E63 AMGS Engine Seizure

[Smiley]

Awful outcome but not unexpected. Dealer washing his hands of the problem and MB UK just as unhelpful.
Hope you get the car back on the road and sold before long.
Can't say I blame you for not wanting another Mercedes, but don't be too sure other brands would act any different.

Remembering that this is a top of the range, one owner, low mileage car with a full main dealer service history that has suffered a catastrophic failure - I would reword your last sentence to "you can be sure that another brand could not possibly treat you any worse"

 

[Smiley]

I'm sure he is already aware of this.

And quite clearly does not give a rat's ****; otherwise he / she / or other modern pronoun would have got involved.

 

[kam09]

Wash your mouth out…..

Zzzzzz

 

[rayaans]

I always read good things about lexus treating their customers very well so maybe a lexus could be an option going forward.. hope you get a good result and all the best.

This is very true. Radio died on an IS300h. 8 years old at the time so massively out of warranty. The unit costs £1800 as has the sat nav and everything else in built.

They basically said it shouldn't have happened so offered a new unit for £500 fitted and took less than 5 working days to sort out.

At 8 years old, most manufacturers would have laughed it off.

 

[philnewmerc]

So have now had more discussions with Mercedes UK head office, and they were of the opinion that the car should have gone straight to the West London dealership as they are an AMG specialist. Now that the car had been removed from Mercedes and taken to an independent, West London will not accept the car, as it would give them the potential financial liability which they are unwilling to accept. They then took me through 3 outcome scenarios based upon what they have seen with previous similar cases, and the best outcome was a 50% contribution from the factory if they could prove it was not down to outside interference, which would leave me with a £35k bill. Apparently there is no way they would ever increase the contribution beyond 50% and in some scenarios they would not make any contribution.

They were also insistent that it is down to the dealership to rectify the issue, they take the financial liability, not the manufacturer. Although they also stated that the engine would need to back to Germany as the manufacturer would want to see it.

They also confirmed the oil analysis on its own would not be enough to secure a contribution from the manufacturer, it would need to be stripped down. There was no confirmation around the fee West London would have imposed for them to strip down the engine.

I explained that I felt my treatment by Colindale had been appalling, and that the regularly changing storylines had let to my distrust of them, which is why I withdrew the car from the dealership. The response was that they could not comment, but they would be making this known to management, but ultimately not a lot they could do about this.

Overall Mercedes UK have washed their hands, as has the dealer. Perhaps me withdrawing the car was a wrong move, but Colindale's treatment left me with no option. Wish Mercedes UK had got involved much earlier, as perhaps then I would still be in the network, but there was no response from help was requested.

An unbelievably frustrating experience, makes you realise that although you love the product (when it works), once you have made the purchase your custom does not matter to the manufacturer. Am sure it is the same whichever car you buy. I'll be dropping in a replacement engine at the independent, stomaching the cost myself (will be cheaper than £35k), and will never buy a Mercedes again. I'll also be progressing the case with a lawyer to see if there is a cost recovery claim to be had, and if not, will be launching via the small claims court.

Thanks for all of your messages as I've gone through this journey - has kept me going through the pits of despair, but I need to bring it to a close now. For my own sanity, and my poor wifes!

If I ever get any legal recompense, I'll let you all know.

Wish you all happy and pain free motoring!

Painful for you and a v bad advert for MB UK . However if you want to have a good chance of getting the money back you have to let the dealer (who you legally have a contract with) have time to decide if they are willing to fix foc, refund, some other compromise, or refuse (NB it is feck all to do with mb uk)... Only then get it fixed elsewhere and sue will be best option (and from my experience a pretty good chance of winning). But if you don't give them the chance to put things right they can say you were unreasonable. This might be what they're hoping.

Is your lawyer not advising this ???

 

[clk320x]

I would get it fixed elsewhere and move on. What an utterly horrible experience you’ve had and I’m incredibly sorry this has happened.

