[invidious]

India needs a lemon law. Plain and simple.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon_law

Should apply to new cars and used dealers who sell more than 10 cars / month.

If in 60 days in purchase of new vehicle or 30 in purchase of used one, a major fault like engine failure or multiple minor faults are discovered - should be obligated to buy back at full sticker price paid by the consumer.

[Kalash_6324]

Sad to hear the ordeal you've had to endure and hope something positive comes out of this at the end.

As a brand loyalist, I'd say do not let this paint a negative image of Mercedes Benz.
Although unacceptable, this is probably just an anomaly and you just happened to be on the receiving end of an unfortunate event.

Back in 2008, we'd just taken delivery of a brand new E280 which experienced a complete turbo failure after just 3000 kilometres.
We were surprised and in a similar state of mind as you are at the moment.
Upon having understood the problem at a technical level, we wrote letters to MB India & Germany, mentioning our previous relations with the brand and after a bit of back and forth they agreed to replace the entire turbo unit along with all the related auxillary systems, while also agreeing to cover any future issues that might pop up.

I'd recommend you work the phones a bit and get a little behind them to ensure a proper solution (replacement of the vehicle) is provided.
Of course, keep your lawyers posted and maintain records of any communication.

[WorkingGuru]

India doesn't have the required lemon laws to protect its car-buyers. To be honest, if the owners want a resolution within a reasonable time, they're at Mercedes Benzs' mercy.

Sorry to be a wet blanket, I can guess that, at most, Mercedes would wash off their hands & extend the warranty on all the changed parts. I'd be surprised if the car was exchanged.

[Ansys]

Also please write to Autocar India. They will surely publish it. The editor, Hormazd Sorabjee is extremely influential.

Originally Posted by sameerpatel90

Dear Fellow Member,

I hope the below mentioned email and office addresses are sufficient for putting up your grievance and further escalations. Please write a detailed description of your concern, I hope to see a prompt response in the next 2-5 business working days. As a Team-BHPian any assistance required we are all there. Provision of complainant making an appeal to the appellate authority shall come up with the redressal of your concern.

MOD NOTE - Please quote ONLY the relevant bits of a post. Quoting a full, long post inconveniences our mobile readers.

Thanks!

[vsrivatsa]

Originally Posted by GTO

In my opinion, there is ONLY one solution = a brand new, properly functioning GLE 450 to replace this lemon.

This is sad and yes a new car is the right solution, but just wondering, where does the buck stop here?
Do the dealers have any kind of insurance that covers such scenarios as this may be a manufacturing defect for which they are not responsible.
Or, would they be able to pass it on back to the manufacturer since the money at stake here is quite heavy.

Originally Posted by Ansys

Also please write to Autocar India. They will surely publish it. The editor, Hormazd Sorabjee is extremely influential.

Yes, I remember reading here on Team-BHP that AutoCar helped in mediation during the Skoda fight as well.

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by vsrivatsa

This is sad and yes a new car is the right solution, but just wondering, where does the buck stop here?

As of now, we know what this person has told us. There can be some other conditions that we are not aware. This is a 2020 brand new model, so Kits will be completely CBU. I am not sure about the engine though, if that's being assembled in India or coming from Germany. It's equipped with 48V mild hybrid which is a kind of new in this range.

Car registrations cost a lot and if the dealership wants to keep it, they will be technically second owner. They have offered guaranteed buy back after a certain period and may even offer longer warranty/ service pack or even some compensation.

If it does not convince the owner, Dealership should buyback the car, replace engine and sell the car to someone disclosing the job carried out with an extended warranty & Discount. I don't see them losing more than a few lacs and given the way MB works, this should be possible.

[aniketi]

Dear owner - don't agree on anything apart from complete car replacement. Just stick to it and ask for freebies as a token for your mental harrassment and inconvenience caused due to all this. Let Mercedes prove that its world's number one.

[Yieldway17]

Originally Posted by invidious

India needs a lemon law. Plain and simple.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon_law

Should apply to new cars and used dealers who sell more than 10 cars / month.

If in 60 days in purchase of new vehicle or 30 in purchase of used one, a major fault like engine failure or multiple minor faults are discovered - should be obligated to buy back at full sticker price paid by the consumer.

