I have been banned from Mercedes, why-I complained.

[G-A-R-Y]

The noise is like a hot exhaust cracking as it cools down, but at the speed of a pinking sound from a petrol car. Put your foot down and the noise goes. Poodle around a car park slowly on light throttle and it can be quite embarrassing. I've tried millers fuel additive and a wetting agent for the cooling system all to no avail. Give the car a good thrashing and the noise goes away for a week. this is why I think this may be due to carbon build up. I'm going to try a good quality injector cleaner next. Any suggestions???

 

[Dieselman]

Try some Bio-diesel.

The noise is pretty common on 320 CDi engines. It's due to the rate of rise of combustion temperature on part load.

Just one thing to check is that there is no air entering the fuel system as that will cause crackling.

 

[G-A-R-Y]

I received a letter today from Sytner Bristol.

After a lot of waffle the last paragraph reads
"I understand that the initial idea of banning you from our site may of been harsh, this decision I am revoking and you are welcome to return to our dealership in the future"

That's good enough for me, I'll leave it there (end of story)
BTW. I shall return for my service in 3k.

 

[IanA2]

I received a letter today from Sytner Bristol.

After a lot of waffle the last paragraph reads

"I understand that the initial idea of banning you from our site may of been harsh, this decision I am revoking and you are welcome to return to our dealership in the future".

I hope welcome means:- a seriously discounted service; a complete valet; flowers for Mrs Gary; and a bottle of Veuve!

In all the circumstances, it should!!!!!!!

 

[marcos]

The noise is like a hot exhaust cracking as it cools down, but at the speed of a pinking sound from a petrol car. Put your foot down and the noise goes. Poodle around a car park slowly on light throttle and it can be quite embarrassing. I've tried millers fuel additive and a wetting agent for the cooling system all to no avail. Give the car a good thrashing and the noise goes away for a week. this is why I think this may be due to carbon build up. I'm going to try a good quality injector cleaner next. Any suggestions???

Most of the straight six diesels make this noise. Apparently when they fitted a more powerfull pump at the front of the block for the new CDI's they had to shave the front of the block for it to fit properly. This has left the front of the block slightly thinner and apparently the noise you hear is cylinder No.1 firing.
This is what I was told by a technician at Sindelfingen as I had the same problem and didn't believe the crap Milton Keynes told me.

 

[glojo]

If the fault was entirely theirs then would I want to go back? From the few lines that Gary kindly posted there is no indication of any type of apology?

John

 

[BlackC55]

Most of the straight six diesels make this noise. Apparently when they fitted a more powerfull pump at the front of the block for the new CDI's they had to shave the front of the block for it to fit properly. This has left the front of the block slightly thinner and apparently the noise you hear is cylinder No.1 firing.
This is what I was told by a technician at Sindelfingen as I had the same problem and didn't believe the crap Milton Keynes told me.

That is also waffle.

Some of the straight six CDI's do it.

 

[petef]

Here is the letter which I sent to the garage three times, to date I have had no response. Unconventional? I know.

Dear Mercedes people, please read my story “My Mercedes experience”

I came to your garage on 5th June at 10.15. My car was suffering with a strange “cracking/tapping” noise. A master technician from reception accompanied me to the car park where the noise was demonstrated. The car was booked in for the following day (6th June). I agreed to pay the labour charge for the required diagnosis and testing.

At 4.30pm I was called and told that my car was ready to collect, it had been repaired. Parts had been fitted without asking but I was pleased the noise had been remedied and paid the invoice of £335.72.
I left the garage and went home, it soon became apparent that the noise in my engine remained.

I returned to your garage 8th June at 10.00am and explained. A master technician from the workshops was called; I again demonstrated the strange cracking noise. After an hour in reception I was told “Mercedes Technical” would have to be contacted, advice was needed. I returned the car the following week to have more parts fitted. At the end of that week I was called and asked to collect the car, the fault remained; I was told more advice was needed from Technical and I would be contacted.

After nearly a month and no response to my many calls, I found it necessary to involve Mercedes Customer Service. Today they told me that my car cannot be repaired and the noise is a well-known characteristic of this engine. Why were your staff unaware of this “well-known” characteristic?

I paid you £335.72 and still have the noise.
I feel “hard done by” and saddened by the whole Mercedes experience.
To summarise; I am reluctant to return to your garage even though I have a large service pending. The service I received was not satisfactory, I am not happy.

If you have taken the time to read this, I thank you.

A very good letter, to the point and easy to read...However Mercedes response does not surprise me.Infact it is downright childish !! My advice for the future.......
.........Buy second hand 5 years old ( FSH ) , get the car serviced by a reputable garage ( non merc ) , and if a weird fault occurs move the thing on..from my experience no gargage has ever found the solution to a weird noise or irritation ...and yes, usually after giving them around 500 pounds to resolve and fix the problem. they usually have an opt out by taking a sharp intake of breath and saying " Ooohh sir it could be one of many things..bring it along and we will have a look." and so the jobs begin, one by one !! ..........I hate them all ..the money grabbin low life scum....They are taking money from you and your family and kids ..

From an anthropological view they would be shot with an arrow..or spear whichever was on hand...

sorry.. I am in a very anti - "human" / - "authority" / - "government" /- "systems " / " policies" mood this evening and being totally irrational .

