Mercedes Benz Direct - Rubbish

[GregE240]

You would be forgiven for thinking that a potential customer interested in a £35,000 car would get some decent treatment in one of these places?

Well, think again.

Two weeks ago I ventured to one of these, to try and test drive a CL500. Admittedly it was last minute, and when I got there said car was up on a plinth as it was "Car of the Week", complete with about 10 cars surrounding it. Not a problem, in spite of driving there I re-scheduled it for last Saturday. I was called by them on Friday to confirm, and we arrived there just before 11am.

We were given coffee, and told the sales person I'd dealt with would be with us in about 10 minutes. And so it was.

What a let down. They had 2 weeks notice I was going to be there, was the car ready? Was it *******. All the sales stuff was still in the car, so huge price thing in the windscreen, and also the "spec" piece in the passenger door window. Not only that, there was a huge piece of trim (from under a seat?) that was rattling around the rear of the car. When shown it, the salesman wasn't bothered. At all. He drove first, presumably to warm the car up for me. Then I took over. For about 5 minutes. We proceeded to drive literally round the block. If it was 3 miles I'd be surprised. We got back, and the sales bloke literally just walked away, nothing. We were left open mouthed in astonishment. He just wasn't interested at all.

So, a 2 hour, 60 mile round trip for nothing. The weeked before Christmas.



Why did I bother?

 

[C240Sport97]

how about this one?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4598576561&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWA:IT&rd=1

 

[Ashley]

I hope you send the sales manager a link to this page . Which one was it for we can all avoid?

 

[mobeyone]

I too would be on the phone to the guy who manages the salesmen.

No way would i stand for that sort of teatment, complain and make yourself be heard, and push for a discount if you buy!!

 

[Ashley]

I just recently took a car for a test drive, (if you know the area) we set off from Barrow and headed towards Ulverston at Ulverston the sales man said I could turn round at the roundabout and head back to Barrow which I replied "if you want we to buy this car we going to the M6 and up for 2 junctions and then heading back to Barrow", he was not happy with me and refused.

So to rub salt in the wound I went into the dealers on Saturday and brought rugs for my new car, the sales manager asked why I was getting rugs “Oh I ordered the 307 after I had a long test-drive with David Hayton- Kendal, after your sales man refused to allow me to take it the motorway” this resulted in a 20 minute chat.

 

[fuzzer]

Seems this is quite common .. happened to use a few times too in mercedes garages...


Stark contrast when looking at a BMW530 tho , here are the keys , ive just filled the tank with diesel .. see you in a bit :bannana:

ahh well , when you start getting ford customers , the salesmen have to adopt ford attitudes ....

sad state of affairs .. but hey ho

 

[Rory]

I bought my car from MB Direct Birmingham. I was initially impressed by their (at least the guy I dealt with) enthusiasm to actually 'sell' me a car, especially compared to the reaction I'd had in normal MB dealers. The test drive was very short though.
I'm very pleased with the car, and the deal I got. However the cars apparently are not prepared etc until they're sold, which seemed a bit odd. I guess that means you can see the car in its original condition?

Things fell apart a bit once I'd agreed to buy the car - they were keen to deliver the car and I can only imaging this is so they can dump it and run. My car wasn't ready when I went to collect it, and then had to be sent back for some other things to be done. Some paperwork has never materialised, and I've given up chasing - they just don't respond. I made a formal complaint to MB Direct, which the acknowledged, but then never came back.

It seems to me that it's very much like a car supermarket buying experience, which is something I've always avoided.

 

[GregE240]

It was MB Direct Birmingham.

I shan't be going back there in a hurry.

If they phone, I'll tear into them, but I'm not wasting my phone bill on them.

 

[fuzzer]

p.s. have you seen the CL600 Bi turbo for sale in sunderland for 39k ?

 

[JFleming]

Wow - I thought Mercedes dealers were good at this sort of thing. When I asked if I could have a quick test drive in a C class Sports Coupe - they said No - only because I would definitely need at least a night to enjoy it.

MB of Taunton, scheduled a demo car, gave me the keys and said to enjoy - when I returned the next day - I placed an order!

 

[mobeyone]

I just recently took a car for a test drive, (if you know the area) we set off from Barrow and headed towards Ulverston at Ulverston the sales man said I could turn round at the roundabout and head back to Barrow which I replied "if you want we to buy this car we going to the M6 and up for 2 junctions and then heading back to Barrow", he was not happy with me and refused.

same here, when i bought my 320, i drove it for maybe two or three miles, and that was only on the way back. I look back and think maybe i should have pushed for a longer drive etc but i (at the time) needed a car and this was the only one about that had most of the spec i was looking for so succumbed to the sale.

I asked if i could open her up and was told no....... the roads i drove on where near a school aswell so there was no way i could really test the car!

but hey..

 

[blicky_1]

Both times I have been to Tony Purslow's in Basingstoke for test drives they have just thrown me the keys and said 'see you in a bit' I was out for over 1hr

Both times resulting in sales for them!

 

[glojo]

MB of Taunton, scheduled a demo car, gave me the keys and said to enjoy - when I returned the next day - I placed an order!

I believe they are part of the same network that we use. We were given an ML for a week, the E270 for a couple of days, and we had the 320CDI for the day, but could have had it for a week-end if we wanted.

However a very good friend made an appointment with the same dealership to test drive an ML350. When he arrived the salesperson was on their 'day off' and the ML was not available?? During the summer it is an hours journey to the showroom, so I think it fair to say he was not impressed and went straight down the road and ordered a Range Rover.

