New owner woes
- Thread starter StuW213
- Start date
Just got the car back again. They say they've changed the main battery and that start stop now works as it should. Drove it the 20 minutes home and no start stop. Mercedes me now says starter battery charged all the time. I'm wondering if they just nobbled mercedes me.
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2007
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- 13,660
- Location
- North Oxfordshire
- Car
- His - Denim Blue A220 AMG Line Premium / Hers - Obsidian Black R172 SLK55
FWIW, Stop/Start worked faultlessly on my first E63 and also in my wife's SLK55, but on my current E63 it has worked for short periods, then goes into a sulk and refuses to work at all, then may work for quite long periods - which normally coincide with a visit to the dealer to diagnose the fault 
Regarding rejecting your car, did you do as I suggested earlier and give the dealer a final "fix it or I'm rejecting it" letter as I suggested in an earlier post? If, so then it will come as no surprise to the DP and I would suggest that you just itemise each fault (again) and the failed attempts by the dealer to fix them. Then argue that while each individual fault may be considered minor, the aggregate effect of all of them is indicative of a product not fit for purpose. You may still meet with a flat refusal to accept the rejection, so be prepared for a war of attrition.
Regarding rejecting your car, did you do as I suggested earlier and give the dealer a final "fix it or I'm rejecting it" letter as I suggested in an earlier post? If, so then it will come as no surprise to the DP and I would suggest that you just itemise each fault (again) and the failed attempts by the dealer to fix them. Then argue that while each individual fault may be considered minor, the aggregate effect of all of them is indicative of a product not fit for purpose. You may still meet with a flat refusal to accept the rejection, so be prepared for a war of attrition.
Thanks, I wrote the email, but didn't send it yet. I contacted customer support but they didn't even get back to me, I wanted them to confirm that stop start should work as normal. It's all seeming a bit futile and I'm thinking maybe I should just get the problem sorted independently and then make a claim against them.
Returned to mercedes dartford and fair play to them they've given me the paperwork for a warranty replacement of the battery that they carried out yesterday. Having told me it wasn't covered under warranty there are apparently certain parameters that point to the battery being responsible for stop start not working that then mean that they can. Last night I put the new battery on charge and my ctek stayed in phase 3 for as long as I had, about 3 hours. I was surprised that if it was a new battery as I thought they came charged. This morning start stop has worked all the time for two journeys. It would not have done that previously. If it continues to work then they have finally fixed it and I'm fault free for the second time since owning. Fingers crossed.
Black Scorpion
Active Member
Batteries can be and are a pain in the backside.
On one of my Range Rovers the battery would never hold its charge.
Took it to the main dealer and they connected the battery to the very latest battery diagnostic machine.
This machine could pin point any battery faults.
After being connected for nearly a whole day the result was the battery was fine!
Took it home and within a few days the same battery issue.
I then took it back to the main dealers and had a new battery fitted at my expense.
Guess what no issues ever again.
From the day the new battery was fitted I would trickle charge it once every 2 weeks to keep it topped up.
Many cars do short journeys which kill modern batteries unless you maintain a good level of charge.
On one of my Range Rovers the battery would never hold its charge.
Took it to the main dealer and they connected the battery to the very latest battery diagnostic machine.
This machine could pin point any battery faults.
After being connected for nearly a whole day the result was the battery was fine!
Took it home and within a few days the same battery issue.
I then took it back to the main dealers and had a new battery fitted at my expense.
Guess what no issues ever again.
From the day the new battery was fitted I would trickle charge it once every 2 weeks to keep it topped up.
Many cars do short journeys which kill modern batteries unless you maintain a good level of charge.
Ouch! I was definitely considering doing the same until they replaced it. When I got the car 3 months ago it had a fault that would drain the battery when not in use so I'm thinking that might have killed the battery if someone left it to go really flat.
Bluegnomes
Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2016
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- 295
- Car
- Mercedes S213 E43, SLC300, 911 C2S, Lotus Elise 250cup
I hope your car is now OK with this minor issue and you can stop worrying about it and enjoy it.
Black Scorpion
Active Member
I still do the once every 2 weeks top up even on my C63 as I like the battery to be in top condition.
This saga sounds to me like a fault with the auxiliary battery rather than the main battery. The auxiliary battery is used to power various electrical consumers when Eco mode ie start/stop is active and the engine has shut down, leaving the main battery to deal with starting the engine. Any problem with the auxiliary battery will result in Eco/Start Stop being disabled, and potentially some or all of a variety of unrelated systems that rely on the auxiliary battery eg Distronic Plus, Active Driving Assistance system and Hold function also being disabled. This was a (very) common issue with the W212 E class and was due to a fault with the auxiliary battery itself. The fix was to replace the auxiliary battery. So hopefully this was what has happened with you and that the car is running - or should I say not running - as it should.
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2008
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- 48,643
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- London
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- 2022 Hyundai IONIQ 5 RWD / 2016 Suzuki Vitara AWD
Most common causes for Stop/Start not working are either main battery or auxiliary battery.
The only way to dignose it is by replacing both batteries one at a time.
There are various other issues that can cause the Stop/Start not to engage, but one of the two batteries are usually the culprit.
The only way to dignose it is by replacing both batteries one at a time.
There are various other issues that can cause the Stop/Start not to engage, but one of the two batteries are usually the culprit.
Thanks. Not had any problems with the driver assist stuff being disabled. Very surprised that the new battery they have fitted is not charged according to my ctek. So I will give it a full charge at the weekend and then see how it goes. When I was at the dealership I overheard a gentleman asking his service rep why his start stop very rarely works. The service rep told him it was down to his short journeys and he shouldn't worry...
Yeah it looks like I'll be going this way too although my neighbour will keep on commenting because his m4 is maintenance free. Having a garage full of cr*p doesn't help.
Just as an aside Mercedes me now says the starter battery is charged all the time so far even though the ctek goes into bulk charge for hours. Maybe this battery is outputting a better voltage level. With the previous battery it would say charged very rarely, it always said partly charged, charge it or drive for 30 minutes.
After all that to get stop/start working you will now get fed up of it and turn it off!
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2008
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- 48,643
- Location
- London
- Car
- 2022 Hyundai IONIQ 5 RWD / 2016 Suzuki Vitara AWD
Haha... I dislike Stop/Start, and yet when mine failed I had it repaired - can't have non-working bits on the car even if you don't need or use them!
When i bought the car a year ago, the stop/start wasn't working, wouldn't go green, i thought it just needed a good run, to sort out, Went to a wedding in Scotland 800 mile round trip, still no sign of it working. Booked into PCS, as they are just down the road from me, needed a new main battery, new aux battery, and a battery sensor.
Hmm, what's the battery sensor for? Mine is definitely different now. It has worked on a couple more short journeys. Very random though, worked virtually straight away, then I drove on a motorway for ten minutes and when I pulled up, it then didn't work. I can't predict when it will work and when it won't but at least it does something sometimes now.
