2007 CLS63 Torque Converter Failed!!!

[Gav78]

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you're having a good one. Mine has been...interesting!

12 days after purchasing my CLS63, I was driving when, less than a mile from home, my car suddenly and completely shut down at around 40mph, it was a bit of a shock as you can imagine as the power steering also went. The car came to a halt at the side of the road and after taking a moment to realise what had just happened I tried to start the the car but it wouldn't and showed symptoms of a flat battery. I left the car for 5 mins and tried again, this time successfully, but the engine was initially lumpy before settling down. I then selected drive but upon accelerating the engine just revved with no forward movement, the same happened in reverse.

I called Mercedes Roadside assistance who were very good and arrived promptly, the technician connected the car up to check any fault codes and errors but none came up, he looked under the car and noticed the prop shaft wasn't moving under throttle in drive or reverse. I left him to it and he came to the conclusion that the gearbox was toast and that the car would need to be transported to my nearest dealership (Macclesfield) for further examination.

I agreed and wasn't too concerned as I had taken out the tier 1 warranty after buying the car. After several days of head scratching Mercedes Macclesfield still didn't seem to be able to figure out what the issue is so I decided to go and speak with them in person at which point they had removed the gearbox and come to the conclusion that previous work carried out at Mercedes Taunton was the issue. They had removed the gearbox to replace a seal and hadn't reinstalled it correctly resulting in the torque converter to fail. They were speaking with Taunton to reach a resolution and would get back to me.

Again, I wasn't too bothered, as long as it gets rectified, i thought, and isn't going to cost me....several days pass and I get a call from the dealership now saying that the work carried out at Taunton wasn't the issue and that my tier 1 policy doesn't actually start until 9/01/17 despite having paid for the policy. As a result I'm liable for the cost of replacing the torque converter.

That bring me to where I currently am, I'm waiting to hear how much it's going to cost, the dealer is going to contact Mercedes to ask them for a contribution as the car has been serviced by Mercedes 9 times in 9 years (including the scheduled gearbox service) and has only done 59k miles.

I'm now getting sweaty palms as I have no idea what kind of bill to expect but am also preparing for a fight with Mercedes as a car with so few miles and such a full service history surely shouldn't experience such a premature failure.

Any advice on how to tackle them and estimates on costs would be appreciated.

 

[moonloops]

Consumer rights act will cover this. 12 days after purchase you should have nothing to pay.

"The quality of goods includes their state and condition; and the following aspects (among others) are in appropriate cases aspects of the quality of goods—
(a)fitness for all the purposes for which goods of that kind are usually supplied;
(b)appearance and finish;
(c)freedom from minor defects;
(d)safety;
(e)durability."

 

[SamW]

What a stressful thing to happen and best of luck with it.

I would say the argument lies with the supplier of the car and/or the warranty administrator - whys it starting 2/3 weeks after you've taken delivery?

MB may (and probably would) show a form of goodwill but likewise, it rolled out the factory 9 yrs ago and it's been the best part of 6 yrs since they had any responsibility of the car so I wouldn't blame them.

As said before tho, 12 days, you should be covered in other ways.

 

[Gav78]

Consumer rights act will cover this. 12 days after purchase you should have nothing to pay.

"The quality of goods includes their state and condition; and the following aspects (among others) are in appropriate cases aspects of the quality of goods—
(a)fitness for all the purposes for which goods of that kind are usually supplied;
(b)appearance and finish;
(c)freedom from minor defects;
(d)safety;
(e)durability."

I forgot to add, I bought the car privately, do the same rules apply?

 

[SamW]

Whose the warranty with?

 

[Gav78]

Whose the warranty with?

Warranty is a Mercedes Benz tier 1 bought directly through Mercedes, although I believe it is administered through Mondial Assistance. I paid £1,609 for the year.

https://www.mercedes-benzwarranty.co.uk/Tier1Overview

 

[John Jones Jr]

I get a call from the dealership now saying that the work carried out at Taunton wasn't the issue and that my tier 1 policy doesn't actually start until 9/01/17 despite having paid for the policy. As a result I'm liable for the cost of replacing the torque converter.

