I..... Am Going.... To Scream!

[Tilly]

seriously I can feel myself turning grey ever so slightly early in my life... It's like star wars, the saga continues....

Earlier in the evening I'd gone out for a meal with a friend (which was very nice thank you lol) Only that was where the fun ended... I got half way home and out of the blue the dash decided to light up like a christmas tree; the engine light and ABS lights came on and the computer was flashing about brake wear and display faults so I pulled over at the side of the road and knocked the ignition off.

Anyway, I cracked it back up and all problems were still apparent. Then... I decide to crawl home steadily up until the point where I thought "Hmm.... why hasnt it changed gear yet?" I looked down at the dials, only to see them happily sitting there at 4k without changing gear so uh oh.... the cars gone into limp home mode.

I then noticed the speedo was not registering any speeds whatsoever, great! Driving in first gear isn't fun at the best of times, even more so when you're ready to scream loud enough that the windows would smash! The revs picked up to 4k when all of a sudden the car jerked as if someone had slammed on the brakes and the engine revs fell rapidly to 3k. It would now not rev over 3k so needless to say impatient people behind were not enjoying my "leisurely" drive home.

The car is now safely tucked up on the driveway ready for me to take a sledge hammer to it... actually no, just ready for Mercedes' most irritating customer to call up and complain about how much I loooooooooove their cars and would recommend them to everyone

Could this car get any better?

No really... should I start a poll!?

 

[Dieselman]

Driving in first gear isn't fun at the best of times, even more so when you're ready to scream loud enough that the windows would smash!

Not being picky but it should have selected second.

There I bet you feel better now..

 

[Tilly]

nope it wouldn't change at all, I was pressing the throttle lightly and letting off slightly and tinkering around with the revs a tiny bit at first hoping it would take to second gear but nope, no luck I'm afraid. I would happily drive home in second but unfortunately it wouldn't allow me to

PS. Bloody sarcastic A class drivers hehehe

 

[Silestanix]

Unfortunate...The Vito done that once, though I knocked it into Tiptronic and it shifted manually into 2nd and 3rd, but not above that; and the engine limited the speed to about 80km/h, around 50mph. Turns out the ECU had a short circuit somewhere caused by a lose wire connection that touched another wire. Replaced quickly under warranty.

 

[Turbo2ol2]

this problem has occurred on a range rover auto that i used to drive, you may or may not have tried but if you lock up the car for 20mins and then retry the ignition it sometimes resets and the fault dissapears (range rover did) just for you infor ....regards Dave

 

[Tilly]

I did wonder actually, so I tried it the next morning with my fingers crossed but no luck I'm afraid The car has been collected now though so hopefully it will be resolved shortly!

 

[fuzzer]

Is it leased? Id have told the leasing company where to shove that car long ago with the trouble youve had with it!

 

[Tilly]

No its not leased but to be honest even if it was there would be nothing I could do in relation to that, the issues lie with the car itself

The only thing to even contemplate is rejecting the car but even then you can only reject a car if the same fault reoccurs and after x amount of attempts to repair it under warranty if the problem is not resolved.

I was hoping the old ignition off and leave it for a while may have cured it as as you guys will know, if you turn your ignition off and go back to the car an hour or so later it will still be registering the average fuel consumption and distance travelled from previous journeys, it doesn't reset itself 'til the engine is stone cold so I was hoping that may have worked but nope

Today I've been relegated to a fiesta lol

 

[Dryce]

I was hoping the old ignition off and leave it for a while may have cured it as as you guys will know, if you turn your ignition off and go back to the car an hour or so later it will still be registering the average fuel consumption and distance travelled from previous journeys, it doesn't reset itself 'til the engine is stone cold so I was hoping that may have worked but nopel

To be honest it's better that it fails completely and it then gets fixed rather than miraculously disappear and come back to bite you later.

Intermittent faults are the worst kind.

 

[MikeL]

The only thing to even contemplate is rejecting the car but even then you can only reject a car if the same fault reoccurs and after x amount of attempts to repair it under warranty if the problem is not resolved.

