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Federal Safety Regulators Call Out Mercedes for Late Recall Alerts

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Mercedes-Benz is being investigated by safety regulators for taking too long to notify owners about safety recalls and for not providing adequate information to owners about the recalls.

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In announcing the investigation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said a review of recall performance found “recurrent recall reporting and execution lapses in Mercedes-Benz (MBUSA) safety recalls.” A letter sent to Mercedes-Benz and posted online outlined problems NHTSA found in a review of 2017 recalls involving about 1.4 million vehicles and requested more information.

NHTSA said it found numerous recalls in which Mercedes-Benz failed to notify owners within the required 60 days following the recall as well as instances where the company provided insufficient details about the issue that led to the recall, the percentage of recalled vehicles likely to have the problem and the plan for repairs. And it said that Mercedes failed to adequately respond to its request for more information on the recalls and on how it would improve compliance.

In addition to the alleged recall-notification lapses, NHTSA said it found instances “frequently” over the past 18 months in which Mercedes-Benz has fallen behind in sending data to the regulator for NHTSA’s online search tool that lets owners search for open recalls by their car’s vehicle identification number.

NHTSA has given Mercedes-Benz three weeks from Oct. 22 to provide more information and explanations for its performance in numerous recalls from 2017 and 2018. In a statement sent to the Associated Press, Mercedes-Benz said it will “work closely with NHTSA on this audit query to address its concerns.”

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Fred Meier
Former D.C. Bureau Chief Fred Meier, who lives every day with Washington gridlock, has an un-American love of small wagons and hatchbacks.
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