KwickWilly
New Member
Oh my God, what have I done! Not the first words that I thought I would ever be typing so soon after purchasing my dream car, but this is what I’m feeling after only seven weeks of ownership!
I purchased my very first Mercedes (2007 SL350) towards the end of March, and from an official MB dealership close to a hundred miles from home. After many months of searching this was the only official dealer that had what looked like a nice example with the right spec and close to budget.
I made the decision to use an official dealership as I know how specialised this model of car can be, and I wanted peace of mind when parting with a considerable amount of cash that both I and the car would get the level of service needed, and would hope for at least a year of trouble free motoring.
The first thing that made me aware that something wasn’t quite right, was an issue with the CD player on day three, where it just suddenly stopped playing and came up with an error on the Command “CD Player Unavailable”..!
The only way I could get it back on line was to eject the CD cartridge from the changer, and start again. This got it working again and so far, no further issues, so at the time, I put it down to bad tracking on the disc. Minor, I hear you say, but it gets worse!
Some days after this, I locked the car when it was dark, and noticed on this occasion the instrument lighting hadn’t gone out some ten minutes later, despite the car being locked, interior lights going out and mirrors folded in. Lock and unlocking still made no difference however, after switching the ignition on and off again and repeating the locking, this time it went out.
The next issue and probably the most scary, is with the gearbox (G7) and where I have witnessed on a number of occasions, shifting where it feels as if it is going from neutral to first and comes in with a jolt. This is most noticeable after cruising for a few miles on a motorway, coming almost to a stop then pulling away again sharply. The first time it happened, my partner thought someone had hit us up the back, that’s how violent it is with no exaggeration. All subsequent shifts feel fine and even this jolt may not happen again for days. The gearbox also whines a little in low gears, sounds a bit like diff whine but it is definitely the gearbox. It brings back memories of a previous car where I had a very similar experience and where the torque converter was on the way out.
In addition, sometimes when stopped, a brief second later you feel the gearbox engage and the pressure is enough to edge the car forward slightly. Both of the above observations occur in “S” and “C” mode, but more noticeable in “S”.
So, back it went to the supplying dealer who had the car for three days to check it all out. Well you probably guessed already, “Sorry Sir, we can’t find anything wrong and probably just the characteristics of the car”. They did however, conduct a full diagnostic, oil level check, re-programmed the ECU with the latest firmware and reset all of the user memory profiles etc, and it did feel better initially on the journey home.
Arriving back from the dealer last Wednesday (11th May), I didn’t use the car again until Friday evening to do the weekly shop, at which point the next issue came to light. On unlocking the car the key fob didn’t work! I tried the spare and that didn’t work either so reverted to manually opening the driver’s door at which point the interior lamps didn’t come on. When I put the key in the ignition and turned it on, there was a beep, the centre clock flashed and reset to 0:00, the dash lights flickered and the message “Convenience functions temporarily unavailable” came up. Looking at the owner’s manual I realised that this meant that the secondary battery was low and that the car had shut down a number of features including the ABS/SBS breaking feature to conserve power. Ever tried doing a hill start on a MB with no handbrake and the break hold feature not working? I wouldn’t recommend it unless you have a good four feet clear behind you, as this box does not hold!
Last Monday it was back to Mercedes again, but this time to a local outfit to investigate the new problems. I also reported that after this power problem, the gearbox was noticeably worse again, and asked if it could be related to fluctuating power levels that were causing the erratic gearbox?
The car was with them a full day and they said that other than the diagnostics showing low voltage levels due to the battery, there was no fault with either of the batteries once charged, the charging circuits were fine and within spec, residual current drain was also within spec and shutting down after three minutes was as spec so, no fault other than a low battery. I asked why this was as I had done many long journeys since I had had the car (2K in 7 weeks) and also less than 48 hours after doing a hundred mile journey at speed...!!! Surly it shouldn’t go flat in this time especially with two new batteries only fitted in January of this year? It is quite common I was told and I should boost charge it every week or so to keep it topped up, it’s a characteristic of the car!
Today, I did another long journey (250 mile trip) and whilst I have not had a power issue so far, the gearbox did jolt badly again when I came off of the M40 as I braked for the lights at the end of the slip road, then put my foot down when they changed, and once again it was like a shunt up the back.
Last but not least, there is more to tell and this time, more to do with dealer politics and profit over customer service.
Whilst going through all of the warranty and service documentation supplied with the car, I noticed that according to the electronic service sheet, the car should have gearbox oil and filter change at 37’500 miles, and which is independent to the regular service unless it is due. The car had done 36’864 miles when purchased, and in the opinion of my local dealer, should have been done before the car was handed over as it was so close. It wasn’t and they now expect me to pay a further £403 to have it done! Mind you, this has also come from a dealer that was quite adamant that any warranty work is only covered by the selling dealer for the first three months. Utterly wrong according to Benz-UK.
It is now in the hands of the supplying dealer to do the oil service, and I’m not that hopeful as they say it will have to come out of the sales guy’s budget, and he wouldn’t even pay for a set of wiper blades when I complained that they juddered like hell. They still do by the way at £60 a pair for genuine MB.
So you can see, my dream has been shattered, a car that is proving unreliable with faults that are difficult to diagnose, reluctant dealers that now have my money and want to make more, the ongoing thought that this car is going to be nothing but trouble, a rough changing gearbox and the real feeling that I have been well and truly hustled. Not the experience I expected from a car which was in excess of £60K when new, and bought used from a manufacturer that prides themselves on their used car quality.
