nboyd

MB Forum, last weekend I bought a C-Coupe from RAB Motors, San Rafael.

When I signed the PO I said I would not take the car until it had the after market leather done from CST. The car is now done but the Sales Manager says I have to sign a waiver on the airbags.

They will not let me buy the car with leather over the door panels. They claim the information CST have provided them is not worth the paper it is written on.

RAB have asked Sacremento and Belmont and both claim they do not allow CST to do the panels.

Basically I signed the car papers last week (not waiver) and they will only let me take the car if MB replace the panels with cloth but not as is.

They claim this CST do not have MB approval and MB USA have told them not to allow the car to go out without me signing a waiver.

I would love some feedback on this as I was of the understanding from this list that CST had permisson to do the door panels.

Thanks

Nathan

nboyd

I also feel like asking for my money back but I am concerned that I have signed all of the documentation.

I had a C-Coupe on order at Laguna Niguel but I opted to get it sooner.

Nathan

greg230

every dealership i ahve spoken to in the greater philly area has told me that if i go the aftermarket leather route, i go it alone.

they explained that they have heard horror stories of leather shops messing up the seat heaters, and power controls, and they also commented about the airbag issue.

if the waiver says that MB is not responsible if you side airbags dont deploy, i wouldnt be too worried. CST has stated time and time again that they use a special breakaway thread for the airbag panels, and that they should function as normal.

if the waiver says MB wont warranty the airbags, in case of sensor failure or some other crap, then i would tell em to drive the car where the sun dont shine

look at it this way, CST is insured, if they say the airbags are done right, and dont deploy, they have a big lawsuit on their hands.... Mercedes is just insuring you dont sue the dealership.

greg

nboyd

Well they claim if one incident happens then everyone is going to want a piece of CST and they may be insured now but the policy won't be worth anything.

As I say RAB MB claims the policy is not worth the paper it is written on. They are encouraging me not to even sign the documentation and get the cloth re-installed over the panels.

Nathan

nboyd

They also said that with CST leather they would not take the car in for a trade in. They claim that it would not be starmarked.

Nathna

renncpe

I would not be to concerned about it. If the air bags fired and could not expand because of the leather, it would clearly be on the fault of CST. On the other hand if the bags failed to fire that is something else completely. Break away stitching is not that high tech. It sounds like they would like you to sign a blanket release not a big deal if it was a MB problem they would still be responsible.

Randy

Fuzzo

Nathan -

Have you asked your dealer a place that is approved by MB USA...do they have such things?

nboyd

They claim this is why they don't normally do after market leather.

The Sales Manager says if he had known this was happening it would never have got past his desk.

Bit late now because I have a car sitting on their lot with CST leather, at my request. Of course they actually contacted CST and arranged for the leather to be done. Considering I have signed everything and requested the CST leather I doubt it would be easy to just get another car with factory leather.

I said I will not sign the waiver and I was not happy. If this was going to be a problem they should not have let me sign everything and then get the leather done.

I was fully expecting them to just hand over the car tomorrow and say thanks for the $32k and please come back for services. Instead I have to wait until they speak to the regional manager and then he will bring it up with MBUSA. Nothing will happen until next week at the moment.

I am not sure whether to sign the waiver and try and collect the car tomorrow, contest the purchase and walk away or try and make a noise with MBUSA about it.

Nathan

benzomonterey

If they give you too much crap. Walk away find another car and go to CST on your own in Hayward. They have done tons of cars with seat airbags and everything else. The CST hayward location does around 150 cars a week. At the time they installed my leather the manager said they had done 16 coupes for the bay area.

Have you tried calling them direct on your own and questioning them??

Also who exactly would be reinstalling your cloth? The grease monkey in the back ??

Sounds like a crock of .......... to me.

Tony De Mattei

Hi Nathan,

So sorry to hear of your situation. Sounds like the fair resolution is for the dealer to have the leather re-done at one of their "MB approved" leather installers (at their cost).

Please keep us all posted.

Best of luck!

nboyd

Is there an MB installer? What happens to leather that is factory and goes wrong?

This could work if there is one but I would not be happy waiting for this car. I could have waited a couple more weeks and bought my ordered car from Laguna and paid less than I am currently paying with factory approved leather.

I am paying more to get what? A 32k car that MB would not take back and is not even covered by them? I think the only solution is to walk and they will either accept it or kick up a storm that I signed the papers and had non approved leather installed and they can't sell it now.

Nathan

nboyd

I have left a message with the sales manager that I am going to walk. I have signed all the papers but have not taken delivery.

My understanding is that nothing is finalized until I take delivery of the car.

Anyone else no anymore about this?

Thanks

Nathan

gab

If you dont care about two-tone leather why not wait for a car with factory leather? C Coupe is not that hard to get.

I would avoid dealing with Bay Area dealers and they are all p.o.s given the current economic situation the So Cal dealers are not willing to wheel and deal.

There are still a lot of Bay Area dealers charge very close to MSRP for a 2 year used car and some dealers could still put $2000 mark-up on a 19K VW Jetta.

nboyd

The car is not two tone; it is oyster leather after market.

The dealership approved this leather without telling me I would have to sign a waiver. I have been clear that leather is essential and had to be approved for me to take the car, but they only brought this up after the leather had been installed.

