My local MB is trying to fix the problem they are also where i baught the car from. The problem is they cant find the part to fix the car! No one has it!

They must have parts somewhere in the MB chain. I've noticed some MB dealers like to say there are no parts when there are clearly are parts. A while back I needed a gas tank with fuel sender assembly for my C32. I was initially told that:

(1) the part was C32-specific the dealership had none in stock;
(2) the local region had none in stock;
(3) a nationwide search found the closest one to be on the West coast;
(4) and they refused to pay for overnight shipping even though the car was down only because the technician destructively removed the gas tank so that the old one couldn't be reinstalled, and he did so before checking for stock

So I waited with the car down for them to ground ship the gas tank.

The technican tries installing the gas tank only to notice some significant time into the job that its the wrong gas tank because some parts won't fit. So they rip that partially installed gas tank back out and I'm back in the same state I was but out several days of down time.

Magically, the exceptionally rare C32-only gas tank plus fuel sender assembly suddenly appears that same day in the next city over (Baltimore), and they get it delivered immediately, and the part is installed.

Now, what are the chances that a regional search turned up no parts, a national search turned up a part only on the other coast, and then that part suddenly appears "next door"? You be the judge.

If I were you I'd research my lemon laws and if you can qualify solely based on down time, I'd start marking off the time and performing whatever notice required to excerise that option. Once the dealer knows that they might have to accept the car back as a lemon return, I wouldn't be surprised if the part magically shows available the next day.

Do you really believe that a part would be absent in both the US and Germany? What happens if anyone who bought the car in the US and Germany had an accident which destroys that part? Its just not credible.

Mr. cschow:

You may be very well correct Mr. cschow.... infact, as I mentioned before, there seems to be a "lack" of effort to have parts and repairs done on MBs, and especially under warranty. Those terms used "delayed", "back ordered", "not in stock", "not available" and all the other ones they pull I have proven more than once isn't accurate.

The good thing is that in each case, or each of us, we all have ways to deal and get something resolved... or so it seems...

Cheers!

Wiedermann

I always say that no matter how good a car is... a couple of visits to a dealership with BAD service will ruin the whole experience.

Used to own a BMW for a few years... never thought of buying a Mercedes.

After TWO years of pain and suffering, I bought my SLK32 in 2001. Next came the C32 in 2002 and now the 2005 C55.

I just called the owners son of the dealership where i got my car from and where my car is right now hes gonan go down there tommarow and see whats going on with the part hopefully something will happen!

file a lemon law complaint right away..... if they can't get it fixed in time, you might get a new one quicker....

a while ago my gas gauge was erratic, they took the car in, found out it was the gas tank, it took 3 weeks for them to get the part from germany and return the car to me....

Its been 3 weeks since my dealer has had my car. Im still driving the loaner!!!! The eta for the shock strut is next Wednesday! Its going to be a month next Monday since they had my car! This is extremely insane. I called MBUSA and complained so much!! I can’t wait till i get the survey to how the service was!! And also this one time i called MBUSA some freakin idiot gets on the phone and tells me oh yes the part is available all over the US. They said we notified your dealer and im like well they don’t have the part. So i make them call the dealer the next day and guess what MBUSA is a ****kin idiot. They didn't have the part and they had no clue to what they were talking about. My service advisor told them to call me back saying they made a mistake and guess what I did not receive a call from them but I had to call my service advisor my self. My service advisor was soo frustrated and pissed off. They are providing me with horrible service and I am really ticked off!!!!!!!!!! I just want my car back! I did not pay 60K for this ****!

ouch, id make them lemon it. downtime of that long is awful.

MB USA is truly clueless. Has the Dealership called you with updates? There are always going to be some glitches with the 1st model year of any car. The key is how it's dealt with. Does the Dealer realize what a profound disappointment this is for you? They should offer to upgrade your loaner, give you credits for MB merchandise, and throw in some free service. A small price for them to pay for maintaining customer satisfaction. As I'm typing this, I say to myself : "Get real. As long as they keep selling cars, they could care less." I hope that "realistic" side of myself is wrong this time. Hang in there. This will soon be a fading bad memory.

I understand its new car there isn’t even a part number for the part. It’s not my dealers part Mercedes cant provide the part to them. Its MB's fault altogether that they don’t have the part. If they make something shouldn’t they have replacement parts for it? No i have gotten no complimentary anything!! My loaner is a c240 and no upgrade was provided. My dealer does inform me about updates but they tell me they cant do anything and that i should complain to MBUSA! Which I do and I get nothing out of it!

damn! that sucks!!!! u should have just got an aftermarket suspension when it happened and never left it there! :p

This is pure Bull****... not sure if its the dealer or MBUSA.

