Dizwen
Active Member
Hope I've posted this in the right section...
First off this is not another negative "my car's crap" thread. I love the car. forums can be full of doom and gloom, yes I've got problems but the car is great!
The story...
A few months ago the engine light came on in the C32. A quick trip to the indie, two main faults :
1. secondary air pump failure (in exhaust system)
2. charge air pump, intermitant fault ( for supercharger inter-cooler)
Problem 1 was a must do repair to get the car through MOT. problem 2 can wait as in the cold weather I'm not hurting the car.
Indie fixed problem 1 at a cost of £700 and car went through MOT.
Problem 2 would cost approx £500 to fix, time to get a third party warranty...
a few days after the MOT, engine light comes back on. Back to indie. Indie tells me it's the problem 2 triggering the light, nothing to worry about, get it repaired in summer under warranty.
fast forward a few months to last week...
Car alarm won't switch off! just goes nuts and flashes about a dozen times and the car won't lock. Call to indie and they say it's the siren, water has got on the spade connections and the alarm goes nuts. Other half has only done short trips in the car today so when I get home I go for a "spirited" drive to get some heat in the engine bay. hour later car is ticking itself cool on my drive and alarm works, pat myself on the back and go in the house.
Next day other half is up Derby and alarm plays up. We have warranty, so she takes it to Mercedes of Derby. a quick play with the car and they say they can fix the siren today. they have also noticed engine light on and can also fix this fault as well. feel abit guilty about not using the indie, but Benz have the car so go ahead and fix everything.
Now the fun starts...
Pick the car up and speak to the service guy. all sorted, siren replaced and also the secondary air pump has been replaced. What?!? the part the indie fitted for me about four months ago was faulty? According to Benz the secondary air pump was causing the light to come on, not the charge air pump(problem2). Benz replaced the secondary air pump and the relays, the indie just replaced the pump.
Benz never mention the charge air pump (problem 2). when I quiz them on this, they say no faults have been stored. Has the indie screwed me over? first only replacing just the pump and not the relays? how do I stand on this? the indie cost me £700 for a part that lasted less than 2 weeks and someone else has replaced it, and not mentioned a fault the indie says is wrong with my car.
Benz say the charge air pump will not bring the engine light on, indie says it does. Benz state that charge air pump (problem 2) will make the car loss alot of performance, like driving an ordinary car, the Benz service guy said. but the car runs fine. to be honest the car seems alittle faster now with the other pump fitted, but I've never suffered huge power loss.
I've got the "faulty" pump from the dealers. rang indie who were pis*ed off Benz didn't replace part under parts warranty, as it's obvious it's not very old. indie tells me to put the pump on e-bay...
Who do you trust? I don't trust dealers, i've always had nothing but bad experiances with them, they cover up, lie and cheat to protect themselves. indie was recommended, and my other halfs cousin works in the back office.
Car is booked in with Benz for a free diagnostic to see if any new faults have happened. It's also booked in with indie same day an hour later for a fault find. Lets see if they come up with different faults...
Sorry for the long post, but it's a long story, and I've missed some bits out that aren't really important (Benz doing the work without telling me what they where replacing etc...)
First off this is not another negative "my car's crap" thread. I love the car. forums can be full of doom and gloom, yes I've got problems but the car is great!
The story...
A few months ago the engine light came on in the C32. A quick trip to the indie, two main faults :
1. secondary air pump failure (in exhaust system)
2. charge air pump, intermitant fault ( for supercharger inter-cooler)
Problem 1 was a must do repair to get the car through MOT. problem 2 can wait as in the cold weather I'm not hurting the car.
Indie fixed problem 1 at a cost of £700 and car went through MOT.
Problem 2 would cost approx £500 to fix, time to get a third party warranty...
a few days after the MOT, engine light comes back on. Back to indie. Indie tells me it's the problem 2 triggering the light, nothing to worry about, get it repaired in summer under warranty.
fast forward a few months to last week...
Car alarm won't switch off! just goes nuts and flashes about a dozen times and the car won't lock. Call to indie and they say it's the siren, water has got on the spade connections and the alarm goes nuts. Other half has only done short trips in the car today so when I get home I go for a "spirited" drive to get some heat in the engine bay. hour later car is ticking itself cool on my drive and alarm works, pat myself on the back and go in the house.
Next day other half is up Derby and alarm plays up. We have warranty, so she takes it to Mercedes of Derby. a quick play with the car and they say they can fix the siren today. they have also noticed engine light on and can also fix this fault as well. feel abit guilty about not using the indie, but Benz have the car so go ahead and fix everything.
Now the fun starts...
Pick the car up and speak to the service guy. all sorted, siren replaced and also the secondary air pump has been replaced. What?!? the part the indie fitted for me about four months ago was faulty? According to Benz the secondary air pump was causing the light to come on, not the charge air pump(problem2). Benz replaced the secondary air pump and the relays, the indie just replaced the pump.
Benz never mention the charge air pump (problem 2). when I quiz them on this, they say no faults have been stored. Has the indie screwed me over? first only replacing just the pump and not the relays? how do I stand on this? the indie cost me £700 for a part that lasted less than 2 weeks and someone else has replaced it, and not mentioned a fault the indie says is wrong with my car.
Benz say the charge air pump will not bring the engine light on, indie says it does. Benz state that charge air pump (problem 2) will make the car loss alot of performance, like driving an ordinary car, the Benz service guy said. but the car runs fine. to be honest the car seems alittle faster now with the other pump fitted, but I've never suffered huge power loss.
I've got the "faulty" pump from the dealers. rang indie who were pis*ed off Benz didn't replace part under parts warranty, as it's obvious it's not very old. indie tells me to put the pump on e-bay...
Who do you trust? I don't trust dealers, i've always had nothing but bad experiances with them, they cover up, lie and cheat to protect themselves. indie was recommended, and my other halfs cousin works in the back office.
Car is booked in with Benz for a free diagnostic to see if any new faults have happened. It's also booked in with indie same day an hour later for a fault find. Lets see if they come up with different faults...
Sorry for the long post, but it's a long story, and I've missed some bits out that aren't really important (Benz doing the work without telling me what they where replacing etc...)