[gavin kramer]

Hi,
My EQA is about 6 months old. I started to see condensation in one of the headlights about 2 months ago. I scheduled the car to go into the dealer to have the light replaced under the warranty or so I hoped. Earliest appointment I could get was about a month later. By this time a crack had started to form on the lens.

We had not experienced any impact whatsoever, there are no signs of any impact around the headlight.

Mercedes say it is impact damage and want £1k to replace it.

They admit the unit is plastic, not built like they used to be, but its not a warranty claim,.

I'm furious to say the least, First Merc I've owned and clearly the quality not what it used to be.

Anyone had experience of headlight failure at all in their EQAs or ideas how to take this up with Mercedes.

 

[Parkwood]

Have had Mercedes’ since 2008 and never had to replace a headlamp but working in in insurance it is not an unknown issue to have impacts and if they are glass or plastic they can be damaged.
Condensation has been an ongoing occurance since the move to zenon and generally is of itself not a problem unless it never clears which indicates a more serious water ingress problem as opposed to an atmospheric/temperature condensation issue. so I am sorry to say it is entirely possible the unit has been damaged either by an impact from road debris or worse another car hitting it whilst manouvearring.
I would examine very closely the unit and the area around it incl under the bonnet to see if there is any indications of impact or grazing, has the alignment moved for example? Ask the garage to expalin how they come to the conclusion they do what evidence are they seeing which points to that conclusion and can they show it to you. Once you have that you can argue your case more firmly with Mercedes’ as to whether the suggestion it is impact related or not is reasonable or whether the crack is appearing due to a manufacturing fault. certainly I am not aware of it being an issue with Mercedes’ light units which are used across the range. Good luck I appreciate the cost is not one any of us wish to meet though if they say it is impact damage it would be covered by your ins policy less an excess (in the old days people used to argue headlights came under the glass section of a policy have no idea how insurers look at these days).

 

[gavin kramer]

Have had Mercedes’ since 2008 and never had to replace a headlamp but working in in insurance it is not an unknown issue to have impacts and if they are glass or plastic they can be damaged.
Condensation has been an ongoing occurance since the move to zenon and generally is of itself not a problem unless it never clears which indicates a more serious water ingress problem as opposed to an atmospheric/temperature condensation issue. so I am sorry to say it is entirely possible the unit has been damaged either by an impact from road debris or worse another car hitting it whilst manouvearring.
I would examine very closely the unit and the area around it incl under the bonnet to see if there is any indications of impact or grazing, has the alignment moved for example? Ask the garage to expalin how they come to the conclusion they do what evidence are they seeing which points to that conclusion and can they show it to you. Once you have that you can argue your case more firmly with Mercedes’ as to whether the suggestion it is impact related or not is reasonable or whether the crack is appearing due to a manufacturing fault. certainly I am not aware of it being an issue with Mercedes’ light units which are used across the range. Good luck I appreciate the cost is not one any of us wish to meet though if they say it is impact damage it would be covered by your ins policy less an excess (in the old days people used to argue headlights came under the glass section of a policy have no idea how insurers look at these days).

thank you very much for taking the time for the detailed reply and advice.