thefisch

sounds like a compromise on their part rather than warranty coverage. Their TSB calls for all the wood to be replaced which has been the case for those under warranty.

Understand if you accept what they did and don't want to pursue further with MBUSA.

CEB

Or you could take a picture of the differences after repair and send it to MB corporate asking if this is how they want their product to be returned to a customer.

The dealers get away with doing the minimum because customers let them.

Mud

Your choice to leave it as is of course, but I've not heard of such a minimum level of replacement as the wood is all one kit for the entire interior. It's sad that the dealer would go to this length to avoid a suitable repair. When mine was done, they didn't bat an eye, replaced every bit of all of the trim in a 2 day turnaround.

mleskovar

The official TSB/fix from MB is to replace ALL the wood. Now it will really look bad as that piece will stick out like a sore thumb. If you're OK with it then acceptance is better than bitter. When I had mine replaced there was just one piece that I felt really showed the fade....the piece in front of the driver. But when I got it back I realized most of the pieces had a degree of fade.

walterk55

The problem here is that MB Manhattan is owned by MB USA. It is not a franchisee. This suggests to me that what MB Manhattan does has the blessing of MB USA.

I kinda regret buying this car. We should have stayed with our C320 4-matic Sport - only 60k miles - a really great car that my brother will now enjoy.

thefisch

I wouldn't take that for granted. All it takes is a phone call.

Davidkuo0330

I was told the time of wood trim replacement, these wood trims comes as sets, not individually trim pieces so I wonder how your dealer can only replace one piece of the wood trim and not the entire set.

Try calling another Mercedes service department and ask them to email you a quote on the wood trim and see if they can sell just one piece of the trim and not the entire set. If not, you will know your dealer is screwing you.

Good luck.

El Cid

Even if a owned by MBUSA, the GM there may have different profit motives than the corporate office.
BTW, MBUSA is in process of moving from NJ to Atlanta GA, so may have some problems connecting with proper person.

eldivino

I took my car in for service on Monday. I mentioned a few issues (Faded wood trim, engine noise carpet peeling off, and small ripped in the seat stitching) that I had uncovered through the W212 forums. I mentioned it to my SA and he said everything would be covered by warranty!

He called me yesterday and gave me an update on the vehicle; the driver seat cover was completely replaced and the wood trim was replaced as well. When I asked him if ALL the wood trim was replaced he mentioned that only the wood trim in the front cabin was replaced, he wasn't sure about the rear seats.

The only thing that would take a lil longer to fix was Engine noise reduction carpet. I guess its more work than it seems.

I should be picking up the vehicle soon and if the rear wood trim wasn't replaced and there is a difference in color I will make a complaint.

walterk55

I have been mulling this over. I do feel a bit abused by the dealer. Beside the faded wood, there was the badly worn door seal (subject of another thread). It's like they said "OK, not a penny more into this one" !
I got a customer survey request on the CPO Purchase transaction and was perfectly honest in my evaluation. It was not horrible, nor great; overall mediocre. I did not at this point get any reply back on my survey.

I wil no doubt compose a letter to MBUSA head.

I kinda cringe when I look at the wood in my car.

thefisch

You shouldn't settle then. Most times dealers will do the minimum if there is not any money coming in from warranty work or the customer.

mleskovar

Correct. There is a flat rate, by the job, the dealers get paid for warranty work. I don't know how it works with extended warranties though. Usually the flat rate/reimbursement they get from MB doesn't pay well and is FAR below their usual minimum/hour charge so warranty work is a loser for them. They do it only because it's a requirement for them to keep the franchise. Complaints to MB that a dealer is not honoring warranty are serious. Once again, I don't know how it works with extended warranty and if that's covered by MB or just the dealer.

Mrmendoza

My buddy is a service manager at MB of Sacramento and he said the trim is covered under warranty BUT only under the 4yr/50000 manufacturer warranty. It's about 6k in parts they replace for free

thefisch

Thanks for clarifying the warranty coverage. I think anyone buying this car out of factory warrany from an MB dealer (as a CPO or not) should try to negotiate the wood replacement prior to sale if it is faded. Stronger position than after the sale.

