my 2014 B Class is a lemon, HUGE ripoff

[mollyjacksontaylor]

my car, which I purchased in Nov. 2015 used with 1500 miles on it from a luxury car resale store in Indianapolis and had shipped to me in Fort Lauderdale, came with a 4 year, 50,000 miles warranty. the car has 21,000 miles on it and the 4 years expired in august 2018, so no warranty.

On Tuesday May 19, 2020, a warning on the dash read: "malfunction. visit workshop". I drove straight to Mercedes Fort Lauderdale and left it there after authorizing $195 for diagnosis. My service advisor Peter Montaldo called me later that same day: "it's bad news. you need a new motor". When I asked "how much", he said "don't even know. a lot. over $10,000". I was in shock as the car had been fantastic, no trouble ever, and found this diagnosis hard to believe. Needing a new motor means the car is dead.

I called MBUSA to register my issue and seek redress. The person I dealt with there, "Hona" (female), after speaking to the dealer her, bounced me back to Mercedes Fort Lauderdale, this time to the service manager. John Salzlein, who said they needed to do more diagnosis, and he needed me to authorize another $300 for it, which I did.

It's been 3 weeks, and my service advisor Peter Montaldo called yesterday: it truly needs a new motor, and Mercedes will pay $5000 toward it, but I must pay $7000. And I already owe $500 for diagnosis.

I now must deal with MBUSA again, as it is incredible that Mercedes would sell a car that dies at 21,000 miles and not fix this issue at their cost, or redress it in some other way. would putting in a new motor even solve the problem, if they only work for 21,000 miles? why would anyone spend that on a defective motor replacement? I was told in the initial call that the mechanic, Willie, researched that my problem was a bad motor in "23 out of 25" times. This means that this motor fails 92% - UNBELIEVABLE.

 

[FordAnglia]

Greetings mollyjacksontaylor,

Welcome to the B250e owner's forum.

Sorry to read about your B250e troubles. As you are new to this forum please read older postings from other members with similar complaints.
MY2014 (Model Year 2014) vehicles are prone to MU (Motor Unit) failures due to coolant fluid leaks within the motor and/or inverter (they share a common coolant plumbing)

From what I have read the Tesla Model S vehicles of similar vintage also have this issue, not surprising as MB partnered with Tesla and installed the Model S power train into the B250e model.

Tesla fixed the problem with the MU and made good on warranty claims for Model S owners. Therefore late model B250e (2015 - 2017) vehicles should remain free of this problem. That would also include replacement B250e MUs.

I suggest that you campaign with MBUSA to get a free replacement MU, or a bigger compensation to cover more of the cost to repair your vehicle. This will be an uphill and costly (of your time) battle.

Alternatively, look for a third party EV repair shop that can restore your existing MU through a rebuild, which should be less costly and avoid a protracted fight with MBUSA.

Sorry that I didn't have better news.

I purchased an off-lease MY2017 B250e last year with about 10k miles. My motivation was to get Car Pool/HOV access as a solo driver due to the horrendous local traffic. I really like the vehicle and that is the majority view of members here. However, MBUSA appears to have a somewhat short-sighted view of the B250e. The B250e was most likely brought to the USA market primarily as a "compliance" vehicle to meet the USA fleet fuel economy mandate for MY2014. With a lesser goal of introducing EV vehicles to the MBUSA dealer and service organization.

I'm glad they did. I have very much enjoyed my B250e and the personal learning curve to experience an EV in daily driving. This was my first MB and while I don't have any bad experience, others posting here have left a less than rosy impression of the average MBUSA dealer's competence.

I will replace my B250e one day, not sure with what. Hopefully another EV.

Peter,

 

[JeffRay]

MollyJackTaylor,

This is just not acceptable. Motors should not fail after only 21K miles and likely local miles as well. Yes, agree that you should continue to badger MB USA. They want to have an all electric fleet and they can't continue to hide behind limited warranties. This is a known problem with the 2014s, hindsight. The evidence is there. Position it as a safety issue that you intend to take up with the NTSB and social media. We had at least one member whose car stopped running while driving at speed on a highway.

