Has the recall environment changed sine 1995?

[Stevester 500E]

I am wondering what would happen today if there was a bad design such as the biodegradable harness?

Would there be a recall? Would MB react the same way as it did in the 90's?

Every time I see a degraded harness, I can't believe MB didn't recall it?
The least they could have done is offer the harness at cost.

 

[J-Sauce]

From what I can tell, a recall is usually only implemented when there is a problem that could cause harm to the driver, and only when the cost of replacing all the components in every affected vehicle is less than a class action lawsuit. There is little potential for a harness to cause an accident. There is a recall on the 4.2L W124 cars for the rubber brake line that runs from below the booster to the abs unit. It runs along the fender and can rupture and leak on the resistor for the AUX fans. The line is EXACTLY the same on the 500E, yet when my ruptured and even produced smoke from that resistor, I was surprised to find it was not covered by a recall. MB obviously knew of the issue, but there aren't enough 500E cars in the US to make it economically viable to issue a recall.

 

[Ascension]

I am wondering what would happen today if there was a bad design such as the biodegradable harness?

Would there be a recall? Would MB react the same way as it did in the 90's?

Every time I see a degraded harness, I can't believe MB didn't recall it?
The least they could have done is offer the harness at cost.

What I can't believe is the the feds let them slide on the harness issues and didn't force them to replace every single one of the harnesses.
Big time political corruption here is the only answer as one only has to look at the issue with GM and ignition switches as an example of what would normally happen. I suspect it had more to do with EU "Green" politics than Mercedes as they were not alone in getting caught by that stuff. Volvo I know had the same disintegrating insulation issue most likely with harnesses from the same suppliers but unlike MB they fixed every original owners issue who asked for free.
PS I'm the State Chairman here.
http://www.conservativepartyal.org/
I spend much of my time as a lobbyist so know the arena well and this one issue on these Eco junk MB harnesses flat reeks of high level international political corruption.

 

[Stevester 500E]

J-Sauce,
You forgot one part of the equation, for lack of a better way to articulate it; "and if the issue was in the news and could cause a huge reduction in sales"

 

[Ascension]

J-Sauce,
You forgot one part of the equation, for lack of a better way to articulate it; "and if the issue was in the news and could cause a huge reduction in sales"

The issue did cause a real issue with the reputation of MB that drastically affected sales and is still being felt. It was issues like this where several of these big euro companies seemingly didn't give a rip about CS that were the major contributors to the upstart lines like Lexus, Acura and Infinity exploding on the US market. Check the times lines and you will see what I mean here. Long term MB could have likely repaired all of both the harness and the water based primer induced rust issues under warranty and come out ahead over what the hit to the corporate reputation has cost the company over the last 20 years or so-- but they chose not to.