As far as he is concerned the Mercedes-Benz dealership is RUBBISH, but I would tend to think it is the sales person that is perhaps in the wrong profession and they have done a huge disservice to Mercedes-Benz.

Test driving a car should really be about seeing if you are suited, and not just going onto a motorway. How easy is it to get into, and out of? How easy is it for the wife to drive, park, carry shopping? How easy are the dials and controls to either read, or operate? What are the headlights like? Leg room, headroom? There are a thousand and one things to consider, folks think I'm a soft touch, but there is no way I would accept a ten minute 'test drive'. I accept that I usually buy new vehicles, but so what? We are talking here of very expensive nearly new vehicles. I am glad to see you went elsewhere.

Are these MBDirect showrooms different from Main Dealers?

Sorry if this appears a daft question but I cannot get out to investigate and have not got any experience of them.

Regards,
John

 

[ddentrec]

Test driving a car should really be about seeing if you are suited, and not just going onto a motorway. How easy is it to get into, and out of? How easy is it for the wife to drive, park, carry shopping? How easy are the dials and controls to either read, or operate? What are the headlights like? Leg room, headroom? There are a thousand and one things to consider, folks think I'm a soft touch, but there is no way I would accept a ten minute 'test drive'. I accept that I usually buy new vehicles, but so what? We are talking here of very expensive nearly new vehicles. I am glad to see you went elsewhere.

VW are the same: you will get at most a 30 minute test drive. No way will it be any longer, even if you are sepnding £25,000. NB Bedford would not allow me to test drive a new B-Class for even 3 hours due to 'insurance' reasons' which is funny since they keep letting me drive their new E-Class for a week at a time whilst my merc is (again) in for warranty work.

No proper test drive: no sale.

 

[Dave Lewis]

ahh well , when you start getting ford customers , the salesmen have to adopt ford attitudes ....

OUCH!
sad but true.........

 

[Guy]

Are these MBDirect showrooms different from Main Dealers?

Sorry if this appears a daft question but I cannot get out to investigate and have not got any experience of them.

Regards,
John

John,

MB Direct sell the Milton Keynes nearly new management cars and stuff that has been taken in PX, not as far as I know any unregistered cars.

In contrast with others' experiences, I've dealt with MB Direct M/cr, and found them very good - keen on price, and test drives as long as you want.

I suppose salesmen vary like the rest of us...

 

[prprandall51]

Are these MBDirect showrooms different from Main Dealers?

Regards,
John

They are owned by MB but they are not conventional main dealers. They appear to be a cheap-and-cheerful alternative for obtaining an MB from MBUK. By that I mean they don't have the flashy showrooms and endless demo cars, everything you see is stock waiting to be shifted quickly. They seem to be a very attractive proposition, with lean pricing and a great stock of used cars.

I was initally tempted into one last year, I was thinking of buying secondhand at the time. However, the salesman's attitude was very offhand and showing me some cars was clearly causing him considerable pain in the lower abdominal region, judging from the look on his face.

When he asked what my timescales were for buying, I replied that I would buy when the right specc'ed car was available whenever it came up and that I was prepared to wait. I could see, however, from his facial expression that he mis-heard me and he thought I said: "I will never buy a car from you and I am actually broke, I am only here to waste your time". As it was also gone 5.30pm, I could tell the prospect of a TV dinner in front of Emmerdale was more attractive to him than continuing discussions with me.

No sale resulted. I went to the main dealer, where at least they smile at you whilst stiffing you.

Philip

 

[Rory]

Are these MBDirect showrooms different from Main Dealers?

They sell used MB's, often nearly new cars which I assume are ex-MB management or employee (they have a very good short term lease deal for employees) cars.
However they so sell some older cars - whether these are p/x's, or brought in specially, I don't know.
You can find MB Direct on the main MB website - go to Products, then Used Cars. They have half a dozen or so locations.

The cars do seem cheaper than main dealers, and I had quotes for servicing (just checking, not actually had a service yet) which were much cheaper than I'd had from dealers. The salesman I dealt with was pretty disparaging about the dealer network for ripping people off.

 

[Brett]

VW are the same: you will get at most a 30 minute test drive. No way will it be any longer, even if you are sepnding £25,000. NB Bedford would not allow me to test drive a new B-Class for even 3 hours due to 'insurance' reasons' which is funny since they keep letting me drive their new E-Class for a week at a time whilst my merc is (again) in for warranty work.

No proper test drive: no sale.

My experience of VW was quite different. They brought the car to me (90 minute roundtrip from their dealership), and I took it for a test drive for about the same length of time. As it was a Touareg, I took it offroad around the local farmer's field and rough track (with his permission of course), through the local villages (to check the school run capabilities ) and then out onto a fast dual carriageway followed by the motorway. The lady from the dealership couldn't have been more helpful if she'd tried. Unfortunately, we just couldn't come to a deal on the price/trade-in so she didn't get the business.

 

[SilverSaloon]

yeah, sometimes garages surprise u.

i turned up to test drive the CLK i bought (from a Mitsubishi garage) and was just handed the keys and told go and test it that was £20k

i went to test drive a family mpv for my wife (£8k iirc) and the salesman wanted to go in it and didnt let me go far.

whilst looking at a BMW (not a BMW dealer) i was even refused a test drive unless i paid a deposit for the car! lol.