I know dealers worldwide get scheduled updates from MB, including the latest part numbers. Not having the part is one thing, but not knowing the part number is only an excuse to delay service. The list of typical excuse:

10. Part not available.
9. No part# available.
8. Whats a C55??!?
7. They don't provide these anymore.
6. The group sent to the MB training course didn't come back yet.
5. Get me the part number and I'll order it for you.
4. That part# is for Non-US vehicles.
3. You'd have to buy the whole kit to get the screws/nuts for it.
2. We'd take your car in... but we're out of loaners.
1. We have the new SLK... wanna test drive.

so here is my saga, I got a 05 C230, was one of the first to land, and the car had multiple problems, every thing got fixed in a timely manner, except the center speaker and the airbag.

So after 8 weeks after i got the car, the center H/K speaker is causing distortion at even the lowest levels and for every type of music, so the dealer tells me that the it would take him 3weeks for him to order the part. Finally the part arrives after 4 weeks, and all this while I am stuck with no sound in the car made me wonder why the hell I got the H/K system. So he called me and gave me a service appointment for Thursday. Every thing was fine, then on Friday (the Friday before my Thursday appointment) the SRS sensor came on. I called the dealer in Austin and he told me to bring the car in, but he would not be able to work till Thursday on it and he had no loaner, so I decided to take the car to the Georgetown Mercedes. The service rep told me on the phone he would get it fixed by the end of the day or worst thing by Monday. I said fine I took the car in and got a loaner. Then on Monday he tells me the airbag is bad and he has to replace it. So he will order the part. I get the car on Tuesday and he tells me it will take couple of weeks or so to get the part. A week roles by then I get another call saying he found the part and it will be shipped ground (explosive device so cannot be shipped via air) and I should have the car out in less than a week. Then another week roles by nothing happens. I call him up and he tells me that he could not get hold of the airbag, and he makes me wait for another week. Now he finally decided to salvage a car on the lot for the airbag because it was going to take another couple of weeks to get the airbag. I finally get the car. From the Georgetown dealer I take it directly to the Austin dealer to get the front speakers replaced. I had to reschedule appointments 3 times because of the airbag. After close to 4 weeks of drama, anguish, and $300 rental insurance everything is done. Then my rear right speaker starts making thumping noise so I decide this should actually be part of another Drama series.

I took the rental insurance thinking it will be only for 3 days at most but I was so wrong. I paid more than my god damn premium and almost close to my deductible on my actual policy.

I see my car heading for a Lemon soon, I will wait for another 6-8 months if this car does not become a lemon by then, I will sell it off and get the SLK, or whatever other car is out on the market as long as it is a Mercedes, BMW or maybe an Audi.

oh sure i will take the SLK if they take this car back for a good price. Good one.

I always tell people, DON'T buy a first year production car. This is another reason I will add to my list now. Parts !

Maybe MB are starting to use inferior parts in US AMG cars to reduce cost and therefore offer them cheaper (compare to the rest of the world...)

why are you wasting your time with this? file a lemon law claim, then you'll see how fast they start moving.....

If i don’t get the car back next wed I will. What just get my lawyer to call them? Does any one know the exact lemon laws for NJ?

you don't even need a lawyer.... look in the glovebox with all your papers, there is probably a lemon law booklet explaining exactly what you need to do.... you need to start the process asap, there are a few stipulations on how, what, when....

if you file in time, and your car is in the shop for 1 month in a row, your done, new car....

I think you'll be surprised how fast things start moving when MB corporate gets your lemon law papers....

+1... words to live by. I've followed this path for 38 vehicles.

That what I was afraid of. Now I know. Knowing is have the battle.

My C230 was an 02 and i got it right when they came out. I never had a problem with it. Unlike my CLK which was not the first year it was out. Its pretty much just luck. Also, the C55 is not like an completely different car from parts it may share from, like a C or CLK. I can undertsand that theory on my C230 coupe (which was fine anyway) or like when the M class just came out.

You have a 03 CL55, that was the first year they came out with the supercharged engine and some other changes. Not much different then the C55 vs C32.

I had my C32 for a year now the only problem I had was a Bad Bi Xenon light going off on on. So they replaced the whole headlamp thing. I should probably knock on wood now.

Knock on wood til your fingers bleed and likewise I need to do the same.

It sucks to hear your experience djx, but again, this is the world of Mercedes Benz. Best of luck.

As I mentioned in my other thread, the windscreen wiper broke down after one week. It was lucky no parts replacement were needed. A week ago, I asked how long it takes to replace my rear wheel as it was scratched badly, and the local MB authorised dealer said it takes three weeks for the rear wheel. So I paid USD 40 to have the wheel polished than paying USD450 and wait three weeks. I had been a E class owner, I still think that C is less reliable overall than the E. The only problem I had on the E 320 (W210) was the air cond pump was leaking after 2.5 years. I owned the E for 3 years run 40000km , I never heard a little noise from the passenger compartment!

cnt