jvalentine

@RedStripe - No, I did not; however, the salesman has told everyone involved that he did tell me they would stand behind the deal. The dealer seems like they want to honor the deal, I am just not impressed with their timing on these issues. It seems as though they are dragging their feet.

@LILBENZ230 - No, they took the car as a trade in. I got all the paperwork from the carfax and it is as clean as a whistle. Car arrived in Florida, Dealer Trade to Mercedes-Benz of Annapolis, One owner, all work done at Mercedes-Benz of Annapolis where the car was purchased, no accidents ever.

I did all my homework before the purchase. There is just no telling what's going to happen when you buy a used car guys... You just have to have patience.

samaritrey

I will say I learned a long time ago dealing with car dealerships don't call them show up and make sure to be around other clients when you talk about how they are not standing behind the car they sold you a few days ago. Works like magic to get the mangers attention and get you out of there ASAP. Years ago with my Mercedes at a dealer in MD I made them loose a sale on a really expensive car because of them breaking my car bad. I also drove in rage around there parking lot (I was picking up my car and got just off the lot when I found the damage and other issues) yeah not my finest moment and walked very fast to the door where the GM meet me because he saw how I was driving. Needless to say they picked my car up from then on with a flat bed even though I lived almost 2 hours away lol the guy told me he never wanted me on his lot again lol

kluvsbenz

It's funny you mentioned this. My SA was supposed to send me a quote for his trumped up services he wanted to do on my car. Haven't received it yet. However, yesterday the dealer sent me a survey on how I was treated. I mentioned this on the survey. Lo and behold, I am getting all these messages yesterday, today about how he will email me those quotes to me pronto. All that bluster and he still hasn't sent me those quotes. I might email his manager just to rattle his cage

mskembo

LOL, you are a bad man! I love it. Don't ever tell me you are going to do something and not follow through!

LILBENZ230

Indeed. They pay attention to the surveys. I ripped RBM of Atlanta on a survey after they failed to figure out my car was an 05 and not an 07 even after an inspection. They called multiple times the next day.

kluvsbenz

Before I could email the service manager, he calls and emails. A nice fire under the butt does the trick

jvalentine

-- UPDATE --

I decided to take matters into my own hands and poke around under the hood myself. I popped the air filter/engine cover off and sure enough, I smelled raw gas big time. Using the phylacteries God gave me, I was able to determine that the smell is coming from the passenger rear injector/fuel damper area in about 10 minutes. I don't see any wetness, but its as plain as the nose on my face that the issue is coming from that area. I also need air filters

Now I have to figure out what to do about it. Is the fuel damper serviceable?

ncmudbug

He he he...

I would also suggest that if they take you into an office, that you not let them close the door. When I got my first Lotus, the dealer was jacking me around. They really were incompetent. When I went to complain, I went to the general manager's office and he closed the door so nobody outside could hear what idiots they were. I don't know how much latitude you might have, but I realized when he closed the door, I instantly had a whole lot less leverage.

jvalentine

-- UPDATE --

The rental placed called today. I was complaining that my complimentary loaner cost me 100.00 so the dealer refunded 35.XX - i suppose I am supposed to be grateful... anyway, the rental place told me that I was charged 25.XX because I didn't put gas in the car... I told him that the car was given to me as a loaner, not a rental, and that it didn't have a full tank when I got it... He agreed that it would be confusing since I was told it was a dealer loaner and not a rental, so he refunded my 25.XX back. So now I have reclaimed about 60.00 of my 100.00 "hold funds".

Now about the latest on the car repairs:

So I spent the evening looking for this fuel damper online and was about to give up when I found an entire fuel rail complete with injectors in eBay for 49.00 inc. shipping!! Not sure what the deal is with that. The injectors are worth about 50.00 ea. used. Anyway, I snapped it up for the fuel pressure damper, now I have some spare parts too. I attached the image from the eBay auction.

I also removed the passenger side washer sprayer to check it out, and I have to say that it is genius of the those engineers to put a defroster wire in the feed tube. Those guys think of everything. Anyway, I was able to blow through it somewhat, so I figure its not working because its blocked up a bit. I decided on soaking it in pure white vinegar for the night. I'll put the car back together in the morning and see if there was any change in the sprayer performance. It could be that there is some scaling inside the nozzle. If so, the vinegar should eat that away. I'll let you guys know how it worked tomorrow.

Thats all for now.

jvalentine

-- UPDATE --

So the night after I ordered the fuel rail, I got a call from M.B. asking me to answer some survey questions about my service experience...

I basically told them that it was the worst experience I had ever had with regards to service repair shops.

