Help. Nearly new 2019 e220 estate. Reduce engine oil level message

[John N]

I'm struggling to think of any System that would entail Draining Coolant in order to Replace/Repair a Cable Loom!

I'm sure someone with better "Spanner Knowledge" will be along soon to put me right!

 

[Margaret]

Trying to piece together the jigsaw on this further. The used car manager in A mentioned yesterday that the vehicle visited MB Ipswich last November. So I just called the service dept there. Apparently an engine management light appeared on the dash. They diagnosed that the engine control unit/ ECU was 'damaged'. At this point there was 6961 miles on the clock. They 'quoted' the owner for the fix, therefore according to the girl on the phone it was 'deemed not be a defect under warranty'. It would seem that the leasing company owner decided not to have the work done at MB and brought it elsewhere. It was then traded in at garage A and I bought it from them with 7088 miles on the clock. Edit; just in case it's relevant I was told when buying the car that some of the features were'after market'. Car has memory seats and 360 camera as well as privacy glass. So it's not a premium on the V5 but has some premium features. Could this be relevant to the ECU problem ?

 

[jdrrco]

So the ECU - the electronic brain which controls everything about the car - failed and was replaced by a back street bodger just 120 miles before the previous owner ditched the car for good. I'm not suggesting those two are linked, but who knows?

Neither of your dealers have offered to replace the ECU properly.

If it's not a Premium, it's not a Premium and no amount of adding aftermarket extras will make it a Premium. Did you inform your insurance company that all those extras were added to the manufacturer's original specifications?

Just one question remains, are you going to keep the car or reject it? The longer you prevaricate, the weaker your rejection claim becomes.

 

[Petrol Pete]

So.. a brand new Mercedes Benz with less than 7000 mile on it had an 'ECU fault' and the first owner was 'quoted' by MB - I assume in GBP £- to repair it ??? How was this not a Warranty issue ? Attempted Jump start ? drove it into a river ?? Self inflicted ?

Either way the owner of a brand new 7K miles Mercedes Benz then took it elsewhere to be fixed...and got shot of it a 120 miles later ??

'Bloody odd' are two words that come to mind ....

 

[markjay]

I'm struggling to think of any System that would entail Draining Coolant in order to Replace/Repair a Cable Loom!

I'm sure someone with better "Spanner Knowledge" will be along soon to put me right!

Access to the route that the loom runs through may require removal of a coolant pipe.

 

[markjay]

I would reject the car simply because it will not be possible to piece together its history.

I think the answers that the OP got from the various individuals at the various dealerships do not make sense.

- Under what circumstances would an ECU replacement not be covered under warranty on a brand-new car?

- If the reason for the breakdown was simply coolant loss, why wasn't there a 'coolant level low' warning message on the dash?

- It would be very very odd for a mechanic to suggest complete engine replacement under warranty (a fairly drastic measure) - and then take it all back saying he assumed it to be the case, before actually checking the car.

In short - nothing adds-up.... there may be nothing wrong with the car, but I don't think anyone can ever know what actually happened to it, it's a puzzle that no one can piece together. So just on the basis of that, I would give it a miss.

PS - The car can be 'Premium', with additional after-market options on top of that - nothing wrong with it. Your insurance policy will say what the trim level is based on the VRM.

 

[jdrrco]

The car can be 'Premium', with additional after-market options on top of that - nothing wrong with it. Your insurance policy will say what the trim level is based on the VRM.

But it isn't. Apparently, it's a base model with aftermarket parts to make it resemble a Premium. The V5C will always mark it as a base model, trade-in value will always be based on a base model and insurance will be a base model with alterations, which will cost more to insure than an original Premium model would.

A diesel C-class with an AMG engine shoehorned under the bonnet is not an AMG.

 

[Margaret]

Finally I have been contacted by the dealer head, who has apologised and has stated he will 'make things right'. He has indicated he will speak to mechanic in garage B to confirm his findings. He says the car can be made right and they will pay for all the parts and I mentioned the ECU to him and how puzzling that issue is i.e why was it not dealt with in Ipswich under warranty. He is willing to offer an extended one year warranty on top of the 3 year warranty which he says is managed by MB. It is not an after market warranty and he states it is comprehensive. I know from reading various posts on here that warranties don't mean much and I've told him that. He states he does not want me concerned that there will be more issues with the car and has also offered me a replacement car, the details of which he will forward (hopefully) tomorrow. He will deliver it to me asap. He was quite apologetic and reassuring that they will do everything they can to get me sorted out asap.

 

[Ted]

I had part of the engine loom on my slc replaced (quite rightly at cost to me) due to mouse damage.
The technician showed me the damage and there were several bare wires - at the time I thought ‘bloody good job it hasn’t taken out the engine ecu.
Just a thought.
As others have said, I would still reject the car under the Mercedes used car terms as work has not been done to anything like an acceptable standard, and who knows what else is waiting to be discovered.
saves going legal and might cause the original dealer to improve their standards to a level that their customers expect.

 

[219]

In an earlier post the OP said that the mechanic suggested that the coolant may have been removed when replacing the loom, in which case the loom replacement would be a recent event.

That said, what puzzles me is that the OP does not mention any 'coolant level low' message on the dash, which she should have gotten as soon as she started the engine.......