Not necessarily true - I rejected (successfully) my SLK350 over a raft of problems rather than a single problem, admittedly the car was only 8-10 weeks old which helped my cause.

Mike

 

[glojo]

Hi Tilly,
Is that your car in your signature? How old is it and why on earth have they given you a Fiesta? Or is that your wife's car. When our car was taken away under the Mobilio scheme the phone was hot, firstly with DaimlerChrysler making sure we were getting a courtesy vehicle, then the local dealership making the arrangements, then Enterprise saying they would get a car delivered by 7pm (it was 6pm when we phoned for assistance) For the first day we had a big Citroen thingie, but the next day it was changed for a C-class.

Breaking down is annoying, but it is the service that helps sooth that irritation.

Good luck getting things fixed.

Regards
John

 

[Tilly]

Hi Tilly,
Is that your car in your signature? How old is it and why on earth have they given you a Fiesta? Or is that your wife's car. When our car was taken away under the Mobilio scheme the phone was hot, firstly with DaimlerChrysler making sure we were getting a courtesy vehicle, then the local dealership making the arrangements, then Enterprise saying they would get a car delivered by 7pm (it was 6pm when we phoned for assistance) For the first day we had a big Citroen thingie, but the next day it was changed for a C-class.

Breaking down is annoying, but it is the service that helps sooth that irritation.

Good luck getting things fixed.

Regards
John

Yes it is the car in my signature, it's a '55 plate. They always winge about giving me a courtesy car because of my age even though there is no stipulation in regards to this in the handbooks but anyway, more hassle than it's worth but in regards to the fiesta it's actually not wifeys (I'm only 20) but it is however... mothers lol as she has access to a friends focus to potter around in and I'm insured on the fiesta so we've swapped for a couple of days.

Basically their service is pathetic. We rang the breakdown assistance on Thursday night, a so called 24 hour service. We also rang the dealership before this to make them aware the car would be coming in and asked them to schedule its B service at the same time for convenience as it was due in about 400 miles. We agreed on Monday ie. today.

Anyway, when we called the breakdown assistance to arrange a pickup... apparently we were being silly calling on Thursday asking them to collect the car, it was too far in advance I mean WTF!? They said they're a breakdown service and need calling on the day or just before because they don't take bookings, they're an emergency service as they put it... Maybe so but fook me I thought showing a bit of consideration and making them aware of a required pickup a few days prior would be welcomed so they could be expecting it and possibly schedule for it but nope rather than being polite they gave us abuse about it.

Moving on... Sunday came round so we called them again and asked them to collect the car. They argued with us for about half an hour saying they were going to take it to Skipton and not Blackburn and it wasn't their problem that we'd booked its service in at Blackburn and we should've arranged it with our nearest dealer because they will only recover it to them... unreasonable? No not at all I can appreciate how a business works, I thought this was perfectly fine.... however considering Blackburn IS my nearest dealer and not Skipton quite frankly I thought their attitude was a bit on the harsh side but hey do they care? Do they hell!

 

[glojo]

Hi Tilly,
Thanks for the very informative reply. What a different experience and what different standards between dealerships?

If it were mine then a breakdown is a breakdown. I would have expected the Mobilo service to come out to my house the minute the car went defective. I would want a courtesy car delivered to my door and I would expect them to worry about the insurance. I can't recall reading any age stipulation on the Mobilo coverage, but knowing me I might have missed it? Was there an age stipulation when you purchased the car?

I have always maintained it is the after sales service that gets my loyalty. The treatment your getting is not good enough and I'm afraid I would be a disgruntled bunny. Or should that be a 'middle aged' disgruntled bunny?

Thanks again for the update and apologies for marrying you off.

John

 

[fuzzer]

They must have changed , i was getting courtesy cars at 17 with my merc.

Also didnt skin you for insurance costs in those days either ....

 

[Parrot of Doom]

I remember refusing to take a courtesy car from Audi because the agreement stipulated that in a no-fault insurance claim, I would personally be liable for the first £1000 of the damage.

No ****ing way was I signing that, and I eventually had them deliver it to my house, I didn't sign a thing. I had that Audi for 4 months, lost a fortune on it but so did Audi as I'll never buy another one.