Took my 2008 C350 for the Airbag Safety Recall and after 2 days Service adviser called me and told me there was an issue with the front seat buckle and needed to be replaced before they could go ahead and do the airbag recall. He said it was not cover by the recall and I needed to pay around $500 out of my pocket. I declined and picked up my car the next day. The work order says "Driver front seat buckle has a code shorted and must be replaced" He also said that even if they replace the seat buckle there could be more things wrong with the safety system and the bill could increase significantly.

I really don't want to pay for something that I didn't break, MB are the ones who installed a defective airbag on my car. Car has never been crashed nor there is no fault messages on the dash indicating there is an issue with the safety system. Has anyone have this issue? any suggestions on what I should do?

Thank you!

 

Buy a seat buckle and replace it yourself then take it back.

Otherwise, they have to replace the defective airbag regardless.

 

Is it really defective? I would think you'd have the seat belt light on all the time if it were defective. Sounds like a scam from a bad dealer

 

You can try contacting MB corporate customer services telling them the story. I tried before and they are very good.

 

Dealerships are privately owned and can do as they please. Call MB corporate customer services and they will put that dealer in its place.

 

Hey guys, thank you for your replies. I did call MB corporate and they talked with management at the dealership. The dealership ended up replacing the seat buckle and did the recall for free.

 

Good you have the recall done. I believe the seat buckle is part of seat belt which is of lifetime warranty of any car manufacturers.

 

I didn't know that, they wanted $500+ to replace it tho

 

Some not all manufacturers have lifetime warranties. Honda is a lifetime, GM and Ford are not