Only a Mercedes specialist at a specialized Mercedes dealership with specialized personnel specializing in specialized Mercedes vehicles should open the trunk of this special vehicle. I guess must be very special then!

Imagine not being authorized to open the hood of your own car 😂

The extra effort Mercedes went through to hide the hood release and add an additional slot for wiper fluid is beyond me.

Theres no way their hidden latch would keep me from opening the hood but i guarantee it will prevent me from buying their car

Right to repair is a huge issue and will only get worse if we let manufacturers get away with it.

It’s simple. Merc knows that EVs will hurt repair revenues because they are more reliable. So they want YOU paying a tech $$$ to clear leaves out of the intake.

When you’ve got vehicles like Lucid and Rivian with massive frunks, not having a frunk at all seems like a big letdown.

So it's a normal hood, they just scare you from opening it. this isn't stupid or anything. They should get rid of the lug nuts and weld the tires to the axle --wouldn't want anyone getting hurt changing a flat tire.

4:20 Mercedes Benz does actually have specially trained service personnel who hold the hood open while another person works on the system. But you're not supposed to know that either.

I'm sure you've set some software flag by opening the hood. This will come into play if you ever need/want warranty work done on your EQS - then you're SOL. All that said, I'm glad you opened that thing up and showed us what's in there. That HUGE air filter thing will likely cost the owner a LOT of money to replace...on a frequent basis!

I 100% agree - if I own it, I should have access to every area of my property, at will.

With it being Mercedes I was for some reason expecting to see some kind of electronic lock that you need to provide some encrypted key or something to disengage the hood latch but I was kind of deflated when it was revealed that they just simply hid the hood release....behind a plastic mold door....with one screw securing it. I'm calling off work because I need to take the rest of the day off to finish facepalming how ridiculous this is. Pay us for this...but don't you dare open it.....WTF

The fact that you show how to hack the car, break the rules, whatever you want to call it, makes this video valuable. I'd just rip that little door off if that's all it is. The tech would probably thank me for saving them the time. Plus you've proven that keeping the customer "locked out" is actually detrimental to maintaining the vehicle.

I am SO glad you did this!!! BMW iX ALSO has locked the owner out of the hood compartment with the disclaimer “only authorized repair shops”. I always thought it was a mistake to make Apple the Right to Repair poster child because it left so many other companies out of the discussion. It should have been bigger than Apple. For example John Deere was MUCH worse but only brought into the discussion when a very large KZfaqr mentioned them with Apple. Up until then every article, news segment, tech reviewer was about Apple, Apple Apple, while much more expensive and traditionally customizable products were locking owners out.

MB messed up there. They should've made the front end one contiguous unit with no actual hood. Then they could charge major $$$ to perform service work since it would take dismantling the entire front clip.

Good observation about the leaves. My Honda was actually totalled due to leaves clogging a tiny drain hole under the hood. It rained hard enough to flood the interior of the car as a result. As usual Mercedes has made a car for their customers and not real people that have trees near their cars.

TFL opens Mercedes EQS hood. Next Mercedes bans TFL from receiving their cars for review.

Looks like the perfect place to put one of those "We've been trying to reach you about your car's extended warranty" stickers 🤣🤣

Thanks for this. I've specifically looked for videos in the past showing under the hood. I knew it wasn't meant to be opened for any normal reason, so that just made more curious.

Putting your electric S Class on a flat bed to the dealer in order to replace the 12v lead acid battery is freaking ridiculous.

Big Brother says no ... Tommy says get screwed , love it

It seems the only cost savings Mercedes has is avoiding the safety two-stage hood latch and prop/strut of a conventional hood, but those missing parts are slightly offset by adding an extra panel covering the release. I assumed the splash guards would be attached to the sides of the hood and it wouldn't be hinged, but instead be bolted on. This is just crazy.

