THESE horror pictures show a Mercedes-Benz engulfed in flames just moments after the car was being repaired.
Kevin Bull, 51, spent the best part of a year looking for the perfect Mercedes E350 until he found a 2016 model that “ticked all his boxes”.
Bought it on 16th March 2024, paid £17,109 and had a year warranty.
But just eight days after it was delivered to his home in Wideopen, North Tyneside, from Stratford-upon-Avon via an authorized Mercedes-Benz network, the engine management light came on.
The Mercedes breakdown service discovered a snorkel in the air intake and Mr Bull booked the car into the official dealer in Scotswood Road.
The car spent three days being repaired and got its engine back on April 13.
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Although there were only 60,000 miles on the odometer and the car had a full service history, the car’s engine started smoking just after turning off the A1 onto Kingston Park Road.
Just moments after he got out, he caught fire and two fire trucks had to put out the fire.
The charred remains of the car have been at Mercedes-Benz Newcastle ever since.
The German manufacturer inspected the vehicle and found that “there is no evidence to suggest that this incident was caused by an inherent manufacturing defect or previous repair…”.
Mercedes advised Mr Bull to go through his insurance to get his money back.
He was also asked to return the loaner car he had been given by July 3 and to ensure the remains of his E-Class were removed from the Scotswood Road site.
But Mr Bull refused to take out the insurance and hopes to be able to return the car and get compensation through the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
Under the law, he could get a refund if he was able to prove that there was already a fault with the car, although Mercedes claimed that this was not the case.
An NHS worker says he is having sleepless nights over the situation.
Mr Bull told ChronicleLive: “I just want it to end, I’m sick of it.
“It’s been going on too long and I’ve had enough.
“There’s something to do every night and it seems to take up time and cause so much stress that you have to go to bed and you’re stressing at night thinking about what the outcome will be?”
He also vowed never to get a Mercedes-Benz again.
Mr Bull said he had previously 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 any incident extremely seriously and are working with all relevant parties to review the circumstances.
“There was no evidence from Mercedes-Benz UK’s inspection of the car to suggest that this incident was caused by an inherent manufacturing defect or a previous repair carried out by Mercedes-Benz of Newcastle.
“As such, 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 two of our crews attended a vehicle fire near the A1 in Newcastle on the afternoon of Saturday 13 April.
The Sun’s view of the Mercedes E-class station wagon
We tested the engine in May 2021, this is what we thought
Mercedes station wagon. People keep them for years and years and love them just as long. A car for life.
The E-Class station wagon is the largest and most durable station wagon of the Mercedes brand. Which means probably the biggest and toughest anyone makes.
The base model we tested here has almost every spec you could want.
The E-Class’s suspension is flat and plush – more so on our base model than on expensive models with AMG Line trim and big wheels.
The cornering is absolutely soothing. It descends the highway, rock solid, almost silently.
Inside, it’s smart enough, well-equipped and colossally spacious.
But mainly strong. The skin is not buttery soft.
It’s as hard as a rhinoceros hide. Everything looks like it was made to last a lifetime. Or two.
Of course, all these good things are part of the E-Class sedan. But the estate is more useful. And what’s even better, everyone will stop thinking you’re a powerful minicab driver.
“The emergency call was received at 12.25pm ​​and the first crew were on the scene at Kingston Park Road within seven minutes.
“Our control team dispatched two appliances to the car fire due to the location of the vehicle in close proximity to the roundabout.
“This was to ensure the safety of our firefighters and all road users.
“Our crews left the scene at 1.28pm once the fire was safely extinguished.
In May last year, the £2.2million Mercedes AMG One – which has the same engine as Lewis Hamilton’s F1 car – was being towed on the M6 ​​in Staffordshire when it burst into flames.
While in July of the same year, a £45,000 Tesla Model Y caught fire on the side of the road.