Mercedes-Benz UK had issued a major recall involving over 400,000 vehicles sold through their network regarding a faulty steering column component that could potentially break and cause the driver’s airbag to deploy abruptly. The company stressed that this recall is unrelated to the ongoing Takata Airbag recall.
A total of eight models are affected – A-Class, B-Class, C-Class, E-Class, CLA, GLA, GLK and GLC that are manufactured between November 2011 and July 2017. Hence, if your prized Mercedes-Benz vehicle is a reconditioned or parallel imported unit from the UK, you might want to be extra cautious when driving it around.
According to BBC, the faulty component in question is a steering column module clock spring which when broken, can lead to the wiring components not being properly earthed and potentially short circuit the airbag module and deploy the driver’s side airbag prematurely.
However, a Mercedes-Benz spokesperson said that the car is safe to drive under normal conditions and should the steering column module clock spring breaks, it will first trigger the driver airbag warning light. When the warning light pops up, owners should promptly have the vehicle transported to the nearest Mercedes-Benz dealer for an immediate fix.
We have reached out to Mercedes-Benz Malaysia (MBM) and confirmed that MBM will assist all owners, official- and grey-import alike, who are involved in a global recall campaign. In other words, you can have your parallel imported Mercedes-Benz looked at under the recall fix at MBM.
MBM did not express whether the owners will have to bear the costs of replacement, it is a grey area after all as these cars were not made available to the Malaysian market officially by MBM. But then again, there should not be a price on the safety and well-being of you and your loved ones.
