Uncomfortable Truth

[sspeed]

Hi All,
Yesterday (Tuesday) at 8am I dropped my car off at the dealership to have the comfort seat none working pneumatics investigated.
He phoned me today to say he has "some" news..
He said "The air pipe coming from the pump had a chafe through it and they had done the authorized repair"..
Ooh Goody I said..
He then said "The problem is that the leak in the pipe has caused the pump to burn itself out and errrr unfortunately the pump isn't covered by the Tier 1 warranty"!!

Two points of note for me here..
1. So much for the pump protecting itself by shutting down if there is an air leak!
2. I am a tad irked to find that the ultimate used car warranty isn't so ultimate.

As a matter of interest can anyone make any sensible suggestions (within reason) of how to appeal to the God Mercedes in a way that's likely to prove beneficial to my wallet?

I talked to Mr Developer earlier and as I pointed out to him, if worst comes to worst i shall leave the seats as they are. They are very comfortable without any air inflation to be honest.
Oh and in case you were wondering.. The pump replacement would be over £500 if I wanted to pay for it myself.. (Which I don't).

 

[boxbrownie]

What was the reason for the pump not being included? Or what does the exclusion clause say?

 

[AMGeed]

I wonder what else isn't covered by Mercedes Tier 1 warranty?

Just as well you didn't pay extra for the warranty Simon! I'd be fuming if I had the pump repair/replacement was refused.

I would also not bother with the "comfort" seats either. A bit of a gimmick if I'm honest although the side bolster inflation when cornering is neat

 

[markmifsud]

It could be argued that it should be covered under the heading
"Any item that has worn out rather than suffered from a defect after 100,000 miles"
As the pump has worn out and not due to a defect in the pump.

 

[sspeed]

Thank you for your thoughts...
To be honest I didn't demand to see the clause that gave them the right to refuse..
After the world war 3 I had over the gearbox with my previous CLK320 Cdi I really cannot be bothered.
Life is too short.

Incidentally that car (CLK320 Cdi) is owned by my Brother now and is running like a dream.
Got to say he does look after it very well indeed.

 

[Harrythedog]

What had caused the sir pipe to chafe, wear & tear or bad design?

 

[neilrr]

You bought a 6 y.o. version of a car that's typically purchased new by lottery winners, EPL players & hedge fund City boys.

You didn't anticipate some expenses?

 

[C240Sport97]

tell them it's cause and effect, and it should be covered

 

[sspeed]

You bought a 6 y.o. version of a car that's typically purchased new by lottery winners, EPL players & hedge fund City boys.

You didn't anticipate some expenses?

I rather stupidly believed what I was told..
That was that a Tier 1 Warranty is worth its weight in gold..
So No.. I did NOT expect expense so soon (3 weeks)..
Thanks for your input.

 

[AMGeed]

You bought a 6 y.o. version of a car that's typically purchased new by lottery winners, EPL players & hedge fund City boys.

You didn't anticipate some expenses?

I bet he did, but not when the car has a Tier 1 warranty that should cover a fault that the car had before purchase.

 

[C240Sport97]

your have had the car less than 1 month, and the fault was present when you bought it, they must fix it as otherwise car was not in full working order.

drop by and ask to see the dealer principal, and tell him politely and firmly that it is their problem

if they won't budge, sue them using small claims court procedure

 

[johns E350]

From my understanding everything should be checked and working before the car is collected. I am given a tick sheet to show all items have been checked each time I have purchased from M-B. Problem is the tick was on the sheet showing central locking checked, but the passenger door would not lock when I picked it up. So total waste of time as I know it was not checked.
They took it back and repaired under tier 1 warranty as they have the pan roof which would of cost me around £2000. I was under the impression everything was covered apart from normal wear and tear items. Might get my warranty out and read through it.

 

[Ted]

I thought you could return the car for any reason within four weeks.?
Give them that option and see if they still want to charge you for something that has failed so quickly.
I bet they will suddenly find they made a mistake in the exclusions.
I would be fuming.

 

[Dieselman]

Phone Mercedes Customer Care. It doesn't seem right that such an item isn't covered.

 

[Peter T]

I had the same thing when I bought my SLK. After about 3 months the rear window showed signs of leaking water into the boot.

At first I was told it was covered by the tier 1 warranty. Then they decided it wasn't covered and would cost £700 to repair!

