, even though the issue would have been the same.

The biggest inaccuracy there is that yes the Chinese Government heavily subsidises the BEV’s for China domestic sales only.
They aren’t subsidised here.

They are subsidised where they need to be subsidised.
They are heavily subsidised in Europe and the USA.
There are no local manufacturers here, so they can discount them just enough to piss off the likes of Tesla.

 

[Patrick_R]

As I was unaware of BEV subsidies outside of Australia, I now know more thanks to Michel.
So that makes this very topical.

Proposed EU-China tariff passed

The latest general car news from GoAuto, Australia's most respected automotive website,

goauto.com.au

Tariffs on top of import duties. This will test the various Chinese companies resolve.

 

[BenzBoy]

Sean,
It's a week since your automatic-braking experience. Do you have an update for us?
Regards,
Brian

 

[Pete49]

I notice on the ozbenz site a post about a M271 motor in a clc200k with 90k kms on it and timing chain has gone bad. Owner priced repairs at $5-7k and it was mentioned that 50-100k is a normal thing in the first iteration of that motor. The car is a 2009 and valued at $9k. What on earth are they doing at Benz?

 

[sean sherry]

At Mercedes they hide behind their Lawyers stance....In many cases overseas they have sucessfuly got away with this issue. Even in America. The local Dealership is owned by an International Group and as such, they are just a small cog in the wheel. Have little clout with Mercedes. Nothing yet from Mercedes. I am expecting the same non result to my claim. Perhaps some bad publicity from the national Press and T V outlets will hit them were it hurts $$$$$$s. John Connolly from the Australian is going to take my case up with Mercedes. He sucssfuly aired the Engine issues with Mazda, cost them $$$$s and their otherwise good name.
I can't deal with them directly as they just refer customers to a call Centre in Malaisia A stone wall tactic. Sydney Dealer has put my case to them . I had to pressure them to do so.
My Lawyer Daughter has advised that their is not a problem with our cars ..they all have it..
Meantim both cars are still lockedup in our Garage, and we both will neve risk our lives by never driveing them again. Thank you all for your interest.

 

[Patrick_R]

I notice on the ozbenz site a post about a M271 motor in a clc200k with 90k kms on it and timing chain has gone bad. Owner priced repairs at $5-7k and it was mentioned that 50-100k is a normal thing in the first iteration of that motor. The car is a 2009 and valued at $9k. What on earth are they doing at Benz?

For a very long time, they are allowing accountants to have the say on their low to mid range bigger selling car design built to be cheap.
Once upon a time engineers designed their cars, and they were amongst the very best in the world.

 

[Oversize]

I notice on the ozbenz site a post about a M271 motor in a clc200k with 90k kms on it and timing chain has gone bad. Owner priced repairs at $5-7k and it was mentioned that 50-100k is a normal thing in the first iteration of that motor. The car is a 2009 and valued at $9k. What on earth are they doing at Benz?

The CLC was never renowned for its quality. The decade bw 2000-2010 should be avoided

 

[sean sherry]

For Michel . Can Jerry fill in a short Crack in the Rear Bumper with bumper repair filler. I did not see any Bumper damage at the time of the accident with A200 It opened after a few days sitting in the Garage. Bumper will of course need to be painted ??? Sean

 

[Michel]

For Sean,
That should be no problem.
Anytime after this week.
Give me a call (0402) 350350 and I'll book you in

 

[sean sherry]

Mercedes have picked up both Cars and will refund the Purchase Prices. Paper work now with them. Dealer will issue the refund and will be reimbursed by Mercedes Melbourne.
Luke the Sales manager, was confident all the way that they would pay up.
We are the largest Dealership in the Southern Hemisfere .
We have a Voice. Mercedes Alexandria.
Now driving a new Subaru Forrester ... a better Vehicle than the A 200 at $20K less !!!
Bev picks uo the new model Impreza on Friday...a big equippment improvement on previous models. A tried and proven Boxer Engine and AWD. Both have spare wheels !!!!
Loudest squeek gets the most Oil.. .............Linwood on Sunday Yes thanks