t168t

(please excuse me for my layman's account of my transmission problems for i am not an expert.) i recently bought an automatic c240 2003 in late 2002 to drive to UCLA ( my school) from my house. at around 5,000 miles, i was trying to get onto the 405 freeway, yes the busiest freeway in the world, and my transmission fails. i pressed on the gas and the thing would not move and reved to 5-6,000rpm. i pressed on the gas because i had to move and suddenly the car lunged forward very fast (more than it should have for the amount of pressure i was using). i was almost hit because the car kept stopping and lunging forward when trying to pull to the side. then, i shut the car off and turned the car on and everything seemed normal, so i continued to drive, but not on the freeway. about a mile or two later, the same problem happens, so i had the car towed. the tow truck took 3 hours to arrive (mercedes roadside assistance didn't get a towman that was closest to me or even had me towed to the closest mercedes location, which i found odd) because of traffic and i, a 21 year old female was stranded in LA at night...very scary. the car was in the shop for around two week and was diagnosed with a bad trasmission computer. apparently, it had bad "codes." so, after getting it back, i was able to drive back home normally. i took the car out a little later and the same problem occured; when i went to make a turn, the car would not accelerate when putting my foot on to the gas, so i bought it back to mercedes benz. this time, they said that the problem was the main computer that acted as a sort of node giving secondary computers "bad codes." so, presumably, they fixed that. now, at 17,000ish miles, my car did the same thing almost causing me to get into another accident and requireming me to spend another 1 and a half hours waiting for a tow truck and being stranding in L.A. at night. as for loaners, the first time, i was initially given a saturn until i complained that i wasn't going to drive a saturn for two weeks. the second time i was able to get a mercedes 240, and now, i am currently stuck with a dodge neon with basically automatic nothing. my family has purchased mercedes' for decades and we currently own 7 between my boyfriend's immediate family and my own. all these others care has been mostly reliable (pretty much what you expect from a mercedes) but the c240 has been horrible, and i am seriously dissapointed with this model. it has caused me to nearly get into two accident for the same problem and this problem has occured on three seperate instances thus far. also, i have had problems with mercedes' service. not only have they not fixed the problem, but i've also had persistant problems with my air conditioning which smells like mold whenever i turn it on initially. first, mercedes told me to sprazy ozium or something like that in the vent because it might be a bacteria problem, so they sprayed it and i even bought a can of that stuff to spray in, but that didn't work. the second time i sent it in for the same problem, they ssaid that they could not find the problem. the third time i went in, they replaced the air filter, and now, my car is in the shop for both the tranmission problem and the air conditioning problem. i'll have to see if they finanally figure out what's wrong with it. also, after my first checkup at 12,000 miles, whoever looked over my car never turned reset the onboard comptuer, so every so often, the onboard computer would tell me that i have to go to the shop and beep at me, which was extremely distracting and inconvient because i had to go back and have it reset. i also have had another onboad computer problem saying something about my brakes, but i don't remember what the computer said, but that has not reoccured luckily and mercedes said that it was common. i really don't know what to do with this junky car. i've had it a little over 1 year and it hasn't yet reached 18,000 miles and now i'm scared to drive it because i don't want to get into a car accident. i believe my car to be dangerous and since i drive the freeway almost daily to go to school, i am very concerned over my safty. i believe that i will check into the lemon law for this problem because i don't see an end to these car problems in sight and the car has put me in danger twice now. i hope no one has to deal with all the junk i've had to deal with. if anyone knows anything about mercedes and the lemon law or legal action, could you please post a message. thank you so much.

moomeh

https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...ht=a%2Fc+smell

for one of your problems. ie, a/c smell


as for tranny problems and lemon laws, i have no idea. it varies from state to state.

moomeh

https://mbworld.org/forums/search.ph...by=&sortorder=


search results of tranmission and lemon laws. galaxygirl i believe lives in cali and lemoned her car. she was successful.

CRB

I hope that that fine university introduces you to paragraphs and capitalization. J/K

Sad tale but Mercedes can't fix some cars and that is a fact.

KWiK

call these guys, http://www.californialemonlawattorneys.com They will tell you if you have a valid lemon law case. It won't cost you anything.

tifosiv122

I was about to say the same thing...my head was hurting.

Erik

tifosiv122

More specific reply:

The following is intended to give you a general example of a State "Lemon Law." It is Section 1793.22 of California's Civil Code that makes up California's Lemon Law. REMEMBER, Lemon Laws and their application vary from state to state.