After that phone call I went to see the dealer principle, service manager, warranty manager, and anyone else who I could drag in. They said that the seals were a consumable item and not covered. I said that I bought the car with a tier 1 warranty that, in the words of the salesman, was as good as buying a new car and so I expected a warranty repair.

After a "free and forthright" discussion they agreed to refer the matter to MB who, after another days wait, agreed to fix it.

I should say that since then the entire management structure at that dealership, from the principle down, has been replaced and they are now much better.

 

[whitenemesis]

I had the same thing when I bought my SLK. After about 3 months the rear window showed signs of leaking water into the boot.

At first I was told it was covered by the tier 1 warranty. Then they decided it wasn't covered and would cost £700 to repair!

After that phone call I went to see the dealer principle, service manager, warranty manager, and anyone else who I could drag in. They said that the seals were a consumable item and not covered. I said that I bought the car with a tier 1 warranty that, in the words of the salesman, was as good as buying a new car and so I expected a warranty repair.

After a "free and forthright" discussion they agreed to refer the matter to MB who, after another days wait, agreed to fix it.

I should say that since then the entire management structure at that dealership, from the principle down, has been replaced and they are now much better.

Seals are specifically excluded according to the T&Cs

"4.1.2 What is not covered?
Claims for mechanicalbreakdown of covered parts due to wear and tear will be declined if the mileage exceeds 100,000 miles.
Bodywork, body seals (including boot, sunroof, roof, doors etc.), fixings and fastenings, nuts/ bolts/brackets/studs/clips and springs (other than suspension springs), glass (unless replacement is required due to failure of electronic circuitry), interior/ exterior trim, paint, lamp units and wheels. Any failure attributable to the effects of overheating is not regarded as a mechanicalfailure under the terms of this insurance."

Interesting, the last sentence may be relevant to Simon's claim, if the pump failed due to overheating? Also the pump is not specifically mentioned anywhere, therefore it falls into the not covered criteria. Also only parts listed as covered are included in any consequential damage cover.

All that is irrelevant as the problem should come under the normal warranty any sale gets within the first x months.

 

[ringway]

That the pipe can chafe is surely by poor design. The ortho drivers seat in my 210 let out a large hiss a few weeks ago which turned out to be one of the pipes had come off the T-valve at the rear of the seat. It was simple to put back on, but my point is that the pipe was made of tough stuff - only just about flexible enough work with - so if the same material was used on the CLK, I'm at a loss as to how it could wear away at all.

M-B and pipes... On the Vito, it is a common fault that the pipes feeding the rear wiper wash jets come off at either the pump or the feed to the wiper - quite probably due to poor insulation against frost in the rear door housing. A poor design which I sorted myself, but M-B have the audacity to sell a kit to fix their mistake for £64!

 

[developer]

The ortho drivers seat in my 210 let out a large hiss a few weeks ago

Not that old chestnut.

Still, better than blaming the dog I suppose...

 

[ringway]

Not that old chestnut.

Still, better than blaming the dog I suppose...

You know me too well, John.

 

[Peter T]

Seals are specifically excluded according to the T&Cs

"4.1.2 What is not covered?
Claims for mechanicalbreakdown of covered parts due to wear and tear will be declined if the mileage exceeds 100,000 miles.
Bodywork, body seals (including boot, sunroof, roof, doors etc.), fixings and fastenings, nuts/ bolts/brackets/studs/clips and springs (other than suspension springs), glass (unless replacement is required due to failure of electronic circuitry), interior/ exterior trim, paint, lamp units and wheels. Any failure attributable to the effects of overheating is not regarded as a mechanicalfailure under the terms of this insurance."

Interesting, the last sentence may be relevant to Simon's claim, if the pump failed due to overheating? Also the pump is not specifically mentioned anywhere, therefore it falls into the not covered criteria. Also only parts listed as covered are included in any consequential damage cover.

All that is irrelevant as the problem should come under the normal warranty any sale gets within the first x months.

When I bought the car, the salesman claimed that the warranty was "exactly" the same as for a new car. He said this a number of times to me, my wife, and my son who was also there.

My arguments to them were that, if this was the case, the car would be 3 months old. Were they really saying that I would be asked to pay £700 to fix a 3 month old car.

Even if we that argument were ignored, at the time the car had about 17,000 miles on the clock. Were they really telling me that MB seals were so poor that they needed to be replaced so soon. If that were the case then, for a convertible car, it surely must not be fit for purpose.