Complaint to Mercedes Advice

[Ryang]

The car was ordered and purchased at Stratstone Bradford on 10/08/2020. The car was collected on 22/08/2020 and I was only provided with one key (69 plate aswell). On the way home, the engine oil light came up and immediately I contacted the seller, I was told he will check with service team Monday. Later on the same day, I found another issue, the driver side window switch doesn’t work and it’s broken causing me unable to open any windows since owning the car. On 24/08/2020, I received a response telling me to check with local garage and they are not sure if the 2 issues will be covered under warranty, I’m sure Mercedes has one rule on the warranty across all retailers?? Responding back to the seller, I have asked asked for an update about the key since they have told me they could send me the 2nd key, I was told to wait for the v5 and order a new one instead - clearly they have lost the key with no intention of providing it in the future. From this I already believe that the seller just wanted to sell the car and do not care about the after sales.

On 08/09/2020, my car was booked in with stockport Mercedes to get the engine oil checked and the window switch fix. The window switch was fixed for free but the engine oil issue was not and I was to pay £110 for the diagnostics. The seller at who sold me the car has agreed to a refund after I have raised the complaint to him on selling me a with faults. My car was then kept in the garage for 5 days because they couldn’t test drive the car for the warning light and no replacement car was given, leaving me unable to get to work- a massive inconvenience. The next day after collecting the car, the engine light appeared again so I had to rebook with stockport Mercedes to get it checked again, I was told they drained more oil out and it should be fixed. Engine oil light came on again for the 3rd time and had to take the car back, waited over an hour when told they will provide me with a courtesy car whilst they are investigating the issue. Finally got the car back and issue did not happen again - this cause me unable to get to work on the day and the whole reason I came for the fix was to get to work after, clearly what they have told me did not happen.

08/10/2020, I finally received my v5 after chasing multiple times to the seller. I have booked in with whitefield Mercedes, I have sent the invoice to the seller for a refund. I was told that I emailed the wrong department after a few days later. I emailed the invoice again to the correct department the next time and the payment didn’t get processed until a week later.
29/10/2020, fault found with headlights not working when unlocking the car and I booked it in with bolton Mercedes for 7th November. Was told no fault was found even with video proofing the issue. On 10/11/2020, fault was found again and called up bolton Mercedes for another booking, they have provided me with a replacement car until they have fixed the issue. I was told the issue did not get resolved but the light started working again.


15/02/2020, fault found with the headlight not switching on properly whilst driving at night. Wiper judder and lost of screen wash pressure. A repair booking was made with mercedes warrington. They have fixed the headlight issue but they won’t fix the judder wipers and screen wash issue because apparently they are not covered under warranty. I have explained that the manufacturer’s wipers broke after 1 month of owning the car and I couldn’t get replacement from Mercedes due to lockdown. After I explained that 2 sets of new wipers have been changed and it’s still not fixed the issue, they cannot explain why my wipers would judder. Because they have said the screen wash was blocked and told they were not genuine screenwash which I was not aware. I cannot understand why blocked screen wash pipe would cause wiper judder, the words I got was ‘it’s all connected so you need to replace your wipers’. I was not happy with this response since it shouldn’t happen on a new car considering it’s only done less than 3k miles in 6 months.
To summaries, in the past 6 months of owning the car, I have had a total of 8 issues:

Delay getting a V5
Delay getting a new key
Engine oil problem whilst driving
Window switch
Wiper judder causing me to buy 2 new pairs of wipers
Screen wash pressure lost
Head lights not working
Headlights/surround lights not lighting up upon unlock

I have had to return the car to the garage 7 times in under 6 months of owning the car, there seems to be too many faults with the car and I have lost confidence believing Mercedes provides safe and good quality cars.
I have raised a complaint to MB UK directly and just waiting for them to get back to me but they are saying because I’m using 3rd party and you COULD have got a new pair of Mercedes wipers, so not sure how this will end up.
Any advice on my complaint and will my complaint be valid considering so many issues and inconvenience!

 

[Deleted member 150136]

Wouldn't it have been a better idea to take it back to the original seller than taking it to every other MB dealer in the area?
I see at least 4 dealers in this chain, hard to keep tabs on who's done what.

 

[Ryang]

The car was brought in stratstone Bradford and it’s quite far for me as I’m in manchester plus I needed my car for work so it’s whatever the soonest.

 

[Deleted member 150136]

Appreciate that, but put yourself in the dealers shoes, you didn't buy from them but want them to fix it, then you take it elsewhere etc etc.
If you bought a Samsung TV from pc world then tried to get it fixed at argos then John Lewis would you expect good service from Samsung?

The dealers are just middlemen, you're not dealing with Mercedes.

Although the car does need warranty work I think you've gone about it the wrong way, if my 69 reg car popped an oil light up in the initial drive home, I wouldn't have took it home.

 

[Ryang]

Appreciate that, but put yourself in the dealers shoes, you didn't buy from them but want them to fix it, then you take it elsewhere etc etc.
If you bought a Samsung TV from pc world then tried to get it fixed at argos then John Lewis would you expect good service from Samsung?

The dealers are just middlemen, you're not dealing with Mercedes.

Although the car does need warranty work I think you've gone about it the wrong way, if my 69 reg car popped an oil light up in the initial drive home, I wouldn't have took it home.

I know what you mean, I think I should have taken it back to where I got it from. But when I have rang the guy to bring it back, he just told me take it to your nearby garage (with email evidence) and they will fix it. With that impression from him, I thought they would fix it under warranty even though it’s somewhere else. I think there’s just too many issues with the car now, getting to the point where I am not feeling happy driving it.

