bdunham7 said:
The dealer wouldn't be responsible for not predicting your engine trouble.
However, there is a settled class-action lawsuit that was won against M-Benz regarding their failure to specify the proper oil (synthetic) for certain cars equipped with Flexible Service Systems (FSS) that told you when to change the oil. The settlement provides extended warranty coverage for engine failure due to sludge or lack of lubrication as long as you followed the proper minimum maintenance intervals.
What is the EXACT technical cause of the failure? Does it involve engine sludging or lubrication issues? Did the timing chain tensioner fail?
How often have you changed your oil and where have you had this done? Do you use synthetic oil? What kind? How long have you owned the car?
The exact technical cause is unknown, according to the dealer's reponse. The dealer took the car and opened up the failed engine, did not tell me anything about the sludge. I am going to visit a dealer today and check if I see any sludge.
My ML320 was using regular oil according to the records, however the oil change intervals were as suggested by the FSS system - 10-12K miles, until the middle of 2001, so all 1999,2000 and half of 2001 the regular (non-synthetic oil) was used with originally suggested by Mercedes intervals of 10K miles. After 2001 the delars used the synthetic oil, but the records do not specify which one. I owned a car from Feb 1999 until now.
Now, what should I do? Actually the dealer talked to Mercedes and they offered a $6,000 discount on engine replacement that costs total $14,000, but I still have to pay $8,000. So I if this problem was on Merceres side, and the oil intervals should be less than 10K miles, this was contributing to the problem. Should I ask for a full coverage of the repair? I found the that according to the calss action lawsuit, the warranty was extended to 10 years/100,000 miles:
"A Class Action Lawsuit was filed against Mercedes Benz that effects owners of all 1999, 2000 and 2001 Mercedes Benz vehicles. When Mercedes Benz implemented the Flexible Service System (FSS) in 1999, which permitted extended oil change intervals of up to 20,000 miles, they recommended changes with regular (fossil) oils. By 2001 they experienced some engines with excessive sludge deposits and early engine failures. They then recommended oil changes with only specific brands of synthetic motor oils to address this problem. Since Mercedes Benz initial recommendation for use of fossil oils resulted in not only engine failures of 1999, 2000 and 2001 vehicles, but also premature wear in others, a class action suited was filed against Mercedes Benz. Approximately 2 weeks ago, Mercedes Benz agreed to settle this suit by agreeing to extend the warranty on all 1999, 2000 and 2001 Mercedes Benz vehicles to 10 years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first. In addition, the owners of 1999 vehicles will receive a total of $3,500 of service, of their choice, at a Mercedes Benz dealer."