 

[rich1068]

This is very true. Radio died on an IS300h. 8 years old at the time so massively out of warranty. The unit costs £1800 as has the sat nav and everything else in built.

They basically said it shouldn't have happened so offered a new unit for £500 fitted and took less than 5 working days to sort out.

At 8 years old, most manufacturers would have laughed it off.

Bought a 2002 IS300 from Lexus Sheffield back in 2017. Advertised as Lexus Approved Used and came serviced, MOT'd, with four new premium tyres, comprehensive Lexus break down cover and most importantly a year of Lexus warranty. £5000. Needless to say never needed the breakdown cover or warranty in the six years I owned it.

I can remember wondering at the time if Mercedes or BMW would ever put a 15 year old C Class or 3er on one of their forecourts.

 

[Petrol Pete]

Lexus complaints division on a busy day.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Bought a 2002 IS300 from Lexus Sheffield back in 2017. Advertised as Lexus Approved Used and came serviced, MOT'd, with four new premium tyres, comprehensive Lexus break down cover and most importantly a year of Lexus warranty. £5000. Needless to say never needed the breakdown cover or warranty in the six years I owned it.

I can remember wondering at the time if Mercedes or BMW would ever put a 15 year old C Class or 3er on one of their forecourts.

 

[Alboy]

Anyone know where I can find a replacement engine for an E63 AMG S from 2019?

 

[Steveml63]

To the OP - a few lateral thinking questions.
Do you own your car outright - or is it on HP?
If it is on HP then the HP company still technically own the car until your final payment and they will be jointly responsible for helping you negotiate to get it fixed.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Anyone know where I can find a replacement engine for an E63 AMG S from 2019?

What’s happens, I thought you had one being fitted?

 

[G7Wagen]

Anyone know where I can find a replacement engine for an E63 AMG S from 2019?

I think you are making the right decision to take charge of the problem, and get it fixed now.. and sue whomever is liable later.. the quoted 9k for an " inspection" by MB technicians is insulting. (Other specialists will be just as compelling expert witnesses, in law) your car.. your money.. your decision.

There have been several suggestions for sources of a replacement engine earlier in this thread.. This one is a replacement block in Germany. Reusing your ancillaries (Shipping and taxes may be extra)
I have no affiliation To this.

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Good luck.

 

[Bellow]

(Other specialists will be just as compelling expert witnesses, in law)

You think? When most of them make their profits from modifications which contravene MOT regulations but have a 'friendly' MOT tester next door, you think their credibility is sacrosanct in a law court?

 

[ALFAitalia]

Rather more than the dealer/manufacturer doing it themselves....the ones who sold it to you who are just trying to covers their ****s cant be seen as anything but biased in court!!

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

It’s been said a few times already, but removing the car from the dealer makes it impossible for the dealer to honour their obligations to “make it right” if it is considered to be unfit for purpose.

That will very likely be an obstacle in any future proceedings, as it gives the dealer a plausible reason for (1) not making things right, and (2) being unable to engage fully from the point it was removed.

Also as has been pointed if it goes legal then the dealer will be the counter party, however the dealership will be part of a much larger group with their own and Mercedes Ltd/AG resources.

Consumer law cases do often fall easily in the favour of the individual but I believe on this occasion they will have a fair argument that the option to assist further was removed from them.

Inevitably they would question the motives of doing so. Ultimately any dispute hinges upon reasonableness and I think the dealer could put forward a case that they were being reasonable and following process.

Whether £9k is a reasonable charge is different, however they could defend that as being fully open and transparent settings worst case to make sure that the OP didn’t start without that outcome in mind.

They will also say that the cost would likely be less, and depending upon the outcome of the diagnosis may be met in full or in part by either party, but that would only be determined following their diagnosis.

Get a new engine in there and move on. Do try to recover costs, but don’t let it become all consuming or else the true cost will be more than just the financial implications for the repair, life is short.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

If I may then I will share some personal experience of a recent experience I’ve had with Mercedes. In some respects a smaller magnitude than the OP’s situation, but similar in other ways.

