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Mercedes-Benz Recalls 750,000 Units Due to Sunroof Detaching Issue

Wilbert Tan • January 6, 2020 • 0 • 59

Mercedes-Benz may be one of the most reliable car brands on Earth, but they do commit production errors from time to time. In fact, the German company recently announced a major booboo—some of their cars made between 2001 and 2011 have sunroofs that could potentially detach and fly off while traveling.

The recall covers 750,000 units ranging from C-Class, E-Class, CLK-Class and CLS-Class models produced in the span of ten years.

In each of the four vehicle models, the optional sunroof uses a bonding material that can deteriorate with time. Should bonding material give out during travel, the sunroof could fly off and pose a risk to occupants of the vehicle, and anyone else on the road.

A full list of affected models can be found on this link furnished by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

It is not clear whether other C-Class, E-Class, CLK-Class and CLS-Class models sold around the globe are affected by the recall.

Mercedes-Benz said that it will reach out to owners of affected models beginning February 14, and that the problematic sunroofs will be inspected and replaced if necessary at no charge to the customers.

Despite the setback, MB remains as one of the most trusted luxury car brands out there. Recently, it was even recognized as the leading premium brand for innovations in the period from 2016 to 2019 by the Center of Automotive Management (CAM), an independent institute for empirical automotive and mobility research and strategic consulting based in Germany.

CAM credits around 180 new features in the series production of Mercedes-Benz cars as the reason for the recognition. These innovations include driver assistance systems such as the anti-theft warning system, the intuitive and intelligent multimedia system MBUX, and ENERGIZING comfort control.

The advanced Anti-theft alarm system (ATA) feature in particular, is able to send an automatic message to the car owner if the vehicle suffers a parking impact caused by a third party, or is towed away. With this feature, owners can know what’s happening to their cars in real time. It is available as an option in many of Mercedes-Benz’s models.