jolleydm

What was I supposed to do? Call the service rep a liar?

Took the car back in today. I just got a call from the dealer saying they got the serial number off the part and are submitting my reimbursement claim to Mercedes.

Jayhawk

Please keep us informed...

Mark_K

Just got mine replaced today.
But I have to bring it back because the CD and radio is not showing on the cluster panel and the mirrors are not folding when car in locked.

Big "H"

The Safety Recall covers Model Year 2000 through 2002 and 2004-2005 S and CL-Class vehicles.

Big H
2001 S430
w/Sports Package

Jayhawk

Recall only covers some of those cars...

Oxygen

Why would MY2003 be excluded? What makes it any different?

Jayhawk

You will have to ask MBUSA. They pre-determined a select number (~36,000) that needed to be replaced, and have a list of VIN #s included, if you want to call. If you can get a straight answer out of them please report back here. Here’s a copy of the DOT letter mandating the light cluster recall: http://199.79.180.162/prepos/files/A...6V028-9264.PDF

Big "H"

Jayhawk

That is correct. based off Mercedes Benz records the owners will be informed if this recall applied to them. The letter that I received from MB states that based off Mercedes Benz records my vehicle is included in the affected population of vehicles.

Big "H"

Jayhawk

I stopped by my dealer's yesterday, and my SA there said they just received a list of affected vehicles, and mine was not on it. He said mine was the first VIN# he looked for...

hbs600

I will also be one of the unlucky 220 owners who are not part of the recall. My S600 is a 2002 built in November of 2001. Don't bother calling MBUSA unless you want to get more furstrated and angry with thier response. I called yesterday and asked what they were going to do for the owners not listed on the recall who have the same problem. They stated it would be noted on our records, and if the factory issued another recall, we would then be notified. I suggested that MBUSA send the factory a list of all other intrument cluster failures and get them added to the recall. After some dead air, he repeated that my record would be annotated and that was all they could do. I had to hang up because talking to a rock with not a care about the customers was changing the adjectives in my vocabulary. I've had my repaired at the dealer for $1900 in hopes of getting a refund. I might need to kiss that money good bye. This is my first MB and will be my last because of the lack customer service and the low quality of the parts. The car may run like a dream (when working) but I don't consider it a badge of honor to spend thousands on repairs on a vehicle with only 60,000 miles on it. My american 2001 durango didn't get any problems until 108,000. Go figure! After it come out of the shop for a bad alternator today, I will begin car shopping for a lexus or infiniti. No more beating my head and paying out large sums for repairs on a vehicle with the prestige but not the quality to back it up. Warranty or not, no one should put up with crap like this.

ex-BenzDriver9

Sorry to hear about your luck with the 600. I am also starting to kick around the idea of looking for something else, because I am losing more and more faith and patience with MB as each day goes by.

Does prestige also mean fleecing us owners for outrageous service costs and terrible customer service? I can only imagine what your bills are to service that 600 engine, but some of us owners are in such denial that you will get "well a Mercedes is a finely tuned machine, so it's expected to have it's quirks". I find this reasoning to be a total crock of s***, as I bought a Benz for the comfort and power, not to experience all of its quirks.

IMHO Lexus and Infiniti are good cars, but I hear the quality and reliability of the Q45 is suspect.

Good luck in your decision with the car and keep me posted.

jolleydm

Got my "goodwill refund" from MB in the mail yesterday. Woo-hoo!! The refund check arrived sooner than expected after taking my 2001 S430 in to the dealer once I got my recall letter.

Refund was for the full amount of the original instrument cluster replacement -- $1,612.50.

Darknessph

Congrats on your refund! I guess I could do the same thing when my cluster goes out..(hopefully it won't happen at all!...)

Skylaw

The Workshop MB has posted the following link to the recall campaign bulletin provided to dealers, listing VINs and additional information to identify specific clusters to be replaced.

http://www.theworkshopmb.com/TheWork...ter_Recall.pdf

blackE55

I brought my 600 in for the B service yesterday and mentioned the inst cluster recall. I barely got a sentence out and the service rep said they'd check it.

I spoke with them today and he said it's being replaced and also that they're checking the bottom of the door rust issue. My best experience with a dealer ever, thanks Feldmann's!

normrkey

Well, it was quite a process, but it finally got resolved. I suspected my car was in the range of the recalled instrument cluster vehicles. Sure enough, my instrument cluster went out the end of October. It also took out the COMAND CRT at the same time.

I took the car into the local MB dealer and they said it was covered by the recall and it would take two weeks to get the part from Germany. They gave me the car back and at least fixed the COMAND so I could have the radio, CD and NAV working again.

A month later, around the end of November, I called and they said they it had not arrived and would take another month. They explained that each cluster has to be tied to a VIN and my number had been sent to Germany for programming a specific unit for me.

