This is the second time they are trying to jack me on a warranty issue..

I have the squeeky front bushings.. Covered under warranty or so I thought.. They are claiming my car is lowered.. I didn't even know.. must only be like 1/2 inch cause it sure doesnt look lowered.. They said I have after market springs so my warranty is voided. This is so much fing bullsheet I don't even know where to begin..

Does anyone have the stock springs that they would sell me cheap? I will throw those in and get the work done at another dealer I guess..

Anyone else have this problem with the dealer? I read a few posts were members were able to pursuade the Service Manager to fix even with mods..

Mercedes Benz of San Diego SUCKS!! Why isn't there another damn dealer within a half hour drive!!

Any help would be greatly appreciated..

 

Hey man, sorry about your troubles, what ever you do don't go to Hoehn Mercedes, I used to work in the service dept. They will r@pe you and treat your car like ***** the minute you leave. I suggest that you go to Mercedes in Escondido off the 15.

 

I agree with going to MB of Esco. So far so good for me.

 

Car dealers are the scum of the earth. You just need to pick the least scum of them all. I'm not just talking about MB. Even Toyota, Lexus, BMW. I've dealt with them all. 100% Scum.

 

Choosing amongst $stealer$hip$? I've always found it to be pretty much a choice of choosing between the lesser of two weevils....

 

I haven't had a problem with MB of SD yet......YET. Did you buy the car there??

I've heard good things about Escondido as well.

 

So now I have been speaking with another MB dealer that sold the Starmarked car since they sold the car modified stating that it was 100% factory.. They will let me know later today what they can do for me..

Wish me luck.. think i am going to need it!!

 

good luck

 

If it was Starmarked, and they sold you a warranty on it or it came w/ a factory warranty, they should honor it.

If not, get a lawyer.

 

1) Complain LOUDLY about generally poor Service and Warranty with your Service Advisor (so other customers and the Service Manager can overhear you).
2) Ask the Advisor for the Mercedes Factory District Rep's phone number. Ask for a copy of the W203 TSB which shows the bushing replacement.
3) Then calmly walk over to the Parts Department and buy the updated swaybar bushings for yourself, maybe $25 for the pair. (The parts guy already knows of the problem and revised-part solution). Be really nice to the parts guy, show that you are only upset with the fools in their organization.
4) go back to the Advisor and say " why did Mercedes change the original design if it is not "their problem".
5) Inform him he had better give you better service next time or he may not be giving you service at all. Dont forget to remind him he did all this for $25.
6) Walk away, and then later call the factory rep and stir the pot. Simmer to a full boil.

 

who's your service advisor over at mb of san diego? i use brent and he's been fantastic. he even argued with his manager on my friend's behalf to have his clk500 bought back because it was a lemon.

 

Updating this thread.. So took the car to MB of Escondido.. Man, what a world of difference.. I was treated with respect, the SA listened to what I had to say.

Just got off the phone with my new SA (Jeff) and he said that they determined that my lowering springs had nothing to do with the sway bar bushings going out.. (The other dealer blamed my springs and refused to cover) They also found that my motor mounts were compressed and needed to be replaced, there were other bushings besides the sway bar ones and they fixed them too. To top it off they are checking out my tranny and may replace it if they can't fix, and I got a FREE MB loaner car compared to the Mercury/Toyota I had to pay for at the other dealer.

So my conclusion: I will never go to MB of San Diego again because they are morons, even the Service Manager that wanted to argue with me.
MB of Escondido does it right! I highly recommend them for San Diego residents..

rrf.. your post was very helpful. Even though I got my car fixed properly and under warranty at the other dealer, I am still going to call the General Manager for MB of SD and give them a piece of my mind..

Thanks for all the helpful responses.

 

Good to hear. Very happy for you.

Just remember that you are still in the honeymoon period with your new dealership - and remind them to stay loving and faithful...if they need it, in the future....

 

Here was my experience with MB of SD this past Saturday. It was good AND bad.

I took my car into MB of Escondido for some warranty work last Wednesday. One of the things done was replace the bushings on my car. I guess this involved doing something with the sway bar which required disassembling the auto-leveling sensor for my headlights. To make a long story short, the guy who worked on my car reinstalled the auto-leveling sensor backwards and, as a result, my xenons were pointed straight down at the ground. I couldn't see anything beyond 3 feet.


THE BAD
As some of you know, MB of Escondido is no longer open on Saturdays. Being that I was going to lower my car later in the day I figured I would get the issue resolved otherwise it would be even more complicated. I took my car down to MB of SD as instructed by the person on the phone at 8am. I pulled up and one of the guys, who wasn't a SA, told me he would go check with a tech. He came back and told me he was going to charge me for half hours worth of labor!!!! OR I could wait until Monday to have Escondido fix it. WTFFFF. I was pretty annoyed at that point. I told him the person on the phone told me it was a safety issue and told me to come in immediately and it would be fixed under warranty. So I left pissed off.......

I go around the corner, pull over and call a friend that I know works at the MB of SD, told him the situation. He said he would call me back in a few minutes. Called me back and told me to come in and ask for Collette. So I go back in 10 minutes later and the same guy who helped me kind of looked at me like "what does he want now?" I just told him I needed to speak with Collette and I guess he knew now that he now had no choice and asked me for my key.

THE GOOD
Anyway, Collette was very helpful and took care of the problem. She actually put my car ahead of everyone else that was there because I told her I needed it by a certain time. That kind of changed my perception of MB of SD but it sure didn't start off too good. It just kind of sucks that you have to know someone in order to get service.

Larry from Escondido called me this morning and I told him it was fixed. He said the alignment guy usually takes care of the bushings and didn't know any better. BS....he had better learn then. I can't really say the entire Escondido experience was bad because that was the only thing I was unhappy about.

Sorry for the long post but I hope someone finds it helpful.

 

Colette was my first service advisor.. She was ok.. but I would ask her questions (Being a new Merc owner) and she acted like I was wasting her time with stupid questions. I ended up switching to a guy named Jorge who was easier to talk to, but doesn't seem to be able to get anything done.

I think the problem with MB of SD is the Head Tech/Shop forman. That's the guy that has twice claimed the work I needed done was not covered under my warranty. Twice I had to get a second opinion and go somewhere else. (Escondido)

Glad everything turned out ok..

 

Another issue that Collette brought up is that they are corporately owned versus Escondido and Hoehn. Corporations don't really give a damn except bottom line numbers. It's not an excuse but corporations aren't too personable and work their employees like slaves. The moral isn't where it needs to be in order to provide the good customer service.