Mercedes Benz Clean Air Act Settlement??

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities
Post Reply
User avatar
Topic Author
bhwabeck3533
Posts: 462
Joined: Thu Sep 21, 2017 6:25 am
Location: Baldwin County, AL

Mercedes Benz Clean Air Act Settlement??

Post by bhwabeck3533 »

I'm kinda late to the "settlement" party, but curious if I can still get a piece of the action?

https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/daimler ... ement-faqs

We bought a 2017 Tiffin Wayfarer RV a couple months ago from a private seller, he was the second owner. The RV coach sits atop of a 2016 Mercedes Sprinter chassis with a 6-cylinder diesel engine. We have already encountered (the hard way) the recall and warranty aspects of the EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) valve on the diesel engine.

Anyone on this site have first-hand knowledge of the settlement outcome and how it may impact an owner in my scenario (not the first, but the current owner) of a vehicle involved in the lawsuit?
User avatar
quantAndHold
Posts: 10141
Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2015 10:39 pm
Location: West Coast

Re: Mercedes Benz Clean Air Act Settlement??

Post by quantAndHold »

Website for claims: https://www.mbbluetecsettlement.com/

I don’t remember the specifics for second owners, but if you’re the one who took care of the recall, you might be entitled to some of the money.
DavidW
Posts: 145
Joined: Wed Jan 24, 2018 3:14 pm

Re: Mercedes Benz Clean Air Act Settlement??

Post by DavidW »

It is possible that the settlement could have been claimed already. I would suggest contacting the law firm handling it to see if it has been exercised.

If it hasn't, you could claim the settlement but it requires the vehicle to be "alterned". You can check out https://sprinter-source.com/forums/index.php discussion on this. Those that have it done noticed a reduction on power. It is a tradeoff...
User avatar
quantAndHold
Posts: 10141
Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2015 10:39 pm
Location: West Coast

Re: Mercedes Benz Clean Air Act Settlement??

Post by quantAndHold »

DavidW wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 5:40 pm It is possible that the settlement could have been claimed already. I would suggest contacting the law firm handling it to see if it has been exercised.

If it hasn't, you could claim the settlement but it requires the vehicle to be "alterned". You can check out https://sprinter-source.com/forums/index.php discussion on this. Those that have it done noticed a reduction on power. It is a tradeoff...
If the previous owner got the recall done and made the claim, they get the full settlement. If the previous owner sold the vehicle before getting the work done, they can claim $800, but the owner who got the recall fixed still gets the bulk of the settlement money.

As far as a reduction in power, there were different recalls done for different model years, so the effect is not an across the board thing for all model years. I had the recall done on my 2016 cutaway chassis (exactly what OP has). I haven’t noticed a power difference. Mercedes says it will use more DEF, but I haven’t noticed enough of a difference yet to say one way or the other. If it does, then $3500 will pay for a lot of DEF, since I only use about $50 worth of DEF per year.
User avatar
Topic Author
bhwabeck3533
Posts: 462
Joined: Thu Sep 21, 2017 6:25 am
Location: Baldwin County, AL

Re: Mercedes Benz Clean Air Act Settlement??

Post by bhwabeck3533 »

DavidW wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 5:40 pm I had the recall done on my 2016 cutaway chassis (exactly what OP has). I haven’t noticed a power difference. Mercedes says it will use more DEF, but I haven’t noticed enough of a difference yet to say one way or the other. If it does, then $3500 will pay for a lot of DEF, since I only use about $50 worth of DEF per year.
OP here:
We recently experienced a sudden, and significant power loss while driving our RV on the interstate. We were traveling at 70mph one minute, and 25mph the next. My wife was driving as the 18-wheelers behind us braked suddenly and began whizzing around us. With the accelerator pedal on the floor we could maintain no more than 30mph. We limped into the nearest MB dealer, they diagnosed the failure as the EGR valve. No repair possible as EGRs are in very short supply. We ultimately had the EGR "cleaned", under warranty, as the previous owner had addressed the recall on our 2016 OM642 (which I now know included replacing the NOX sensor, nothing more). As far as DEF, I've already topped off the tank twice (about 4 gallons) and have put on less than 4000 miles.

DavidW, what was the extent of the recall work done on your vehicle (I assume you have the Mercedes OM642 6-cylinder diesel)?
User avatar
quantAndHold
Posts: 10141
Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2015 10:39 pm
Location: West Coast

Re: Mercedes Benz Clean Air Act Settlement??

Post by quantAndHold »

bhwabeck3533 wrote: Tue May 17, 2022 6:24 am
DavidW wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 5:40 pm I had the recall done on my 2016 cutaway chassis (exactly what OP has). I haven’t noticed a power difference. Mercedes says it will use more DEF, but I haven’t noticed enough of a difference yet to say one way or the other. If it does, then $3500 will pay for a lot of DEF, since I only use about $50 worth of DEF per year.
OP here:
We recently experienced a sudden, and significant power loss while driving our RV on the interstate. We were traveling at 70mph one minute, and 25mph the next. My wife was driving as the 18-wheelers behind us braked suddenly and began whizzing around us. With the accelerator pedal on the floor we could maintain no more than 30mph. We limped into the nearest MB dealer, they diagnosed the failure as the EGR valve. No repair possible as EGRs are in very short supply. We ultimately had the EGR "cleaned", under warranty, as the previous owner had addressed the recall on our 2016 OM642 (which I now know included replacing the NOX sensor, nothing more). As far as DEF, I've already topped off the tank twice (about 4 gallons) and have put on less than 4000 miles.

DavidW, what was the extent of the recall work done on your vehicle (I assume you have the Mercedes OM642 6-cylinder diesel)?
You are correct. The recall on the 2016 3500’s is just the NOX sensor. The EGR valve is a separate issue. We’ve gotten a *lot* of addenda to our warranty. A couple of times per year, Mercedes sends us another piece of paper saying that some other part is covered for an extended time. IIRC, the EGR valve was one of those things.

Since the recall, we haven’t driven enough to tell how much DEF we’re using, but before the recall, we were getting about 1200 miles per gallon of DEF.
Post Reply