Why oh why did I buy a Mercedes?

[grober]

I suppose to be absolutely assured of getting the exact spec that you want then you need to order a factory build, hasn't that always been the case?

Even doing that it would appear that you may still come up against the lack of components/already built/allocated car syndrome as discussed by JBD in his WHAT DO WANT TO KNOW thread or possibly another thread- can't recall exact one sorry?

 

[Doodle]

bought the top of the range Ford Focus now.

If you think Ford aftersales is any better, you may well be in for a rude shock. I've never before seen the act of ignoring customers as a performance art.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

Even doing that it would appear that you may still come up against the lack of components/already built/allocated car syndrome as discussed by JBD in his WHAT DO WANT TO KNOW thread or possibly another thread- can't recall exact one sorry?

HUD on new Email Class I think.

 

[GLK]

I have never been told a part cannot be ordered, other than for the reason it is no longer available.
I have my old and my current A-classes serviced at Mercedes, for the past 6+ years, and never heard anything like "we don't have such-and-such".
And mines are not exactly brand new cars - the old one was Y-reg, this one is 06 ...

I also bought an awful lot of parts from Mercedes dealers, both local and online, particularly for my current car, doing all kinds of retrofits and mods, and they always obliged (if I could afford it).

I understand your frustration, but the conclusions you've arrived at are simply not accurate.

 

[Andrew Ford]

I have never been told a part cannot be ordered, other than for the reason it is no longer available.
I have my old and my current A-classes serviced at Mercedes, for the past 6+ years, and never heard anything like "we don't have such-and-such".
And mines are not exactly brand new cars - the old one was Y-reg, this one is 06 ...

I also bought an awful lot of parts from Mercedes dealers, both local and online, particularly for my current car, doing all kinds of retrofits and mods, and they always obliged (if I could afford it).

I understand your frustration, but the conclusions you've arrived at are simply not accurate.

Can I have the name of the dealer you deal with and I will try them.

 

[Andrew Ford]

My latest response from Mercedes-Benz Perth.

"Hello, We are unable to supply these parts. FYI the price for these items comes to £312.06"

 

[Andrew Ford]

If you think Ford aftersales is any better, you may well be in for a rude shock. I've never before seen the act of ignoring customers as a performance art.

Never had a problem getting the most obscure parts my Fords in the past.

 

[MancMike]

As said Andrew, dealers vary.

To give you a contrasting experience, mine, it's a 57 plate, one of the first W204 C-Classes to hit the market, and I bought it in 2014.

Fire opal red paint is a problem for most cars where the lacquer peels away. Mercedes Manchester who I'd never bought a thing from in my life took the car in to give it a full respray under warranty, gave me coffee and biscuits while I waited for it to be booked in, gave me a lift to work to save me the taxi fair, collected me at the end of the day to place me into freshly valeted B-Class 15 plate courtesy car that I had for the two weeks my car took to respray, plus a week extra because I was quiet enjoying the money I was saving on fuel.

My car came back looking brand new, valeted inside, tyre blackener and more fuel than it went in with. They didn't even check I'd refuelled the B-Class, and said "don't worry about it" when I told them I'd curbed one of it's wheels.

I take the car to them now for my MOTs as it's the same £35 my nearest Halfords auto centre charge, but that doesn't include coffee, biscuits, a sit in and gorp at some supercars I'll never afford and an MOTed car returned having been washed inside and out for free.

It's a big shame some dealerships are spoiling the reputation others are clearly working so hard to build and/or maintain.

 

[GLK]

Can I have the name of the dealer you deal with and I will try them.

I bought parts from my local MB Northampton, and online from Newcastle, Milton Keynes, Oxford, Bristol, and a few others I can't recall now - a number of them have their eBay shops.

PS Also from German stores - a couple is mentioned above, I believe, there are others too.

 

[clk320x]

Try Mercedes Benz of Bridgend, Speak to Jason, say Abs sent you. He will sort you out

 

[Deleted member 126251]

Cash is the worst thing you can offer to a car dealership. Negotiate everything making them believe you are going to finance it through them, and once you have agreed everything, but before signing then offer cash. They will hate you for it but at least you will know the bottom line.

And to answer your question about the A Class, the answer is No thanks.

Good luck and sorry for your bad experience with MB.

You can finance a car and then settle in cash (without penalty) anytime you choose to and there is nothing the finance companies can do. The guys that sell the packages get commissions and hate it when the deal does not go to term because it cuts their commission. In the last 4 years my son has bought 3 cars via finance (and getting a good deal on the purchase price) and then paid for the car in full a few months later - BMW x6 (his) , Qashquai(wife) , Audi Q7 (his) ...

 

[Andrew Ford]

Thanks guys for the names of garages to try.

On the not of finance, yes I know all the tricks but I just don't believe in finance and if you push and stand your ground you can get a better deal with cash when you insist on seeing the sales manager as he wants numbers and does not care about his salesman's commission.

 

[Dippo]

You can't always get a better deal for cash; sometimes part of the support on a finance deal comes from the manufacturer, not the dealer. No finance, then no manufacturer's contribution.

 

[Delayed Steve]

Don't comand on line supply and fit things like this ? comandonline.co.uk

 

[Doodle]

Never had a problem getting the most obscure parts my Fords in the past.

Being round the corner from the factory has benefits, perhaps?

 

[markjay]

I think the OP has a point about the manufacturer not being able to supply certain spare parts, this is obviously a potential issue e.g. if your Distronic-equipped car is involved in a crash and needs new radar sensor etc.

Said that... we are talking about one order that the manufacturer was unable to supply... this can happen to any manufacturer. It does not imply that there's an endemic issue with Mercedes Benz spare parts.

Regarding the attitude of the sales people at the dealership.... sadly there are too many complaints of these nature, so I think we should accept that there's an issue with quite a few dealerships on that front.

 

[markjay]

...what is not clear is why the OP wants to sell the car?

The substandard behaviour of the sales people is behind him now, and the car is not broken of faulty in any way? I.e. the spare parts are needed for a retrofit, not a repair?

If so then I would keep the car and look for the parts second hand on the German eBay (if it's not an LHD/RHD item) possibly from breakers - I am assuming there will be quite a few new A Class on German roads, and statistically a percentage of these are bound to be involved in write-off collisions.

 

[Alf Barnet]

Andrew try the authorised MB parts department in the back of Waterhouse Volvo. Don’t waste your time convincing the fanboys on here MB customer assistance is piss poor, they don’t want to hear it. I’d never buy another MB (or recommend one) because of the aftersales, regardless of the product quality - I wonder how brand retention there is.

 

[Andrew Ford]

Andrew try the authorised MB parts department in the back of Waterhouse Volvo. Don’t waste your time convincing the fanboys on here MB customer assistance is piss poor, they don’t want to hear it. I’d never buy another MB (or recommend one) because of the aftersales, regardless of the product quality - I wonder how brand retention there is.

Thanks for the tip, I shall try them if I decide to carry on this quest but I'm very close to selling it.

The reason I'd like the car gone is because I don't want to wait till I need a part to keep the car running to be told "sorry we can't supply that part".

In my many years of car ownership I have never and I mean never found a make where the parts guy thinks it is ok to palm customers off all day long.

When I ordered the car I said I'd like to order cable no Axxxxxxxxx and I was told "you don't need it". Now I find I do but can I get it?

 

[Andrew Ford]

Being round the corner from the factory has benefits, perhaps?

Not when the Dagenham factory did bugger all and my cars where built in Spain or Germany!