AZ_Mike

First post, been lurking for a while

Shopping for a new car, C-Class near the top of my list once the new ones come out. What dealers in Phoenix do you think has the better service both during the sale and after the sale. I have been to Schumacher and Chandler but haven't visited Phoenix Motor Cars. Yes we only have 3 MB dealers.

Schumacher was friendly enough but his tone changed a little when he found out I was looking for a C-Class and a C-Class that wasn't out yet. Still answered all my questions

Chandler was very hands off. Walked all over the lot and through the showroom and nobody came by. After about 10 min someone came over and answered my questions with a little attitude. I brought up questions about service and reliability and was given the answer, " People who buy a Mercedes wants a Mercedes." What ever that means, has anyone ever bought a car they didn't want.

MB-JIM

Check your PM

AZ_Mike

MB-JIM Thanks for the info

mick1

i think what the guy meant was people who buy Mercedes don't concern much about reliability, and that's a true statement because there are other brands that build cars with better reliability history

http://www.dailystar.com/dailystar/business/82054.php
article posted 6-30-2005
Brand Problems per 100 vehicles
INDUSTRY AVERAGE = 237
Mercedes = 283

"Mercedes finished 11th in a J.D. Power survey of German car-owner satisfaction also released Wednesday. The German survey asked owners of 2-year-old automobiles to rate them in categories including quality, reliability and appeal."

AZ_Mike

Ultimate reliability is not the overriding item, if it was I would be looking at a Japanese model. However, I do not want a nightmare that is in the shop all the time. I have owned several VW and Audi and prefer them to the Toyotas and Hondas I have owned. I know Mercedes scores better than both and my VW is fine. The problem I have with JD Powers is that they do not differentiate between big problems and little problem only problems. I was trying to dive deeper and understand if these problems were catastrophic or minor.

My big concern is after sales support. Example – The turbo in my Passat failed shortly after the warranty expired. My dealer contacted VW and was replaced for free . Additionally, every time I take my car in it always gets cleaned and I get a loaner . They also sell BMW, wish the new 3er wasn’t so frumpy looking and only came with run flats. I guess it’s a testament to a service department when they are selling cars.

That being said I would like a Mercedes, I like their styling and the c350 looks like a winner on paper, which was why I was in his showroom. However, there are other cars on my short list.

mick1

i forgot to mail in my JD & Power survey

anyway, i got 10K + miles and everything still works

however, the car tells me i got to bring it in for service A in 28 days.

CclassRun

All upper-end car salesman in AZ are jerks...and you know why...cuz its so FREAKING HOT. If they let to get to the point in the discussion where you want a test drive, that means they have to go out into the 110 degree heat, walk through the 120 degree parking lot, get into a car thats 180 degrees and try to sell you a car.

And the thing about the luxury car dealerships is that the salespeople can't get away with wearing a polo and some chinos like at a mazda dealership. They got the whole get-up- tie, suspenders and all. Now my advice is to car shop in the winter!

Good luck.

edit: btw i live in AZ not compton

MB-JIM

I'm sorry you categorize all AZ car salesmen as "jerks." My salesman, Mark Field, at Phoenix Motors is a mature, knowledgeable person who treats you with respect.

Saprissa

JD Power is BS,
because you got all these whiny Mercedes-Benz owners who complain about burnt-out light bulbs, wear & tear on brake pads, and dirty carpets.
Where as most other car brand owners, only complain when the transmission fails, or the motor blows up.

so the tables are much skewed !

mikefl52

I lived in Arizona (Greater Phoenix) for 5 years (95-01) and I did not find the sales people to be jerks. Test drove lots of higher end cars and they were more than willing to take me out, especially those dealers along McDowell Road (Land Rover, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Porsche, Audi, Lexus, Acura, BMW). No mercedes as far as I remember. Most of them knew I was not going to buy, but let me take test drives anyway.

CclassRun

I guess I was making an overgeneralization and a bad attempt at being funny. I too have had many pleasant experiences with many dealers both in Tucson and in PHX. But cmon the heat makes everyone cranky. :v :v :v

Buellwinkle

I have found that JD Power's Dependability survey is dead on accurate. I've had many problems with my MB's except the latest one. I've had 1 taken back under the lemon law only to be replaced by a car that needed to have the horn, transmission and radio replaced in the first week. My parents had an E-class catch on fire while driving it. These, along with VW and Audi are not for the person that wants only see the dealer only for oil changes, wiper blades and brakes. There's a reason that MB ends up behind just about every American brand and it's has nothing to do with the severity of the problem, if anything, the American brands have more trivial stuff go wrong and MBs have more serious stuff go wrong. That doesn't mean I don't like MB, I keep coming back, I'm on my 5th MB and I love it, wouldn't know what else I would get tomorrow if it got stolen.

Ironically, on the other side of the coin is that some Japanese cars that scored well have service departments that don't know how to fix the cars when they do break because it's so rare. I had an Infinity I30 taken back under the lemon law that actually went to trial because they didn't know how to fix the A/C and all they had to do was fix the clutch on the compressor (or replace the entire compressor).