Please keep us all posted.

 

[mollyjacksontaylor]

My lemon B class electric update June 12:

"Hona", a customer service person at MBUSA in Atlanta, murmurs sympathy but offers no help at all. She is worthless.

The Ft Laud MB dealer has offered me $5000 if I pay $7000, which is unacceptable for many reasons.

Biggest is that this is a Mercedes caused problem, not by me, and is their responsibility 100%.

Second biggest is the stupidity of anyone spending $12,000 to replace with another defective motor which will likely fail around 20,000 miles.

I go to battle with them now. First demand is they replace motor with 100,000 mile warranty. Next is they give me another car.

We shall see.

 

[JeffRay]

mollyjacksontaylor,

A few more thoughts:

1. They will likely replace with a remanufactured motor as new ones are not in inventory. As such a warranty is a definite.

2. The cost seems high in any case, others have posted lower numbers on this forum.

3. As to how to rattle the cage, you might want to private message snowds, a member, who has his own lemon but knows a thing or two about how to make MBUSA pay attention.

4. A sharply worded letter to the head of MBUSA and MB-headquarters might get you some senior attention.

5. As FordAnglia said, this is a known problem with first generation Tesla motors installed in the 2014 model, i.e. a high incidence of failure. They can't deny this at MB central. A local dealer would not see enough to know. It is shameful that MB would not take responsibility. If it were their flagship S class, you bet they would do something. The negative PR would seriously damage their brand. There are so few 2014 B250s sold that this does not represent a big dollar impact for them.

6. Talk to your insurance company as this may qualify as a casualty loss for insurance or tax writeoff purposes if not resolved.

Best of luck here.

 

[FordAnglia]

My lemon B class electric update June 12:

"Hona", a customer service person at MBUSA in Atlanta, murmurs sympathy but offers no help at all. She is worthless.

The Ft Laud MB dealer has offered me $5000 if I pay $7000, which is unacceptable for many reasons.

Biggest is that this is a Mercedes caused problem, not by me, and is their responsibility 100%.

Second biggest is the stupidity of anyone spending $12,000 to replace with another defective motor which will likely fail around 20,000 miles.

I go to battle with them now. First demand is they replace motor with 100,000 mile warranty. Next is they give me another car.

We shall see.

I think you would have better success if you modify your attitude a little. Stop calling it a "lemon", or at least Wikipedia "lemon law" to see if you qualify under that legal definition. What you are claiming is that your specific vehicle has a defect. There are others with a similar defect, but unlikely to be enough for a class-action suit.

Further, your demands are not reasonable. Would you give a customer a "100, 000 mile warranty" on a five year old product? If you really believe this is an equitable position at least cite case(s) where this had been granted. No manufacturer or dealer will "give me another car".

Perhaps ask MBUSA to assist you in repair of your vehicle? If and when they agree, you can negotiate for how much, and how soon.

Sorry I don't have better news. Your rant is unlikely to gain traction at MBUSA (or any other brand).

Peter,

 

[Myja01]

Sorry, same issue.

Great body quality, MB electric motor scam.

After they installed the new engine my wife doesn't want to drive it any more in the highway, it has been parked in the garage since then.

http://www.mybclasselectricdrive.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1803&e=1&view=unread#unread

 

[rrattie]

Not sure what you are up to now, but you could try talking to these guys https://electrifiedgarage.com/

They are an independent EV shop that recently opened in Florida and have experience working on Teslas so might be able to help with your issue.l

 

[bobbyb]

I've had the same issue with my B250e. It's a 2017 with 38,000 miles.

It's been 3 months back and forth. First started working. Drove about 80 miles and the alert came back. This time the engine wouldn't start so I had it towed to the dealership (Southbay MB in Los Angeles). I've involved MB USA and no luck with them either.

The numbers are crazy. They say it will take upwards of $18K to fix and I owe $15K on the car.

The dealer agent, Frank Perri, has said the engine is no longer supported by Tesla. Has numerous times said that it was the first EV for MB in the US--that to me says--MB USA is 100% responsible for this and needs to pay me to pay off this lemon.

