hi guys,

i'm sure having the problems that your having with your CL
is a real pain in the ***. when it comes to MBUSA being
able to satisfy you at this point..... to me it seems to be very
unlikely. MB makes some of the finest automobiles on the
planet. i guess every now and then a bad one comes off
of the line. i would start discussing with them an exchange
for a new car. let them know that you are "their" customer
and you want to continue to be "their" customer. try to
come to some middle ground and hopefully put this bad
experience behind you. good luck!

 

I'm way beyond explaining that a customer whose last 2 MB's were an E55 and CL55 deserves some help. The car was in for another 11 days this month for the same things. The MB rep won't talk about a buy back because the problems are not "serious" and despite asking the sales staff to call me to discuss getting me a fair deal on another car, they won't even call me back.

 

I am sorry to hear about these repeated issues. Coincidently I have had a Cl500 with some of the same issues, some of which are well known CL issues. These have nothing to do with the owner, specifically the seat memory, mirrors, exterior modlings and the front and rear windows seals. On our SL55 we went through rotor issues as well.

I am lucky for two reasons, 1. I have a great dealer and service manager and 2. I know enough about the cars to point the technicians into a certain direction even if the fault codes are inconclsuive (which they many times are).
Fortunately, most quality issues are true nuissance issues, but they kill your time just the same.

One observation: Mercedes has shifted much of the decisionmaking to the service and bodyshop managers of the dealers (unbeknownst to many). That means that they are able and have the authority, including financially, to make things right for you. Perhaps this is why you receive so little feedback from MBUSA.

My suggestion is this; if the lemon law does not apply to your vehicle, calculate the number of days the car was in your shop. Since the car wasn't free for you and even if you bought the car outright, a month worth of shoptime translates into a month worth of estimated payments. Therefore it is not unreasonable to ask them for a repayment of your troubles (i.e. a check of $2k or so)...

Wolfman

Just a word about all these comments "this shouldn't happen on a $100K+ car, etc."; this is really just wishful thinking. The more expensive the car, the smaller the production numbers which inevitably leads to more of these quirks. This is true with every brand, not just Mercedes. As they build a 100,000 C-Classes for every 5,000 CL's, chances are the C-Class has the bugs worked out 20 times faster

 

MB makes some of the finest automobiles on the
planet. i guess every now and then a bad one comes off the line. "Quote"

MB has been saging in the Quality ratings for awhile now. Even the Europeans were giving it low marks. In the USA the J.D.Power survey has had it way down the list. Why? Apparently a lot of electrical gremlins mainly and other quality issues. Most owners you talk to will report electrical gremlins. I have a 04 SL600 and I have one that MB is still trying to fix.
I understand that MB has said that they will make a big come back in the Quality and CSI ratings next year. We will see. Is the bloom off the rose for MB? I hope not because I still enjoy my MB automobiles.

 

You guys are scaring me... I am about to buy a used CL55 or CL600. It will have abiut 1 to 1.5 years left on the factory warranty (I am looking at '02's). Should I be expecting expensive problems to occur?

I have owned a Lexus SC400 coupe for many years and its been trouble free. Whats up with Merc these days? they used to set the standard 20 years ago.

 

As a physician, I'll say cars are like people .... While in the womb if something going wrong during development or the infant is premature, the chances that the individual would have problems later in life is greatly increased.. Just like that, if the AMG techs weren't on the ball when making your car, it's likely to be plagued with neverending problems... That's why there's a lemon law and I'd demand the car be bought back... Problems like that on a car of that caliber is UNACCEPTABLE... The nature of problems you're having with your car makes me think of Jaguar before Ford took ownership...
Eric...

 

Did you type UNEXCEPTABLE, or did your secretary, or is this a dictation that was transcribed with the wrong spelling?

Really, us docs can spell....typos are common though.

T

 

No I spelled it... and no I cannot spell...
Eric....

 

Well....I finally took care of the problems with my 03 CL 55. Mercedes and the dealer refused/were unable to make a poorly executed complex car a quality product so I went out and rear ended a Durango....I swear it was an accident...I swear. My first non-track related at-fault accident. Hit the Durango at about 20....air bag... the whole deal. While the frame was fine and the body damage was only $30k the car was a total loss. It seems that the oil cooler is in front of the radiator. It cracked and all the oil leaked. It doesn't help even an AMG motor when it runs with no oil and the compression test revealed problems. Since Mercedes doesn't repair AMG motors and only replaces them add $47,890 to the repair bill. Plus 15 hours of labor. At $80k my insurance company gave up and totaled the car. I went to the dealer to clear my things out and walked away from the CL....didn't even look back at it. Went to a BMW dealer and ordered a 645 Ci. I'll really miss the AMG power but I'm done with Mercedes. They treated me worse than any other car company has (except maybe Chevy when I had a 84 Corvette) ( I've never bought another GM product either). I'll pick up the BMW in Munich and enjoy a trip to Italy. Then in 2 years I'll get an M6 and hopefully the memory of my CL 55 experience will have faded.
I wish you all better luck than I had.
Andy

 

645 is pretty underpowered.. i'd wait for a M6

 

Great to hear that you solved your problem.