It is MB RABs problem and they have not called me back today to try and resolve it.

I am going to lodge a complaint at MBUSA, insist on my deposit back, and if I receive any charges from my loan company for cancelling my loan I will bring it up with MBUSA with the expectation of compensation.

Anyone know someone at MBUSA who might be able to help?

Anyone experienced something similar and have advice in these situations?

Thanks

Nathan

renncpe

It can only be one or the other. If it’s your car they can’t add stips after the fact. Ask for your keys and leave. If it’s not your car it’s their problem with the leather and the subsequent sale.

Randy

nboyd

The RAB Sales Manger phoned me 8 hours after I had left my first message, had him paged a dozen times and contacted my salesman on his cell phone.

The Sales manager assures me I will not be out of pocket and that he recognizes they are at fault. The sale should not have been made without clarifying the situation and they should not have approved CST without this.

He says on Monday they will try and obtain approval from MB regarding the CST leather but either way I will not be out of pocket.

I blame it on my salesman who just did not want to do any work once I had sat down with the finance person. To be honest the Sales Manager does appear to be a decent guy.

Thanks for your advice and I will let you know what happens.

Nathan

galaxygrrl

Nathan,

Wow, I'm sorry to hear you story. I got my leather through SF Benz and I did not need to sign anything. it's seems they add after market leather all the time. CST did my door panels. It's amazing how our stories from two dealrships eight miles apart are so different. I was told the CST was approved by MBUSA. Now I'm a bit worried. I actually had an issue with the dealership over perforation, so I my dealership about the warrenty issue on Monday.

Hang in there.

nboyd

RAB motors are going to contact MBUSA on Monday. On Saturday I called MBUSA and was told the dealership buys the car from them and it is up to the dealership what they do with it.

The MBUSA Customer Service Rep told me that MBUSA is not responsible for the dealerships. She said that with aftermarket leather installed, MB do not warranty the airbags or any other component in contact with the leather including airbags, and seats. The rep says that MBUSA do not approve aftermarket leather.

I asked if I could register a complaint and the customer services woman said my issue would go on file. If they receive more complaints they may investigate the matter further.

On Firday night RAB Motors told me they had spoken to MB and MB does not approve the leather. On Saturday, after I told them I would walk from the deal, they claim they need to speak to MBUSA on Monday in a more "official" capacity. I told them of my earlier conversation, but they described that as a default response, suggesting they might get a different result from someone higher up.

On Friday they must have been confident I would sign the waiver and that would be the end of it, so I doubt they called anyone in the first place.

I have also left a message on the main number of CST explaining the situation as of Saturday morning.

I'll let you know what happens.

Nathan

nboyd

I am now going back to Laguna Niguel and buying the car from them. I was not going to cancel the order until I had taken delivery of the car from RAB.

Looks like that was a good idea now.

Today I spoke to CST head office and RAB motors spoke to someone senior at MBUSA.

CST leather are not approved on any MB cars. This comes from both MBUSA and CST. MBUSA claim that any dealers who have aftermarket installed over the panels are doing so alone and without backing from MBUSA. MBUSA recommend against doing this.

Therefore anyone who is thinking of buying a new C-Coupe without leather and are considering CST aftermarket you need to be aware that if the leather is over the panels you are voiding the warranty by MB on the airbags.

If you have any questions regarding my experience I would be happy to answer them either on or off list.

Nathan

SFVideoGuy

Who was your salesperson at RAB? I'm taking delivery of my C-coupé this weekend with factory leather. Alex (the sales manager at RAB) does seem to be a decent guy--and it amazes me that there would be a blanket MBUSA policy that dealers would either hide--or be ignorant of!

nboyd

My sales guy was called Richard Gasaway. Honestly that is his name, and he moved from Santa Monica to the Bay area to start a family because he believes it will be more affordable.

Who moves from So Cal to the bay area to do this?

Alex was the one who sorted it out. They are going to sell the orion blue car with the leather but not over the panels. Alex said that having spoken to MBUSA they would not even allow me to sign a waiver for the panels.

Nathan

nboyd

Guys, after all this hassle I am now picking up a Magma Red C-Coupe with factory Oyster leather from Laguna Niguel.

$100 over invoice.

It just goes to show it is worth keeping to what you want and not giving in to the easy deal.

I'll post the pictures when I have taken delivery.

Nathan

Lynn

I'm glad it worked out for you. Magma red is the second best color. I wish I could have gotten $100 over invoice, but MSRP is the price I paid for buying early and living in the remote provinces.

MB-BOB

Lynn, "remote provinces" is cute. But at least you could drive your Coupe between the legs of the Gateway Arch... well, not legally, but...

The arch is now listed among the "Modern Wonders" of the world. Not bad for "Fly Over Country," eh? See...

Seven Wonders

nboyd, I'm glad your ordeal over this is nearing an end. It was educational for all of us here who are/were thinking of aftermarket leather.... Certainly got us all thinking. The Magma Red is Cool! And $100 over invoice should salve your wounds!

renncpe

100.00 over invoice, I glad for you. They must be really stupid. I never thought I would see the day you could buy a Mercedes just like a Nissan Sentra @ 100.00 over. How many do they get each month 20 thats 2000.00 dollars.