Midday on Saturday, May 4, 2019, my wife and I were driving in downtown Roanoke, VA when suddenly our Mercedes Benz (MB) Sprinter Van 3500 RV began acting erratically. Initially, the vehicle surged forward and I instinctively hit the brakes hard to stop it. Fortunately there was no one in front of or close behind us when this happened or it would have likely resulted in a collision. After a few moments the vehicles behavior normalized and I was able to continue driving. It was then that I noticed the warning lights on the dash. These including ABS, ESP, check engine and traction control.

I managed to drive the vehicle to a repair shop although it continued to act erratically by bucking and racing from time to time. I was concerned about damage to other components due to the mechanical misbehavior. At MB, the service people immediately diagnosed it as a wheel sensor. They'd seen this before. It turned out to be the right rear sensor that needed replacement (under warranty) and recommended I replace the left rear since they said it was likely to go in the near future. Unfortunately, they said, the second sensor was not covered.

Against my wife's objections, I drove the vehicle back to NH and called my local MB dealer. At first, they too would not replace what I characterized as known defective equipment with safety hazard and liability implications. After submitting a lengthy explanation of these issues, they finally agreed to replace the left wheel sensor as a "one time" good customer favor. There was no way they were going to admit that their equipment was defective and set a precedent.