Why do (some) Mercedes Dealers treat you so well?

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st13phil

Hardcore MB Enthusiast
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As a sort of counterpoint to Ian’s (flanai1’s) thread about his bad experiences with Mercedes-Benz dealerships while trying to buy a new car, I thought it would be worthwhile sharing my recent experience.

As a result of buying my wife’s SLK350 in 2009, I have a relationship with two local dealers: Mercedes-Benz Oxford where I bought my C-Class, and Hughes Mercedes-Benz Aylesbury where Angie bought her SLK. I’ve used Mercedes-Benz Oxford for all the servicing work on my C-Class and I must say that their after-sales care has been excellent over the last three years. However, the salesman I bought my car from has moved on and each contact that I’ve had with their sales staff since has left me wondering how they actually manage to sell anything. Promises to call-back just don’t happen; promises to send information out when it becomes available are broken; "proactive" doesn't seem to be in their vocabulary. I can only assume that they’re so busy with fleet sales that a private punter wanting to buy a car doesn’t register on their radar :rolleyes:

Dealing with Hughes of Aylesbury has been completely different. Angie and I had a really good experience dealing with both Chris Leach (the Salesman) and Justin (the Sales Manager) when she bought the SLK and since that purchase I’ve been in to Hughes a few times, either to have the headlamps on the SLK swapped over for continental use (always done for free :thumb:), or when taking the SLK in for service. On each and every occasion both Chris and Justin have not just acknowledged me as I walk through the showroom, but have also made the effort to actually come over and chat.

So, we get to January this year and I’m on the point of ordering a facelift C-Class to replace my C220CDI. A salesman at Oxford took all my details, knows that I’m ready to buy and that I’m just waiting for options price and availability details from him. That was almost five weeks ago and I haven’t heard a peep :(

The day after talking to the guy at Oxford I call Chris at Hughes just as I leave work and ask if he has any price and availability info on the facelift C-Class options. “Yes,” he said, “I received all the advanced information yesterday”. I asked if he could spare a few minutes to show me what he had, and 30 minutes later when I walked into the showroom he’d printed it off for me and welcomed me with an offer of coffee. He walked me through the information and then gave me an indicative valuation for my current car. I left the showroom at about 6:30pm armed with what I needed to start the decision process. (As an aside, the guy at Oxford must have had this information the previous day too, as he had printed me some of the pages from it yet apparently he didn't have the options list?).

Cutting a long story short, over the next couple of weeks I worked out what a new C-Class would cost me with the options I wanted, and compared that with what’s on offer in the E-Class range. It was clear that I needed to try out an E-Class! I called Chris, talked over where I’d got to with my thinking, and arranged an appointment for last Friday afternoon. When I arrived Chris had prepared comparative quotes for me based on our earlier discussions, and we chewed over a few alternatives before spending the next couple of hours driving E’s with different engine / design-line combinations. He did a proper appraisal and valuation on my current car and gave me cost-to-change offers based upon the two most likely E-Class spec’s I had settled on. After cogitating over the weekend and a brief bit of haggling on Monday morning, I placed my order.

Buying from Hughes has been a really good experience. I’ve dealt with a knowledgeable salesman who has taken the time to find out what I want and has helped me to get there. Could I have got a better price buying through an online broker? Yes, but not by much. Could I have got a better deal overall? Undoubtedly not. The whole process has been enjoyable and fun, not fraught, and that counts for a great deal in my book :thumb:
 
Good to hear,

Also as you say its not all about the price..its the complete deal.

Just look a 'the boss' thread for the issues with his new E class and being a fair distance away doesn't always help.

In the end what have you ordered then :) bet your excited now and you doing the factory collection also.
 
E350CDI Avantgarde in Indium Grey with Almond Beige leather, Brown Open-pore Ash trim, COMAND, DAB and split/fold rear seat. Oh, and Factory Collection :D
 
I've always been surprised at how good the two dealers (Brighton and Gatwick) have treated me...

As I drive a company car, the vehicle comes through MB Corporate and doesn't touch the dealer network. Servicing is handled by the lease company, who drive a good bargin on the labour rate. Yet both will give me demonstrators and spend time going through questions and queries.

I say both as since I've had the estate, Gatwick have done all the servcing (even though Brighton is slightly nearer). However, Brighton still keep in touch - the general marketing stuff comes through from the group but I get a call every so often to see how things are, invites to their annual "drive" events at Hickstead, etc. I've even had a track day ("normal" w204s only unfortunately) from the group.

