The above quality defects, such as the accumulation of water in the carriage and the leakage of fuel pipes, occurred on an imported Mercedes-Benz car with a total mileage of only about 3200 kilometers.
Recently, Ms. Lin of Shanghai reported to Consumer Report that the Mercedes-Benz CLA car she purchased had the above quality problems, and she proposed to return the car, but did not get the consent of Mercedes-Benz.
So, why did Ms. Lin's vehicle have the above failure? What are the solutions for Mercedes-Benz? Does the vehicle involved meet the conditions for returning the car in the three-guarantee policy? Consumer Report conducted an interview on this.
There is water in the carriage, and the owner of the car says that he can raise fish.
"Leaking water and oil, how dare I drive such a car?" Ms. Lin said in an interview with Consumer Report.
In August 2021, Ms. Lin purchased an imported CLA 200 car at a Mercedes-Benz official 4S store in Shanghai. Unexpectedly, this imported luxury car brought endless troubles to Ms. Lin.
Ms. Lin said that on January 26, 2022, she was driving her car and found water in the carriage. "It was raining heavily in Shanghai that day, and I noticed that there was a reflection on the floor of the co-pilot's position, and I found that there seemed to be water on the floor of the co-pilot's position and the floor behind the co-pilot's seat."
Photos and videos provided by Ms. Lin show that the foot pads on the floor of the co-pilot position are already soaked, and there is a lot of standing water under the feet. "The water can raise fish, but the seats and the inside of the doors are dry." Ms. Lin said.
▲The vehicle was towed to the 4S shop (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)
Subsequently, Ms. Lin sent the car to the Mercedes-Benz 4S store where the car was purchased for maintenance. "The maintenance staff removed all the seats of the vehicle to check for water leakage points, only to find that the interior of the compartment under the co-pilot floor was covered with water, and many of the vehicle's lines had been soaked with water."
▲Vehicles with water in the carriage are overhauled at the 4S shop (photo provided by the interviewee)
The maintenance work order provided by the 4S shop shows that the total mileage of Ms. Lin's vehicle at the time of the incident was about 3200 kilometers. After preliminary inspection, it was found that Ms. Lin's vehicle "has a normal appearance and no wade marks", so why does the car that has been purchased for less than half a year and has a mileage of only about 3200 kilometers have the problem of water accumulation in the carriage?
"The after-sales manager of the 4S store told me that the water ingress was ingressed because the wheel sealant on the right side of the vehicle was not bonded enough, but they did not write the cause of the failure into the maintenance work order." Ms. Lin said.
Fuel lines leak oil, quality problems emerge endlessly
However, when Ms. Lin was troubled by the problem of water ingress into the carriage, her car was inspected and other quality problems were found.
"In the process of overhauling the vehicle, the 4S shop found that there was an oil leakage phenomenon in the fuel pipe of my car, and if it was not the water in the carriage to repair, I did not know that there was a problem of oil leakage." Ms. Lin said.
▲Inspection found that there was fuel pipe leakage in the vehicle (photo provided by the interviewee)
"The water soaking of the vehicle line and the leakage of fuel pipes are all quality problems that affect personal safety, and I hope that Mercedes-Benz can provide reasonable and feasible solutions." To this end, Ms. Lin questioned the quality control and quality of the vehicles involved, and made a request to the 4S store and Mercedes-Benz to return the car, but it was not resolved.
Regarding the causes of Ms. Lin's frequent vehicle failures and the corresponding solutions, Consumer Reports got in touch with the Mercedes-Benz 4S store where Ms. Lin bought the car, and a customer service manager said that the problem reflected by Ms. Lin was indeed true, and the 4S store had completed the vehicle maintenance. "We understand the owner's mood very well, from the perspective of customer care, we can also provide compensation measures such as extended warranty for the owner, but the owner does not accept it, put forward the demand for returning the car, we also helped feedback to the manufacturer, but it does not meet the conditions for returning the car in the three-guarantee policy."
Regarding the cause of the vehicle failure, a technician involved in the 4S shop said: "From the appearance of the vehicle involved, there is no trace of wading and collision, the vehicle leakage is caused by the damage of a sealing accessory behind the right front tire of the vehicle, and the fuel pipe leakage is found in the process of repairing the water leakage problem, and the above faults have been repaired and the problem has been solved." ”
At the same time, in response to Ms. Lin's questions, Consumer Reports sent interview letters to Mercedes-Benz China and Beijing Benz, but had not received a reply as of press time.