I do have gap insurance but I don't think that applies as the car was not in an accident. It's in "mint" condition - other than the fact that I can't drive it

I would greatly appreciate guidance on how to get out of this mess.

 

[Hussain]

My lemon B class electric update June 12:

"Hona", a customer service person at MBUSA in Atlanta, murmurs sympathy but offers no help at all. She is worthless.

The Ft Laud MB dealer has offered me $5000 if I pay $7000, which is unacceptable for many reasons.

Biggest is that this is a Mercedes caused problem, not by me, and is their responsibility 100%.

Second biggest is the stupidity of anyone spending $12,000 to replace with another defective motor which will likely fail around 20,000 miles.

I go to battle with them now. First demand is they replace motor with 100,000 mile warranty. Next is they give me another car.

We shall see.

I agree with you 100%.
Same problem with me while my 2014 b class electric has only 41700 miles and MB declare that it needs a new motor,now I will go to third party to change the motor bearings and seals,I have no idea how much they will charge for repairs. If some one has fixed th MU from thrid party please let me what they paid ,my car still running good but humming sound is coming at low speed ,when speed goes to 35 miles mph sound go away and car runs very quite

 

[asavage]

Consider having a "coolant delete" manifold installed, or having yours suitably modified so that the motor's rotor is no longer cooled by a glycol/water mixture.

Tesla has (had?) apparently given up resealing the Model S version of this drive unit, and was for a time supplying reman drive units with rotor cooling bypassed.

https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/posts/7903410/ shows an aftermarket coolant manifold, as Tesla (or course) does not sell drive unit parts.

I'm in the midst of a DIY version right now.
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/posts/8196374/

 

[Hussain]

my car, which I purchased in Nov. 2015 used with 1500 miles on it from a luxury car resale store in Indianapolis and had shipped to me in Fort Lauderdale, came with a 4 year, 50,000 miles warranty. the car has 21,000 miles on it and the 4 years expired in august 2018, so no warranty.

On Tuesday May 19, 2020, a warning on the dash read: "malfunction. visit workshop". I drove straight to Mercedes Fort Lauderdale and left it there after authorizing $195 for diagnosis. My service advisor Peter Montaldo called me later that same day: "it's bad news. you need a new motor". When I asked "how much", he said "don't even know. a lot. over $10,000". I was in shock as the car had been fantastic, no trouble ever, and found this diagnosis hard to believe. Needing a new motor means the car is dead.

I called MBUSA to register my issue and seek redress. The person I dealt with there, "Hona" (female), after speaking to the dealer her, bounced me back to Mercedes Fort Lauderdale, this time to the service manager. John Salzlein, who said they needed to do more diagnosis, and he needed me to authorize another $300 for it, which I did.

It's been 3 weeks, and my service advisor Peter Montaldo called yesterday: it truly needs a new motor, and Mercedes will pay $5000 toward it, but I must pay $7000. And I already owe $500 for diagnosis.

I now must deal with MBUSA again, as it is incredible that Mercedes would sell a car that dies at 21,000 miles and not fix this issue at their cost, or redress it in some other way. would putting in a new motor even solve the problem, if they only work for 21,000 miles? why would anyone spend that on a defective motor replacement? I was told in the initial call that the mechanic, Willie, researched that my problem was a bad motor in "23 out of 25" times. This means that this motor fails 92% - UNBELIEVABLE.

I have 2014 only 40860 miles has the same message Malfunction go to garage, I drove to dealer and they told me same answer ,bad motor estimate 24000 yes 24000.
My car driving fine ,no problem just this message appears .
If you see steering left hand side a small U turn aero button so after start the car use that button and message will go away but every time when you start the car you have to rest this button ,so far I a driving it and no problem

 

[Hussain]

Sorry typing mistake ,so when you start the car and message appears you press the button and message go away ,do this every time when you start and rid off that message

 

[jjo]

It is most likely NOT a bad motor. Dealers have absolutely no knowledge of this car.
I have had this yellow error message every time I started the car for about 18 months with perfect motor and everything working as expected.
I recently visited an independent Mercedes specialist who cleared the error codes that got stuck in the system (charger related) in 10 minutes for £50 with his dealer level Star diagnostics system and Xentry software. Never had any trouble since. I keep checking the speed sensor and there's no leak or any other error.
I find it important to let everyone know that while there IS a risk of coolant leak in the motor, it's not as bad as some people try to make it look.