So I'm quite amazed seeing as they both know they will get very little in terms of revenue from me, and yet they seem very keen to keep me affiliated with the brand. Perhaps I'm lucky, or just a nice guy?

BTW, neither know that I consult in the auto OEM business as a job - as you can imagine I have to be very careful about that.
 
.."proactive" doesn't seem to be in their vocabulary. I can only assume that they’re so busy with fleet sales that a private punter wanting to buy a car doesn’t register on their radar :rolleyes:

I sat in my local dealer while my car was being MOT'd and watched a guy almost literally slap the sales manager in the face with interest in a new CLK and she completely ignored him. As someone who is basically a salesman myself, I wanted talk to to her about it but it was so incredible I was speechless.
 
My experience is that you can get different attitudes within the same dealership group.

The sales guy at one branch couldn't have been more helpful in helping us to decide on an A-Class (test drives, home visits to check the car fitted in the garage, day-long demonstrator). However, when negotiating the deal, the salesman was crippled by his business manager. She was not prepared to give me the Agility deal that I wanted. I walked away.

The sales guy at the other branch, though, was even more helpful than the first - and added extra kit for a factory order that the other branch couldn't match for similar money. Moreover, the business manager at this branch had no problem in giving me the Agility finance deal that I attempted to get at the other branch.

When the first branch discovered what had transpired they were not at all happy - but that's their problem, not mine.
 
my local dealer is mercedes oxford and they are utter crap on the sales side, no return calls or info.

service has actually been ok in the past when the car needed a service or fixing.

thanks
 
E350CDI Avantgarde in Indium Grey with Almond Beige leather, Brown Open-pore Ash trim, COMAND, DAB and split/fold rear seat. Oh, and Factory Collection :D
Nice choice of motor car.

How do you feel it compares with the 204 you have.

Engine aside do you feel a 212 is a big jump up. I was leant a 212 220cdi and have driven a 204 320cdi high spec so not like for like, one went the way I liked it, the other was nice inside the way I like it.

What is your view re AG vs. sport. Does the sport give any driving advantages or is it just make the ride unpleasant.
 
My local dealership is peterborough and they are always very pleasant and helpful, coffee and pastries are always offered, seating is comfortable, clean with a selection of the days newspapers.
Regardless of whether you are there for a service, mot, or some work, they always give the car a courtesy wash. Always the offer of a courtesy car, usually current new reg.
They have never uttered a word whilst my children clamber in and out of showroom cls and sl class, not even the smart car lol
They are a pleasure to deal with and so helpful, you don't have to be brand new purchaser to be welcomed here, I brought a 30 month old E220cdi and they still remember me on each visit
Great, top marks
 
Buying from Hughes has been a really good experience...

Not used their Aylesbury branch, but I've been a customer at Hughes of Beaconsfield for over 12 years now and have no intention of going elsewhere.

They've been going since 1955, and have established a very strong reputation in the area. You actually get the impression they are proud of that reputation and go out of their way to maintain it.
 
I've always been surprised at how good the two dealers (Brighton and Gatwick) have treated me...

As I drive a company car, the vehicle comes through MB Corporate and doesn't touch the dealer network. Servicing is handled by the lease company, who drive a good bargin on the labour rate. Yet both will give me demonstrators and spend time going through questions and queries.

I say both as since I've had the estate, Gatwick have done all the servcing (even though Brighton is slightly nearer). However, Brighton still keep in touch - the general marketing stuff comes through from the group but I get a call every so often to see how things are, invites to their annual "drive" events at Hickstead, etc. I've even had a track day ("normal" w204s only unfortunately) from the group.

So I'm quite amazed seeing as they both know they will get very little in terms of revenue from me, and yet they seem very keen to keep me affiliated with the brand. Perhaps I'm lucky, or just a nice guy?

BTW, neither know that I consult in the auto OEM business as a job - as you can imagine I have to be very careful about that.
Have bought 3 new mercedes from MB Gatwick over the last 10 years. Still own 2 of them. The youngest is now 6 yrs old. Always helpful and a pleasure to deal with both for sales and servicing. Also very helpful with my old S124 and its misfire tribulations.
 
You guys are lucky we have Chester & Liverpool 2 dealers who think your a mug who will buy and believe anything they tell you and have little product knowledge (does it have a tier 1 warranty ? it has the correct tier for the car sir!!, however Derby was bloody awful when I bought the CLS and the now closed Wirral branch sorted a shed load of issues with a 11 month old £55k car that had supposedly been through the MB check programme.
 
I have used Hughes Beaconsfield for 3 services and I new purchase and always very good.

