[Aditya]

Thanks to Prathish for sending this information in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this Team-BHP page!

Prathish had given his Mercedes-Benz GLA 200 CDI to M/s. Bridgeway Motors, Kerala on December 24, 2020 to sort out an ABS and ESP malfunction problem.

The dealership and Mercedes claim that they carried out a thorough diagnosis and replaced RPM sensors at no cost to the customer. They also found fault in the wheel carrier, wheel sensor, rear LHS & RHS tyres and have extended support and addressed the issues.

According to Prathish, the trailing arm mounting bolt of the car broke while driving on normal roads with one piece getting stuck in the hub. This was dangerous and caused other issues and resulted in a bill of Rs. 1.95 lakhs. The car, which is registered in 2016 has run 21,000 km.

The owner had to house his family in a small village with no transport for 7 day and had to make many calls to arrange the necessary parts. He wants an answer from Mercedes as to why the bolt broke and create a dangerous situation and result in so much expenditure.

Here are excerpts of the emails that were exchanged between Prathish and Mercedes-Benz.

From Mercedes-Benz:

This is in reference to your email dated 26th Dec ’20 pertaining to the captioned vehicle. We are in receipt of the necessary details from dealer M/s. Bridgeway Motors and have the following comments to offer in reciprocation.

In view to the above mentioned concern, we understand that the vehicle was reported to the dealership on 24th Dec ’20 due to ABS and ESP malfunction light appearing in the instrumental cluster. Accordingly, the dealership carried out a thorough diagnosis and replaced RPM sensors at no cost to you to address the concern. Also, as per their additional findings for wheel carrier, wheel sensor, rear LHS & RHS tyres, they have extended their best possible support and addressed the issues to your satisfaction.

From Prathish:

The dealership has done its best, I agree. However, the issue is not resolved yet.

1. I need to how the hub bolt broke into two pieces and one piece got stuck in the hub. This could have caused grave danger to my family . I am attaching the pictures of the broken part and part that's stuck in the hub. Like I had sent a mail earlier, this happened while driving on normal roads.

2. The total bill was Rs. 1.95 lakhs. Attached are the copies of the bill. The broken bolt was stuck in the hub and that caused the other issues. I was forced to claim insurance because of the huge cost for replacing the rear arm. I paid for the tyres. The insurance company mentioned to me over the phone that it's a mechanical failure. The car has just done 21,000 km and has been registered in 2016.

3. I have incurred the cost of housing my family in a small village for 7 days, had to deal with the distress for those 7 days with no transport and had to make numerous calls to co-ordinate the shipment of the parts to the dealer.

In no means is this issue resolved unless I get an answer regarding the broken part that caused grave danger and a huge cost. I am personally disappointed to see that Mercedes SUVs cannot perform on Indian roads. I had shortlisted the GLC 43 Coupe as one of the options for my next car. That's now unlikely as I am disappointed due to the grave danger posed to my family, laxity in getting parts on time, the distressed caused and the financial burden caused by a broken part that no one seems to want to answer about.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line.

[ajmat]

The bolt sheared. Unless the owner was "yumping" or the bolt was overtightened, it should rarely fail. Mercedes should provide a goodwill contribution for this.

BTW, the cost looks to be around Rs 1.4 Lakhs as remainder are for tyres etc.

Edit - It just struck me that the bolt shear was discovered during removal, otherwise you would not have both ends of the hub carrier. It is possible that the bolt sheared on installation with air airgun and no one knew. The fact that the snapped ends are tarnished points to this being a likely case. As the result the hub carrier got distorted over time. The bolt does not look distorted so it cannot be abnormal loading.

This needs to be escalated to Mercedes

[Bibendum90949]

So this can happen with the German 'kingpin'(pun intended ) too, not just Korean twins, reason for failure notwithstanding. After all car is a mechanical thing and is bound to fail. No way I mean to defend the celebrated Korean twins here. We all know off late that their QC leaves a lot to be desired.

[Emvi]

Exactly ! Without defending or degrading anyone, such mechanical failures are not uncommon these days across car brands. It is worrisome, if the failures have a particular pattern.

Nonethess, it is really tough to whoever goes through such ordeals.

[citydweller]

Replacing a faulty exhaust sensor of a Volvo car (don't remember the model) costed around INR one hundred thousand.

[kadanaJ]

Big bills are expected with luxury cars, but being stranded in some village for 7 days sounds like a terrible ordeal

I'd rather keep a nice reliable Fortuner for such outstation trips, over a complicated German.

[tushar_j]

This might be a bit off-topic. I saw a Merc in Pune actually break at the CV joint when I was riding my bike behind it. Its rear wheels opened up like a bird's wings; both were horizontal. And this was at a time when there was no Ola Uber.

[autotranny]

Originally Posted by kadanaJ

Big bills are expected with luxury cars, but being stranded in some village for 7 days sounds like a terrible ordeal

A bit off topic - but seems like a village with a Mercedes Service Centre nearby,

I'm assuming that the incident happened in or around Malappuram or Palakkad, in Kerala, given that Bridgeway Malappuram service center was the nearest.

Hardly qualifies to be a village when you have 'cities' like Calicut, Coimbatore, Thrissur and Cochin all below 100 km radius.