Disappointed with new (to me) car

[Brett]

It is just initial disappointment I hope....lovely inside and out but enroute from Birmingham to Edinburgh tonight decided to try the new toll road. All going swimmingly until I got to the toll booth. Put window down, paid toll, drove off.....window wouldn't go up again. Pulled off slip road, turned engine off/on/off/on eventually window went up.

Carried on up the road, got to near Penrith when my other half decided it was time to wake up and sit more upright - no seat controls working. No heater, no motors nothing. Pulled off at services, tried my seats/windows/mirrors etc - nothing. Turned the car off/on/off/on again, drivers seat now works, only in reverse i.e. push back, it goes forward etc. Passenger and rear seats, nothing.

Go in have a bite to eat, come back out - everything back to full working order. Stayed that way until Gretna, when they stopped working again. Felt a bit of a pr*ck opening my door to pay the toll at the Forth Road Bridge as window wouldn't go down...

Everything else working fine - TV, Sat Nav, CD Autochanger, Phone etc. Disappointing, so off to Western in Edinburgh tomorrow...

 

[Will]

It is just initial disappointment I hope....lovely inside and out but enroute from Birmingham to Edinburgh tonight decided to try the new toll road. All going swimmingly until I got to the toll booth. Put window down, paid toll, drove off.....window wouldn't go up again. Pulled off slip road, turned engine off/on/off/on eventually window went up.

Carried on up the road, got to near Penrith when my other half decided it was time to wake up and sit more upright - no seat controls working. No heater, no motors nothing. Pulled off at services, tried my seats/windows/mirrors etc - nothing. Turned the car off/on/off/on again, drivers seat now works, only in reverse i.e. push back, it goes forward etc. Passenger and rear seats, nothing.

Go in have a bite to eat, come back out - everything back to full working order. Stayed that way until Gretna, when they stopped working again. Felt a bit of a pr*ck opening my door to pay the toll at the Forth Road Bridge as window wouldn't go down...

Everything else working fine - TV, Sat Nav, CD Autochanger, Phone etc. Disappointing, so off to Western in Edinburgh tomorrow...

Unlucky mate - hope you get it sorted soon so as not to taint your inital impression of the car.

Hopefully it will be resolved quickly?

Will

 

[Deleted member 2227]

How old is the car brett?

 

[Dieselman]

How old is the car brett?

2002.

it's in Bretts sig.

 

[Brett]

How old is the car brett?

Just coming up to three years old. Previous S320CDi was so reliable I took it for granted that this one would be too. Went to visit Western MB in Edinburgh today and they have booked it in for next week. Will all be covered by warranty, but hardly the start I hoped for.

 

[glojo]

Just coming up to three years old. Previous S320CDi was so reliable I took it for granted that this one would be too. Went to visit Western MB in Edinburgh today and they have booked it in for next week. Will all be covered by warranty, but hardly the start I hoped for.

Hi Brett,
I think I am correct in saying that you purchased this car from a main dealer in Hertfordshire?

I would be absolutely fuming. Apoplectic might just describe the way I would have felt (if I spelt it right). That car is one of Mercedes-Benz flagship models, it should have been inspected and valetted prior to your taking delivery. Surely the car was examined when the dealer took it in?

Hopefully the dealer will make up for their appalling service and this experience will soon fade?

Good luck,
John

 

[Tan]

What warranty do you have? RRemainder of manufacturers or MB used car warranty?

If its the MB used car one, how did it get through the inspection that they have to do to put the warranty on the vehicle.

Regards

Tan

 

[Robbo]

That car is one of Mercedes-Benz flagship models, it should have been inspected and valetted prior to your taking delivery. Surely the car was examined when the dealer took it in?

Oh, I am sure they knew about it, they were probably hoping the customer didnt notice. I had a similar issue with my electric windows when I bought my car. They went wrong after the first few days of ownership. When I took the car to my local dealer, he said that the door control module was faulty and the door card had been off before and not put back properly and was damaged. The dealer I bought of had obviously tried to carry out a bodged repair.

I am afraid you can't trust anyone.

 

[glojo]

What warranty do you have? RRemainder of manufacturers or MB used car warranty?

If its the MB used car one, how did it get through the inspection that they have to do to put the warranty on the vehicle.