California's Lemon Law - California Civil Code Section 1793.22
California's consumer warranty law requires the manufacturer of a new motor vehicle leased or sold with a manufacturer's written warranty to repair the vehicle during the warranty period so that it conforms to the warranty within the first 18 months of purchase or 18,000 miles, whichever occurs first. The vehicle may be a new car, van, truck or the chassis portion of a motorhome, but it must have been purchased or leased for nonbusiness use.

If the manufacturer or dealer cannot fix the vehicle to conform to the warranty within a "reasonable" number of repair attempts, then the manufacturer must replace the vehicle or reimburse the buyer or lessee for its purchase price, whichever the consumer prefers (less a mileage offset for the consumer's use of the vehicle prior to the first repair attempt), subject in certain cases to arbitration that the consumer may or may not accept.

The Lemon Law uses a presumption as a guideline for determining whether a "reasonable" number of repair attempts have been made on a new vehicle. In order for the buyer or lessee to use the Lemon Law presumption, all of the following must be true:


The vehicle must be one that qualifies as a "new motor vehicle" as described above.

The vehicle's problems must be covered by the manufacturer's warranty.

The problem(s) must occur within the first 18 months of delivery or 18,000 miles on the odometer, whichever occurs first.

The problem(s) must substantially reduce the use, value, or safety of the vehicle to the buyer.

The problem(s) are not caused by abuse of the vehicle.

The manufacturer has not fixed the problem(s) after four or more attempts or the vehicle's problem(s) could cause death or serious bodily injury if driven and the manufacturer or dealer has made at least two unsuccessful repairs attempts; or the vehicle has been in the shop for more than 30 days (not necessarily in a row) for repair of any problem(s) covered by its factory warranty and if the warranty or owner's manual requires you to do so, that you have notified the manufacturer about your problems. (Best done in writing.)

If all of these criteria are met, the Lemon Law "presumes" during the first 18 months/18,000 miles (whichever comes first) that the buyer or lessee is entitled to a replacement vehicle or a refund. However, a replacement or refund may not be automatic since the manufacturer is entitled to prove that no problem exists, that a reasonable number of repair attempts have not been made, or that the problem does not substantially impair the vehicle's use, value or safety. This is predicated upon the consumer's decision to utilize the manufacturer's arbitration program, which they are not required to do unless they decide to pursue the "presumption" rule.
Even if the vehicle does not fit the 18 month/18,000 mile "presumption" criteria, consumers may still be entitled to a buy back if the vehicle has been subject to a reasonable number of repair attempts ANY TIME during the entire New Vehicle Limited Warranty period, which is typically 3 years/36,000 miles, or 4 years/50,000 miles, depending on the manufacturer.

Note that if the manufacturer of the vehicle offers a certified arbitration program, the buyer or lessee must utilize the arbitration program only if they wish to use the "presumption" rule, which is in effect only during the first 18 months/18,000 miles of purchase/lease date. After that date (and during the entire period of the balance of the manufacturer's New Vehicle Limited Warranty period), there is no requirement that a consumer must utilize arbitration, so a consumer may directly contact a Lemon Law attorney if they wish. If the consumer wants to use a Lemon Law attorney during the first 18 months/18,000 mile of purchase/lease of the vehicle, they may also do so if they wish, if their vehicle meets the requirements of the Lemon Law.

Note: Consumers must be aware that 3 potential decisions are awarded as a result of a arbitration hearing. 1. Repurchase or replacement of vehicle; 2. Denial of request for repurchase or replacement of vehicle; 3. Repair decision "award", allowing the manufacturer another attempt to repair the vehicle. The automobile manufacturer may also try to "settle" the consumers case by offering "solutions" such as a free Service Contract, refunded payments, "next vehicle" discount coupons or other offers to avoid the arbitration (whether before or during the Arbitration). Consumers should know that arbitration is not publicly funded by any state or governmental agency, but rather by contributions made by the automobile manufacturers.

Consumers must also be aware that though the arbitrator's decision is not binding on the consumer, that any documents, audio recordings, statements by any/all parties, the consumers decision to reject a repair attempt decisions, etc., can be used by the automobile manufacturer against the consumer in a later civil court action.

Many Lemon Law attorneys will offer free consultations via toll-free phone numbers to consumers prior to a consumer deciding whether they wish to utilize arbitration for their individual lemon law case. The Lemon Law attorney can also advise what the proper monetary restitution should be in their case prior to the consumer's decision to utilize the arbitration process.

Matt230K

Ditto, I had to keep blinking my eyes to focus on which line I was on.

nevide

Guys, in case you don't know, internet explorer has a feature that can enlarge html texts. Under view->text size?

Anyway I think you should definately ask a lemon lawyer about it.

tifosiv122

Enlarging it still doesn't help with the problems in the paragraph...it will still be one huge block of text.

Erik