I will let you know what happens and will no doubt end up liaising with MB directly but in the meantime, can anyone offer any reassurance, especially with the gearbox?
Many thanks
KW
I purchased my very first Mercedes (2007 SL350) towards the end of March, and from an official MB dealership close to a hundred miles from home. After many months of searching this was the only official dealer that had what looked like a nice example with the right spec and close to budget.
I made the decision to use an official dealership as I know how specialised this model of car can be, and I wanted peace of mind when parting with a considerable amount of cash that both I and the car would get the level of service needed, and would hope for at least a year of trouble free motoring.
The first thing that made me aware that something wasn’t quite right, was an issue with the CD player on day three, where it just suddenly stopped playing and came up with an error on the Command “CD Player Unavailable”..!
The only way I could get it back on line was to eject the CD cartridge from the changer, and start again. This got it working again and so far, no further issues, so at the time, I put it down to bad tracking on the disc. Minor, I hear you say, but it gets worse!
Some days after this, I locked the car when it was dark, and noticed on this occasion the instrument lighting hadn’t gone out some ten minutes later, despite the car being locked, interior lights going out and mirrors folded in. Lock and unlocking still made no difference however, after switching the ignition on and off again and repeating the locking, this time it went out.
The next issue and probably the most scary, is with the gearbox (G7) and where I have witnessed on a number of occasions, shifting where it feels as if it is going from neutral to first and comes in with a jolt. This is most noticeable after cruising for a few miles on a motorway, coming almost to a stop then pulling away again sharply. The first time it happened, my partner thought someone had hit us up the back, that’s how violent it is with no exaggeration. All subsequent shifts feel fine and even this jolt may not happen again for days. The gearbox also whines a little in low gears, sounds a bit like diff whine but it is definitely the gearbox. It brings back memories of a previous car where I had a very similar experience and where the torque converter was on the way out.
In addition, sometimes when stopped, a brief second later you feel the gearbox engage and the pressure is enough to edge the car forward slightly. Both of the above observations occur in “S” and “C” mode, but more noticeable in “S”.
So, back it went to the supplying dealer who had the car for three days to check it all out. Well you probably guessed already, “Sorry Sir, we can’t find anything wrong and probably just the characteristics of the car”. They did however, conduct a full diagnostic, oil level check, re-programmed the ECU with the latest firmware and reset all of the user memory profiles etc, and it did feel better initially on the journey home.
Arriving back from the dealer last Wednesday (11th May), I didn’t use the car again until Friday evening to do the weekly shop, at which point the next issue came to light. On unlocking the car the key fob didn’t work! I tried the spare and that didn’t work either so reverted to manually opening the driver’s door at which point the interior lamps didn’t come on. When I put the key in the ignition and turned it on, there was a beep, the centre clock flashed and reset to 0:00, the dash lights flickered and the message “Convenience functions temporarily unavailable” came up. Looking at the owner’s manual I realised that this meant that the secondary battery was low and that the car had shut down a number of features including the ABS/SBS breaking feature to conserve power. Ever tried doing a hill start on a MB with no handbrake and the break hold feature not working? I wouldn’t recommend it unless you have a good four feet clear behind you, as this box does not hold!
Last Monday it was back to Mercedes again, but this time to a local outfit to investigate the new problems. I also reported that after this power problem, the gearbox was noticeably worse again, and asked if it could be related to fluctuating power levels that were causing the erratic gearbox?
The car was with them a full day and they said that other than the diagnostics showing low voltage levels due to the battery, there was no fault with either of the batteries once charged, the charging circuits were fine and within spec, residual current drain was also within spec and shutting down after three minutes was as spec so, no fault other than a low battery. I asked why this was as I had done many long journeys since I had had the car (2K in 7 weeks) and also less than 48 hours after doing a hundred mile journey at speed...!!! Surly it shouldn’t go flat in this time especially with two new batteries only fitted in January of this year? It is quite common I was told and I should boost charge it every week or so to keep it topped up, it’s a characteristic of the car!
Today, I did another long journey (250 mile trip) and whilst I have not had a power issue so far, the gearbox did jolt badly again when I came off of the M40 as I braked for the lights at the end of the slip road, then put my foot down when they changed, and once again it was like a shunt up the back.
Last but not least, there is more to tell and this time, more to do with dealer politics and profit over customer service.
Whilst going through all of the warranty and service documentation supplied with the car, I noticed that according to the electronic service sheet, the car should have gearbox oil and filter change at 37’500 miles, and which is independent to the regular service unless it is due. The car had done 36’864 miles when purchased, and in the opinion of my local dealer, should have been done before the car was handed over as it was so close. It wasn’t and they now expect me to pay a further £403 to have it done! Mind you, this has also come from a dealer that was quite adamant that any warranty work is only covered by the selling dealer for the first three months. Utterly wrong according to Benz-UK.
It is now in the hands of the supplying dealer to do the oil service, and I’m not that hopeful as they say it will have to come out of the sales guy’s budget, and he wouldn’t even pay for a set of wiper blades when I complained that they juddered like hell. They still do by the way at £60 a pair for genuine MB.
So you can see, my dream has been shattered, a car that is proving unreliable with faults that are difficult to diagnose, reluctant dealers that now have my money and want to make more, the ongoing thought that this car is going to be nothing but trouble, a rough changing gearbox and the real feeling that I have been well and truly hustled. Not the experience I expected from a car which was in excess of £60K when new, and bought used from a manufacturer that prides themselves on their used car quality.
I will let you know what happens and will no doubt end up liaising with MB directly but in the meantime, can anyone offer any reassurance, especially with the gearbox?
Many thanks
KW