That little door should have had a captive screw, for the obvious reason … probably gonna be in there a lot🤣

Ya they want you to take it to the dealer to spend $5000 just to open the hood.. smfh!! Screw you Mercedes.. great job Tommy

Right to repair is essential to me. It appears that the only easily accessible items under the hood are the coolant levels and removing debris like you said about the leaves.

kind of make me wonder what they are trying to hide when they don't want you to "open"

If you paid for the hood/bonnet then it’s your property and you have the right to open er up. Nice work, boys.

This would bother me because I like to keep my vehicles clean inside and out. Besides leaves getting in, the dust build up would bother me. Probably the cabin filter is in there to that maybe easy to change that the dealer can charge customers a lot for to change with this stupid customer not allowed to open crap.

I hope you don’t spoil your relationship with Mercedes for this, and then have to do a video apologizing to them like you did for Subaru.

I think this is a stupid idea. Glad there’s a work around though but are they going to void a warranty claim if you opened it yourself? It’s almost as bad as not even putting a donut spare in a car.

You and the fine Mr.Rossman should do an interview about Right To Repair as he is getting initiated into the automotive world and I feel you guys could discuss some interesting subjects. With that said I am not his fanboy as him and I disagree on a great many things but I can respect a person for their ideas and get past that to have decent thought provoking interactions🤙

More than right to repair is right to maintain!!! You gave excellent reasons to open that hood!

I have loads of fir trees that are constantly losing needles, which then go all over the place and especially in the bit between the hood and the windscreen. This is a huge fail for Mercedes, coming from someone who has 2 AMGs on their driveway. No, thank you. The ugly shape and this stupid bonnet makes these cars a non-starter, unless Mercedes reverses these decisions.

Thanks for this video. In my experience not cleaning out the leaves and other things in and around the cabin air intake can lead to a clogged cabin air filter and in the end lead to a broken blower motor and many angry customers. I think this is a bad decision on the part of Mercedes has they have been doing as of late. Other manufacturers that have EV related components and the washer fluid allow you access to the hood. Tesla, VW/Porsche/Audi and I think Hyundai. As to holding the hood up 90 degree's, I think the latches near the hinge is the way to go. What Mercedes is trying to do is prevent people from working on their cars.

Crazy what you actually had to do. Thanks for filming it. Yes, we should, as consumers, have access for cleaning and maintenance.

Great job. I have ordered a 580, scheduled to be here in a couple of weeks. Now I know how to open the hood. Thanks.

I MUST KNOW - does the washer fluid fill port lock, or can a drunk hooligan passing by use your Mercedes EQS as a urinal???

For the price of this car, I would have expected underneath the hood to be painted even tho you’re not supposed to open it…

I agree with you. It's utterly ridiculous for a manufacturer to sell you a product and then assume they have a right to restrict what you do with it. Also, the washer fluid port is easily the ugliest part of the exterior design.

I would really struggle with buying a car where you aren't allowed to open the hood. No. Thanks.

Can you do a video about the dos and do nots, the can and can'ts of what you can do with press fleet vehicles? Is there anything a manufacturer prohibits you from doing, or have you ever damaged relationships with brands from a bad review? Or is any and all negative criticism welcomed, because it tells them what to fix in their next redesign?

Feeling like this video is gonna have bigger implications than first thought?!🙏👍🏻👏

What a help! Thank you!

Thank you so much!! I just test drove a M-B EQB and the sales person told me I'm not allowed access under the hood. I agree with your assessment. How does one clear debris/leaves if one can't open the hood? Great and to the point.

The older Tommy is the more he looks like his dad.

Push the lever near the hood hinge either side! Push it real good.

Thanks for the video

I wonder if they will eventually make it that if you open the hood or do anything yourself they will void the warranty

That’s infuriating. And the extra engineering involved to “allow” you to fill the windshield washer tank without opening the hood is just sad. I would never buy something like this, but I suppose that just means I’m not the target market. Edit to add: Also the fact that they think they’ve actually hidden / secured the latch from owners is laughable.

the merc and bmw designers have lost their minds,but the ones aproving these are even more crazy

Everything that has gone wrong with cars in recent years was summed up in an opening statement - "In the owners manual, here on the screen".

