THESE horror photos show a Mercedes-Benz engulfed in flames shortly after the car was taken to a garage for repairs.
Kevin Bull, 51, had been looking for the perfect Mercedes E350 for almost a year until he found a 2016 model that “checked all his boxes”.
5
5
5
He bought it on March 16, 2024, paying £17,109, and it came with a one-year warranty.
But just eight days after it was delivered to his home in Wideopen, North Tyneside, from Stratford-upon-Avon via the Mercedes-Benz approved pre-owned network, the engine management light came on.
Mercedes breakdown service discovered a crack in the air intake and Mr Bull booked the car in at the official dealer on Scotswood Road.
The car was repaired for three days and on April 13 it got its engine back.
Read more about Mercedes-Benz
Despite only showing 90,000 miles on the odometer and a full dealer service history, the car’s engine started smoking shortly after turning off the A1 onto Kingston Park Road.
Moments after he got out, it burst into flames and had to be extinguished by two fire engines.
The burnt-out remains of the car have since been located at Mercedes-Benz Newcastle.
The German manufacturer conducted an inspection of the vehicle and found that “there was no indication that an inherent manufacturing defect or the previous repair… caused this incident.”
Mercedes advised Mr Bull to get his money back through his insurance.
He has also been asked to return the loan car he was given before July 3 and also to ensure that the remains of his E-Class are removed from the Scotswood Road site.
However, Mr Bull refuses to deal with his insurance and hopes he can return the car and get his money back through the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
By law, he could get his money back if he could prove that there was a defect in the car. However, Mercedes claims that this is not the case.
The NHS worker says he is having sleepless nights over the situation.
Mr Bull told ChronicleLive: “I just want it to be over, I’m fed up with it.
“It’s been going on for far too long and I’ve had enough.
“Every night there’s something to do and it just seems to take up time and causes so much stress. You have to go to bed and at night you’re stressing out thinking what the outcome is going to be?”
He has also vowed never to buy a Mercedes-Benz again.
Mr Bull said he had owned BMWs for 20 years and had never had any problems with them.
A Mercedes-Benz spokesman said: “We are very sorry to hear about Mr Bull’s experience.
“We take every incident extremely seriously and work with all relevant parties to assess the circumstances.
An examination of the car by Mercedes-Benz UK found that there is no evidence that a manufacturing defect or a previous repair by Mercedes-Benz in Newcastle was the cause of this incident.
“Given this, Mr Bull has been advised to contact his insurance company.”
A spokesman for Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service said: “We can confirm that on the afternoon of Saturday 13 April two of our crews attended a vehicle fire near the A1 in Newcastle.
The Sun’s look at the Mercedes E-Class Estate
We put the bike through its paces in May 2021, here’s what we thought
A Mercedes station wagon. People keep them for years, and love them just as long. A car for life.
The E-Class Estate is the largest and heaviest station wagon Mercedes makes. That means about the largest and heaviest anyone makes.
The base model, tested here, has almost all the specifications you could wish for.
The E-Class’s suspension is flat and supple, even more so in our base model than in the more expensive models with AMG Line trim and large wheels.
Cornering is completely reassuring. He shoots down a highway as solid as a rock, in near silence.
Inside it’s smart enough, well equipped and hugely spacious.
But above all: strong. The leather is not the buttery soft kind.
It is as tough as the skin of a rhino. Everything feels like it was made to last a lifetime. Or two.
Of course, all this good stuff is also available in the E-Class sedan. But the estate is more useful. In fact, it stops everyone thinking you’re an executive minicab driver.
“The emergency call was received at 12.25pm and the first crew was on the scene on Kingston Park Road within seven minutes.
“Our control team sent two devices to the car fire because the vehicle was near a roundabout.
“This was to ensure the safety of our firefighters and all road users.
“Our crews left the scene at 1:28 p.m. after the fire was safely extinguished.”
In May last year, a £2.2million Mercedes AMG One – which has the same engine as Lewis Hamilton’s F1 car – was being towed along the M6 in Staffordshire when it caught fire.
In July of the same year, a Tesla Model Y worth £45,000 caught fire on the side of the road.
5
5