Bought a new car for my wife…

[vito113]

I've just bought a new car for my wife, its extremely well built, superbly engineered, reckoned to be one of the most reliable on the road and with superb customer service from the dealer… guess the make? Well it was going to be a C class but after being treated like white trash because she wanted to spend 15k on one by three Stealerships in a fit of temper she walked into a Honda dealer and their attitude was a revelaton to behold. After years of being ignored/ripped off by Mercedes, here was a dealer who walked up to her as she entered the dealer and introduced himself, could'nt have been more helpful, and when she said how much she wanted to spend was willing to negotiate a deal on the car she fancied. So well done Mercedes, after six years you have finally driven a my wife into another makers arms!! She is now the rather pround owner of a Honda CR-V, wich is bucketloads better made the the bottom range Mercs!. And as I've just been quoted £276+VAT for a new water pump on my V Class I think I'll join her. A bit of a rant but it seems that unless your buying an E Class or better these days Mercedes just don't give a damn anymore.

 

[Roy Newling]

You will find Honda servicing more expensive than MB. I had to have my Honda serviced every six months, my MB is once a year.

 

[Glideman]

You'll also have to drive a honda

 

[Andrew]

But at least it won't break down like a new Mercedes does.

 

[fuzzer]

I think everyone should get a grip.

Cars break down , its a fact of life . Its almost as certain as having to pay road tax. Whether or not its major or something falling off ... they go wrong.

Honda are good cars and i will agree with that , but, so are mercedes.

On another note , the honda badge does absolutely nothing for anybody , just look at their NSX . Should be an amasing car , but when was the last time you saw one?? its down to the badge.....

nuff said.

 

[John Peerce]

I think in the initial post, Vito113 was complaining about the attitude of the Merc dealers to customers and their shameful treatment of his wife, not the quality of Mercedes cars, per se...

Just trying to re-focus this thread before we go haywire here

As a side note, maybe the attitude of dealers is partly governed by whether the car makers own those dealerships or whether they are franchised ? any ideas from experience from merc or other brands on this thought ?

 

[Richard W]

Don't know about who owns it - but I had an excellent response this morning from Martins, the VW dealer in Basingstoke.

I phoned to complain that they hadn't fixed a stalling problem my car has , and after explaining the problem quietly and rationally (and mentioned it had happend in the outside lane of the M3 )

They responded by sending a driver out with a loan car and promised to have the car fixed and returned tomorrow.

You may think it's a top of the range new Toureg or Phaeton - no it's a 1996 Polo 1.4........

That's customer service - oh yes and I'll bet it's spotless too!

Light years better than anything I expereinced with Mercedes or BMW ownership

R

 

[Shude]

I have only ever dealt with two mercedes stealerships, both were excellent. Whitefield in Manchester, and Monarch in Tamworth. I really think people should try a different stealership if they're not happy with one, not all stealerships are the same!

 

[vito113]

Originally posted by John Peerce
I think in the initial post, Vito113 was complaining about the attitude of the Merc dealers to customers and their shameful treatment of his wife, not the quality of Mercedes cars, per se...

Just trying to re-focus this thread before we go haywire here

As a side note, maybe the attitude of dealers is partly governed by whether the car makers own those dealerships or whether they are franchised ? any ideas from experience from merc or other brands on this thought ?

Thanks for that John,
That's exactly the point I was trying to make… the dealers attitudes stink these days! Mercedes took over direct control of their dealer chain to improves things… I'm still waiting >:-(

Also, another member points out that all cars break down. I'm an engineer by trade (ex Mechant Navy Engineer Officer), and indeed I do appreciate that all car do break down, but the point as I see it is that Mercedes are now trading on a reputation for engineering and reliability that they clearly no longer deliver unless you can afford an E or S class. And whilst a Honda badge may do nothing for me, trying to explain to a rather unhappy 'her indoors' that the German Ubermachine has gone on the blink again certainly does nothing for her!

 

[vito113]

Originally posted by Glideman
You'll also have to drive a honda

True! but only while my Mercs in getting repaired… oh the shame!

 

[MarkR]

Totally agree with the lack of customer service/interest from the two MB stealerships that I have dealt with locally. Just because I drive a cheapo A class, I have found that they don't seem to want my business.
I don't know what their particular service is like for the likes of E and S classes but I will not be going back to them again.
Last A service they wanted to charge me £240 after quoting £120ish, then said that they made a mistake and charged me £124 after I queried it. They also said that I needed to change one brake light and indicator light but when I got home all bulbs were working fine!
Will be servicing myself from now on.

 

[fuzzer]

Originally posted by MarkR

I don't know what their particular service is like for the likes of E and S classes but I will not be going back to them again.
Last A service they wanted to charge me £240 after quoting £120ish, then said that they made a mistake and charged me £124 after I queried it. They also said that I needed to change one brake light and indicator light but when I got home all bulbs were working fine!
Will be servicing myself from now on.

doesnt matter what you drive , they still treat you like $hit. Its not your A class.