I had to take my 2 month old c230 in for service today because the BAS and ESP lights came on. I purchased the car 150 miles from home due to the poor treatment by my local dealership. Anways, I took the car into my local dealership for service today and was told I would not be receiving any loaner car because I didn't purchase my car from that dealership. I was quite surprised, as I thought all Mercedes provided free loaners. ANways, I just wanted to get some feedback on this situation. By the way, the dealership is:

Vin Devers
5570 Monroe Street
Sylvania, OH
43560
Phone: (419) 885-5111

yup, my local dealerships are the same way. i ended up buying from them, but if i hadn't, NO loaners. it says right on mbusa.com that the alternate transportation service is dependent on the dealership and wether or not they choose to participate.

yep, loaners are provided by the dealers, not MBUSA. the dealer can also refuse to give u a loaner vehicle if u didn't reserve one in advance.

that is pretty much the policy at most dealerships. It's understandable, as its a 'perk' that they advertise when you buy a car from them. It would be nice if they provided a loaner for any car brought in, but since this is something that they control, might as well make it tied to some obligation on your part.

Mine gives loaners to everyone for any reason. I'm up to 17 today, driving a C240. The turn signal stalk fell apart in my hands, hope they don't blame me.

Its funny, the reason I didn't buy from them is because they would never followup on my interest. I originally called them and told them the car I was looking for and told them to call me if they could get me one. Well their salesman must have just blew me off because he never returned my call. I stopped by 3x and talked with 2 different salespeople and they never even attempted to locate a car for me. As soon as I started calling other dealerships, I realized how easy it would have been for them to do a locate and find what I was looking for. They must really feel comfortable and like they have no competition. Actually, this dealer did the same thing when I tried to buy my Audi TT 2 years ago. They blew me off and wouldn't even talk with me on the lot because they were "too busy." I admit I am young (26) but I present myself in a very professional manner. I am a 4th year medical student and they will lose a significant amount of business when I inform my colleagues of their poor business practices.

heh u should read my post from yesterday https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...threadid=22268 . also you probably shouldnt post your resident info/tel# on the web. this forum i assume is pretty safe but u never know. just my 0.02.

So, can you get a loaner for a loaner ? Do your friends ever lend you their cars --- more than once? :p

They must have a car sitting in the corner of the lot, just waiting for Buellwinkle to come in the next time. And cookies in reserve, too (of course).

Vin, the offical term is that you're "screwed". There's no TSB on it, unfortunately. You'll have to grin and bear it. When you tell your fellow students, make sure to tell them about the loaner policy as well. Sometimes, it's better to go out of the way to buy a car with better service; sometimes it's not. I guess that I should count myself lucky that the closest dealership has a loaner policy and is pretty decent (except for their collective poll up their *** about mods).

I think you guys all missed that he was telling you the name and address of the dealership and not his name and address. But it is true that you shouldn't post your info. I saw someone do that the other day.

That's it! I'm not going to Ohio for service no matter what!

BTW, I called them and they won't give me a loaner for the loaner because I didn't have a service appointment for the loaner so the earliest they can give me a loaner for the loaner is tomorrow.

I put two of my dealer's license plate surrounds on my car so I assume they think I bought it from them because I always get a loaner for my 8 year old Benz

Regards,

Don

I received a call from the dealer today and was told they didn't have the parts to fix my car in stock (no problem) but now he wants me to pick it back up and wait till next week. I've never had to wait more than a day in the past (Audi) for parts. I understand getting out some of the bugs in the car the 1st 2 months and am not upset to have to get service even though the car is only 2 months old, but Mercedes service sucks. I would never pay the exorbidant prices on the high end Mercedes now that I know there are no higher standard of care than any other high end car.

My dealer here in Tucson give loaners to others who have bought their cars elsewhere for warranty work. Doesn't MBUSA reimburse the MB dealer for this anyways? I have also gotten loaners in Phoenix when I had service done there. It will be interesting next summer when I go to Charlotte, NC for work. I wonder if the dealer(s) there do the same? For those who live in the Charlotte area - which dealership do you guys recommend?

I wait it for a week for my audi parts to come in, in my opp is just luck thats all =)

No, but MBUSA does give the dealers a great deal on the lease of the loaner cars.

Your servicing dealer did as just about any dealer will do. They treat their buying customers first and don't cater to the rest. It's a perk they monitor closely.

Problem for me is I continue to get told no loaners at the dealer where I bought 2 new MBs within 10 months of one another...absolutely ridiculous in my eyes when I am servicing cars outside of the normal intervals and paying out of pocket. When the service writer made a snide comment to me last time about having 2 new MBs, I responded with "what is the problem?" I informed him to tell the GM and my salesperson that I'd be buying the G500 at the other dealer across town now due to the constant hassle.

i actually bought my car from vin devers a while back (2 months)and i got treated really really well. i ended up buying the c240. i'm actually surprised that they can be this mean. also, i don't think the fact that you are a med student will have any effect on their business. telling your colleagues won't get you far since i too am a med student (1st year) and already told the 1st and 2nd year class about vin devers' great service, etc etc.

well im taking my car into service tomorow to the Broadway dealership. i asked for a courtesy car and i was given one even though i bought it somewhere else lol. i just hope its a c coupe loaner, since i haven't drove the automatic one before heh.
Is the speedshift thing good ?

We get loaners at any dealer in the UK, but of course we have to pay for every service and they cost lots. You get a great deal in USA, you pay a lot less for the car and do not have to pay for service.

Beleive or not, any dealers in south California will offer you a courtesy car if you bring in your car for a service. It doesn't matter if you buy your car at that dealer or not.
Last time, I was surprised when they asked me what car i am driving ? They have many C240, couple C320 and E320. So, they gave me a C320 because I have an E430 !!! They really take care their customers. Based on the invoice, the dealer charged it back to MBUSA !!! So, I don't understand why other dealers don't offer a courtesy car. By the way, I really enjoy driving the C320. It's a nice car and very fun to drive.

Hey - thats my dealer. They have twelve 2002 E320 loaners - for their MB and Audi customers. My dad and I both had extremely bad experiences with service for Dodge vehicles from this dealership, but I have been treated like royalty with my MB. I have had the car serviced three times, each with a low mileage E320 loaner. I almost ordered my car from the Ann Arbor MB dealer, but realized I would be missing out on all of the MB perks. My wife and I even had an awesome dinner at Mancy's Italian which included a wine tasting. They have these welcome dinners to explain their services and of course to get the coveted Completely Satisfied survey responses.

I contacted the dealership via email and they were very responsive. My purchase experience could not have been better. My salesman is Phillip Berger.