The diesel model lawsuit of the consumer centers moves the car manufacturer Daimler into focus.
Thousands of plaintiffs have tried to seek compensation.
Now the first supreme court judgment is expected.
Karlsruhe - Thousands of car owners are demanding compensation from Daimler because of the so-called thermal window in many Mercedes diesels - the first supreme court judgment is now being announced at the Federal Court of Justice (BGH).
Six months ago, however, the Karlsruhe judges issued a written statement on possible claims.
So the outcome is foreseeable: the chances of success are rather slim.
The “thermal window”, which was also used as standard by other manufacturers, is part of the engine management system and reduces exhaust gas cleaning when the outside temperature is cooler.
The plaintiffs see this as an inadmissible defeat device - as at VW.
Volkswagen used fraudulent software
Volkswagen had secretly used fraudulent software in millions of diesel cars to hide the fact that too many pollutants were being emitted on the test bench.
For the BGH judges, this is the main difference to the Daimler thermal window, as Senate Chairman Stephan Seiters once again stated at the hearing on June 29th: This always works the same, whether on the street or in a test.
The use of the technology alone is not immoral, so it does not trigger any liability for damages.
The plaintiff wants Daimler to take back the car and reimburse the purchase price minus the number of kilometers driven.
He had bought his C-Class new in 2012 for around 35,000 euros.
The Oberlandesgericht (Higher Regional Court) Koblenz had recently dismissed his complaint.
With a view to the thermal window, the BGH should confirm this.
Nevertheless, it is becoming apparent that Seiters' Senate should refer the case back to Koblenz again.
Because the plaintiff had also accused Daimler of using numerous other defeat devices, and the OLG judges had not investigated.
It is primarily about an alleged manipulation of the coolant system in order to push the nitrogen oxide values in official tests below the actual level in normal road traffic.
50,000 cars affected
Because of these and other allegations, the consumer advice centers are currently preparing a model declaratory action against the Stuttgart car manufacturer.
They want to have a court established that Daimler has used other devices in addition to the thermal window that were actually intended to fool the authorities.
This involves almost 50,000 cars in Germany from the GLC and GLK sports vehicle series with the OM 651 engine, for which the Federal Motor Transport Authority had ordered recalls. The plaintiff's C-Class also has such an engine, but is not one of the models to which the model lawsuit is supposed to relate. She was also not affected by an official recall. (Az. VI ZR 128/20) dpa