However i think nothing can beat our SL that spent over 200 days of 2004 year in service.

 

I feel sorry for the Durango owner you *accidentally* dragged into your "living hell"

 

Funny, I'll never buy another BMW and got a Mercedes for many of the same reasons you mentioned...

Things like: repeated visits for the same thing i.e. window motors that liked to break 5-6 times a year, usually when it was raining, and I live in the desert. BMW admitted that they had a design problem, and basically said their solution was to continue fixing it when it broke, even if the car was out of warranty and it was at my expense.

 

SRT Viper I feel your pain. I have a 2004 E55, and I have completely hated the Mercedes experience since I took delivery. On the day I picked up the car, with 2 miles on it, it died. The salesman was giving me an orientation on the Command system when it froze and proceeded to shut down the electrical on the car. It remained in the service department for 20 straight days before I could pick it up. MBUSA was completely useless, and all my complaints and concerns fell on deaf ears. Since that incident, my car has been back in service for no less than 10 additional days. Seems like I drive a C-class loaner more than my car. By the way, I put a deposit on a 645 2 weeks ago.

 

It must be a lemon. Force MB to get you a brand new one, or sue.

 

Andy hope you are ok, I too beleive the service stinks with MB after 4 of them, 3 BMW's and 2 Porshces I will go with Porsche or BMW. As well I have learned after so many things like this happening to kind of discount the smaller issues. Enjoy the 645, you should consider a 996tt if you like a 6 speed or if you want to go the distance the new DB9 is awesome I drove it last week. Me myself the C55 is going and the simpleton is getting a Mini Cooper S

 

Chappy...I felt sorry for the guy until I learned he was an illegal alien without a drivers license. The cop at the scene told me not to feel bad because if he wasn't driving, he wouldn't have been there for me to hit. The last time I saw him, he was in the back of the police car and they were impounding his step-dad's truck.

As far as waiting for the M6...I need something to drive in the meantime and I already have two 2-seat cars. I need something a little bigger so I'll lease the 645 for 2 years and then get the M6 if BMW makes a better product.

Sql....200 days in the shop? What possible explanation could MB give you to justify that?

 

I have been looking at the BMW 645 and used CL55's. Given that '03 CL55's can be had for ~$85k with ~10k miles and the remainder of the factory warranty I'm giving this some serious thought. But after reading this I'm having second thoughts! It is tempting though...

I drove the 645 and that is a nice car. I'm on the waiting list at two dealers for a M6. I've heard the '06 6-series will probably be a 360hp 5 liter, thus a 650. If they put the SMG III in it then I may not even wait for the M6.

 

CL55/65 AMGs should only be bought used because the drop in value like a ton of bricks out of the back of a B52. If you buy one used, rule opf thumb is, BUY an extended warrenty and read its fine print.

Lemon-law that car or at the end of the lease, give it back to them and walk away. I have heard of more then a few expensive and problematic mercedes getting intentionally stolen because of all the problems some of them had.

A ncie article in a the newspaper discussing the problems you had and why people should not buy a CL55 or any MB could also help. even if you have to pay to put it in there, do it out of spite.

 

If you aren't getting any love from the dealer,
write to MBZ in Jersey and start threating to return the car as a lemon. You'll have a regional rep on your doorstep in no time. I know, I did it, it worked, I got satifaction, but unfortunately, at all levels it seems, Benz isn't what it used to be. The irony is, I am a lowly C230 coupe owner, so
if given a C240 loaner, well it's OK. And I've spent several months out of 3 years driving just such loaners, and others. So, I always had a comparable car to drive, while mine got more stuff replaced than a 60' Alfa.

Now, if I spent 100K on a car and it spent that much time in the shop, and I'm being given a C Class to replace it, well that wouldn't cut it.

Like I've been saying lately...
Mercedes makes the best Italian Cars in Germany...
gorgeous, sexy, powerful....when they aren't in the shop.
Just think, for the same money or less you coulda got a loaded Mazer Quatraporte'....and who knows, maybe it'd be more reliable...
Fix It Again Gunther......


I have yet to make it to the next oil change without going in for service, something breaking....

 

You sound like a royal pain in the gluteous.

I dont reason this the same way you do ..... cars do wear out Parts fall off, people bump things. Thats why there is a warranty and a thing called spare parts.

 

What you are experiancing is something that, unfourtunatly is prevelent throughout other industries in the US. A general lapse in customer service and quality control. Its the "new" America. When you find good customer service for whatever product you feel very lucky indeed. Customer service and support are on the decline overall IMO. Only thing you can do is take your $ elsewhere and hope that the grass will be a little greener on the other side.

 

i don't think there is anything wrong with getting a C class as a loaner.
really what's the big deal? as long as it's clean and relatively new it should be able to satisfy 99% of MB drivers.