 

[petef]

When I was sole UK service for a huge Japanese firm, they sent people over to give training on how to handle these situations. The number 1 rule was that you must remember that the customer is upset as his car has gone wrong, you must humour him and try and explain why something has gone wrong, never argue with him, just point out what has happened and do your best to put it right.
In 55 years of being self employed in the service trade I have only ever banned 2 in all that time, and over 200,000 repairs

How nice...Malcolm obviously has the social skills to deal with members of the public and is able to go the " extra mile " ...not a skill many people have...especially the motor trade.

After 30 years I have also found a gargage that provides not only good quality workmanship, but the family owners also have the social skills to be able to deal with people and their ways !! You either have it or you dont.If a small family buisness can do it then I cant see why MB cant....They even bring your car back to the door when its repaired !!

I would write to MB Germany and provide them a link to this thread and maybe ask them to respond to this thread. This is a very powerful forum which many people log into.It is also viewed by many non members world wide.
Good Luck

 

[hawk20]

I received a letter today from Sytner Bristol.

After a lot of waffle the last paragraph reads
"I understand that the initial idea of banning you from our site may of been harsh, this decision I am revoking and you are welcome to return to our dealership in the future"

That's good enough for me, I'll leave it there (end of story)
BTW. I shall return for my service in 3k.

It would be really useful if you could publish the full letter from Sytner including the waffle so we can fairly see both sides.

Otherwise, on what we have seen, I think you should ask MB to try and get your money back from Sytner if this is a well known fault.

 

[petef]

Here is the letter which I sent to the garage three times, to date I have had no response. Unconventional? I know.

Dear Mercedes people, please read my story “My Mercedes experience”

I came to your garage on 5th June at 10.15. My car was suffering with a strange “cracking/tapping” noise. A master technician from reception accompanied me to the car park where the noise was demonstrated. The car was booked in for the following day (6th June). I agreed to pay the labour charge for the required diagnosis and testing.

At 4.30pm I was called and told that my car was ready to collect, it had been repaired. Parts had been fitted without asking but I was pleased the noise had been remedied and paid the invoice of £335.72.
I left the garage and went home, it soon became apparent that the noise in my engine remained.

I returned to your garage 8th June at 10.00am and explained. A master technician from the workshops was called; I again demonstrated the strange cracking noise. After an hour in reception I was told “Mercedes Technical” would have to be contacted, advice was needed. I returned the car the following week to have more parts fitted. At the end of that week I was called and asked to collect the car, the fault remained; I was told more advice was needed from Technical and I would be contacted.

After nearly a month and no response to my many calls, I found it necessary to involve Mercedes Customer Service. Today they told me that my car cannot be repaired and the noise is a well-known characteristic of this engine. Why were your staff unaware of this “well-known” characteristic?

I paid you £335.72 and still have the noise.
I feel “hard done by” and saddened by the whole Mercedes experience.
To summarise; I am reluctant to return to your garage even though I have a large service pending. The service I received was not satisfactory, I am not happy.

If you have taken the time to read this, I thank you.

A very good letter, to the point and easy to read...However Mercedes response does not surprise me.Infact it is downright childish !! My advice for the future.......
.........Buy second hand 5 years old ( FSH ) , get the car serviced by a reputable garage ( non merc ) , and if a weird fault occurs move the thing on..from my experience no gargage has ever found the solution to a weird noise or irritation ...and yes, usually after giving them around 500 pounds to resolve and fix the problem. they usually have an opt out by taking a sharp intake of breath and saying " Ooohh sir it could be one of many things..bring it along and we will have a look." and so the jobs begin, one by one !! ..........I hate them all ..the money grabbin low life scum....They are taking money from you and your family and kids ..

From an anthropological view they would be shot with an arrow..or spear whichever was on hand...

sorry.. I am in a very anti - "human" / - "authority" / - "government" /- "systems " / " policies" mood this evening and being totally irrational .

 

[SLKGirl]

That is also waffle.

Some of the straight six CDI's do it.

I have a noisy high pressure fuel pump on my SLK 350, dealer thinks it's noisy and should be replaced, keeps saying it needs approving by MB and it's "just a formality, everything they have it and send something off to MB, MB come back wanting more tests, a total of 9 days it's been in over last 18 months, Dealer told me that their last response said they had a shortage of pumps as have withdrawn the old part number and have anew part number, and have been told not to change pumps without exhaustive testing. WhenI called MB, they said nonsense and the Dealer was requesting further tests... hard to know who is telling the truth

 

[Pathewolf]

I certainly wouldn't want to go back to a dealership that have taken my money and not fixed my car, if they knew that the fault could not be rectified then you should be refunded!

An apology is the least I would want or expect! If you paid by card then your card provider can claim against the garage on your behalf as you are not happy with the service that has been provided

 

[AMGeed]

Hmmm same dealership as the one being discussed HERE.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Glad you have been unbanned...you should never have been banned in the first place!!! MB service seems to be going downhill quickly. It is a shame, they used to be fantastic.

 

[StuartK]

Glad you have been unbanned...you should never have been banned in the first place!!! MB service seems to be going downhill quickly. It is a shame, they used to be fantastic.

It's a Sytner thing though MB and BMW service has got bad.

Audi in my experience are the best!

 

[Charles Morgan]

Holy thread resurrection, Batman, this one's almost 9 years old!

 

[Pathewolf]

Holy thread resurrection, Batman, this one's almost 9 years old!

My advice is a tad late I will check next time before responding