• morning appointment, didn't get my car in until it was so late in the day they had to keep my car overnight before they could even look at it.
• Poor communication.
• Charged my card for the rental even though they claimed it was complimentary.
• Left me feeling under valued as a customer.
• Took my money but didn't fix my problem.
• Failed to return my call regarding this issue.

I didn't hear anything for a few days. Then Monday, my fuel rail arrived. I was looking forward to going home and installing it to fix my issue myself. I walked through the door with box under arm, when my wife hands me the phone informing me that it was the MB service manager.

She basically told me that she was calling regarding my negative survey and wanted to hear me story - so, I obliged and she was shocked (I'm sure). She then told me that she understood that I lived an hour and a half away and wanted to know if I traveled to Annapolis often, I told her that I didn't get up that way too often and she said "then we will have to come get your car."

She proceeded to tell me that she wanted to give me a Mercedes dealer car to drive and that they would keep my car until her shop foreman can isolate and fix my fuel issue. Then they would bring my car back to me. I told her that that sounded great but asked how much more will I have to shell out for this service repair. She explained that it was her job to ensure that I am taken care of and that I wouldn't have to pay anything - that they would take care of everything. It was her job to see me sitting behind the wheel of my car a smiling happy camper.

Sounds great to me!!

-- UPDATE --

I also spoke with the service manager at the Toyota dealer.

Side note - you guys were right. I skulked around the showroom for about an hour and the salesmen were taking turns talking with me while I waited for the sales manager. He left for about 45 minutes at one point (probably hoping I would go away), but I stuck it out and he eventually made time to meet with me.

I was pleasant the whole time, I looked around on his desk for something we could identify with each other on, and found a coffee mug I liked so I complimented him on it. He offered me a 50% reimbursement, which I turned down, and proceeded to explain that we talked about the fuel smell before I signed the dotted - before I had a warranty. He listened to the whole story and told me that my story was not at all what he had been lead to believe. He agreed that I should be reimbursed for the whole amount, downloaded a picture of my bill, printed it, and asked me to come by this week to get a check.

We'll see...

mskembo

Sounds like this might turn out OK for you, I'm really glad. Hopefully soon you can just get down to enjoying your Mercedes!

jvalentine

-- UPDATE --

MB of Annapolis picked up my car today and left me a 2012 C300. Noe, I like the car, but I can't put my finger on why I like my 2006 C230 better. Still, its nice of them to drive all the way down here to do the deed. I doff my hat to them for the convenience.

-- UPDATE --

According to the Toyota dealer, my check for the full amount of the repair is in the mail. I will wait a few days for the check to arrive by snail mail before I go back over and make a scene. All indications suggest that they did indeed send me a check by USPS. Keeping my fingers crossed.

mskembo

Glad to hear things are looking up for you! Can't wait till you can get down to just enjoying your car!

jvalentine

Thanks man, me too!

jvalentine

-- UPDATE --

I got my check from the Toyota dealership and deposited it yesterday. So that part is done! Awesome!!

I got my car back from the MB dealership Friday. They claimed that the tank seal repair they did was faulty so they redid it. The funny thing is, I never smelled gas while approaching the car, nor have I ever seen any gas on the ground under the car... I only smell gas inside the car after its been running.

At first the dealer claimed they couldn't find a problem. Then I spoke to the mechanic, and explained where to look, and he eventually agreed that it smelled of gas.

The next thing I know, they want to charge me 750.00 to R&R the passenger side exhaust manifold to "do an exploratory" on the exhaust smell.

I told them to forget it and bring me my car back. They dropped my car off Friday. I popped the engine cover off to change the air filters and noticed that a tube going to some kind of black circular plastic thing right above the engine belt was popped off and pinched under the cover. So I replaced the air filters and put it back together the right way. Then tonight on the way home from our children's choir performance, the check engine light came on.

When am I going to catch a break with this car guys? I am really not getting much love from my MB...

What is that black thing anyway?

xijonix

I agree with you, I feel your pain over $6000 I've put into mine since I purchased it in September and still got to get two lower control arms = $2000 (4Matic) and front springs. I dont know why I paid so much but I fell for the car when it works it works amazing. Lets hope your repair bill doesn't go any higher than it is currently. I am just surprised how long you've held in there for.

ncmudbug

Boy, these are some horror stories. I feel fortunate that I got mine from CarMax and got their extended warranty. I probably broke even on the warranty after having the A/C and SRS harness fixed (and maybe a couple of other smaller things - I don't remember now). My wife's is a CPO and it's had no issues at all. It's expensive, but the peace of mind might be worth it.

xijonix

Used cars are always full of surprises doesn't matter the manufacture depends on how it was treated by the previous owner.