Which suggests there is a leak somewhere

 

[219]

I agree with you jdrrco. I have spent hours on the phone and writing e mails. It has not been pleasant. Certainly precious and much needed holiday time has been wasted in a stressful manner trying to get a handle on things. Without this forum I would have been lost. I believe the underlying price of this car does not reflect its issues. With the work on the car unrecorded and what will be recorded now, surely this has affected its for sale price, not to mention the inconvenience. However if I exchange for another one, with similiar mileage, spec will be lower and I also will have no real grasp of the history or potential issues until I drive it. I have read so many stories of issues with second hand cars since this occurred it has put me off ( on another website related to legal aspects of returning cars). I suppose I would be rolling the dice again to some extent ?

If they do fix it and you accept it back , I would be looking for some form of recompense; either an extended warranty or a service plan for the next three years at no cost to you . The latter can be supplied to you by garage A at little cost to themselves

 

[219]

Finally I have been contacted by the dealer head, who has apologised and has stated he will 'make things right'. He has indicated he will speak to mechanic in garage B to confirm his findings. He says the car can be made right and they will pay for all the parts and I mentioned the ECU to him and how puzzling that issue is i.e why was it not dealt with in Ipswich under warranty. He is willing to offer an extended one year warranty on top of the 3 year warranty which he says is managed by MB. It is not an after market warranty and he states it is comprehensive. I know from reading various posts on here that warranties don't mean much and I've told him that. He states he does not want me concerned that there will be more issues with the car and has also offered me a replacement car, the details of which he will forward (hopefully) tomorrow. He will deliver it to me asap. He was quite apologetic and reassuring that they will do everything they can to get me sorted out asap.

The offer of a replacement car sounds preferable, perhaps subject to you stipulating an independent inspection by an inspector of your choice ...

 

[jdrrco]

The offer of a replacement car sounds preferable, perhaps subject to you stipulating an independent inspection by an inspector of your choice ...

From what the OP says, it sounds like a loan car, rather than a replacement.

 

[Margaret]

No it's a replacement that has been offered. I think I have no other option. As you all say there are too many unanswered questions. The coolant low light only appeared on the dash the morning after I drove it (just before towing). Surely if the first owners repair was done sometime before they traded it in and the coolant had not been refilled then the coolant would have been highlighted as an issue before there were another100 plus miles on the clock. The light should have appeared before or during my 50 or so mile drive. The oil level also only rose during my second half of my journey which is still unexplained. They say they have pressure tested it and there is 'no leak' of coolant, but if it becomes a problem in a weeks time then I'm back to the garage and all the hassle with phone calls, e mails etc would have to start all over.

 

[jdrrco]

No it's a replacement that has been offered. I think I have no other option. As you all say there are too many unanswered questions. The coolant low light only appeared on the dash the morning after I drove it (just before towing). Surely if the first owners repair was done sometime before they traded it in and the coolant had not been refilled then the coolant would have been highlighted as an issue before there were another100 plus miles on the clock. The light should have appeared before or during my 50 or so mile drive. The oil level also only rose during my second 30 k drive, which is still unexplained. They say they have pressure tested it and there is 'no leak' of coolant, but if it becomes a problem in a weeks time then I'm back to the garage and all the hassle with phone calls, e mails etc would have to start all over.

Well, that's good news. If they were offering a replacement, why have they dragged you out to a post mortem on the other car?

Never mind, at least they've done the right thing by you now. Can your mechanic buddy check over the replacement car before you take delivery?

 

[markjay]

I am guessing that the paid MB repair was declined by the person who actually drove the lease car, and not by the lease company ?

I am further guessing that he/she needed to sort-out the car quickly so that it can be returned - this is because if the coolant loss occurred while the ECU/loom were being sorted, then the car wouldn't have gotten very far after that... so presumably it was collected by the lease company (on a trailer) immediately after the repair was completed. I don't think lease companies engage in fixing cars - I think they just slam a bill on their client and then flog the car in an auction 'as is' (unless the lease company is a very small firm?).

So.... why did the ECU need 'fixing'? Guessing again... something to do with a remap, or the installation of a tuning box, that went wrong? And needed sorting so that the car can be returned to the lease company?

All speculation, of course...

 

[markjay]

I very much hope that the OP gets a replacement car, though if she does, then it will mean that we'll never know the true story behind the botched repair......

 

[Margaret]

Yes agree. The previous owners are a well known car rental and lease company. There is one in every airport. I guess the driver did the cheapest fix possible and dropped it back. I can't figure why it wasn't done under warranty. The coolant issue is unclear. It was spilling into the expansion tank (according to my friend) and was visible under the coolant tank. Why MB missed all this is beyond me. I wonder will they get a near match for the car. It had a 360 camera and full command. The only SE models on their website have garmin nav and rear cameras only. Their milometers are also slightly higher. I prefer SE tyres, don't want AMG ones again as I deal with potholes a lot. Just for interest/ education what is a remap or a tuning box ?

 

[markjay]

Remap and tuning box are methods to change the default setting of the ECU. This is often done to increase the engine power and torque via reprogramming the ECU, or improve fuel consumption, or both.

The manufacturers do not support their cars being reprogrammed in this way, and damage resulting from the installation or use of the above will not be covered by warranty.

In addition, lease companies insist that cars need to be returned to them unmodified in any way, so if a driver does remap the car or fits a tuning box then they'll need to remove it and put everything back as it was before handing back the car.

 

[Margaret]

I don't think I will ever know. The person leasing obviously tried to rectify damage with their own mechanic, before sending it back. Either that or the leasing company used a non merc fix. I have sent an e mail to the leasing company to see if they can give any info, unlikely to hear back, but after considering all opinions am ready to move on. Hopefully I will be luckier with the next one. Kinda scary but got no choice.