Power Steering Pump problems of the 2000 Mercedes Benz M Class

This complaint arises out of NHTSA campaign id number 08v465000 (most recent) involving a defective hose and clamp associated with the power steering. I am waiting to have those items installed on my 2000 mercedes ml55 when the parts are obtained by my dealer, mbl of tyson's corner, va, which solicited me to have the repairs made and I tried to do so but the parts were not in stock. My complaint has to do with mercedes's refusal to take any responsibility for the fact that since I bought the car in 2000, it has had three or four power steering pumps to go bad and have to be replaced. In your recall notice, you state that the defective hose and clamp "ultimately can damage the power steering pump. This could result in a loss of control and a crash without warning>" since I bought this car in 2000, it will not have had a non-defective power steering system. As best I can determine from paper in my possession, the power steering pump has been replaced at least three times. I suppose that mercedes could argue that four pumps represents normal wear-and-tear, but it seems to me that there is some connection between the defective hose and clamp and the need to replace multiple pumps. The pump is a big-ticket item--more than $1,200 each to buy and have installed. It strikes me as unlikely in the extreme that the defective hose and clamp did not contribute to the failure of at least three power steering pumps over the last 9 years.