Yeah a lot of people seem to be having luck with CPO, at least I know for next time.

samaritrey

That is why I hate buying a used cars. luckily for me I have learned the art form from my dad and grandfather who bought and sold so many cars when I was a Kid I learned what to look for to spot issues a mile away. I went car shopping with a fried a few years ago and would ask him after we looked at a car and test drove it and everything what he noticed. He would give me like 1 or 2 issues while I had a list 10 pages long lol and had decided it was a women driver who ate in the car and was a neat freak so on so on lol

That all said when the going gets tough sell your silver under the seat
don't know why the Germans use a Chicago bank and a foundry in Switzerland? lol





I found this under my seat a few months after I bought my car. Even after the dealer had cleaned it somehow it was not found.
I know use it to cover up my HDD light on my desktop



Ok back on topic OP I feel so bad for you this sucks. We need to get a pic of what you are talking about and I hope you raise hell with the dealer that sold you this car this is ridiculous that a simple issue like this is still not fixed. A stand up dealer should have taken the car to the dealer given you a loaner and said we will call you when this is fixed. Heck I have seen a dealer do that for a friend that had a $5,000 car with issues a week after she bought it. It did take them over a week to get it back to her and the bill was around $650 but they paid it and never complained.

johnand

Did you scan the car to find what the CEL code was? Got a pic of the black plastic thing so we can see if we can help figure that out?

J.Christian

Man, sounds a lot like my story... I had a light come on as I was driving home from buying my car... It took several months and about $1400 of replacing stuff that probably didn't need it just to find out, get the light off and get the gas smell out... It was the plastic joint on a fuel pump finally and the raw gas was laying under the rear seat on the top of the gas tank. I smelled gas early on but charcoal canister, sensors, evap stuff, even a gas cap, etc. was replaced until finally finding the problem. The smell progressively got worse and I think it started out small with a vacuum compromise until it really got bad and the mechanic finally traced it down.

Regards,
JC

jvalentine

-- UPDATE --

I'll have to post a photo from my phone later.

The codes are:

P2190 - System too rich at idle bank 2.

P2188 - System too rich at idle bank 1.

I have been doing a lot of thinking on this considering my gas smell issue, and it may be that a faulty purge solinoid could be the problem. I will need to put a fuel pressure guage on it as an acid test, but if this were bad, it could cause high fuel pressure resulting in not only the codes, but also the gas smell.

High fuel pressure can cause fuel dampers to weep. They can also cause the EVAP system to purge excessively as a side effect. It would explain the intermittent gas smell, and the codes...

That said there could be other variables at work here. Such as a faulty fuel pressure regulator or a faulty mass airflow sensor. Though, these two other items may explain the codes, they don't necessarily explain the intermittent fuel smell up to this point.

Just sharing my thoughts on this for now; however, I think I ought to put a guage on the fuel rail just the same.

jvalentine

As promised here is the photo of the item in question...

jvalentine

-- UPDATE --

I bought a code scanner/eraser on the way to work today for $50.00. I erased the codes after having replaced the air filters (which are in front of the MAF sensor, so I doubt it is the problem). The air filters were OEM. It dosen't look like they have ever been replaced before. There were all kinds of bugs, horsefly's, helicopters, string, sand, and so on in the engine cover. It was a mess. There was a fly the size of my entire thumb in the right side air filter.

I drove it home for lunch after having reset the codes without problems, but when I pulled out of the driveway the car stalled. I haven't been in a car that stalled on me since my '64 Chevy II... Yikes!!

It started back up fine, and I haven't had any problems since. So I am going to take it out for a nice long drive to see if all is well.

I am cringing at the thought of buying a mass air flow sensor. They are almost 300.00 from the dealership.

jfelten

Your tale of woe makes me feel better about my purchase, but you are not alone.

Last October I bought an '07 c280 and something seems to go wrong every other month. Since purchasing last October I had to fight with the Mercedes dealer just to service the transmission correctly, and I also had to complain loudly on the dealer survey to get them to redo the work. After that the check engine light came on intermittantly and I replaced all 4 camshaft magnets per the excellent thread in this forum. My radio dies and comes back randomly, which is also common (could be a bad amp or a faulty fiber optic connection). A couple days ago the transmission shifter bezel broke. The poorly designed piece costs about $140 to replace, but fortunaately there is another thread in this forum that explains how to use paper clips to fix it. Oh and my fuel pump seems to be making a chattering noise as I slow down, which is another known weakness. Fortunately there is another thread on how to replace that when it finally dies. My transmission also shifts poorly, and I believe I'll have to replace the valve body at some point.

I wasn't expecting stellar reliability, but Mercedes has not lived up to my expectations. This is a 5 year old car with under 40K. It is a lovely car to drive, but I'm getting pretty cynical about Mercedes.

This forum and its moderators though are excellent and I am very grateful for the support.