Mercedes China awash with 20 complaints this March

(Ecns.cn)--In March alone, over 20 complaints were filed against Mercedes-Benz in China, but most did not receive a satisfactory response from either the company or the brand's 4S shops, according to the China Economic Information Network Friday.

Wu Zhibin who bought an imported Mercedes on March 18, 2010 in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region lodged his complaint against Mercedes because that his car self-ignited when it is still under the quality guarantee period.

On February 8, 2012, Wu was on his way back home when the car's indicator light warned him to stop. He pulled over to the side of the road and found that the auto engineer registered spontaneous ignition. He reported this problem to the auto company and asked for a third-party technician to verify the problem.

But Mercedes insisted its own technician check the car, which was in turn rejected by Wu. As of March 29, Mercedes had still not offered a satisfactory solution to Wu.

Other complaints reported to the auto company include automatic flameout, disabled supplementary restraint system and problems with the wheels. Reporters have tried to contact the company for comment, but no response has been forthcoming.

These problems may not all be caused by quality failures, said auto engineer Wei Junqiang, as most of the imported luxury cars are made according to the foreign standards; the difference in road conditions and oil supplies can also produce unexpected problems.

But Mercedes' response to these problems hardly matches the brand's market status, scolded another industry expert.