Lemon laws doesn't guarantee a replacement car for a single major failure in the US, at least not in most states.

As the wiki article you linked says, it varies based on number of factors and if a manufacturer repairs the car in a reasonable time and number of attempts, Lemon Law cannot be triggered.

I will go against the grain here and will say that if MB replaces a new engine in a reasonable amount of time and provides extended warranty, there is no legal path for the owners. It sucks and I will absolutely be devastated if it's my car but that's what it is. MB can do a goodwill replacement but I believe that there is no way they are obligated to.

[devsoftech]

I believe I'm qualified to speak on this. I have a North American 2020 version of GLE350 (7-seater, with tech package loaded to the gills). The parktronic failure or engine stalling was a common issue for early adopters like us. In my case they traced it to throttle body. For some 450 owners it was traced to ESP module. The dealership took one month to diagnose the issue. I did not have any engine related issue. Engine defect is not usual but my friends had their C300's engine replaced after driving 40000 miles/2 years. He also was not privileged for an entire replacement.

Read about GLE450 issues here:
https://mbworld.org/forums/gle-class...ml#post8089962

And my post/ordeal here, for those interested (my car lost power doing highway speeds, never had this issue in my previous 9 cars that I have owned before and this is my first Mercedes):
https://mbworld.org/forums/gle-class...ml#post7909319


Also lemon law (in this case, California), kicks in only on subsequent 3rd visit for the same issue.

I'm no brand ambassador, but at one point I thought I don't want to drive the repaired / unreliable car anymore. While it was being repaired, I also had felt entitled to a replacement , but Mercedes will not cave in easily. They have learnt from life threatening failures from us, and last year I was only of the early adopters.

[adwaith]

Quite unfortunate. If they aren't happy please direct them to a consumer redressal forum. The new law is pro-consumer and holds the company and dealer liable.

This may also affect resale value of the vehicle considering that any car with anything replaced is looked at warily by second hand buyers and the engine obviously is the most important part of a car. That buyback offer may not cut it.

Playing the devil's advocate, the dealer will also be faced with a loss of close to a crore considering the rest is their margin. If they had to replace the car, they would have to sell this one after refurbishing again at a loss. They will fight it as hard as they can.

Unless, of course, the company itself is ready to bear the losses and make the replacement.

[mjpatel222]

Sorry to hear about your problems but unfortunately such quality related issues are becoming increasingly common. I am not sure where your model is made or assembled but a good friend of mine (who worked for Mercedes showroom for decades) basically told me to steer clear of Mercs (particularly those assembled in India) and go for an Audi (which I did) when I was considering buying one three years ago.

[arijit_chat2006]

And here I was assuming, since these are premium/luxury brands, we would be spared from the regular horror stories that we keep coming across from the not so premium brands, which us "average joes" can afford.

Although I'm sure there are far many satisfied customers for these brands than the disappointed ones, even if some day I have the kind of money to purchase such a beauty, I would rather stay away and purchase something from the non-luxury brands, solely due to the fact that I don't have such strong a heart which can bear this sort of horror after spending such a fortune.

On the topic that GTO has posted on behalf of the OP, with my fellow bhpians that a brand new replacement car is the only way to instill some confidence in the brand for the owner now.

[manchandap]

Originally Posted by adwaith

Quite unfortunate. If they aren't happy please direct them to a consumer redressal forum. The new law is pro-consumer and holds the company and dealer liable.

Sorry, to hear this loss. We buy our cars with utmost passion and incidents like these not only impact financially but also emotionally.

With my limited legal knowledge, the buyers can directly approach the NCDRC since the value of goods/services is more than INR 1 crore. Please factor in the legal cost and time it will take to get justice.

[VineetG]

It was mentioned that the reason for engine replacement was because of a failed fuel pump. Does that mean that for Mercedes, one has to replace the complete engine in case of fuel pump malfunction

What if the fuel pump failure happens outside of warranty. Would Mercedes ask for 10-15L minimum for repairs? Such practices are strong enough reasons to avoid the brand

[smack_himanshu]

Not sure about engine malfunction light, but there was some engine oil leakage issue with my friend's 1 year old(7000 km) Duster and dealership only agreed to change the engine.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...ml#post4746634 (Engine oil leak in 1 year old Duster - Renault offers to replace engine)