Problems with my C class

[Abzo]

I bought an approved used C class from the Mercedes main dealers in Chichester. Due to lockdown the delivery of the car was delayed, it was further delayed after it required works done to the bodywork for scuff marks and scratches, I was kept updated by the dealership until it was finally delivered last Tuesday. I cant fault the delivery driver he told me he was the one who raised concerns about the damages to the bodywork panels and that's why the dealership had to take it into the body shop. But he did stress that despite these works being carried out it seems like they neglected the front and rear of the car as there's scratches, stone chips and peeling paint work in places. after taking delivery of my car I informed the dealership of these issues and was told manager would call me back. I decided to take it out for a drive and see how everything is on the road. After about 20 minutes of driving a message pops up on my dash informing me that the left rear wheel sensor is missing and is not giving any reading, now I carry on driving until I get back home. As I parked up and got out my car I noticed that both headlight units seem to fill up slightly with condensation. Made a complaint to both the dealership and their head office about all these issues and now they have agreed to collect my car and give me a courtesy car in the meantime to fix some of these issues. But not all, when I asked about the headlight units having condensation in them, I was told it was normal for LED headlight units to do that, I wonder if you folks on here could answer that for me cause I am sure this should not be happening as one of my friends has a C Class too and he does not have this issue. To summarise these are the following faults and damages I have found with the car:

* Left rear wheel sensor missing or faulty
* Both front head light units have condensation inside
* Rear bumper slight misaligned with left rear wheel arch
* Steering rack has paint peeling off
* Deep scratch next to dynamic control switch
* Front bumper lip has a scratch in the middle and left
* Stone chips on bonnet
* Left headlight unit has scuff mark
* Paint peeling of left rear exhaust
* Both rear lights have scratch on them

Do you guys think the dealership will repair all these issues, I have sent them the images of all damages and issues I have experienced. Most are related to bodywork and interior marks, scratches, chips and paint peeling off. Whilst the ones that concern me the most are the faulty or missing wheel sensor, the headlight units with condensation in them and the misaligned rear bumper. If anyone has had a similar experience with a Mercedes dealership please feel free to share and did they get everything resolved? also did they give you any compensation for the inconvenience?

 

[liamt]

The headlights filling up slightly with condensation is normal as they are not fully sealed. We have five Mercs in my immediate family and all of them do this, I believe this should also be mentioned in the vehicle handbook.

 

[Abzo]

I hope the headlights condensation does eventually clear. The manager I spoke to from the dealership said the same. But I'm getting different messages from friends and family who are current and previous owners of Mercs, saying that never happened to them. I will still get them to check it when it goes in for the bodywork repairs as there were scuff marks on one of the headlight units.

 

[liamt]

It should clear, if it is there permanently then obviously get it checked out. It normally happens when the temperature changes i.e. it becomes cooler outside which causes the headlights to mist up due to temperature difference between outside and within the headlight, also happens after washing the vehicle but it always clears. I imagine it is happening to your friends and family's cars but they just haven't noticed. It occured on my previous C Class, A Class, my Dad's C Class and my Brother's CLS, all have LED headlights. It is perfectly normal. I hope you get the other issues fixed with your car, they definitely should be looking at the rear bumper and the wheel sensor.

 

[Abzo]

Thanks for your advice liamt, I guess I am worrying over nothing with that. This is my first Merc so I'm still getting used to the different way things work with it as my previous car never had these issues with condensation in the head light units. Then again it had Halogen bulbs lol

 

[liamt]

No problem, when I got my first Merc (A Class) it took me a while to notice that the LED lights misted up.

 

[l5foye]

I have to ask -why did you buy the car in the first place? Was the car ok when you inspected it? I.e. did the various marks happen between you first viewing the car and taking delivery?

 

[Abzo]

I bought the car during lockdown in November, the car was initially put up for sale around October for £21k after negotiating with them I told them I'm willing to only pay £18.5k or near to that price, they refused. Then early November they drop the car price to £18.9k so I decided to go for that as I know this spec of car in this colour combo isn't widely available and it won't be hanging around long with that reduced price.

I got unlucky with lockdown as all dealerships had to close, so there was no chance of a test drive just buying from home with whatever pictures and videos they supply of the car. At the time I thought it can't be too bad as I'm buying from a Mercedes main dealer so they will take care of the car and ensure any problems is fixed prior to delivery, I even asked them to do that and they assured me that they would.

Having driven the car so far over long and short distances, it runs perfectly fine. Other than the issues I mentioned I haven't had any further troubles with it. And the dealer will get most of these problems fixed as I'm having my car collected by them on Monday.

 

[brokenyute]

I have had similar issues. Accepted delivery but rang them up about it. Assured that it would all be sorted. 4months later still battling for it to be done. Next time I would strongly recommend refusing delivery if you notice any imperfections or using the 14 day period to hand back.

 

[ioweddie]

reject it

 

[Abzo]

I have had similar issues. Accepted delivery but rang them up about it. Assured that it would all be sorted. 4months later still battling for it to be done. Next time I would strongly recommend refusing delivery if you notice any imperfections or using the 14 day period to hand back.

