drpasteur

the dealer didn't have me sign any paperworks for Tele Aid activation when i got my '08 C300. over last weekend, my house got broken into and the thieve got the keys to the car and drove it away.

now would it possible for me to call Tele Aid and have them activate the system NOW after the vehicle got stolen so they can locate the vehicle?

RLE

Tele-Aid would normally be activated during the delivery process and you would have known it because you have to provide a password, verbally.

What does your dealer have to say about this?

drpasteur

i did not even know that there's Tele Aid available in my car, because nobody told me so!

now i know because i called back the dealer i bought with the salesman and he told me, "oh your car is equipped with Tele-Aid...you didn't know that?" I was like ..."uh, no. you didn't tell me that when you sold me the car"

then he said "oops, sorry"

chilledbenz

Tele Aid is not a standard option on U.S. Spec C classes. It is a $650 build option and from my understanding due to all the electronics it uses, can't be added after the build.

Sucks to hear about the theft though, at this point you probably don't want it back anyways.

drpasteur

no, the salesman told me on the phone that my C300 is equipped with Tele Aid but he DIDN'T TELL ME at the time of sale - therefore, the Tele Aid WAS NOT activated. Now the car is stolen. would i be able to activate Tele Aid now???

2bShawn

call them (tele-aid 800.756.9018) even if it's not activated they can still track the car. If the theifs are pro's it might be disabled by now.

chilledbenz

To be honest most salesmen have no idea what they are selling and don't even realize that options differ from one model to the next. To be fair the Tele Aid was a standard option on the outgoing w203, but was dropped from the standard list for the w204. The only reason I say this is because if your car was indeed equipped with Tele Aid, then any good salesman would have offered to sign you up. Best way to tell is if you still have your window sticker, other wise you are going to need a vin# and hope someone at MB can figure it out for you. Tele Aid isn't ran by MB, but you could call them and try to explain what has happened, but honestly I don't think they would be of much help seeing how it wasn't registered with them.

drpasteur

i did call Tele-Aid and they said that if the car is not activated with Tele Aid, we need to be in the car to press all 3 buttons to activate. if we can't do this, there's no ways that they can activate Tele Aid and if Tele Aid is not activated, they can't track the vehicle.

SteveAustin

Well, it's probably on its way to Colombia or South East Asia. Hopefull you had gap insurance (if financed).

You really can't expect the salesman to go over every feature with you, that's what the manual is for....

Besides, if it was insured properly, you'll get a new car without anything out of pocket. Good luck.

chilledbenz

Actually any good salesman would go over the whole car with you, especially any add on options such as Tele Aid.

Sounds like it wasn't a professional car ring and more like a stroke of bad luck. It was there, the keys were there, so they took it. I'm with you though, not much of a market here in the states for MB parts, most get shipped over seas or parted out and shipped over seas. At any rate you don't want the car back at this point anyways.

RLE

Not to put too fine a point on it or anything, but something that is standard is not an option. And vice-versa.

My W203 indeed had Tele-Aid as standard equipment but I wearied of the annual $275 (or so) fee for zero talk time. And when MB generously offered to upgrade it to digital at some huge fee in April 2007, I said cancel the service.

And I did not order it for my W204 (an OPTION) because I think it should be standard, just as OnStar is standard at no cost in most Chevrolets.

OnStar and TeleAid are administered by the same Texas outfit, so I'm told.

drpasteur

Well, I have to wait 30 days before the insurance will pay out the money. meanwhile, i already got another car. It's 2007 S550, fully loaded with 22K miles (leased car), and this time I prepaid and activated the TeleAid

drpasteur

Should I sue the dealer for NOT telling me TeleAid is equipped - therefore TeleAid was NOT activated due to their fault...?