As a side when you say headlamps replaced for Continental use do they just flick a catch or do they replace the whole headlamp assembly?

I am interested as I could work in Europe for a couple of years and would probably keep my car for a few months before trading for another UK spec E Class and would need to change the headlamps over for the period I was over there rather than the stick on tape. I know some E Class have the headlamps as standard or £1200 option that does this automatically, I think, but mine are standard E Class headlights.
 
You guys are lucky we have Chester & Liverpool 2 dealers who think your a mug who will buy and believe anything they tell you and have little product knowledge (does it have a tier 1 warranty ? it has the correct tier for the car sir!!, however Derby was bloody awful when I bought the CLS and the now closed Wirral branch sorted a shed load of issues with a 11 month old £55k car that had supposedly been through the MB check programme.

I've dealt with the Chester branch since the Wirral one closed and Mike Benson took over, I must say that it has improved a lot. I haven't purchased a car off them, but have dealt a lot with the parts dept. and servicing, at the beginning I received shoddy service but complained to Mike who was excellent and dealt with it straight away.

He explained that compared to the Wirral branch, Chester was an uphill struggle, he didn't go into detail, but got the impression that some of the staff were unprofessional to say the least. Last time I complained about poor service I received a full valet on my S Class, things have definitely improved :thumb:
 
As a side when you say headlamps replaced for Continental use do they just flick a catch or do they replace the whole headlamp assembly?
With the exception of the cars that have the Intelligent Light System which allows you to change the dip pattern from the instrument cluster, all the current cars have a lever inside the haedlamp housing that allows you to swap from a drive-on-the-left assymetric pattern to a flat cut-off dip pattern so you can drive a RHD car on the right. The issue with the SLK is that the headlamps are nigh on impossible to get to from the top (well, no one with normal size hands and forearms can seem to do it), so swapping it over entails putting the car on a ramp and dropping the wheel-arch liner. My W204 has loads of room around the back of the headlamp and I always swap that over myself.
 
Nice choice of motor car.

How do you feel it compares with the 204 you have.

Engine aside do you feel a 212 is a big jump up. I was leant a 212 220cdi and have driven a 204 320cdi high spec so not like for like, one went the way I liked it, the other was nice inside the way I like it.
Thanks, Steve.

In many respects it feels like a more refined version of the W204. Obviously it's longer and a bit wider, but on the road it doesn't feel like you're driving a big car - other than the better ride and refinement and, obviously, the roomier cabin.
What is your view re AG vs. sport. Does the sport give any driving advantages or is it just make the ride unpleasant.
I was actually surprised at how well the W212 Sport rides: it wasn't at all harsh or crashy, and it didn't give the spine-crunching jolts that some other cars give on poor surfaces but I prefered the ever-so-slightly softer ride of the Avantgarde. The real clincher though was how the options and standard equipment are packaged across the different versions and the Avantgarde fitted what I want for much less money.

I'll post up more of my thoughts on the different models later when I have more time.
 
I've dealt with the Chester branch since the Wirral one closed and Mike Benson took over, I must say that it has improved a lot. I haven't purchased a car off them, but have dealt a lot with the parts dept. and servicing, at the beginning I received shoddy service but complained to Mike who was excellent and dealt with it straight away.

He explained that compared to the Wirral branch, Chester was an uphill struggle, he didn't go into detail, but got the impression that some of the staff were unprofessional to say the least. Last time I complained about poor service I received a full valet on my S Class, things have definitely improved :thumb:

I had service related issues with Chester last year and never heard back from Mike Benson or the Service Manager (I'm not sure they've even got their own service manager, they were sharing one with Warrington).

I also had issues with the Mitsubishi dealer who serviced my daughter's car the other day. The service manager was off but it was suggested by the service advisor that he should call me and he did, and seemed genuinely mortified by their error (they'd used the wrong service schedule for the car).

My wife thinks it's just me, but I think the issue is that these places are not geared up for customers who know they're being told a load of rubbish and will not accept it. I reckon that's why they like to collect and deliver - they can just dump the car and run.
 
I had service related issues with Chester last year and never heard back from Mike Benson or the Service Manager (I'm not sure they've even got their own service manager, they were sharing one with Warrington).

I also had issues with the Mitsubishi dealer who serviced my daughter's car the other day. The service manager was off but it was suggested by the service advisor that he should call me and he did, and seemed genuinely mortified by their error (they'd used the wrong service schedule for the car).

