Owner demands action on GLC steering judder

CASE STUDY Clive wants Mercedes to step in to solve concerning low-speed vibration on SUV

EVERY new car is subject to such a lengthy and rigorous testing regime before being put to market that it’s become increasingly rare for issues to arise.

It’s rarer still for problems to occur on a premium model, because their makers pride themselves on solid build quality. That’s why the low-speed judder on the Mercedes GLC that we reported on in Issue 1,460 has caused such concern among owners.

We ran a GLC on our fleet for six months and revealed that at low speeds with the steering on full lock, the car skips across the surface, making a worrying noise.

Mercedes admitted it was aware of the problem but told us it was not a safety concern, and more down to the combination of cold weather and hard-compound summer tyres fitted to the SUV.

Following our report, the Auto Express inbox was flooded with E-mails from owners reporting the same problem and wanting more than just acceptance from Mercedes.

Clive Wilson, of Weston-super-mare, Somerset, was just one of many to get in touch. He explained: “I’ve had my GLC for about 13 months now and the juddering is definitely getting worse. So much so that I can’t turn at all without it happening. Sometimes I have to do a three-point turn because it feels as though the wheels will snap off – and I’m not exaggerating. Mercedes needs to get a grip of this before it ruins what is a very good car.”

We contacted Mercedes to see what it was doing to compensate unhappy owners and if there was a firm solution from its technical team in Germany. A spokesman told us: “We can assure customers our technical specialists, plus independent experts such as [German vehicle inspection firm] DEKRA, concur the cars are completely safe to drive.

“These same experts have tested allseason tyres, which have proven to improve the driving comfort. We are currently securing stock of these tyres, and offering these free of charge to those GLC customers who find this sensation uncomfortable.

“We’d ask affected customers to contact their Mercedes retailer, who will be happy to make the necessary arrangements on their behalf.”

“Mercedes said it was aware of the judder on the GLC, but told us that it wasn’t a safety concern”