I have recently purchased a brand new 2007 Mercedes E350 and have had it for 3 months.
Being a proud parent of a 1.7 months and a 3 months old, i knew getting a Mercedes would be a great choice for the safety of my family. I have driven BMWs, Volvos, Lexus and numerous other brands throughout my life.
The other day, I finally installed my son's infant car seat and decided to take him for a ride. Stopped at a red light I noticed mt son reaching to his right and pulling up the door lock and then pulling the lever to open the door. Counted my blessing for not being on the freeway at the time, I pulled over to engage the Child Proof Door lever on the rear door. I am quite sure that every parent in this world knows that lever. The lever that engaged, prevents children from opening the rear door only allowing the doors to be opened from the outside.
I could not find the lever on the rear door??? so i called the dealership and after speaking to over 3 sales professionals and 2 service advisers, the confusion had set in.
One told me that the car has no such feature. The others believed the feature had to exist and investigated to find out how to activate the function.
To everyone's surprise including Mercedes service advisers, the car did not have this feature!!!
I called MB headquarters and 2 customer service people told me that MBenz has never had this feature and their advise to me was to better discipline my child!!!
I had a friend call a random MB dealer and pretend like a potential customer. She mentioned that because she had children, she needed the child proof door locks, and the salesperson actually tells her that the SUV's do have this feature!!! A genuine lie or simply the fact that simply the salesperson assumes that MB's would have them.
MB tells me that their research showed it to be safer not to have this feature rather than have it which makes no sense for me at all!! i asked for that research and they denied me. Why would safety conscious VOLVO, BMW, LEXUS, SUBARU, TOYOTA,AUDI, SAAB and in fact most other makers believe this function to be crucial and would not even think about not having it in their cars baffles me. In fact I believe Volvo invented this feature and others have followed since the 70's !!!
What is also interesting is the fact that MBenz owned Chrysler for about 10 years. If they found this "research" to be so important, then why do all Chryslers have this feature under MB control and ownership???
I asked the dealership or MB to make the car back because i could not safely transport children with this vehicle and they denied me.
Everyone that I have spoken to is in complete shock that a car in 2007 and a MBenz of all would not have this feature.
My colleague in Boston had one of her kids open her MB while on the freeway!!!
MB have given me no choice but to expose this to ALL PARENTS of this world and possibly save a child's life before a tragic accident!!
Depending on their response after this exposure, I might have to pursue legally.
I am using my wife's Toyota for transporting my children. IF this was my only car, i would be devastated with the fact that MB would be putting my children's life in danger!!! and would have no recourse. I currently have a useless car that sits in the garage!!!
Please help me notify everyone.
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