You're right about the seeds from the trees. They block my car every autumn.

Interesting to see the shock tower top so far in, any thoughts on that?

As Mercedes electrifies their fleet, this car's going to go down as a bizarre first step. No way they'll keep engineering ways around hood access all the way down into the A-class.

This video was epic. I want more of these.

Great! Always asked myself what is under the hood of the EQS. Now I know, thank you

If an owners manual ever tells me I cant open the hood I'm leaving that lot in the same rig I came in, as you've shown there's always a maintenance item to be considered, even if its just routine cleaning. If nothing else I can't stand the though of a manufacturer sneering down their nose at me like I'm too stupid to look at my cars inner workings, and would leave on principle alone.

Nice job...guess MB will have a heart attack once they see your video. I can't believe they would lock the customer from opening the front hood.

I would never purchase a vehicle that did not give me access to all parts of it. Maybe that's why Mercedes has one of the quickest ownership turn around of any vehicle.

Hood is unavailable because there is a risk of touching 400 VDC that could easily kill you. Additionally, those parts are getting very hot and could burn you. You could have figured it out if you would read the warning markings in the manual ;)

Thanks for showing how poorly designed the EQS is compared to Lucid. How is it possible that Lucid and Tesla and even the Ford F-150 lightening can have massive storage space in the front and Mercedes have nothing? The Lucid is a way better luxury EV sedan than the EQS.

OMG, the washer fluid fill is truly “over-the-top”! Mercedes-Benz, over-engineering at its finest.

Thank you! May come in handy when I take delivery of mine in 3 weeks.

This has been around since the Porsche Boxster and it’s locked engine access box.

Not a fan. I like a lot of the new EVs coming out. At the same time, I'm not a fan of the fact they seem hell-bent on making them unserviceable (or difficult to service) by the consumer. Thanks for the vid TFL!

Absolutely , the doorway for windscreen washer fluid was clearly thought of by an accountant looking at ways of justifying using official repair shops instead of going to your ev registered local workshop, there’s even a bs message that it’s to protect you from battery off gasses (but everyone knows it’s just a stupid ploy to stop 3rd party hepta filters being changed by a local ranger style repair angel ) if you loop closely even e class gas struts could be fitted to keep it open . What makes it worse is Mercedes copied it over to the eqe as well

Wow took me a minute to realize you're that guy's son without the glasses. Took me a min! Subscribed

This is absolutely ridiculous for a company to say that the OWNER of a vehicle isn't PERMITTED to access under the hood. Maybe a warning about how it might be dangerous and not recommended. But THIS???

😂 Congratulations Tommy. You just became the owner of an unwarranted new EV MB

As a car technician I can say not having access to basics like antifreeze tank(s) is almost a crime, especially on electric cars which are very sensitive to excess heat. Rather than providing those "special" instructions on the manual they could simply say there is a risk of electrocution under the hood and place some stickers under the hood itself to point those hazards. I still believe you need to be an "cocky autist" to buy a Mercedes, Audi or BMW. The holy trinity of expensive unreliable shitboxes.

writing "not adviced" or at most "will void warranty" would have been something, but the manual saying you're not "authorized" to open the hood of the car you payed for is just pure garbage

So what happens when there is a fire and the fire department needs to open the hood? NTSB should be outlawing this car.

Congratulations Tommy for opening the hood and now Mercedes will never give you any car to review

Let's see if MB puts TFL on their 💩 list like Subaru for this, lol. Let's hope not!

I find it interesting how all of the efforts from manufacturers to deny right to repair can be circumvented in a simple manner. I remember back in 2000 or even 2010 the cars seemed so incomprehensibly advanced and yet working on them is completely possible. I'm sure in 10 years there will be workarounds and even fixes to jailbreak modern cars to the point where working on them is tolerable.