 

[anthonygaeto]

I have 2014 only 40860 miles has the same message Malfunction go to garage, I drove to dealer and they told me same answer ,bad motor estimate 24000 yes 24000.
My car driving fine ,no problem just this message appears .
If you see steering left hand side a small U turn aero button so after start the car use that button and message will go away but every time when you start the car you have to rest this button ,so far I a driving it and no problem

I have has this same problem and had a similar diagnosis. I ignored it and the car has been driving fine for 6 months. I have other issues regarding a replacement of the battery that I don't believe needed to be replaced. Im involved in a lawsuit that MBUSA has just been adjoined to, we will see where that goes? just a note: if you car will not start detach the 12 volt battery for 1 seconds and reattach. this is what I did until I found out that I needed to charge the 12 volt battery ever other day. now I have a little plug hanging out the front to attach the 12v charger to and I just ignore the message and it works fine.

 

[Hussain]

Greetings mollyjacksontaylor,

Welcome to the B250e owner's forum.

Sorry to read about your B250e troubles. As you are new to this forum please read older postings from other members with similar complaints.
MY2014 (Model Year 2014) vehicles are prone to MU (Motor Unit) failures due to coolant fluid leaks within the motor and/or inverter (they share a common coolant plumbing)

From what I have read the Tesla Model S vehicles of similar vintage also have this issue, not surprising as MB partnered with Tesla and installed the Model S power train into the B250e model.

Tesla fixed the problem with the MU and made good on warranty claims for Model S owners. Therefore late model B250e (2015 - 2017) vehicles should remain free of this problem. That would also include replacement B250e MUs.

I suggest that you campaign with MBUSA to get a free replacement MU, or a bigger compensation to cover more of the cost to repair your vehicle. This will be an uphill and costly (of your time) battle.

Alternatively, look for a third party EV repair shop that can restore your existing MU through a rebuild, which should be less costly and avoid a protracted fight with MBUSA.

Sorry that I didn't have better news.

I purchased an off-lease MY2017 B250e last year with about 10k miles. My motivation was to get Car Pool/HOV access as a solo driver due to the horrendous local traffic. I really like the vehicle and that is the majority view of members here. However, MBUSA appears to have a somewhat short-sighted view of the B250e. The B250e was most likely brought to the USA market primarily as a "compliance" vehicle to meet the USA fleet fuel economy mandate for MY2014. With a lesser goal of introducing EV vehicles to the MBUSA dealer and service organization.

I'm glad they did. I have very much enjoyed my B250e and the personal learning curve to experience an EV in daily driving. This was my first MB and while I don't have any bad experience, others posting here have left a less than rosy impression of the average MBUSA dealer's competence.

I will replace my B250e one day, not sure with what. Hopefully another EV.

Peter,

Lucky so far you are.
Problem will start after 21k miles or after 40k miles and you will have to replace motor at your cost.
Sell it before you face those problems

 

[jjo]

Lucky so far you are.
Problem will start after 21k miles or after 40k miles and you will have to replace motor at your cost.
Sell it before you face those problems

Sorry about your experience but please don't state assumptions as facts. I have 107k miles in my car with original motor and no issues.

 

[lensovet]

I had this happen on my 2017. It’s a coolant leak inside the motor and motor replacement is the only official solution.

I got rid of the car before it stopped driving completely. I think jjo you are very lucky, for 99% of people who hit this the car has to be disposed of as it makes zero economic sense to spend 18k on a new motor that will eventually develop the same defect.

The really crappy thing MB did was they didn’t provide a drivetrain warranty on this car. The people who bought it allowed them to keep selling their other vehicles, without those sales they would have been shut out of the California market entirely. And yet these same people are the ones being left out to dry my a major international manufacturer. Compare to tesla, who was a struggling startup at the time but stood by their first customers and resolved these issues at no cost under warranty.