Anyway, MB called around Christmas and we arranged a date of Jan 4 to do the work. That was today and it was finally fixed. The whole process included the dealer fixing two other recalls that involved weatherstripping at the base of the doors and a voltage regulator part.

While waiting the two months for the part to arrive, I had to drive with no speedo, no gas gauge and no turn signal dash indicators among other inconveniences. I didn't get much sympathy from the dealer and waited.

After waiting so long, and finally getting a dash again, it seems as if it looks a little different from the original one but that could be my imagination.

Also, I knew the gas gauge wasn't working so I tried to judge each trip and pump a little more gas into the car than I thought i needed. Today when I picked up the car, the gauge needle was on reserve. A close call but I made it.

So this was not altogether a great experience but the car is now fixed.

NESS925

I Had Replaced In Dec 06 Free After A Short Fight Different My Phone Button On Steering Wheel Dont Work For Mic. Also Now Have Digital Speedometer Read Out,but Reset On The Last Start Trip Dont Reset After 1 Mile Like Before And Only Show Range Not Gallons Left In Tank

hawk20

I had exactly the same problem. Copy this and take to your dealer. There are codes they set to suit the new cluster. If he sets them all correctly it will show range and number of gallons left.
Good luck.

hbs600

I finally got my refund ($1921.79 for all parts and labor) from the dealer this Tuesday. I waited since the end of October because they said it would take 8 weeks for the refund. I called the manager of the dealership before Christmas. He was surprised that someone gave me the 8 weeks answer. He verified the paperwork and had a check mail out to me the next day and apologized for the delay. That is the service I expect from a MB dealer.

hawk20

Excellent. Glad it all worked out in the end.

Clk&Slk

Thanks to Sean that give me the link to this post. He save me $6100 !!!!!!! This is what happen to me..................

I have a 2001 CL 55 with 69K miles. 4 days ago, while driving home from work at 1 am in the morning. All the sudden, my instrument cluster completely went out. I couldn't see anything and have no clue how fast I was going. I pulled off the road and try to restart the engine but there's still no light on the instrument cluster. The next day, I found that the fuse was bad. Installed a new fuse but still no light on the cluster. My friend then told me that Mercedes has a recalls for this problems on the S class and CL class. He gave the link......................................
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/pr...callsearch.cfm and sure enough, it was true !!!! All 2000 - 2002 and 2003 - 2005 CL is being recall for the "instrument cluster". Throught the link, I also discovered that the ABC high pressure hose was also recalls on my car.

2 days later, I brought my car in to the dealer for the 2 recalls. My service write-up then check the recalls data and to my surprised, he told me that my car VIN# does not apply to the "Instrument cluster" recall. He said that NA Mercedes told him that not all CL is being recall. To fix the problem, it would cost me $6100.00 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So today, I filed a complains with the "NHTSA" and told them that Mercedes did not honor the recalls. I also called NA Mercedes customer service and filed my complains that it SHOULDN'T matter what months/years my car was built. Since my car has the EXACT problems that was being described in the recalls and so the recall should apply to my car. To my surprised, she told me that my instrument cluster should be replace under "Manufacture extended warranty" but she did not mention anything warranty under the recall. She was very nice and told me that she'll take care this problem for me. And so she did, about 1 hr. later, the director and service man from the dealer called me and told me that everything will be fix at no charges. Right now, I'm so happy (but my fingers still crossed though until I pick up my car) that I don't have to write a check for
$6100 !!!!!!!

So now I wonder, who drop the ball, NA Mercedes or the dealer? Based on this post, alot of the S class owners has been denied of warranty on the "Instrument cluster". They all got the same responses when call NA Mercedes customers service "your car VIN# does not apply for the recall". Btw, if any of you have these same problems with your CL or S class, don't let the dealer run you around, just call Jenny at NA Mercedes. The NA Mercedes customer service phone number is 800-367-6372 and Jenny ext. 7843.


__________________

Skylaw

Clk&Slk,

Thanks for posting your experience. And the dealer must be nuts to try to charge $6100 for an instrument cluster replacement even if it hadn't been under warranty. Most who had it done before the recall and extended warranty paid around $1600. Hope that was a typo.

Clk&Slk

No, it not a typo. I called 2 different dealers and they both qouted me over $5K for the new cluster. I don't know if the price is different because my is AMG model. I some of you only pay $1600, I think you're getting the "rebuilt" cluster, not new one. One dealer told me that they can get me a rebuilt cluster for around $2500 but none were in stock.

hawk20

Yes and I thought I read somewhere that Mercedes issued a ten year guarantee on the clusters in the US for all S and Cl's post 2000?????

Jayhawk

Last November I received this Warranty Addendum from MBUSA extending my warranty on the instrument cluster to ten years. I'll try to post a copy of the letter. Hope it is readable.