Recall - Oil Leak Issue

[Jon Brennan]

hello everyone, i am having a bit of a disaster with my mercedes c220D. I lease the car from Merc (vai a broker) and have had it for 2.5 years so its still in warranty. however, the car had a breakdown yesterday on th motorway and it was apparent the cause was an oil leak due to the volume of oil leaking from the underside of the car.
I have now been advised that the engine has seized and that i am liable for the cost of the replacement.
apparently there was a recall issued on the car and that as a result of not having the work done the car is now my issue.
however, i do not ever recall having received a notification. as i have not had the car serviced by a main dealership they do not advise their approved service partners of the need for the part to be replaced and so it has gone unnoticed.
I feel that im being left high and dry with a car that is in warranty and yet MB are using a piece a of paper as complete exoneration for their car. I am not even sure if we ever received the letter as it may have gone to Mercedes as they are the registered owners of the car.
Is this normal? Surely with such a serious potential fault they would make sure that the car was brought in and that by specific points in time reminders would have been sent out? i am now looking at a bill in the thousands for a car that is due to have the keys handed back in a matter of weeks?
Please can someone help me out on this and advise?

 

[AMGeed]

Stand your ground. If you didn't receive any recall its hardly your fault.
As you lease from MB (and they are the legal owner of the car are they not?), they are at fault for not calling you to bring the car in for the modification

Is there anything written in your lease contract that states you must have the car serviced at a MB main dealer?
I see you had the car serviced at an "approved service partner"

Welcome to the forum Jon. Shame its such a depressing kind of first post for you.
The above is only a personal opinion and please treat as such.

 

[Jon Brennan]

Thanks for your input. It’s sincerely appreciated. It has been serviced outside of MB but by an authorised specialist who has uploaded all of the work to MB and they are 110% happy with that and it complies with my agreement. There is absolutely no question over the serving. The car is absolutely immaculate as I look after it as if it is my own.
In my simple terms I know the car isn’t mine to sell or modify in any way as it’s leased from MB so I assume they are the registered owners (I don’t think I have the V5 document etc). I just feel really let down and that I am carrying the can for a documented issue that they don’t seem to have invested enough effort in ensuring has been completed. I understand if it’s a cosmetic issue a letter may suffice, but a serious fault must in some way increase their duty of care to me and ensure it is actioned. Moreover, given the fact that the issue happened at full speed on the motorway in hindsight I am feeling more aggrieved that it could have led to an accident and that the same notification acts like a great big ‘get Out of jail card’ for MB. It’s looking like thousands of pounds that I pay for a car that they knew was faulty? I am sure if I hadn’t paid my instalments they would have sent more than one letter to me and would sure as hell make me acknowledge it!!!

 

[AMGeed]

I think it may be wise to consider some legal advice as the final bill for this could be rather high.

If you are positive you received no notification either by letter, email or telephone, I think you should have the law on your side from where I see it. I would think MB have to prove you were informed of a recall.

 

[Jon Brennan]

Thanks very much. Trading Standards have already advised me to request some information from MB. One of these is the proof of receipt of the letter. I will post back the progress and outcome as this could be a widespread issue!

 

[AMGeed]

Good luck!

 

[sonic]

When was the recall issued, & have you had a service since then? Its rare to recall a car between services. Is anyone else with a C class aware of this recall?
I can't see how you are liable. You lease the car & service it according to the lease company's instructions.

 

[Jon Brennan]

When was the recall issued, & have you had a service since then? Its rare to recall a car between services. Is anyone else with a C class aware of this recall?
I can't see how you are liable. You lease the car & service it according to the lease company's instructions.

I honestly don’t know when the recall was issued as I don’t ever remember having it. However, it was serviced only a coupe of months ago. MB said that because I didn’t take it to them or the service (which I am not contractually obliged to do) and they don’t issue recall notifications to their approved non-MB network it wouldn’t have ever been highlighted at a service. What confuses me is that the service engineer has software that tells him what he needs to do for any given service which must be uploaded and maintained by MB, so why couldn’t they have added this documented issue to the service instructions? If nothing else it would be another check and balance in place . I’m not obliged to use MB but they don’t equip their approved network with sufficient information that they themselves have. At best seems a massive gap in the process.

 

[sonic]

I honestly don’t know when the recall was issued as I don’t ever remember having it. However, it was serviced only a coupe of months ago. MB said that because I didn’t take it to them or the service (which I am not contractually obliged to do) and they don’t issue recall notifications to their approved non-MB network it wouldn’t have ever been highlighted at a service. What confuses me is that the service engineer has software that tells him what he needs to do for any given service which must be uploaded and maintained by MB, so why couldn’t they have added this documented issue to the service instructions? If nothing else it would be another check and balance in place . I’m not obliged to use MB but they don’t equip their approved network with sufficient information that they themselves have. At best seems a massive gap in the process.

I smell a rat! This is just a big get out from MB. There are a few Indies on the chatline so I am sure they will comment.
You really need to know all the details of the recall, date & exact fault. Also exactly what failed on your engine to cause the oil leak. I just can't believe what MB are saying.
The bottom line is MB are the owner of the car, its up to them to ensure the car is recalled. What steps have they taken to locate you & the car?

