hi all,
just over a year ago I became the owner of 8k mileage E350 Estate with 20 wheels AMG premium line. car looks great goes well and very smooth.
Turns out I had just purchased one of the worst cars I have ever owned. not just from reliability but also from service.
after just 4 months into owning the the car - the sun roof rubber on one side started to come away from the roof. flapped around when open. around this time the car was called back for, in the words of Mercedes "something not to serious", that the steering rack had to be replaced, reported the steering lock engage while driving, some would say that could be quite serious. Any how. booked in and later got a phone call that they need to keep the car to do the sunroof, however this was not possible. so in their words said they would put the roof back together and I could collect the car. however the cars roof had never been looked at, stripped down so nothing was required to be put together, how do I know this. not a single finger print on the dusty roof...…
then after a few more week the second seal went on the roof...… no follow up call from Mercedes to rebook, then one day during a torrential downpour both a post were soaking wet inside and water flowing into the cabin and all over seats, a phone call with Mercedes followed, and they have no record of the sunroof issue on my car...……. me thinks someone is telling porkies.....
it was then the first service due, to then have been told I have a small crack in the front right of the rim inside and that it was a probably pot hole...… no air was leaking, so I thought for now its ok.
after a few more weeks that tyre started to deflate- after a further look there was now two cracks, so after complaining to Mercedes and coming up to a brick wall as expected, I got the wheel welded rather than throwing 1100 quid away.
following a second service I was again told the front wheel was indeed cracked again and the two front tyres on the inside were onto the wire- yet the rest of the 3/4 of the tyres were at 5mm - shows there is too much camber on the wheels applying a lot of force on the inner part of the rim. this has all come about since the replacement steering. Mercedes still wont budge, saying tracking and camber are in spec. so went to a specialist alignment company who indeed has found the camber out mostly on one side the side where the wheel is cracking. with this paperwork i went back to Merc who said they will get back to me. this was just before the Corona outbreak. I had to get the wheel repaired for the third time as it again was leaking air. I had to drive to Germany the at the weekend there was no other option.
fast forward a month, now the garage has been open a month, no one has still contacted me. so I call in and request some call me about it. no phone call. so a return to the garage to request again to receive phone call . three days later it came, I was unable to take the call, the message was that of no knowledge of the issue, and promised to try phone again. 4 weeks later no phone call.
in the last 4 weeks I have covered 3000 miles all of it motorways across Europe, got the car home at the weekend. Monday morning come out to find I have two flat tyres, I inflate them take them to my local tyre garage, to be told I have a total of 10 crack across all my wheels. this is clearly not about the state of our roads, its about the combination of hard suspension, run flat tyres and flimsy material. the weakest link in this situation will always give in first. I have hit no potholes, been on poor roads. or any type of driving outside of normal conditions. Mercedes know about this issue as you can see on the forums, they continue to place these wheels on the vehicle and do no clearly make any statements to any customers even when asked out right.
on top of this - front bumper had to resprayed(under warranty) as the paint was peeling off due to poor bonding at the factory.
the auto boot opening system had to have parts replaced on 4 occasions until worked even though each time I got the car back I was told that it worked, until one day they gave me it back and asked them to show me it working after being in with them for the day, it did not work and had to be returned to them.
Ad blue system would not allow top up to register. again 4 times in, on the last and final time, on a Saturday, it was low, I topped it up, it did not register, so I went to garage as again I was about to head out to Europe the next day, and was told they could not help and that I would have to break down and then be supplied a free car while it gets fixed. 8 hours in total when I broke down to finally get on my way.
so now I have a 2 year old Eclass sitting on my driveway with two flat tyres due to cracks in the rim and one wheel with now 6 cracks in it that unsafe to use. to be then told by Mercedes service desk that it need 1 to 5 days to look into it. again I need to travel outside of UK this weekend.
worst car I have spent money on...…. will not be burnt twice, nor will anyone that I know who is considering this brand.... terrible terrible terrible
haha im not looking for sympathy, I just think with something like the wheels, Mercedes have to be held accountable for selling such sub standard and clearly not fit for purpose items, or declare their limitaions prior to any sale of them. you ask a sales guy if you upgrade to this type of wheel what issues will I have, he will look you in the eye and tell no issues at all..... no accountability.
