I recently took my car last week on Monday 1/13 to a mercedes dealer (Chantilly Mercedes) nearby my house to get the car checked for the ticking noise in the engine bay (dealer diagnosed as purge valve ticking as normal), and a small (clear oily fluid) leak that developed under the car near the passenger front wheel. The car was diagnosed and they said the car had a transmission leak from the seals where the coolant lines are attached. Come Friday 1/17 last week I picked up the car from the dealer as they said it was ready and fixed. I went to pick up the car and looked under and noticed the car was still leaking and brought it up to their attention. I went into the mechanics bay where they took off the under tray and the car had massive amounts of fluid all over the transmission tray and running down the exhaust. The shop service manager wasn't happy about me questioning their work whether it was fixed and basically wanted me to leave as he told me " to leave now and he has meeting to go to" because I was asking to many questions pertaining about the leak and what was repaired. The technician their didn't have a clue as he wasn't the one working on my car (later seen on dashcam). They then cleaned the tray and bolted it up and I left.

On the drive home from the dealership I noticed how sluggish and rough the shifts were and I pulled over to check the car. I then look under the car and see a small puddle of blue fluid dripping from the same location under the car and noticed a burning smell. I immediately went and parked the car at my home and called the service advisor at the dealership and she could care less about helping me. So I decided to set an appointment at a farther dealership (Arlington Mercedes) with good reviews about servicing AMG cars and for fixing problems other dealers couldn't. Come yesterday on Monday 1/20 I dropped my car to the other dealer, and they diagnosed the problem as an overfilled transmission, according to the service invoice the previous dealer put 3 liters of blue atf 134fe, and didn't check the levels. Now my car is at the current dealer getting fixed and the service advisor is telling me that the car is purging the fluid from a pressure release valve(thought the transmission case was sealed)? And that explains why the whole transmission and tray under the car is soaked in transmission fluid and they need to test drive the car (already 2 test drives) as shown on the mercedes me app. I am questioning why my car needs to be driven already more than 10 miles on long 20 minute drives and why they cant just drain the fluid from the pan and put in the correct amount. My service advisor has yet contacted me or updated me on the car. I also noticed the car was shuddering at idle briefly for a second every 20 seconds and my concern is that maybe foaming has occurred due to the excess pressure from overfilling and the damage is already evident. Please help and advise what I should do next?! Thanks, Ben

UPDATE: The service advisor called me a let me know the car is ready and fixed. He explained to me that the excess transmission fluid was drained and checked with a computer and the bottom was pressure washed. Despite the car still being under warranty and having certified pre owned warranty. They want to charge 335$ for their time spent draining fluid and driving my car. The service advisor says I should pay due to "human error" and that it is not a mechanical problem. How should I proceed?

 

I say dealership B is correct, they should be paid since not their fault. Then you should get that335 reimbursed to you by dealer A.And never go to dealer A again and lodge complaint with mercedes corporate about the incident. Easily could have caused trans damage, and tech mgr knew that and blew it off.

 

Tell the agency you will not pay that charge. Then, DO NOT SAY A WORD! The next person that speaks LOSES! If you get push-back, ask for the GM. Don't screw around here. Establish a level set now at this time that this type of behavior will not be tolerated in the future. If that cannot be given verbally, then assure them you will no longer be using their facilities and you'll let your friends know on this forum as well as Porsche N.A. IN WRITING (certified if you want to get really nasty). A phone call gets lost in the bit and byte world.

 

If the second dealer places the fault of the problem with your, under warranty, vehicle with the first dealer, they should bill the first dealer.

 

Let me give you an example how this works: I drop off my 'new' 2018 Porsche Macan Turbo for a new set of tires to be mounted and balanced. It was suggested I needed an alignment. Was told, 'hey, we'll give you loaner and see you in 2 hours'. Cool. So, I come back later. Porsche is ready. I pay. I drive home. Later, I'm looking at the spec sheets I ask for every time (HINT, HINT!!) showing the Before and After of the alignment. As I read it I can't believe what I'm seeing! It's out of THEIR spec in at least five places! Later I go out to the garage to see if they've removed the old glue. Otherwise, I spend time on my knees getting that crap off. I find the right front weights are double-stacked! Who does maintenance like this? What service manager lets this out? What level of expertise is the technician(s) showing when they put their name to this?

I went back the next day ready to do my best Donald Duck imitation. Didn't have to. The SM came out, I calmly stated my case. He assured me it would be remedied. Came back to pick it up. Found the alignment numbers were all in spec now. However, the double-stacked tape... they took the top row off and placed it behind the front row of weights. They are done. And, as many of you find, it's always the dealer close to you that screws up. Right? Same here. But, I don't care. If I can't drive it to my new dealership, I'll have it flat bedded there if the problem is that bad.

I like the 'one throat to choke' mentality: try and establish a strong establishment of the chain of ownership to a problem when it comes to liability. In this case, they received new tires straight from Tire Rack. They removed the wheels. They removed old weights. They unmounted the old tires. They mounted the new tires. They balanced those new tires. They installed the wheels back on the vehicle. Substitute 'they' for 'billybob's Porsche dealership'. Any scratches, any marring of the wheel finish, any vibration at speed, any damage to the vehicle during this process (dirty seat, grease, scratched during the backyard washing)....yup. Billybob's Porsche dealershop is fully liable - minus a faulty tire.

Don't get bullied by some guy. YOU are the client. He needs you. You don't need him. Worse case, use American Express and pay for it and then contest the charge!

 

I don't think you should pay for this since it's a case of poor service/maintenance from an authorized MB dealership. You should request Dealer B to file a case if needed with MBUSA to get the money directly from dealer A.

If you're still requested to, you should open a case with MBUSA, tell them about this situation with the two dealers and let MBUSA sort it out between the two dealerships.

Once you pay the money out of your own pocket, it is very unlikely you will ever get your money back no matter what.

 

Thank you guys for all the advice and replies. I went to the second dealer where my car was and picked it up today. I told the SA I wasn't aware of the transmission being overfilled, I thought the leak was never fixed and they just added fluid exacerbating the issue. Had I known it was "human error" and not a mechanical issue I would have taken it to the first dealer and made them drain it to the proper levels. I thought they were just not capable of fixing the car the first time and the way the service manager talked to me and treated me left a bad impression and I will not go back there because I do not want to deal with him trying to admit theirs a problem with the car. I decided to avoid the headache and just find a new dealer with good reviews hence going to the second dealer which treated me much better. The SA understood that I had not known that it was "human error" and it not being covered under warranty, thus he talked to his manager and agreed to work it out with the first dealer and let me take my car without paying (they earned a lifelong customer!). The car seems to not be leaking anymore from what I can tell. The car shifts smoother on upshifts in automatic and manual mode. But on downshifts in automatic mode its shifts kind of rough coming to a stop from like third to first is this normal? Hopefully I dont have any damage due to the excess fluid 3+ liters being in their for the 50 or so miles I drove it to and from the dealer. When I talked to the service advisor I wasn't angry or mad I understand their a business and they have expenses and I just told him that I had not known it wasnt under warranty and I will be back for future services on my car and purchase cars from family there so he had more incentive to work with me. Nice older fellow. Thanks for the replies and advice guys!

 

Happy trails!