Yes I agree. Cars that are bought online and delivered to you can be rejected for pretty much anything under the distance selling regulations. But you have only 14 days to do that. In your case I recommend complaining to the Mercedes head office through email, that way you have a written record of you getting in touch with the dealers, yet they still have not resolved the issues with your car. I had most of my issues resolved after contacting Marshall Mercedes head office, who got in touch with the dealership that I bought my car from and they eventually sorted out most of the issues. But some was left due to wear and tear, even then I made sure they compensate me for all this inconvenience, eventually getting a detailing service done on my car at their cost.

 

[Deleted member 126969]

The faulty TPMS is actually an MOT fail, so that needs sorting, at their expense too. Headlight condensation is definitely a 'thing' on the W205 - have it on ours from time to time (LED headlights) but it should clear. Pretty much always looks like that after a wash for example.

The cosmetics just sound typical of most dealers these days TBH - punt out the car and hope the buyer doesn't notice, then argue the toss if they do, rather than make it pristine first. Basically, the "Approved Used' phrase is largely meaningless IMO. I understand why they do it - money. Doesn't quite fit the message MB attempt to deliver with the whole "Das Beste oder nichts" thing though does it.

I expect they will attempt to dismiss the majority of the cosmetic items with 'it's not a new car, sir'.

Maybe try and be pragmatic:

Do you want a potentially long drawn out fight to get it sorted, with no guarantee of ever getting it the way you really want. (Some folk actually enjoy this sort of challenge - good luck to them, but not for me thanks!).

Or, can you live with the minor cosmetic items.

Or simply reject it now while its easy and pain-free and try again elsewhere, maybe once we are allowed out to play again (won't be long). Lets face it, there are plenty of W205s out there. With the new model imminent, prices on the old ones will drop further too most likely.

Reading it back, that all looks like pretty good advice - shame I never have the wit to follow it myself

 

[Connoisseur]

Another option open after getting fixed as much as you can is to leave a Google review of the Dealership. As the review is seen each time a potential customer searches for the Dealer poor reviews written with sufficient detail can result in further contact from a Dealership

 

[Abzo]

The faulty TPMS is actually an MOT fail, so that needs sorting, at their expense too. Headlight condensation is definitely a 'thing' on the W205 - have it on ours from time to time (LED headlights) but it should clear. Pretty much always looks like that after a wash for example.

The cosmetics just sound typical of most dealers these days TBH - punt out the car and hope the buyer doesn't notice, then argue the toss if they do, rather than make it pristine first. Basically, the "Approved Used' phrase is largely meaningless IMO. I understand why they do it - money. Doesn't quite fit the message MB attempt to deliver with the whole "Das Beste oder nichts" thing though does it.

I expect they will attempt to dismiss the majority of the cosmetic items with 'it's not a new car, sir'.

Maybe try and be pragmatic:

Do you want a potentially long drawn out fight to get it sorted, with no guarantee of ever getting it the way you really want. (Some folk actually enjoy this sort of challenge - good luck to them, but not for me thanks!).

Or, can you live with the minor cosmetic items.

Or simply reject it now while its easy and pain-free and try again elsewhere, maybe once we are allowed out to play again (won't be long). Lets face it, there are plenty of W205s out there. With the new model imminent, prices on the old ones will drop further too most likely.

Reading it back, that all looks like pretty good advice - shame I never have the wit to follow it myself

Some great advice there Chris. I'm one of those who enjoys a good battle with the dealer lol

And yes all the major faults were addressed like the TPMS issue. A few of the cosmetics weren't addressed as they consider that wear and tear. But it's ok, as we have come to a conclusion on that.

 

[Abzo]

Another option open after getting fixed as much as you can is to leave a Google review of the Dealership. As the review is seen each time a potential customer searches for the Dealer poor reviews written with sufficient detail can result in further contact from a Dealership

Yes that too was done at the time of complaining to their head office. But surprisingly my poor review Google has disappeared, don't know if the dealership had some involvement in that

 

[Deleted member 126969]

...and only now do I realise your post was last year. Doh!! Still, I suppose what I said stands.

Glad you got a resolution you are happy with though.

 

[Abzo]

...and only now do I realise your post was last year. Doh!! Still, I suppose what I said stands.

Glad you got a resolution you are happy with though.

Haha thanks.

Hopefully the points you made will help others that are looking to purchase a used approved from Mercedes

 

[oldguy57]

Haha thanks.

Hopefully the points you made will help others that are looking to purchase a used approved from Mercedes

Whenever a thread starts with "I bought an Approved Used car from MB", you know what will follow. Such a shame that some MB dealers are quite happy to sell a car with a sometimes shed load of faults. Reading forums the problem has been more common during lockdown. Glad you resolved it though.

 

[brokenyute]

Mercedes Basingstoke review - you won't believe it | General Discussion

Another update - As some of you are aware I filed a complaint to MB UK in line with the advice on here. Mercedes Basingstoke have failed to respond to MB UK so the complaint has been forwarded to upper management at MB UK. It just sums it all up really. They don't care. If they were the last...

forums.mbclub.co.uk

Similar issues please see my thread and give the review a like on Google please. It seems to be a common issue among the approved cars.

 

[Fastcar155]

I hope the headlights condensation does eventually clear. The manager I spoke to from the dealership said the same. But I'm getting different messages from friends and family who are current and previous owners of Mercs, saying that never happened to them. I will still get them to check it when it goes in for the bodywork repairs as there were scuff marks on one of the headlight units.

Hi , if I park my car up hill next to the wall in my parking space no issues.However , if I park my car down hill the condensation returns in the head lights !

Strange but true