 

[Dryce]

Appreciate that, but put yourself in the dealers shoes, you didn't buy from them but want them to fix it, then you take it elsewhere etc etc.
If you bought a Samsung TV from pc world then tried to get it fixed at argos then John Lewis would you expect good service from Samsung?

The dealers are just middlemen, you're not dealing with Mercedes.

The situation with a retail product is that your first point of call is the retailer.

The situation with an Approved Used car is that it is typically sold with the assurance that the AU warranty is via the manufacturer and that you have the suppoort of the entire official dealer network.

Although the car does need warranty work I think you've gone about it the wrong way, if my 69 reg car popped an oil light up in the initial drive home, I wouldn't have took it home.

While I don't think the OP has helped their case by using different dealers the whole point of the MB AU scheme is that you can buy a car in Truro and get service in Inverness.

And yes - in retrospect if you get a warning light on picking up the car some would reject it - that's not the way it works for many - especially if it's their first experience of such a situation.

As regards the car - the OP needs to figure what is reasonable and what is not. So wiper judder is an annoyance but probably a distraction. Resolved problems that have been resolved are ... resolved .... so also a distraction. But lights and electrics not functioning properly is something that needs attention within the warranty period. If there is an underlying issue that is not being addressed then it should be calmly escalated with a single dealer and then MB - if there is a misunderstanding that can be explained then a dealer and MB should be able to explain it.

 

[Deleted member 150136]

I've learnt from mistakes, been there done that.
The best way to achieve results is to take it straight back, leave it in the middle of the forecourt with all doors open, walk to the salesman, and in a loud voice say something along the lines of.....you've sold me a lemon, either fix it right now or I'll stand here all day speaking loudly on how you've ripped me off....kind of works!
And that was a Mercedes A class many moons ago....how I ended up back on mercedes after that I'll never know.

Edited to add...
I have total sympathy witht the op, I would expect a used mereceds to be perfect and any issues resolved with no problems.
It's just what you think the mercedes brand does, but unfortunately we are seeing way to many of these kinds of posts.

 

[Dryce]

The best way to achieve results is to take it straight back, leave it in the middle of the forecourt with all doors open, walk to the salesman, and in a loud voice say something along the lines of.....you've sold me a lemon, either fix it right now or I'll stand here all day speaking loudly on how you've ripped me off....kind of works!

There isn't a single hard and fast rule as to what works and what does not.

And I would suggest that over the last 15 years that dealers have become gradually more indifferent to the overall MB customer experience.

 

[Ryang]

There isn't a single hard and fast rule as to what works and what does not.

And I would suggest that over the last 15 years that dealers have become gradually more indifferent to the overall MB customer experience.

I have already made a complaint to MB UK and just waiting for them to get back to me after they speak to the dealers. What I am worried is that they won’t do anything and I have to rebook my car in to get the wipers and screen washer pressure fixed - with these being the last issues and pay out of my own pocket. Just makes me not want the car anymore, it’s just money money money to them that’s what I think.

 

[markjay]

I know what you mean, I think I should have taken it back to where I got it from. But when I have rang the guy to bring it back, he just told me take it to your nearby garage (with email evidence) and they will fix it. With that impression from him, I thought they would fix it under warranty even though it’s somewhere else. I think there’s just too many issues with the car now, getting to the point where I am not feeling happy driving it.

It seems that you have (like, sadly, many others) 'fallen into the gap' between the selling dealer and the MB New Car Warranty / MB Approved Used Warranty.

Your transaction of buying a vehicle from Stratstone Bradford is separate to the MB warranty. The MB warranty will not cover issues that should have been picked-up and sorted by the selling dealer before they delivered the car to you. The selling dealer might ask you to present the car to another dealer more local to you, and they will then pay the local dealer to fix the faults that they should have rectified prior to the sale but didn't. However, when this happens, this isn't actually a warranty repair under the MB warranty. It is simply the seller meeting their obligation under the Consumer Protection Act.

In your case, both issues (broken door handle and oil warning light) were in fact present at the time of sale, and therefore they are between you and the selling dealer, and not related to the MB warranty.

The obvious issue is that for the local dealer, their customer is in fact the selling dealer, and not you - and the local dealer will only do what the selling dealer tells them to do, because this is who is paying the bill, and they will not shoulder any consequential costs relating to your poor buying experience with the selling dealer (loss of working days, transport, etc).

Sadly, poorly prepared cars that were supposed to be fully-inspected under the 'Mercedes-Benz Approved Used' scheme is a common complaint on the forum. One might conclude that it's cheaper for the selling dealer to wait until the customer complains and only then foot the repair bill, than to inspect the cars in advance, as they should be doing..... as demonstrated by the fact that they didn't bother ordering the spare key in advance, which they shouldn't have done before the car even went to sale.

At this point, and given that you had the car for 6 months now, I would just preserve with getting the faults sorted. You could send a letter to the dealer principal detailing the cost you have incurred for rectifying faults that should have been picked-up prior to delivery, and see if they are willing to offer any compensation. If they are open to a negotiating on this, then a free MB Service Plan or an additional year of MB warranty (year 4) etc could be considered a good result.

You could also complain to MB UK (to the CEO at the Milton Keynes HQ), or even complain to the Ombudsman, but, again, if the only outstanding issue at current is the engine oil warning light, I'd just get it fixed and put the whole unpleasant episode behind me.

 

[220problem]

Wouldn't it have been a better idea to take it back to the original seller than taking it to every other MB dealer in the area?
I see at least 4 dealers in this chain, hard to keep tabs on who's done what.

A bit out dated but I’ve found when you ring Mercedes’, they just try to put you in any Mercedes’ garage nearby if you are happy to go there.

 

[Screaminmonki]

Hi three year old cars are when they have issues , I can’t afford one but couldn’t buy one, as I need tried an tested . Here’s an idea take it back to the original dealer and trade it in lol