Regards

Tan

Morning Tan,
This is usually my cue to post this advert that Mercedes-Benz like to boast about.

A used car has to work particularly hard to get our seal of approval. Mechanics, electrics, bodywork, interior, tyres, wheels, vehicle history and mileage - all are checked and double-checked before the car even gets close to the showroom. So you enjoy the kind of reliability you´d expect from a new car

I have no connection with the car industry and I would invite comments on the following questions.

If the dealer buys in a car and finds problems with it after buying it... Who pays for the repairs? (No doubt the dealer)

If the dealer sells the car with the problems and this vehicle is covered by a full warranty.......... Who then pays for the repairs??????

Ifeel for Brett and hopefully he has a very understanding partner, who hopefully is still impressed with what sounds a very nice vehicle.

John

 

[Deleted member 2227]

Keep us posted Brett. MB did seem to start the millenium with some well dodgy electrics. Hope they sort it quickly!

 

[Brett]

It is a wierd one, that's for sure. If the PDI was done when the car was cold, they wouldn't have found any problems. It seems to only happen when the car is well up to temperature. I went into Western Mercedes Benz in Edinburgh and when I arrived everything was working fine. Got half way home, and had the same symptoms.

I'm only disappointed at this point as I'll give the dealers a chance to get it sorted. If I get the "we can't find anything wrong, sir" routine when it goes in next week, I'll get pretty annoyed then.

As for my other half, in her words, "thank goodness we bought it from a main dealer, otherwise imagine the problems we might have had getting it fixed". I have the remainder of the MB three year warranty (about a month or so) and then a further year MB Used Warranty.

I've got a good relationship with my local dealer and the servicing guys and I'm sure they'll do their best by me. The servicing guys showed me it's warranty claims since new and there hasn't been anything major up until now. Fingers crossed, they'll find and resolve the problems quickly next week. I'll let you know how we get on.

 

[Brett]

I've just spoken to the broker that the dealer bought the car from (I'd been enroute to look at the car at the brokers when I got a call to say that it had been sold to MB of Hertford).

I asked them whether they knew of any electrical problems with the car when they had it and they appeared to be genuinely surprised when I described the problems I have been having. They say that there were none at all.

The final comment that the guy left me with was "If we'd known there were electrical problems with the car, we'd never have sold it to a MB dealer in the first place."

That last comment is both comforting and disturbing in equal measure! Roll on Monday when it goes in to get looked at.

 

[glojo]

That last comment is both comforting and disturbing in equal measure! Roll on Monday when it goes in to get looked at.

Good morning Brett,
When I saw there was a new message from you, I was hoping for good news. I certainly agree with your comments and hopefully all will shortly be resolved.

Are the symptoms still all there, or are they easily to simulate.

Good luck for Monday,
John

 

[Brett]

Good morning Brett,
When I saw there was a new message from you, I was hoping for good news. I certainly agree with your comments and hopefully all will shortly be resolved.

Are the symptoms still all there, or are they easily to simulate.

Good luck for Monday,
John

Symptoms still there. Pretty easy to replicate - drive the car for 30 - 40 minutes and there they are. Merc offered to pick the car up from me on Monday and deliver it back but I would rather drive it to them, bring the service manager out, show him the problem and then leave it with him. That way I avoid the "it was all working when we got it, sorry no fault found" scenario.

Hopefully good news next week!

 

[pammy]

Sorry to hear you're havcing these prob's Brett. At least they seem taken by surprise and are looking into it for you.

Good luck!!

 

[Brett]

Car back from dealer. Wouldn't play ball either with me or the dealer today in that it worked perfectly. They pulled the door apart, reset the canbus etc. Nothing. They want to book it in for a week where they are going to remove all the seats, door panels, instrument cluster etc and get to the bottom of the fault. If in the meantime, it displays the problem I'm to get it to them and they will see if they can diagnose it. Can't fault the dealer's service and attitude. Back to them on the 17th.

Of course, just before I got home tonight, the problem reappeared in all it's glory.

 

[Brett]

Got it back today. Three new door control modules have been fitted. All appears ok so far. As the problem only shows up on longer journeys, I'll be heading off for a long drive tomorrow...