Guo Xiaoming, a lawyer at Shanghai Zhonglian (Chengdu) Law Firm, a well-known legal blogger @ Tandian, pointed out that according to the relevant provisions of the three-pack policy for automobiles, household automobile products can ask the seller to return the car within 60 days from the date of the validity period of the three guarantees or within 3,000 kilometers of the mileage (whichever comes first).
"In this case, at the time of the incident, Ms. Lin's vehicle had been purchased for more than 60 days, and the total mileage had exceeded 3,000 kilometers, which did not meet the conditions for returning the car, and her demand for returning the car may not be supported." It is suggested that the owner can ask the 4S shop to repair the vehicle for free and negotiate a reasonable compensation claim. If the two parties fail to negotiate, the owner of the car can request the Consumer Association to intervene in mediation, or report to the market supervision and management department, or directly file a lawsuit with the people's court. ”
Sales declined, were named by the CBRC, and Mercedes-Benz was in turmoil
In addition to the vehicle quality problems reflected by the above-mentioned owners, Mercedes-Benz has recently been in turmoil in China.
Affected by the shortage of chips caused by the new crown epidemic, Mercedes-Benz delivered 759,000 units in the Chinese market in 2021, which is about 100,000 units different from BMW's annual sales of 846,000 vehicles. Compared with 2020, Mercedes-Benz's sales in the Chinese market fell for the first time in nearly 10 years, down 2.0% year-on-year.
▲Mercedes-Benz ranks first in the number of domestic passenger car recalls in 2021 (Draft: Consumer Report)
Although sales have declined, Mercedes-Benz's recalls have reached new highs. According to the statistics of Consumer Report, in 2021, Mercedes-Benz recalled 2.7812 million cars in China throughout the year, which is the brand with the largest number of recalls. Among them, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class is the most recalled model in the past year, reaching 741,600 units. In addition, in terms of other models, mercedes-benz E-class 587,200 units, Mercedes-Benz GRC 563,800 units, Mercedes-Benz S-class 159,100 units, Mercedes-Benz A-class 146,500 units. Although the recall measures were remedied in a timely manner, repeated quality problems may also reduce the trust and loyalty of some consumers to Mercedes-Benz.
▲Screenshot from the official website of the Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission
Not only that, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services has also been repeatedly named and punished by regulatory authorities for violations. On February 10, the official website of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission released the "Circular on the Infringement of the Legitimate Rights and Interests of Consumers by Mercedes-Benz Auto Finance Co., Ltd.", showing that the on-site inspection found that Mercedes-Benz Auto Finance Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Mercedes-Benz Auto Finance") had four acts of infringing on the rights and interests of consumers: first, the promotional materials did not clearly state the provider of the loan product; second, the information disclosure of service price information did not meet the requirements; third, the standard terms and conditions for the authorized use of consumer information did not follow the principles of legality, legitimacy and necessity; 3. The implementation of the review of consumer rights and interests protection is not in place. The circular pointed out that the above-mentioned behavior of Mercedes-Benz Auto Finance infringes on consumers' right to know and their right to make independent choices, and there are hidden dangers of consumer information security risks. Mercedes-Benz Auto Finance has been rectified in accordance with regulatory requirements.
It is worth noting that this is not the first time mercedes-Benz auto finance has violated the law. According to Tianyancha data, in September 2019, Mercedes-Benz Financial was fined a total of 800,000 yuan by the Beijing Municipal Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau for "serious deficiencies in the management of outsourcing activities". In November 2021, Mercedes-Benz Financial was fined 400,000 yuan by the Beijing Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau for exposing inadequate business continuity management and serious violations of prudential business rules due to the interruption of core business systems.
With product quality defects, arbitrary charges for car sales, and declining sales, Mercedes-Benz has to face not only individual consumer complaints, but also the challenge of how to maintain a leading position in the fiercely competitive Chinese luxury car market. Whether real gold is not afraid of fire, Mercedes-Benz also needs to come up with more high-quality products and intimate services to deal with. Those behaviors that are incompatible with the brand image will eventually regurgitate the seemingly indispensable traditional luxury brands. Consumer Report will also continue to pay attention to the above-mentioned Mercedes-Benz owners' rights protection incidents.