A “petrified” Mercedes owner is alerting others her sunroof unexpectedly shattered leaving her too afraid to get back behind the wheel.
Chanice Crystal Dawson from Ramsgate says she was lucky not to be in her E Class, which she bought for £30,000, when the window suddenly “exploded” without being touched.
The 31-year-old originally believed yobs launched a brick through her car which was parked on her drive so watched her CCTV in a bid to identify the perpetrator.
But she was left stunned when, after trawling through the footage, it appeared the cause of the smash was considerably more bizarre.
Vowing to get rid of the high-end saloon after deeming it potentially lethal, Ms Dawson says she suffered a double blow when the German manufacturer said it would not do repairs.
“Initially I thought a kid might have thrown a brick at it but after checking the CCTV, I saw it had exploded and shattered,” she said.
“It’s so dangerous and I couldn’t believe it had happened. It’s just so lucky that I wasn’t in the car as it could have caused a serious accident and I would have been injured.”
Ms Dawson had recently undergone an operation preventing her from getting behind the wheel for four weeks.
“Luckily I wasn’t driving it but it could have been a lot more serious,” she said.
“I don’t want to drive my car now, I’m petrified of driving my car and definitely will be selling it as soon as it’s fixed. I won’t get a Mercedes again – I’m just so scared to get in it now, it’s dangerous.”
Following the incident, Ms Dawson, who works in an office, contacted Mercedes but was told they would not repair the car.
“I told them they needed to recall the cars as it’s a manufacturing issue,” she said.
“They said because my car is seven years old and out of its warranty they won’t pay and the bill was about £1,420.
“I made a complaint because it’s disgusting – it should have never happened. I now have to go through my insurance but my car is already at Mercedes in Canterbury.
“I now have no car and this has been going on for about 10 days now. I need to pay my insurance excess of £115 too.”
The 31-year-old has no idea how the incident happened but wants owners of the same model to be aware.
“You don’t expect your phone screen to just smash in your face or your ear and I thought they would have taken responsibility to get this resolved,” she said.
“I don’t know what caused it, maybe it was the heat but it wasn’t that hot that day and it was raining.
“Maybe where it was sunny and then rained, it would have expanded in the sun and the rain could have caused a crack where it got cold.”
A Mercedes spokesperson apologised for the damage and said it could have been down to external factors.
“Even though a sunroof is made from tempered safety glass, it can sustain damage from external influences such as general road debris, including stone chips,” they said.
“It is possible the glass may then break at a later stage due to factors such as sudden temperature fluctuations, pressure, or during flexing of the body when the vehicle is driven.
“From Mercedes-Benz-of Canterbury’s investigations, there was no evidence to suggest that an inherent manufacturing defect caused this incident.
“Given this, Ms Dawson has been advised to contact her insurance company.”