My car was 3.5 years old but 400 miles out of warranty and I was denied any substantial cost assistance or goodwill adjustment by dealer and MBUSA. I was quoted about $3,000 for the replacement kit and labor at my local MB dealer. Could have purchased the kit online fir DIY for about $1,700 IIRC.

El Cid

MB Extended Limited Warranty. Has anyone had the wood trim replaced with this warranty or tried to?
This is the one sold by MBUSA through MB dealers. Assume not exactly the same as a CPO warranty.
Not sure if mine is fading, but seems to me that it is. Dealership checked it out a couple of times when under regular warranty and said not fading.
I plan to push it so would like to know if anyone else has been successful. Thanks

mleskovar

My understanding is if you have work orders while under warranty that claim "no problem found" for an issue not related to usage/wear and it manifests itself after warranty expiration they will honor the repair. Your wood obviously was not coated properly at manufacture.

thefisch

When I was researching the MB ELW, my SA at my local MB dealer said the faded wood was not covered under the ELW. While it is more comprehensive than the CPO, it does not cover trim.

Excert from terms: PAINT AND OTHER APPEARANCE ITEMS: Paint and other appearance items are not covered by this Agreement.

Old link to warranty term documents (may not all be there still): http://elmmbofaustin.wpengine.com/me...rage-documents

I agree that if your complaints are noted on the service record then that helps your cause. The fading is pretty noticable and you and the dealer should be able to spot it. Of course the dealer could be telling you it's not faded when it is. If you are very concerned, you could check with another dealer or post some pics here for other opinions.

El Cid

I've got a paper copy of the agreement and noted the paint and appearance section. Guess it depends on who interprets what.
To me, this is more than an appearance item, especially with the TSB calling for replacement.

topspin2000

I just took my car in for a 'B' service and asked them about the wood trim replacement. The SA said no problem. They will order a set from Germany and call me when it's in. The entire set will be replaced. Seems like they get these requests regularly, because I didn't have to explain much to him. Thanks to everybody here, otherwise I wouldn't have asked.

thefisch

so is there any official TSB about the fading on the 2012 and later models. The last TSB I saw covered 2010-11 models with a 'clean point' of August 2011. But I think there have been at least a couple of posts on here about faded wood on later models. You would have thought they would have fixed the supplier issue.

konigstiger

LI68.30-P-053962 version 4 released 11/25/2013 Validity revised to “Affected vehicles: MODEL 212 with CODE (731) Burled walnut veneer wood finish trim MODEL 212 with CODE (W 60) Burled walnut veneer designo wood trim, brown.”

MBSebas87

So I called my SA and complained about the faded trim today ...he was like "yeah no problem. I will put the order in for you. Will take about 2 weeks to get it." He didn't even inspect the car lol

cc16177

Yeah I just want to add that someone (I think it was thefisch) recommended me asking for my wood panels to be replaced due to fading.

They ordered the parts before I even bought the car and 3 weeks later they arrived. I'm currently setting up an appointment to have it all replaced...

I would push harder. I'll also say that I was very friendly in my approach and i've always found that you get more bees with honey!

cx876

just want to give an update on my case too,
my service advisor have been very helpful, however, after submitting the case for approval,
MB only decide to cover the labor on the repair, not the parts,
I wish it would be the other way around.
Currently I'm in the process of drafting an email to MBCC,
I'm going to try to push as hard as possible on this, but it's not a big deal,
I love the E class, and it's a fine automobile for a bargain price,
driving it on a road trip makes me forget every flaw it has,
however, I guaranteed this will be my last Mercedes Benz, as I'll be moving to PORSCHE + Tesla.

thefisch

cx876, sounds like a goodwill adjustment since you bought the car from them. Hopefully they will cover more, but I suspect when MBUSA makes these decisions they stand firm. At least that's what they did when the denied my request for consideration. Sometimes the wood bothers me, but most of the time I don't notice it.

Did they tell you how much the parts would be?