The German car giant announced yesterday that it has issued an immediate global withdrawal of cars due to problems with the power brake of three different series. He has instructed the owners of the affected cars not to drive them until an inspection has been made.
About 993,407 of the vehicles are being withdrawn worldwide, including about 70,000 in Germany.
The ML, GL (BR 164) and R-Class (BR 251) series models produced between 2004 and 2015 are affected.
The ML and GL cars are SUVs, while the R-Class is a van.
Mercedes-Benz said in a statement: “We have found that in some of these vehicles, the function of the brake amplifier could be affected by advanced corrosion in the hinge area of the housing.”
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Mercedes-Benz said the measure was based on “analyzing isolated reports for certain vehicles”.
They continued: “In rare cases of very severe corrosion, it may be possible for a particularly strong or hard braking maneuver to cause mechanical damage to the brake booster, so the connection between the brake pedal and the brake system would fail.
“In such a rare case, it would not be possible to decelerate the vehicle using the service brake.
“That would increase the risk of an accident or injury.”
The company said it will contact the owners of the “potentially affected vehicles” immediately.
“The removal process will involve inspecting potentially affected vehicles and, depending on the results of the inspection, replacing the parts when necessary,” the Stuttgart-based company said.
They added: “Until the inspection is done, we ask our customers not to drive their vehicles.”
It comes two weeks after a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR became the most expensive car ever sold.
The 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé is just one of two existing versions and was auctioned earlier this month.
The auction house RM Sotheby’s announced that the classic car had been sold for £ 114.4 million, equivalent to 135 million euros and 143 million dollars.
The buyer, who has chosen to remain private, had Simon Kidston, head of the historic car specialist Kidston SA, present the winning bid on his behalf.
The £ 114.4 million car is a new world record for any car, more than double the previous record.
Only two of the 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupés were manufactured by Mercedes-Benz, which was named after the company’s chief engineer, Rudolf Uhlenhaut.