Yesterday I was at a MB dealer's. Just as I was returning to my car, a man and his young daughter were picking up their car (E270 CDI) from the workshop. The young girl said to her dad - Daddy, why has your car all those scratches? The man inspects his car and utters various oaths. ( I thought I would hang about to see what will happen) A workshop rep is brought out and shown the marks. His first reply is ( you have guessed it) - those marks were on the car when it arrived. The man said- no, they were not, that he washed his car by hand ,had done so just before leaving the car in and there were no marks on the car. Young daughter confirms this. W/s rep leaves scene but returns and says- Sir, we will try and polish out the marks but you will need to leave the car for 2 hours. Man says - you have a hour -to which w/s rep says -OK (!) -and departs. The man then speaks to me about how disgraceful it is to leave a car in for a repair and for it to be returned damaged. Needless to say, I agree with him. There are nasty scratches along quarter panel, 2 doors and wing on lh side. I did not like to tell him that no amount of polishing would remove them. Later in our chat, I mentioned that his 2 front tyres are badly worn. He says he knows, that he would not buy tyres at dealers because of the high price. I said that the car was quite young to need tyres. He said that he had covered 26000 miles and that he was on his 2nd set of tyres (with the fronts now worn out). He said he was a careful driver and was alarmed at the tyre wear. I said that only 13000 miles per set of tyres seemed poor. I said to him that now that he had got the dealer on the run over the damage to his car, it would be a good time to press for a warranty claim on the front tyres. Unfortunately I had to leave at this stage but the man was suitably fired up (at my urging) to pursue a warranty claim. I would dearly like to know how the poor man fared. Is 13000 miles reasonable for front tyres on an E270CDI?
Dieselman
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How unfortunate about the scratches. Difficult to prove either way unless the car is inspected by both parties at delivery and collection.
The front tyres are almost certainly worn out due to using the power of the power steering to turn the wheels whilst stationary.
The front tyres are almost certainly worn out due to using the power of the power steering to turn the wheels whilst stationary.
marc777
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I drive my car hard (E270) and got 22,000. Really the fronts could've lasted a little longer.
marc
marc
adam1
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Same old dealer story...deny the scratches, so they don't need to do a proper job on it.
I hope this dealer isn't in the habit of swapping new tyres on car for old...can't trust MB dealers....well some of them....especially mine.
I hope this dealer isn't in the habit of swapping new tyres on car for old...can't trust MB dealers....well some of them....especially mine.
IanT
Active Member
LOL...
I can bet they won't be swapping mine though... the tyres are nearly bald and I think the previous owner had to go down a lot of streets that were narrower than the car, so the wheels are kerbed too.
I'm bidding on a set of CLK alloys on eBay though, which are a very similar style to my Avantgarde alloys. All I'd need to do would be to buy new tyres then, as IIRC the CLK expects a smaller circumference. (Unless someone has some wheels for sale?)
Ian.
I can bet they won't be swapping mine though... the tyres are nearly bald and I think the previous owner had to go down a lot of streets that were narrower than the car, so the wheels are kerbed too.
I'm bidding on a set of CLK alloys on eBay though, which are a very similar style to my Avantgarde alloys. All I'd need to do would be to buy new tyres then, as IIRC the CLK expects a smaller circumference. (Unless someone has some wheels for sale?)
Ian.
Dieselman said:
Spoke to my friend just now. Some months ago, she took her hubby's car to the dealer for something to be fixed. Came back later and found a scratch on the car. Dealer denied any knowledge of it. As she cannot prove the dealer actually caused the damage, she had to let the matter go.
Last week, she had to take the car to the dealer for something to be checked out. She insisted the dealer inspect the car before she left because she didn't want a similar thing to happen to the car again. She checked the car over when she came to collect it later.
adam1
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What format does that take....
I'm considering that route if all else fails...I have photoevidence to back my claim.....can the defendant raise a counterclaim for damages against u as well...ie image, reputation etc
I'm considering that route if all else fails...I have photoevidence to back my claim.....can the defendant raise a counterclaim for damages against u as well...ie image, reputation etc
I'm sure that there's some legal person knows more than I out there, but civil courts were overhauled a couple of years ago, supposedly now they're faster and fairer, and cheaper.
You can pick up a form from any civil court, usually located at local magistrates court, fees depend on level of claim, and again in theory, Judges lean a little more towards consumers rather than companies.
I think the documentation with forms explains rules of service of evidence etc.
hope this is of some help.
You can pick up a form from any civil court, usually located at local magistrates court, fees depend on level of claim, and again in theory, Judges lean a little more towards consumers rather than companies.
I think the documentation with forms explains rules of service of evidence etc.
hope this is of some help.
Use the Small Claims Court process -- it's all on line I think. Google and you should be there in seconds. The process is much less complicated, time consuming, slow and expensive than the main stream system (County Court and High Court).
The MB dealer can in theory counter claim against you BUT they have not suffered any damage. It will be very difficult for them to show that you took legal action specifically to damage their reputation (and I am sure you could find others to back up how useless they are). Even if they could (which is almost impossible, and would make them look really bad consumer relations wise), they would have to show the damage to reputation that you caused made them lose sales. Very very hard to show.
In summary, there is no appreciable monetary risk to you if you decide to sue them. They would be mad to counter claim against you, and even if they did, they would not be able to show actual financial loss.
The MB dealer can in theory counter claim against you BUT they have not suffered any damage. It will be very difficult for them to show that you took legal action specifically to damage their reputation (and I am sure you could find others to back up how useless they are). Even if they could (which is almost impossible, and would make them look really bad consumer relations wise), they would have to show the damage to reputation that you caused made them lose sales. Very very hard to show.
In summary, there is no appreciable monetary risk to you if you decide to sue them. They would be mad to counter claim against you, and even if they did, they would not be able to show actual financial loss.
adam1 said:
Small Claims Court
I can recommend this course of action. 2 years ago, a well known car hire co overcharged my credit card by almost £300. Countless tries to get a refund failed. I went to court and judge ordered car hire co to make refund to me and pay me for all my phone calls, faxes, e-mails etc. After payment by hire co., I then threatened to make another claim for loss of earnings and travel expenses to attend court (to get my money back) . Hire co then paid these. The final cost to the hire co came to almost £900 !!! I imagine the co will not want me as a customer again.
I can recommend this course of action. 2 years ago, a well known car hire co overcharged my credit card by almost £300. Countless tries to get a refund failed. I went to court and judge ordered car hire co to make refund to me and pay me for all my phone calls, faxes, e-mails etc. After payment by hire co., I then threatened to make another claim for loss of earnings and travel expenses to attend court (to get my money back) . Hire co then paid these. The final cost to the hire co came to almost £900 !!! I imagine the co will not want me as a customer again.
dents
New Member
JESUS , dont it depend on your tyres ? what were they (sorry the guy you saw!) ive gone through loads of wheels in the past , bet they were retreads lol
adam1
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Thanks guys it may be the last option....see what this dealer does now....I've given them 14 days to sort.
Jesus I hope there aren't many "wheel nicking" mb dealers in your neck of the woods...but they will always deny it and act as if they doing u a favour...they make u feel as if its ur fault when they've done the nicking. How bad can they get.
Jesus I hope there aren't many "wheel nicking" mb dealers in your neck of the woods...but they will always deny it and act as if they doing u a favour...they make u feel as if its ur fault when they've done the nicking. How bad can they get.
