Mercedes recalls 750,000 cars for faulty sunroofs

Mercedes will recall as many as 750,000 cars because of a danger for their sunroofs to tear off and fly away.

The AP had the news:

Mercedes-Benz is recalling roughly 750,000 cars because the vehicles’ sunroofs could potentially detach and fly off, causing road hazards.

The cars include the Mercedes-Benz’s C-Class, E-Class, CLK-Class and the CLS-Class, made between 2001 and 2011. All four vehicles came with an optional sunroof, and the bonding material on those sunroofs can deteriorate, resulting in the sunroof detaching from the car, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Affected owners will be contacted by Mercedes on or after February 14, and the sunroofs will be inspected and replaced if necessary, free of charge.

Reuters’ David Shepardson reported:

The large recall covers more than two dozen vehicles from C-Class, CLK-Class, CLS-Class and E-Class model lines. The automaker said the bonding between the glass panel and the sliding room frame might not meet specifications and could lead to sunroofs detaching.

Owners who paid for repairs for the issue will be able to seek reimbursements from Daimler. A Mercedes-Benz USA spokesman said on Saturday he did not have a worldwide vehicle total for the recall.

Dealers will inspect the glass panel bonding and replace the sliding roof if necessary, the company said.

Last month, Mercedes-Benz USA agreed to a $20 million civil penalty over its handling of U.S. vehicle recalls after a year-long U.S. government investigation into 1.4 million recalled vehicles.

Under the terms of the settlement, the automaker will pay $13 million and faces another $7 million fine if it does not comply with the agreement. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the company failed to notify owners in a timely fashion in some recalls, did not submit all reports and did not launch at least two recalls in a timely fashion.

Stephen Ewing quoted an NHSTA statement and listed the range of models affected for CNet:

Mercedes-Benz is recalling 744,852 vehicles in the US due to faulty sunroofs where the glass panel could detach from the vehicle. A large swath of cars are affected by this recall, spanning from model years 2001 to 2011.

“The bonding between the glass panel and the sliding roof frame may deteriorate, possibly resulting in the glass panel detaching from the vehicle,” the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration said in a statement last week (PDF).

This recall affects C-, CLK-, CLS- and E-Class models over the course of approximately 10 years.