Recent Merc Service experience

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Mr. B

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I haven’t posted for a while but I thought I would share my recent experience at the hands of my local Merc dealership.

My A45 was due for a B service during lockdown so I got it rescheduled to yesterday. I requested that they investigate the following warranty covered issues.

a) Rubber seal in engine compartment was loose (I assumed just needed glueing back on).
b) When travelling on a straight section of road the steering feels as though it has a little free play, not too much but enough for me to notice.
c) I also asked them to check the stop/start and auto handbrake because occasionally I was having difficulty getting them to activate. I felt this might be pilot error as I’ve not driven the vehicle very much since purchase due to winter months and lockdown.

They requested the vehicle for a full day, so yesterday I dropped it off at 9.30 am.

At 12.30 pm my Mercedes me app informed me that the doors on my car had been unlocked, so I checked the app and could see that the vehicle had moved into the workshop. I thought 3 hrs and no movement not an issue as I appreciate they will have a workshop schedule. I must admit I was tempted to try and lock the doors whilst they were working on it (childish I know).

At 4pm I get a phone call to say that my car is ready for collection. The lady on the phone explained that the stop / start function needed a new part and also they didn’t have time to upgrade the sat nav (5 hrs apparently required to update).

When I went to collect the keys I was told that the service had been completed and the new part from Germany had been ordered (no uk stock apparently). I arranged a future date for the further work to be completed.

I asked about the two further warranty covered issues.

In relation to the loose rubber seal they couldn’t find it. I just smiled and requested that a technician accompany me to the car so I could show him. I therefore showed the young technician the loose seal and he said it just pushes back onto its fitting when it comes loose without any adhesive. I felt a bit of a berk at first but then I thought what a poor quality item. Anyhow that’s not the best bit.

I returned to the service desk and asked about the potential free play in the steering and I was told that they couldn’t find any on the test drive. I collected my key and left the building safe in the knowledge that my car had been serviced and issues checked over by a qualified technician.

I returned to the car and I was just about to set off when I had one last task to do. When I drop a vehicle off for a service I always take a photo of the mileage to see how far the vehicle has been driven whilst in their care (I’ve had previous unaccounted excessive mileage).

I had to double check the mileage because by my reckoning apart from the trip to the workshop (25 yards) the car hadn’t moved.

What about the test drive I thought. What test drive I thought !!

It was persisting down and I couldn’t be bothered to go back into the showroom and voice my concerns.

Today I decided to take the car for a little run and spend some time ’playing’ with the cars bits and bobs.
I finally got the stop / start function and auto handbrake to work as described to the point that I decided there was nothing wrong with it.

I began to wonder wether Mercedes have just ordered the new stop / start part based on my initial claim that it wasn’t working plus when he’s done the so called ‘health check’ on the car he couldn’t see anything wrong with steering so he decided he wasn’t going to take it for a test drive. He clearly hasn’t driven it and the sensation of free play is still there.

I did wonder wether the current coronavirus climate prevent him from taking the car on a test drive but there again why would they lie. What have they to gain. I’m perplexed.

I‘m now left with the dilemma of wether I should tell them I don’t want the new part fitted and just get the sat nav updated. At least on my return visit I will be able to ‘express’ my concerns over the alleged test drive and steering issue.

I must admit that the experience has left a bitter after taste.

A previous visit with a C63 left scratches on one of the wings because they didn’t use the wing covers during service. On that occasion the service manager was apologetic and arranged for the wing to be machine polished.

Who can you trust in this day and age to do what it says on the tin ?

Apologies for long post.

Rant over.
 
I’m not surprised. I posted a similar main dealer rant a few weeks ago in reference to my experience with Audi main dealer. Just get it to an independent and sack off the dealer...unless, like me, you want to stay with the dealer network for the first three years to avoid any warranty buggeration. But if the car is out of warranty....use an independent.
 
I think I've only ever had 3 good workshop experiences:
BMW Indie who cared for my wife's 316i and my 728.
Kia official dealer who looked after our Sorento. Service manager had done his time on the spanners and was totally trustworthy.
The Indie I've used for 5 years for all family cars from daughter's Astra to my CLS55
 
Who can you trust in this day and age to do what it says on the tin ?

In general I've had more honesty out of independents or even Kwikfit. I once waited 4 hours at a main dealer for a service to be completed. 3 hours into the wait, the service receptionist was telling me blatant lies such as "the car is in the service bay now" when it was in plain sight in the car park where I'd left it. My experience with main dealers is limited, as once they insult my intelligence like that I never go back. I've had good experiences with some dealers who have a culture that values customers but once I detect I'm just a punter to be fobbed off then I vote with my feet. They can practice their gravy train on someone else.
 
I have always stayed at the reception area (I have my laptop so just work remotely) during servicing, even if takes the entire day.
 
I’ve used my local MB dealership for the last 8 services because they’re less than a 30 minute walk away, whilst the nearest reasonable independent is many miles distant.

But, I’ve never fully trusted any garage. The first time I had a car serviced in a garage I was sufficiently distrusting to put a blob of lacquer on a couple of bolts that I knew had to be removed to gain access to items that needed checking. The lacquer seal hadn’t been broken on one of them when I got the car back. Just because the technician ticks off lots of boxes on the service sheet we have no way of being certain that they’ve been done. All we can be confident of having been done is us!

Unfortunately, long gone are the days when I was fit enough and could be bothered to scramble underneath cars to change oil and suchlike. I just have to cross my fingers and hope that everything has been done properly.
 
I began to wonder wether Mercedes have just ordered the new stop / start part based on my initial claim that it wasn’t working
My experience is that - especially for a fault that may be intermittent and/or difficult to replicate - dealers will search the fault on MB's TIPS system, and if they find a document that fits the bill then they just go ahead and replace the parts specified.
also they didn’t have time to upgrade the sat nav (5 hrs apparently required to update)
Is it a W176 or W177? If the latter, you can easily update the sat-nav cartography yourself.
 
I’m not surprised. I posted a similar main dealer rant a few weeks ago in reference to my experience with Audi main dealer. Just get it to an independent and sack off the dealer...unless, like me, you want to stay with the dealer network for the first three years to avoid any warranty buggeration. But if the car is out of warranty....use an independent.

Ive got another 3 years of warranty :eek:

Is it a W176 or W177? If the latter, you can easily update the sat-nav cartography yourself.

Its a 2018 W176 unfortunately :(

Name and shame the dealer!

I don’t think it’s fair for other owners because overall the dealer gets good reviews, so perhaps mine might have just been a one off. I will say that it is a JCT600 dealership. :rolleyes:
 
Ive got another 3 years of warranty :eek:



Its a 2018 W176 unfortunately :(



I don’t think it’s fair for other owners because overall the dealer gets good reviews, so perhaps mine might have just been a one off. I will say that it is a JCT600 dealership. :rolleyes:


"Ive got another 3 years of warranty :eek:"
in which case write to the Dealer Principal and express your complete dissatisfaction in his Organisation which demonstrably lacks integrity. Inform him that if he does issue a complete apology to you in writing, you will take your business elsewhere and communicate the facts of this intolerable performance to MB U.K.
 

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