MB Direct bananas!

[GordonTarling]

As some of you may already know, the company that used to be called 'MB Direct' has recently been renamed to 'Mercedes-Benz Retail Used Car Sales' As many of you may also know, they appeared to have gained a bit of a reputation for, shall we say, indifferent customer service. Do a search on the forums and you'll see what I mean.

So, it was with more than a little trepidation that I bought my 'new' S211 from them almost a month ago. When I test drove it, I was very happy with the way it drove etc., but have to admit to feeling slightly pressurised at the time. Anyway, a reasonable deal was done and I collected the car from them around four weeks ago. I almost immediately noticed a vibration when braking, particularly from high speed and when braking heavily. A brief visit to Olly at PCS revealed heavy corrosion to the front discs, a not uncommon ocurrence for 'forecourt cars' according to Olly. Olly also noticed that the OBD connector had been somehow broken out of the panel and was just floating around.

I phoned MB Retail car sales and informed them of the problems, with the result that I was asked to return the car for them to take a look. I have to admit that I was fully expecting a response like 'brakes are a wear item sir', such as I've received from other dealers previously. However, they test-drove the car last Thursday and agreed there was a problem They told me that their technician wasn't certain if the vibration was from front or back brakes, so they'd order new front discs and pads and change those first.

Today was the first opportunity I had to take the car to them for the work, so I arrived there around 9.30, the keys were taken from me and I was told the work would take around two hours. Getting back home for a couple of hours was difficult, so I decided to hang around and drink as much of their free coffee as I could manage!

At around 12, I was told the car was finished, so I drove it home. Wonderful! Brakes as they should be and OBD connector properly secured back in the panel.

I realise there are some who would say that this is how the car should have been all along, but it was a used car and there's always going to be one or two little niggles, no matter how perfect the car may seem It's how the problems are handled that makes the difference between a good dealer and a mediocre one.

So, Mercedes Benz Retail Used Car Sales of Park Royal get a thank you from me for professional service as well as a load of bananas! :bannana::bannana::bannana::bannana::bannana:

 

[C240Sport97]

Good to hear that even the "budget" end of the MB "experience" can be "pleasurable".

 

[Mactech]

I have had 4 cars from Mercedes Direct in the last five years. Caterham(x2), Park Royal and NEC.
Ok, the cars have all been under 6 months old, but all my dealings have been swift, buisness like and pleasurable. Much less patronising than the majority of main dealers!
The best bit is that they all were all between 20 and 30% off the new list price with very sensible trade in values :bannana:
Sorry you had a a little trouble, but the way it was dealt with mirrors my own experience.

 

[jeremytaylor]

I bought our CLK from Park Royal last summer.

On the test drive at low speeds it was fine, but after buying it there was a vibration from the front at motorway speeds. I thought it was just ballancing, so took it to be balanced. It turned out that one of the front wheels had a slight dent on the inside of the rim (not visible externally). Park Royal supplied a new wheel, no questions asked - an 18" AMG, no less.

Yes, their sales technique does rely on pressure, but their after-sales were fine.

So I'll give 'em a banana too! :bannana:

 

[jaymanek]

We bought our first newish Mb off them back in 2003... we got a good deal (and i was a part time trader then) and the after sales was good... The car did need to go back for stuff that was supposed to be sorted before sale.

 

[BlackC55]

Glad you got it sorted Gordon.

 

[tiger]

I bought my 2009 C Class sport from there(Manchester). All seemed to be going well until after i picked up the car. The salesman i was dealing with was sacked. They owed me money back from my trade in which i had to chase continually for nearly 4 weeks. A couple of alloys were damaged on my car, which had been covered up somehow with a silicone type stuff when i picked the car up. This was discovered 6 days later when washing the car. In their defence they have put them all down to pristine alloys to get sorted out now.

Would I ise them again? It would all depend on what other deals were about. My Local MB dealer wanted to bend me over the table and add 4K on top for the same car.....

 

[Aletank]

Do MB Direct haggle on the screen price ? Say for a car up at £12k - Manchester branch in particular

 

[Rory]

Do MB Direct haggle on the screen price ? Say for a car up at £12k - Manchester branch in particular

Going back a bit (March 2005) I paid £23.5K for my car at MB Direct Birmingham against a screen price of £26,995. I think the screen price was pretty "full" - they knocked £2K off to get me to come in and see it - but it's probably one the few cars I've bought where I've remained happy with the deal.
The car would have listed at £35K new just 5 months earlier.

My impression is that they tend to price the cars a bit tighter these days. They know their stuff and they move the cars through very quickly.

 

[PXW]

Bought mine from MB Direct about 3 years ago. One or two niggles, including a small dent that they had told me wouldn't be there when I got the car. Called them, and they didn't argue at all - just suggested I had it fixed locally at their cost (I live about 125 miles away from the branch that sold the car). When I told them that my local MB dealer wanted £900 for the work, they came down and collected it from me, left me a loan car, and delivered the car back to me fully sorted.

I found them flexible on price too, though I didn't have a trade-in to complicate matters. Doing the deal a few days before the end of the quarter, with sales targets looming, seemed to help the negotiations - I got about 10% off the already reasonable looking sticker price, which meant I had picked up a 2 year old car with 32k on the clock for about half of list price. I'm sure some guys negotiate harder and get better deals than me but I was satisfied with that, which in itself is a compliment since my car buying/selling experiences usually leave me feeling ever so slightly ripped off

 

[The Pan Man]

We all have different experiences with MB Direct at first the prices were sharp but they tried to less than bottom book my PX I experienced this 3 times in total with 3 different salesmen and 3 different sales managers all at the NEC and as recently as thrtee weeks ago.

 

[Palfrem]

I've bought 3 cars from the NEC site and have always been happy with the service.
Price is competetive and prep was fine. Even moved my Snooper at no cost.

Her Ladyship (worlds pickiest carbuyer) is curently looking for CLK cabrio 200, they have been good at keeping us informed of new arrivals. No pressure, no hassle.

Would buy from them again