US Regulators Eye Mercedes As Next Target In Diesel Emissions Probe

Just as an FYI, in late 2016 when the new Mercedes GLC SUV was announced, I noticed that there was no diesel variant available on Mercedes website. I wrote to them, asking if it would come to North America. MB said it's coming in early 2017, but the new, more stringent diesel certification process is slowing its arrival.

In early 2017, MB wrote to me and informed me that the new GLC SUV with diesel engine "failed certification" (their words). I was obviously not dealing with a PR person, as the language was accurate, and not "spun" to sound positive.

If you check out MB's USA or Canadian website, you'll see that they've remove ALL diesel offerings, where they had several in 2016. BMW has one (1!) diesel engine available. It's a legacy motor, certified in previous years. They are not offering any new diesel engine options.

So if you listen to Mercedes and BMW, especially just after Dieselgate (Sep 2015), they both vehemently denied using a cheat device. Today, we see in North America that they've withdrawn virtually all their diesel offerings, and they can't get new ones to pass certification.

Draw your own conclusions as to how "clean" their diesel engines have been. And although it *appears* (at this time) that neither Mercedes nor BMW used a "cheat device" (as defined by law), it also *appears* that they passed diesel certification in previous years in way that a more scrutinizing eye no longer accepts as legitimate.

As I've said in my previous posts, manufacturers design their vehicles to "ace the test" rather than to be stellar performers in the real world. That's why we have vehicles that have respectable emissions in the lab (where the tests are done), and emit many times those levels while operating in the real world. Similarly, we routinely observe vehicles getting respectable fuel economy in the lab (EPA, where the tests are done), while consumers operating in the real world typically cannot dream of getting similar numbers.

Steve, I could be wrong, but I thought the diesel emission limits were tightened for either MY16 or 17. That could easily explain why previous cars could pass but not now. But that doesn't mean there might not have been some shenanigans in the past.

atc98092: My understanding is that emission regulations are set years in the future in order to give manufacturers time to design and build vehicles that can meet the new regs. It would makes no sense for Dieselgate to blow up in Sep 2015 and new laws to say, "Alright, effective Jan 1, 2016, every diesel manufacturer has to meet these new, lower limits." How?

If you know of new, tighter diesel emissions laws that were put in place between September 2015 and the time when manufacturers would be certifying their 2017 model year diesels, please do share that with us!

atc98092: My ongoing research had led me to discover that US authorities have broadened the definition of what constitutes a "cheat device" under law, and Mercedes pain is that their diesels (those failing 2017 certification) now fall under the NEW definition of a "cheat device".

This has put Mercedes in hot water. Although they have not been charged for using a cheat device in the past (arguably they haven't, according to the laws at the time), recent changes mean that Mercedes can no longer continue what they were doing and be considered legal. That's why we don't see any 2017 Mercedes diesel offerings in North America.

The excrement is striking the turbine, as they say.

Given that Mercedes offered the first production passenger car with a diesel engine, I'm sure they have attorneys, patents, trademarks, and 'hush cash' ready...They've had over a year to prepare themselves anyway....

Judge these facts for yourselves -

I have a wonderful 2014 GL350 Bluetek - its fast and gets excellent fuel mileage for a 5,500 lb vehicle.

My 'check engine' light came on 9 months ago - the stealer said it was a NOX sensor (OX?), but covered by warranty. They then told me that they had to order the parts from Germany which took 6 weeks.

Brought the vehicle back in, it took them three days to do the work (they gave me a really nice loaner) and when I got the car back - they said that SIX sensors had been replaced and that, by the way, they also but a pair of new air-springs on the front because they were slightly out of spec (my car had 20,000 easy miles on it).

I asked the tech was it cost MB to do the sensors and she said it was $3,000 to do the emissions work and $2,000 for the free air springs. Then she proceed to sell me an extra 3 yrs and up to 75,000 miles extended warranty (to 2020!) for about $4,000 - which I bought because I would keep the vehicle that long.

Next - about two months later, I receive super-generous "vehicle upgrade" letters from all three of my local MB dealers saying that they will give me $XX,XXX for my 4 year old GL350 (about 15% more than the book) if I will trade it on a new GAS MB SUV.

Hmmmmmmm? Is Mercedes quietly trying to take these diesels off the road?