Recalled And Repaired

This summer, I wrote about my car’s brake light problem. It was a repair that would surely be associated with a recall… but when?

This weekend I got the note from Mercedes Benz. Today I took my car to the dealer. They couldn’t have been nicer and I was in and out in a bit over an hour.

As it turns out (and I never thought about this part when my brake lights were repaired this summer) the lights were repaired with the same part that would later be recalled!

Today, the three month old housings for the brake lights on my eight year old car were replaced. I wonder if they would have lasted longer if I wouldn’t have driven so much at night?

Did I mention the original repair was pricey?

It was – hundreds of dollars. It seemed like a lot for what I got. There aren’t too many places to get Mercedes Benz brake light housings. You’re sort of over a barrel. I guess that’s the case with any car.

There is, however, good news. It’s an official NHTSA recall. I get my original repair money back and today’s service was free.

How about that? At this point the refund counts as found money.

I was a little upset at how both NHTSA and Mercedes Benz North America handled this in August. If this is really a safety recall, neither of them acted particularly quickly nor were their people knowledgeable. I was disappointed in August.

That opinion is unchanged.