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

I’m not a lawyer but I think that it’s up to MB to prove that the recall notification was sent out to your address. If they can’t prove this they don’t have a case and the cost of the repair falls to them. I would definitely take legal advice, contractually the care of the vehicle is your responsibility but they may have failed in their responsibility to communicate the recall and I don’t see where the issue of where the car was serviced comes into it unless it is written into the lease agreement

 

[sonic]

I’m not a lawyer but I think that it’s up to MB to prove that the recall notification was sent out to your address. If they can’t prove this they don’t have a case and the cost of the repair falls to them. I would definitely take legal advice, contractually the care of the vehicle is your responsibility but they may have failed in their responsibility to communicate the recall and I don’t see where the issue of where the car was serviced comes into it unless it is written into the lease agreement

Malcolm I agree with your comments but there are two issues. 1 the recall, 2 to prove to lack of recall was the cause of the oil loss.
I am no expert but I have not heard of a recall on a C class or other MB under 3 years old. If not done will cause an engine seizure?

 

[Uncle Benz]

There was a recall for some OM651 engines to replace the sealing washer on the timing chain tensioner.
I guess it may be possible a recall letter was sent to the leasing agent rather than the keeper?

 

[L John]

How fast was this oil leak?
Doesn't the dash show a warning when the oil gets low?
If there was a warning and it was ignored, there has to be some blame on the user.
It would have to be a huge leak to lose enough oil to go from above warning level at the start of a journey to low enough to seize on a single journey after the oil warning showed.

If no warning showed and they have no proof you've been irresponsible by proof of you receiving a letter and not actioning it within a reasonable time I don't see how they can put it on you.
When were you supposed to have been informed and how long after was the failure?
Also as Sonic said, Is the oil leak caused by the recall issue?
If an MB approved servicing dealer were not able to carry out the recall work, they should have at least known about it, informed you about it and recorded it on the work carried out.

 

[A.J.]

There was a recall for some OM651 engines to replace the sealing washer on the timing chain tensioner.
I guess it may be possible a recall letter was sent to the leasing agent rather than the keeper?

That can only be sent to the registered keeper. If the Lessor is the registered keeper then it is up to them to notify the Lessee. Perhaps that is where the system broke down.

 

[LostKiwi]

Here's the detail of the recall:
2014 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Diesel: oil leak
In January 2015, a recall was issued for Mercedes-Benz C-Class vehicles that had OM651 diesel engines and were manufactured from 1 February 2014 to 30 November 2014. For certain diesel engines, the ‘O’ ring may not have been produced to the correct specification – this could allow oil to leak and contaminate the environment. If excessive oil was lost, engine damage may occur. For the recalled vehicles, the chain tensioner sealing ring was to be replaced (R/2014/182).

http://ukcar.reviews/mercedes-c-class-w205-2014-problems-recalls/

The question now is does the OPs car fall inside the date range?

 

[sonic]

Here's the detail of the recall:
2014 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Diesel: oil leak
In January 2015, a recall was issued for Mercedes-Benz C-Class vehicles that had OM651 diesel engines and were manufactured from 1 February 2014 to 30 November 2014. For certain diesel engines, the ‘O’ ring may not have been produced to the correct specification – this could allow oil to leak and contaminate the environment. If excessive oil was lost, engine damage may occur. For the recalled vehicles, the chain tensioner sealing ring was to be replaced (R/2014/182).

http://ukcar.reviews/mercedes-c-class-w205-2014-problems-recalls/

The question now is does the OPs car fall inside the date range?

Thanks LostKiwi for the update most useful.
I have in the distant past replaced sump plugs without a sump washer. Yes a very slight oil loss, but certainly not enough to cause the engine to seized.
The recall was in Jan 2015, the car would have been serviced after this date. Any oil loss would have been very small, certainly not enough to cause any damage to the engine.

 

[Uncle Benz]

Thanks LostKiwi for the update most useful.
I have in the distant past replaced sump plugs without a sump washer. Yes a very slight oil loss, but certainly not enough to cause the engine to seized.
The recall was in Jan 2015, the car would have been serviced after this date. Any oil loss would have been very small, certainly not enough to cause any damage to the engine.

Not necessarily. The sump plug washer just holds back oil under gravity, so any leak is slow. The chain tensioner is pressure fed oil, and a leak here with the engine running will be much more serious.

 

[ajlsl600]

did sump plug fall out.?

 

[Jon Brennan]

did sump plug fall out.?

No, apparently it was a seal that was faulty. No idea other than that.

 

[ajlsl600]

wow. normally thats a copper washer and difficult to see how that much oil could get out in that time period with the plug still tight ,even if washer not great how was yr drive looking where car parked before you set out that day.. that should not be much of a future problem as benz in their infinite wisdom have decided that we no longer need sump plugs ,i have to suck the oil out of mine.
i guess if it was tensioner o ring u would see lots more oil ,would have thought oil everywhere under bonnet