GLYCOL CONTAMINATION & THE DEALER WHO DID THE PPI MUST HAVE KNOWN ABOUT THIS ISSUE!
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Newbie
Joined: Jun 2008
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CLK500
GLYCOL CONTAMINATION & THE DEALER WHO DID THE PPI MUST HAVE KNOWN ABOUT THIS ISSUE!
About a Month ago I flew to LA to pick up my new car. An 03' CLK500 which was a private party deal. I had the owner of the car take it down to Penske West Convina Mercedes for a Pre-Purchase Inspection.
When I arrived, they told me the car was in EXCELLENT condition and everything checked out. Now one month later, my local dealership, Ken Garff Mercedes in Salt Lake is telling me that they found the dreaded "glycol contamination" in my transmission and that the whole trans was rusted and corroded. This is a KNOWN problem to MBUSA and it's dealers for this year, and I have the internal mercedes documentation stating so, but MBUSA, knor Penske/Ken Garff are not even willing to help me out because I'm not the original owner. Who gives a **** what owner I am your company still produced the problem and installed the defective part in hundreds if not thousands of C, E, CLK & AMG's!
I really believe that this should have been a recall but because Mercedes no longer cares about their consumers who are paying top dollar for what the Mercedes name has came to be, and the dealer who inspected the car, knowing this was an issue, still told me go ahead and purchase the car. How in the hell was an issue like this missed? And they are trying to say that it could have been caused within the time period i've had the car? I don't think so. A whole transmission does NOT rust in that time period.
The car is out of warranty, but why did I pay money to Penske if this car was a P.O.S.? And what recourse if any do I have against them or MBUSA for these issues?
When I arrived, they told me the car was in EXCELLENT condition and everything checked out. Now one month later, my local dealership, Ken Garff Mercedes in Salt Lake is telling me that they found the dreaded "glycol contamination" in my transmission and that the whole trans was rusted and corroded. This is a KNOWN problem to MBUSA and it's dealers for this year, and I have the internal mercedes documentation stating so, but MBUSA, knor Penske/Ken Garff are not even willing to help me out because I'm not the original owner. Who gives a **** what owner I am your company still produced the problem and installed the defective part in hundreds if not thousands of C, E, CLK & AMG's!
I really believe that this should have been a recall but because Mercedes no longer cares about their consumers who are paying top dollar for what the Mercedes name has came to be, and the dealer who inspected the car, knowing this was an issue, still told me go ahead and purchase the car. How in the hell was an issue like this missed? And they are trying to say that it could have been caused within the time period i've had the car? I don't think so. A whole transmission does NOT rust in that time period.
The car is out of warranty, but why did I pay money to Penske if this car was a P.O.S.? And what recourse if any do I have against them or MBUSA for these issues?
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 6,213
Likes: 8
LET C32 2002
Man that sucks
Stealerships are always theives...they treat you well til you pay then many seem to forget you added to the total made that year...I am sorry you were dealt such a bad hand. Maybe filling a complain to BBB might help. I had to pay for a coolant leak I had after I bought my car and thourough research provided me that if the car was inspected as that Stealership said then I wouldn't of have to paid money to repair it at all but after sending several emails and voice messages to them I gave up and soaked up the loss. Stealerships can't continue like this cause they will be treated as the world see certain makes and thats worthless to the point its value/reliabillity/credibillity to the consumer goes way south.
Stealerships are always theives...they treat you well til you pay then many seem to forget you added to the total made that year...I am sorry you were dealt such a bad hand. Maybe filling a complain to BBB might help. I had to pay for a coolant leak I had after I bought my car and thourough research provided me that if the car was inspected as that Stealership said then I wouldn't of have to paid money to repair it at all but after sending several emails and voice messages to them I gave up and soaked up the loss. Stealerships can't continue like this cause they will be treated as the world see certain makes and thats worthless to the point its value/reliabillity/credibillity to the consumer goes way south.
Super Member
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 695
Likes: 0
From: Delran, NJ
05 C55
first step is to find out what their inspection consists of. if that wasnt part of their inspection, you dont have too much to work with. if they sampled the trans fluid and didnt catch it, or faked the records, then you have something. i work at a dealership, not mercedes, but a large manufacturer. honestly, they wouldnt warrant it either. go back to the dealer that did the inspection, they should have caught the problem.
About a Month ago I flew to LA to pick up my new car. An 03' CLK500 which was a private party deal. I had the owner of the car take it down to Penske West Convina Mercedes for a Pre-Purchase Inspection.
When I arrived, they told me the car was in EXCELLENT condition and everything checked out. Now one month later, my local dealership, Ken Garff Mercedes in Salt Lake is telling me that they found the dreaded "glycol contamination" in my transmission and that the whole trans was rusted and corroded. This is a KNOWN problem to MBUSA and it's dealers for this year, and I have the internal mercedes documentation stating so, but MBUSA, knor Penske/Ken Garff are not even willing to help me out because I'm not the original owner. Who gives a **** what owner I am your company still produced the problem and installed the defective part in hundreds if not thousands of C, E, CLK & AMG's!
I really believe that this should have been a recall but because Mercedes no longer cares about their consumers who are paying top dollar for what the Mercedes name has came to be, and the dealer who inspected the car, knowing this was an issue, still told me go ahead and purchase the car. How in the hell was an issue like this missed? And they are trying to say that it could have been caused within the time period i've had the car? I don't think so. A whole transmission does NOT rust in that time period.
The car is out of warranty, but why did I pay money to Penske if this car was a P.O.S.? And what recourse if any do I have against them or MBUSA for these issues?
When I arrived, they told me the car was in EXCELLENT condition and everything checked out. Now one month later, my local dealership, Ken Garff Mercedes in Salt Lake is telling me that they found the dreaded "glycol contamination" in my transmission and that the whole trans was rusted and corroded. This is a KNOWN problem to MBUSA and it's dealers for this year, and I have the internal mercedes documentation stating so, but MBUSA, knor Penske/Ken Garff are not even willing to help me out because I'm not the original owner. Who gives a **** what owner I am your company still produced the problem and installed the defective part in hundreds if not thousands of C, E, CLK & AMG's!
I really believe that this should have been a recall but because Mercedes no longer cares about their consumers who are paying top dollar for what the Mercedes name has came to be, and the dealer who inspected the car, knowing this was an issue, still told me go ahead and purchase the car. How in the hell was an issue like this missed? And they are trying to say that it could have been caused within the time period i've had the car? I don't think so. A whole transmission does NOT rust in that time period.
The car is out of warranty, but why did I pay money to Penske if this car was a P.O.S.? And what recourse if any do I have against them or MBUSA for these issues?
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 383
Likes: 0
From: Peoria, Arizona
RENNtech C32 AMG
A glycol contamination test is a separate test that costs between $100-150 depending on how many times the dealer raises the price from when you call, for it, to when you stop in for it to when you get the bill. (Sorry, Rant!) That test is not included in a pre-inspection test, unless the dealer specifically says it will be.
Member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 155
Likes: 12
A black car
You don't have any recourse against MBUSA. Against the dealership maybe if you can prove intent on their part to mislead you. Otherwise you're out of luck.
Another question is did you know about this issues with these cars before you purchased it? If so did you ask the dealer to specifically check for it?
Another question is did you know about this issues with these cars before you purchased it? If so did you ask the dealer to specifically check for it?
Last edited by JohnEnglish; Jul 1, 2008 at 03:45 PM.
