A Mercedes saved my life

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You’ll read all about the circumstances behind it next week, but on Tuesday (April 29) a Mercedes-Benz saved my life. Of that I’m convinced.

There’s more than some synchronicity that it happened literally within minutes of Mercedes-Benz Australia raising the potential of serious injury and even worse via the incorrect repair of vehicles using counterfeit parts.

The crash I was involved in all but totalled a high-performance Mercedes-Benz. It’s just now, a few days later, that the potential implications are really sinking in. It was only the correct execution of a number of safety systems that ensured I walked away from a 170km/h racetrack rollover without so much as a scratch.

Every one of those systems could have been degraded or even disabled via a dodgy repair. That thought is chilling.

Mercedes Australia raised the issue on Tuesday. It stated that it believed insurers and repairers could have blood on their hands from the fitting of non-genuine parts. At the press conference, the statements set me back in my chair. Earlier this month I ticked over 23 years in automotive journalism – in all of those 23 years I hadn’t heard such a strongly worded statement.

Read the full account and watch the video

After my ‘adventure’ you can say I’m now fully invested in the sentiments – and support them.

Your comments on the original article are mixed. There’s no doubt Benz has a parts business to defend but the concern it has as an engineering and safety-focussed automotive business is, in my belief, genuine. You can argue about the cost of genuine spares in Australia v USA, but that’s a different kettle of fish.

Mercedes has gone out on a limb when it states that counterfeit parts and the incorrect re-initialisation of electronic safety systems have the potential to cost lives but, for calling a spade a spade, it should be congratulated.

Since Tuesday, I’ve also had a number of discussions with the insurance industry – on and off the record. Insurers aren’t the most popular professionals out there, but it’s now clear that the Mercedes-Benz statements are a measure of the frustration and concern that’s brewing within the wider ranks.

Does your insurer guarantee the use of genuine OEM replacement parts? And will it also ensure that the active and passive safety systems embedded in that car work as the car’s original manufacturer intended after your repair is complete? These are both questions you should be asking...