Indian court asks Mercedes to offer new car to owner-Edit:Appeal pending in HIgher court

Talk about sheer bad luck or the fact that quality levels have hit rockbottom at mercedes benz and that too with their s-class sedan.An owner in India finds not one but two of his mercedes benz S-class cars to be defective ,just three months from their purchase he has constantly had to repair them.The court has come to his rescue but mercedes better be warned that other luxury brands are right up its toes and even though it will take some effort to upstage the popularity of the s class ,the other manufacturers could just catch mercedes on the wrong foot.This if I recall correctly is not the first instance mercedes have had to replace their car for an owner and several are complaining with regards to quality of mercedes taking a hit,mercedes please take note.

The National Consumer Commission has come to the rescue of the car owner and directed Daimlerchrysler India Pvt Ltd - the makers of Mercedez-Benz - to either replace the car, which suffered from over-heating, or refund its price.

Another Mercedes, bought by the complainant along with the one ordered to be replaced by the court, was also found to have manufacturing defects.

"For the second car (the car maker and dealer) are directed to remove the defect of over-heating of the central hump of the car on a long journey, with a period of eight week ... or in the alternative to refund 50 per cent of the amount of purchase price namely, Rs 29 lakh. "

Taking note of the complaint filed by an Okhla-based firm which bought the S-class sedan, Justice Shah and Rao said "if one of the most luxurious brand of cars, namely the Mercedez-Benz, ... gives trouble within three months from the date of its purchase, would a consumer be satisfied by such a car?"

the Commission ordered road tests and even appointed court commissioners, who travelled over 200 km in the car to verify the car purchaser's complaint, that the central hump of the car was getting over-heated during long journeys.

On the basis of road tests, the Commission said "in our view, the constant grievances of the complainant that the central hump was getting heated in long journeys cannot be ignored. These facts are established by the complaints made continuously by the complainant as well as the temperature noted by the court commissioners."

"As it is claimed that the 'Mercedez-Benz is not just about building a safe car, but it is about making the road a safer place,' in our view, the purchaser would not be satisfied with the said car, which requires repeated repairs, and is entitled to get replacement or refund of the price of the car," said the Commission, in response to the complaint filed by Controls and Switchgear Company Ltd.

The car maker and its dealer, in their defence, claimed that the problems, if any, faced by the complainant, were operational in nature and were due to the nature of use and improper road conditions.

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Update:

There seems to be some history regarding the person involved ,the fact that he was a previous supplier of mercedes and his contract was discontinued due to inferior products,as a result of which he is looking at giving back to the company.The case as of now is pending in the Supreme court of India.Thanks to Ricky for this update.