I’m actually surprised they put in a traditional hood release rather than making it scan tool driven. For what it’s worth, this isn’t anything new. The Porsche Boxster hasn’t had user serviceable engine access since its inception. Remote access for oil, coolant and washer fluid is in the trunk. I’m not saying that I agree with it, just saying it isn’t new. Additionally, adding a cover over the hood release and saying that you shouldn’t open the hood unless you are qualified is not a threat to right to repair. Mercedes does that in plenty of other ways, this isn’t one of them. The fact that you were easily able to open the hood is proof of that. Frankly, as a (former) professional auto tech, many vehicle owners really should just leave their hood closed and bring their car to a qualified professional. People who don’t know what they are doing have a strong tendency to make problems worse (we’ve all heard of people putting oil in their coolant, water in the oil, leaving bolts loose on their brakes, etc). It’s not an uncommon thing, so dissuading them from trying to service their vehicle themselves when they have no idea what they are doing is not really a bad thing in my professional opinion. People who know what they are doing will be able to open the hood quickly and easily.

"Access by the customer is not permitted." I don't care who Mercedes think they are. They don't own the car after the purchase. They can't tell anyone what they are and aren't allowed to do or touch.

That makes it a "do not buy" vehicle.

Mercedes is truly catering to their buyers. No Mercedes owner does maintenance to their brand new vehicle, its the 2nd owner who always gives it the first oil change and tire replacement.

No amount of words can express how illegal it is for the company to prevent their customers from opening the hood

Needed to open mine today. Very gretfull for your video. Do you know how to change the front grill as well?

Tommy got it right; if you buy it, it's yours. The only prohibition to opening the hood, by the operator, might be if you leased the vehicle; otherwise, repeating my first statement, "it's yours". If there were safety issues, the warning should reflect that, not forbidden access.

I had an A class as a hire car. I knew that I was going to cover 3000 miles in the next few days. I thought that it would be a good idea to check the oil. Mercedes "good luck with that" Yup. No dipstick.

I think you should force as many leaves as you can under the hood and have them catch fire. Then, you can sue Mercedes-Benz.

Thanks Tommy

Holy cow .🤓..thanks brother👏🙌👌

First time seeing you without your glasses, Tommy! 😆🤓

I recently purchased a 2023 AMG EQS Manufaktur edition and the Hood Release lever is not covered by the panel you had to remove. I agree the consumer should be able to access to clean the debris like you found.

Nice well done

Well done sir.

Ha Ha, I thought this was like one of those midnight Saturday live joke commercial skits at first....

You are a hero :)

This was super interesting

I'm old enough that I remember when all gas stations were full service, and pumping your own gas was against the law in most places. Back then you pulled up and the attendant took your gas order, and automatically checked nearly everything that could be checked. My neighbor who was big on knowing factoids, but not as careful about making sure they were true once said that the hoods of Rolls Royce cars were sealed at the factory and couldn't be opened. It wasn't true, of course. Back then, Rollers had breaker points and carbs that needed adjusting like any other car, and the same under-hood fluids that needed checking and changing. But because stealing the iconic Rolls Royce grille was popular as a counterculture statement (putting the grille on a VW Bug was fashionable) in addition to regular thieves, the hood release was inside the car.

Can't believe this was approved

Ironically, Germany is suing Apple for "right to repair".

Best way to get people to want to open the hood or access the 'frunk' is to say, you can't access the frunk

If you buy something, it is yours, period, which means you can do anything you like. Granted, most people who can afford high end cars don't work on them and they probably don't care, but that's not really the point. The idea that a manufacturer is trying to control an object they no longer own is a dangerously slippery slope. You can make an argument for leases but not purchases.

Mercedes has gone full John Deere on this one!

The reason is actually quite simple. Merc does not want to sell repair parts to independent garages or consumers, and this is their way of claiming the cars are not serviceable. There's likely other traps in place similar to what Apple does that if you do manage to open your iphone, the parts are serialized and it will not work with parts other than the ones that came with the iphone. The net effect of these types of policies will be that these cars will actually sink much more quickly in value compared to their gasoline counterparts simply because you won't be able to get parts for them.