The car was with the main dealer for more than 16 weeks. They asked me to authorise 6 hours of diagnostics and depending upon the outcome they would request a goodwill contribution from MBUK.

The dealer was very clear that the goodwill contribution would only be an option if they did the diagnostics and that I approved the cost of those diagnostics. That wasn’t a guarantee of a contribution though.

They subsequently asked me to authorise a further 6 hours of diagnostics, and a charge for a specialist to come in to perform a specific task which their technicians would not be best placed to undertake.

The issue was never fully diagnosed but the dealer found from testing that the issue had stopped, but they did not know what the cause was and what fixed it, just that it was fixed and further testing confirmed it.

Before reassembling the car Mercedes Customer Services asked that I take the car, check myself, and then return to the dealer periodically for them to perform quick inspections in the coming months.

They asked that I settle the bill and if after I had the car for a couple of weeks all seemed well indicatively then we would come to an agreement regarding a goodwill contribution from Mercedes-Benz Ltd.

I will be contacting them to do that this weekend. I’m fairly confident that the main dealer did spend more than the 12 hours I authorised however they only appear to have charged me for the first 6 hours.

They have possibly charged me for the external specialist but that’s not clearly itemised in the invoice but rough maths suggests that it is probably baked into that cost charged to me.

Previously goodwill gestures would have been applied before settling the bill, however that does not appear to be the case. A sceptic might say because it gives them more leverage to take a hard stance.

However it could equally be because they are (1) making sure that the issue is likely resolved before reaching an agreement, and (2) making it clear that the payment is goodwill and not any kind of obligation.

It could be either, both or neither, who knows. It seemed a reasonable approach to me but I will reserve the right to change my mind when they propose the goodwill gesture in the coming weeks!
Either way, as neither the cause nor fix was identified the. It’s difficult to determine whether the cause was a manufacturer fault, or something that I have done (or not done) making it more ambiguous.

In the OP’s case I suspect that the goodwill contribution would be agreed after the diagnosis and before the repairs started, due to the likely cost of that repair, and nature of it, not sorted later as in my case.

However the whole premise that goodwill gestures will only be considered after diagnostics have been authorised - presumably to eliminate the possibility of chancers - is clearly the same.

Also, it may not necessarily be the case that the full pre-authorised £9k cost of diagnostics would be charged to the OP, and that they would charge according to time spent and outcome of diagnosis.

A bit like pay at pump fuel purchases - or setting up a tab in a restaurant - the amount pre-authorised doesn’t actually mean that they will end up charging you that amount when settling.

I hope the OP finds a replacement engine soon and it’s all sorted with the minimum of cost, inconvenience and stress. Disputes like this can have a disproportionate impact on the lives of those involved.

 

[mbzclk]

I don’t think the dealer the OP used was a very good one, I’ve used them back in 2016 and they were not great. Things may have changed?

Another group such as Sandown at Guildford - would have been a better move.

A bit like the subframes that are rotting and dealers not helping and then pop to another and sorted

 

[Fastcar155]

This is very true. Radio died on an IS300h. 8 years old at the time so massively out of warranty. The unit costs £1800 as has the sat nav and everything else in built.

They basically said it shouldn't have happened so offered a new unit for £500 fitted and took less than 5 working days to sort out.

At 8 years old, most manufacturers would have laughed it off.

Hi , I have a 1995 Mitsubishi Shogun and I received a recall a few years ago with a steering issue.

Dealer was superb and fixed in a few days.

 

[Smart320]

Our 16 year old Rav was recalled by Toyota so they could replace the drivers airbag , all done FOC within a week and took a couple of hours . They also checked it over , hoping no doubt to find some work to recommend, got a completely clean bill of health. Was also able to purchase a second remote key and get it programmed for about £260 from memory, none of this we are no longer able to supply one routine