There's a fair chance M-B Taunton's poor workmanship did cause the problem and also a fair chance M-B Macclesfield are unwilling to take Taunton to task and of course it's difficult to prove what actually caused the current fault.

I'd suspect too that it's not so long ago that M-B Taunton worked on the car in relation to some g/box issue or related problem. Thus, Macclesfield mentioning Taunton initially.

 

[Gav78]

There's a fair chance M-B Taunton's poor workmanship did cause the problem and also a fair chance M-B Macclesfield are unwilling to take Taunton to task and of course it's difficult to prove what actually caused the current fault.

I'd suspect too that it's not so long ago that M-B Taunton worked on the car in relation to some g/box issue or related problem. Thus, Macclesfield mentioning Taunton initially.

They carried out the work in June of this year and the car has only done 1k miles in that time. I need to ask why they seemed sure that this was the problem and why they now are sure it isn't.

 

[John Jones Jr]

They carried out the work in June of this year and the car has only done 1k miles in that time.

Exactly what I was thinking.

 

[moonloops]

I forgot to add, I bought the car privately, do the same rules apply?

Nope

 

[John]

I'm surprised the warranty starts so longer after being taken out - unless it was to prevent underlying issues being claimed...

 

[Grovsie31]

If you bought the car private, you are screwed. Why didn't you start the policy earlier?

 

[Gav78]

The chronology is as follows:

3rd Dec, bought the car
9th Dec, bought the warranty
15th Dec, car breaks down

It's actually been with Mercedes longer than with me since I bought it! Even if I had bought the warranty on the same day it still wouldn't have been long enough (1 month) to claim. Having said that I was under the impression that the warranty period started 24 hours after purchase and it doesn't state anywhere that it is a month. It's only checking the schedule of cover that is dated 11th Dec but didn't arrive until 15th that its states the cover period as beginning 1 month from purchase.

The reason I didn't get it straight away was because I couldn't decide whether to get it or put that money aside for any issues that may arise. In the end I decided to go for as it is a very comprehensive warranty and for piece of mind.

 

[Peter103]

You need to get hold of copies of the Taunton worksheet, invoices and receipts, and determine just what work they did, 6 months and 1000 miles doesn't look very good on them if it was a gearbox problem.

 

[John]

OK, so it is the old "stop you claiming for underlying issues" situation.

The reason I didn't get it straight away was because I couldn't decide whether to get it or put that money aside for any issues that may arise. In the end I decided to go for as it is a very comprehensive warranty and for piece of mind.

Even if you had, it appears you would still not be covered anyway.

 

[Gav78]

You need to get hold of copies of the Taunton worksheet, invoices and receipts, and determine just what work they did, 6 months and 1000 miles doesn't look very good on them if it was a gearbox problem.

Yeah, I already have it:

 

[John Jones Jr]

Judging by that invoice the box and t/converter were removed to replace the rear main oil seal. On that basis I'd presume it's very possible they didn't reassemble everything correctly and maybe that had a knock on effect causing the problem you have now?




P.s. even if Taunton are at fault, one of the problems I see is that the warranty on their repair would be with the previous owner rather than the warranty being with the car.

 

[Peter103]

Fact is they've worked on the gearbox, removed and replaced it, and within only a thousand miles, its buggered, the least they could do is pay toward the cost of putting it right.we have to assume it was working well before they removed it, and now it is not. Has to be down to them. Don't be fobbed off, get stuck into them, and try and remain calm, good luck.

 

[Alex]

Curious how they arrived at the conclusion that the TC has failed. The car drove for a whole 1000 miles with the rear sealed jammed so it must have been leaking oil? Which would result in loss of acceleration amongst other symptoms. I'd get them to install it all back as is, fill her up with oil and start the engine. Some garages just love to drum up the unnecessary work for themselves at the cost of unsuspecting owners.

 

[JattAmg]

Keep in mind the option of having a local Indy repair your car it should be far cheaper.