IllustrationFailure of driver side front axle CV assembly. Part #166-330-33-00 with 36,000 miles on the vehicle Noise was heard when driving, pulled over heard noise as moved car forward and made left turn. Car was towed to Highway Tire and Auto near our house on a Saturday morning. Car test driven on their lot and immediately identifie…
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Failure of driver side front axle CV assembly. Part #166-330-33-00 with 36,000 miles on the vehicle Noise was heard when driving, pulled over heard noise as moved car forward and made left turn. Car was towed to Highway Tire and Auto near our house on a Saturday morning. Car test driven on their lot and immediately identified as CV axle. Part was only available from Mercedes dealership, yet all the other axles ( non driver side) were available from several parts distributors. Seemed odd maybe indicating a lot of these were being replaced?? This axle failure while driving at highway speeds could have resulted in wheel lock up causing serious accident and injury. When contacting Mercedes they seemed more interested in telling me it wasn’t covered under warranty, and there was nothing they could do about it since I didn’t have the repair done at their shops…. I asked them if they thought it was normal for an axle to go out at 36,000 miles and they said no. I asked them if they thought it was concerning and potential safety issue. And they never gave me an answer. After about 20 phone calls and 4 emails was finally able to escalate it to Mercedes Corporate office and a lady there Andrea, indicated she was executive referral manager and she would check with their engineers. She called back next day and said since I didn’t get it repaired at Mercedes, and since last time it was in a Mercedes shop was 15 months earlier there was nothing they could do about it. She said they might have found leaking fluid etc and could have fixed it. I told her I personally saw it up on the lift and there was zero leaking fluid or indications of wear on the outside. The car had also just recently gotten new tires and passed state of NC vehicle inspection. She said she was sorry but best she could do was offer $400 credit toward a future service at any Mercedes dealership. I think this has potential for serious parts defect and consideration for safety recall