fed up with stealers

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donv

Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2004
Messages
38
Location
scotland
Car
clk cabrio 230k
hey guys & gals

i am apologising to you all right now before i begin with my whing i might go on abit

anyway here goes couple of week ago i put on a post about strange noise's coming from my car (rattles and sounds as if exhaust is blown) got a few helpful hints but could'nt solve the problem myself so i decided to leave it for a couple of weeks as my car was due an mot.

so last friday i decided to take my car in to the stealer's for an mot i waited for the car to be told the bad news but was a bit confused & happy when they came back and said it passed first time :bannana: what about the noise? what noise

i took that as i was hearing thing so i got in and drove away noting that this noise was still there over the weekend got louder and louder so yesterday got really fed up and took it back

they said fine i left the car with them and of i went for them to call me back 4 hours later and tell me that the exhaust manifold (cast iron) has a crack in it and this causes the car to rattle when cold but burble when heated up i lost my rag with them :mad: and said why was'nt this pointed out to me when it was in for it MOT they phoned me back and said the techy that done the job did'nt hear anything (unless he is deaf how the fxxk could'nt he have heard) let me give you all an example i live in a semi if i am upstairs with all the doors and windows shut i car hear the thing all the way upstairs and if you lift the bonnet it like a road digger anyway i said a bit strange that this part can go considering the car has less than 36000 miles on it with a full dealer history they said yes it is strange but it does happen. ok how much to fix this now i thought to myself £400 or £500 fix (are you guys sitting down for this one) £912 inc vat i fell of my seat HOW MUCH £912 inc vat would you like the work done? can you give me an hour to think about no prob he replied and by the way if you dont book in the car with us today you will also have a £36 plus VAT diagnostic charge for half an hours work ok

so i put the phone down a bit confused :confused: as to what was happening then i decided to phone there other branch literally under 2 miles away from each other told them the problem and told them that the exhaust manifold had a crack in it no prob he said i will phone you back with a price now i expected them to be the same as they are the same branch different address he came back with £755 inc vat are you sure yes he replied part in stock will be ready in four hours

now how the f**k can they be exactly £157 cheaper same part same dealer different address

i still think this is to dear but this is the fun and games that i am having north of the border thought i would share my expereince

managed to find a used manifold that has done 15000 miles on it for £150 looking for some one to put it on

goes to show you that the guys have no morals and no clue (what we do for that stamp)

dazed, confused and pissed off

don
 
I had a cracked exhaust manifold on my previous C230k, was about £500 to have done at my local stealership Whitefield, I can dig out the invoice for you if you want.

Came to about £250 for the manifold and £250 fitting.

The car's performance and fuel consumption were improved after the work, same goes for the sound :)

EDIT: forgot to say that the stupid manifold is prone to cracking on the *230k models, maybe others. Mine went at 100k/3.5 years old. Bit of a rumble coming from my current car at the moment and I'm wondering if this one has gone as well! :(
 
Last edited:
Are the manifolds on your two cars the cast-iron type-the one on mine seems to be made of two halves of pressed-steel the edges of which are then welded together???
 
esox said:
Are the manifolds on your two cars the cast-iron type-the one on mine seems to be made of two halves of pressed-steel the edges of which are then welded together???

$tealers (and i do mean $$tealers!) are terrible places.

unfortunatly we need them (for the stamp as you say).

my worst experience was that i was charged over £200 to configure a 2nd hand instrument cluster to my car. they said ok and took it. went to collect they said they had done everything but the fuel guage.... and said it cannot be configured for my size of tank and it may be a foriegn cluster anyway, but had to pay for the work as they have spent a few hours on it :confused: :rolleyes: :crazy:

i sent to Steve MBenzNL in the netherlands and he configured it for me - and worked 1st time :)

EVIL STEALERS!
 
I don't know what you do for a living and I suppose its all very well for me to say this since I am a mech engineer working on jet engines among other things and also have just restored an old car but fitting a manifold is straight forward and with a few spanners you should be able to do it yourself.
Maybe you have a friend who might be able to help.
There is no way I would even contemplate letting one of those cowboys near my car.

Dave
 
I took my CLK to MB Winchester this week for the first MOT (as usual i left it to the last minute and they could do it same day) and was pleasantly surprised that they charged me the usual £42--i was expecting "special" MB MOT prices.
 
esox said:
I took my CLK to MB Winchester this week for the first MOT (as usual i left it to the last minute and they could do it same day) and was pleasantly surprised that they charged me the usual £42--i was expecting "special" MB MOT prices.
MOT price is set by the government, it is illegal to charge more for it :)

My local stealership don't do MOTs anyway, if you book it in with them for an MOT it goes somewhere else, might as well have it done somewhere else in the first place...
 
thanks for all the reponces

hey guys

thanks for all the responces but i think i have had it up to hear with this car when i bought this car (my first merc) i thought i had bought a part of the great german engineering that could do no wrong but this has proved that not all is as it should be

on a good note :bannana: i have managed to fing the mercedes benz service foreman a friend of a friend he has asked me to call him later on so hopefully good news later will keep all you guys posted


cheers

don
 

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