My wife thinks it's just me, but I think the issue is that these places are not geared up for customers who know they're being told a load of rubbish and will not accept it. I reckon that's why they like to collect and deliver - they can just dump the car and run.

I'm surprised with the way you were treated at Chester; initially when I had problems I contacted MB head office (always deal with the top man) and they put the manager Mike Benson onto me via email and he personally called me. What I said was that with modern life I don't generally expect decent service, but with Mercedes Benz I expect the best and he agreed; whenever I've had problems (which has been just twice) I've just got in touch with Mike, who has sorted any problems out straight away :rolleyes:

I will pass on his details (email address) via PM to anyone who has received shoddy service there; it just shouldn't happen :devil:
 
OK, here are my own (necessarily personal) views on the W212 Avantgarde vs Sport question.

As I mentioned before, I was surprised at how well the Sport model rides. I was expecting something very firm and with a jiggly ride, but unless you’re driving at low speed on a bad surface, the ride is actually reasonably compliant. The Avantgarde’s ride is only marginally more compliant at speed but the difference at lower speeds, and especially on poor surfaces, is quite noticeable. In terms of steering response, the big difference is defined by whether or not the car is fitted with Direct Steering, which (irritatingly) is not available as an option. It is standard fitment on all Sport models but is only fitted to V6 & V8-engined Avantgarde cars. I drove a 4-pot Avantgarde-spec car and the standard steering feels a bit ponderous by comparison, plus you don’t get the very light steering at parking speeds that Direct Steering provides. When pressing on I would suspect that the Sport on its wider 18’s is dynamically marginally superior to the Avantgarde, but on UK roads at legal(ish) speeds the difference isn’t really significant and for me the ride quality advantage enjoyed by the Avantgarde is more important.

Ultimately I could live with a W212 in Sport guise from a ride point of view, but I couldn’t live with one with the standard interior. All Sport cars come with a black interior, period. Well, unless you want to raid the options list that is, and even then your choices in some areas are still non-existent unless you stump up for even more options. The standard seats are in Artico / Dynafibre and are black. If you want any other colour you have to spec leather but the headlining resolutely stays black regardless of your upholstery colour choice. Unless of course you opt for the Designo Alcantara option (a snip at £1,470 :rolleyes:), but then you have to have a sunroof (£990) or a pano roof (£1,460) as well. I know that many people are quite happy with a black headlining, but personally I think it makes the interior of the car look like the inside of a Teutonic coal shed and I want something lighter.

The E250CDI Avantgarde I tried out was really impressive. The engine is smooth and refined once on the move, is much more responsive than the old-gen 4-pot diesel in my W204, and performs very well with a strong mid-range. You do know it’s a 4-pot diesel at low speeds and it gets slightly gruffer at the top end of its rev-range, but in reality it offers enough performance for most people, the refinement in the W212 shell is good, and the claimed economy is very impressive. However, I didn’t like the standard steering so I tried out the E350CDI. All I can say is that after driving it around for about 45 minutes I now fully understand why others on this forum (Mactech, et al) really like the combination of the V6 diesel and the 7G-Tronic autobox. Compared with the very good 250CDI engine the V6 ramps up the level of refinement a good notch or two – especially noticeable in stop/start traffic – and I found the mid-range thrust to be quite addictive. It really is the proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove.

I’m lucky that I have access to Angie’s SLK350 if I want to enjoy some driving excitement so I tend to prioritise comfort and luxury for my own car more than I may do otherwise. If I didn’t have that car to drive then I may have been more willing to accept the compromises that the Sport model represents, but for me the E350CDI Avantgarde was the best option. As part of my decision making I did price up an E250CDI Sport Auto with leather, and it works out to be over £900 more than the E350CDI Avantgarde. OK, you get the slightly sharper styling of the Sport, a lower emissions band and better fuel economy, but you lose the ride fluidity of the Avantgarde and get that wretched black headlining to boot. Ultimately I concluded that I wasn’t prepared to accept the compromises the 4-pot engine in the Sport would represent. Add in the fact that I’d forever regret not buying the V6 and that was that, as they say.
 
Thank you Phil for a very informative appraisal of the E models. You have done quite a bit of "legwork" for me as I am also thinking about the possibility of moving from a C350 to an E350 - mainly to get a smoother ride and a bit more space.
I notice that both the Avantgarde and Sport models have lowered suspension and bigger wheels, which generally compromises ride, so would I be right in thinking that the basic SE suspension would be more compliant in respect of ride refinement??
Bear with me for two other queries. Is your headlining in almond beige too, and how long do MB quote these days to build a car of this type?
Thanks again...
 

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