I loved this car. It was the first Mercedes I ever bought. Thanks to their handling of it, it is also my last.

 

[jjo]

I had this happen on my 2017. It’s a coolant leak inside the motor and motor replacement is the only official solution.

I got rid of the car before it stopped driving completely. I think jjo you are very lucky, for 99% of people who hit this the car has to be disposed of as it makes zero economic sense to spend 18k on a new motor that will eventually develop the same defect.

The really crappy thing MB did was they didn’t provide a drivetrain warranty on this car. The people who bought it allowed them to keep selling their other vehicles, without those sales they would have been shut out of the California market entirely. And yet these same people are the ones being left out to dry my a major international manufacturer. Compare to tesla, who was a struggling startup at the time but stood by their first customers and resolved these issues at no cost under warranty.

I loved this car. It was the first Mercedes I ever bought. Thanks to their handling of it, it is also my last.

I don't think 99% of the owners have to dispose their cars, it's more likely that those who have issues are the ones that we can keep reading about. Happy owners don't need to write on the forums. Fixing the motor costs between 1.5k-6k depending on where in the world you are. The motor and gearbox are so much simpler than any ICE engine.

I completely agree with you on how Mercedes turned their back on their (large number of) customers who had the exact same error which is clearly a design fault. As you said, Tesla kept replacing motors for leak or milling noise problems while Mercedes only offered an outrageously expensive repair. Of course the cost also depends on where you are. I've heard quotes as much as $20k+ and as low as £7k.

I only went to my local dealer (UK) for a service once and I swore they wouldn't see me again. It's clear that Mercedes' business model is still about changing oil and charging 1k for a service. It was clear they did not like the fact they couldn't charge me an arm and a leg for a service that was mostly a visual inspection. Their techs are also useless and have no knowledge of this car. The service manager actually told me that if he knew the battery certificate will take 3 hours of his engineer's time, he would have said no. For a service that needs to be done yearly to keep the battery warranty, free of charge as per service booklet. Huh?

So yes, my first Mercedes too and probably the last. Love the car, disgusted by the brand. The free coffee at their dealerships does not make up for that.

 

[tankmania]

I don't think 99% of the owners have to dispose their cars, it's more likely that those who have issues are the ones that we can keep reading about. Happy owners don't need to write on the forums. Fixing the motor costs between 1.5k-6k depending on where in the world you are. The motor and gearbox are so much simpler than any ICE engine.

I completely agree with you on how Mercedes turned their back on their (large number of) customers who had the exact same error which is clearly a design fault. As you said, Tesla kept replacing motors for leak or milling noise problems while Mercedes only offered an outrageously expensive repair. Of course the cost also depends on where you are. I've heard quotes as much as $20k+ and as low as £7k.

I only went to my local dealer (UK) for a service once and I swore they wouldn't see me again. It's clear that Mercedes' business model is still about changing oil and charging 1k for a service. It was clear they did not like the fact they couldn't charge me an arm and a leg for a service that was mostly a visual inspection. Their techs are also useless and have no knowledge of this car. The service manager actually told me that if he knew the battery certificate will take 3 hours of his engineer's time, he would have said no. For a service that needs to be done yearly to keep the battery warranty, free of charge as per service booklet. Huh?

So yes, my first Mercedes too and probably the last. Love the car, disgusted by the brand. The free coffee at their dealerships does not make up for that.

I had only my battery 'service' done (the 8th and final one on a 16 plate) just last month at Mercedes (UK). No main service done (they wanted over £400 for a 'B' service!). They wanted to charge £119 for the battery service (or around that amount) and it's just replacing 2 battery dessicant cartridges accessed under the rear panel, and it took them just over 2 hours. So, the battery warranty is maintained without having an A or B service, or so it seems, which is actually contradictory to their T&C's, but I didn't say anything.. Anyway, they didn't charge me a penny for it after checking.

I asked for the old cartridges (you can refresh them and re-use them or replace the silicant in them) and when I asked why I hadn't been given them I was told "Due to health and safety, used parts may be a fire hazard and therefore have to be disposed by us".