S-Class Sedan

Segment
Sedan

The Mercedes-Benz S-Class has been setting benchmarks in safety for decades and is widely considered to be one of the most technologically advanced cars in the business. That perception is not shared with a couple from Richmond, British Columbia, Canada who felt so strongly about the fact that their S-Class couldn't keep them safe, that they traveled all the way to Germany to lay a complaint at the Mercedes-Benz head office.

According to Richmond News, local man Da Tong Yang bought his wife Guifang Huo a brand new S550 model back in 2017. The couple at that time perceived the S550 to be one of the safest luxury sedans on the road.

After a year of trouble-free ownership, the Yang family's S550 steering wheel locked up while driving on West 41st Avenue in Vancouver, causing the car to nearly barrel into a concrete wall. At that stage, the car had only done 4,000 miles and was immediately towed to Mercedes-Benz Richmond Service Centre for repairs.

According to Mercedes-Benz, which has sold over half a million cars this year, the issue was an "internal electrical issue in the power steering rack and pinion gear." The steering rack was then replaced. The couple however refused to take the car back and demanded that they be refunded or provided with a new car. Yang then decided to take matters into his own hands, and proceed to sue Mercedes-Benz for mental and financial damages.

With the court case going nowhere, Yang decided that it was time to take things up a notch and travel directly to Mercedes-Benz in Germany. Yang told Richmond News that he "went there to find justice, not only for him but also for other drivers." Yang's wife stated that the car was "unreliable, unsafe, and does not provide the peace of mind a luxury vehicle should."

Yang made the trek to the Mercedes-Benz headquarters in Stuttgart to lay a verbal complaint, which in the end fell on deaf ears. Mercedes-Benz still denies that the vehicle's warranty has been breached, and insists that the vehicle is safe to drive. With the new S-Class already in testing, perhaps the yang family will get a second chance to be impressed.