I purchased a new CLE-450 seven months ago. It is not my first Mercedes. I have a GLC-300, also purchased new, and I began my Mercedes journey with 2 CPOs I bought a few years ago.

As of today, my CLE has spent more time at the dealership for repairs than my three other Mercedes have combined. Only the GLC went in for work not related to normal wear, and that time it was just for a recall related to a software update.

My CLE randomly has the following issues: enters turtle mode, loses power completely, becomes difficult to steer, appears to lose braking ability, and enters a mode where the transmission will not shift out of Drive. At this point, I am concerned about the operational safety of the car.

The dealership is seeking “Trade Assistance” from Mercedes to cover the difference in value between my car and a comparable new vehicle. However, the process appears to be moving rather slowly.

People seem to have mixed experiences with this type of situation with new/under warranty Mercedes. Is MBUSA that inconsistent? I’m beginning to think a Lemon claim may be the best route to pursue.

 

Lemon claim it is.

 

Give MBUSA a chance to come back with something and in the meantime, do your research on your state's lemon law requirements.

 

I had a 2024 CLE 300 cabriolet with lots of different software issues and went round and round with MB about repairing and ultimately replacing my vehicle. Over a span of 4 months I had 9 loaner vehicles and the dealer had my car almost as long as I did. Initially they rejected my request for replacement until I threatened to lemon law my vehicle.( Note that I saved screenshots of all my texts with the service department and photos of all the issues that were popping up on my displays and noted to MB that the dealer did not include a lot of my issues/ complaints in their service write ups. ) After I provided them with details of issues that I documented, they agreed to buy back my vehicle or replace it. Eventually I chose a replacement 2025 vehicle with NO additional cost to me. My replacement vehicle had had none of the issues my previous vehicle had and so far all is well.
My advice is do not settle for anything less than full compensation or replacement and document everything yourself. Do not assume that the service department will include all the details in their write ups.
Good luck.

 

I am giving MBUSA 10 business days to determine a resolution. If I have to go the lemon claim route, I believe demonstrating a pattern of reasonable behavior on my part, coupled with extensive documentation, presents a stronger case.

The documented issues do relate to the ability of the car to be driven safely, so I hope MBUSA will be as reasonable as I have been.

 

Lemon claims, the MB gift that never stops giving. Typical MB ownership experience. Sadly.

 

Off nominal experience, at best, as there are probably more people that are happy with their (insert model here) Mercedes Benz vehicle that report on here about lemon lawing it. Or don't report here and lemon it.

I know you are soured on MB, which is fine, and probably well deserved with your history. I had a horrible experience with MBs back in 2005 and swore them off...but came back and things have been okay so far, minus the one bricked center display hiccup. The service was fantastic getting me up and running again and no hiccups since.

 

Well, MBUSA offered no trade assistance. The mechanic replaced the transmission control unit, and all seems okay so far. However, this most recent transmission problem occurred about 800 miles after another transmission issue that was attributed to a software issue.

I’m rigging up a way to mount a GoPro to my seatbelt so I can have evidence of the other issues. Though I hope the car is repaired and the issues won’t return, I’m somewhat doubtful based on my experiences so far. I really like the car when it runs as it should.

 

I bought a pretty early CLE 450. It had a few pretty bad but ephemeral glitches like that, and had been in the dealership a few times for diagnostics. Finally I had the car in the horked-mode and used Mercedes Assist; they verified remotely something was clearly wrong but they couldn't tell what, did a deeper dive into firmware records, and discovered that I was delivered the car without a (new at that time) firmware fix (recall level), and then another had come out in the February or so timeframe and that wasn't applied either... despite the car being in for service/diagnostics twice since then.
It went in for a full "computer update: - which took a full day, it's apparently quite involved and time-consuming - and has been perfect since. That was probably six months ago?

 

You have a warranty, you used it and that is what it is there for. Pain in the a$s, yes. Trust losing in the brand and model, yes.

Run the crap out of it and see what it does next and pursue what you have to pursue then. If you really don't like it, I'm sure they'll rape you on trading it in on something else, which isn't the best option, but if you've lost all faith and don't mind the bath, then that is always an option.

 

Dude. Get a lemon law attorney. That sounds like an easy case and you can get all your money back as opposed to being forced into getting the same car

I have the CLE 53 convertible and it has been flawless


QUOTE=jpowell29;9224392]I purchased a new CLE-450 seven months ago. It is not my first Mercedes. I have a GLC-300, also purchased new, and I began my Mercedes journey with 2 CPOs I bought a few years ago.

As of today, my CLE has spent more time at the dealership for repairs than my three other Mercedes have combined. Only the GLC went in for work not related to normal wear, and that time it was just for a recall related to a software update.

My CLE randomly has the following issues: enters turtle mode, loses power completely, becomes difficult to steer, appears to lose braking ability, and enters a mode where the transmission will not shift out of Drive. At this point, I am concerned about the operational safety of the car.

The dealership is seeking “Trade Assistance” from Mercedes to cover the difference in value between my car and a comparable new vehicle. However, the process appears to be moving rather slowly.

People seem to have mixed experiences with this type of situation with new/under warranty Mercedes. Is MBUSA that inconsistent? I’m beginning to think a Lemon claim may be the best route to pursue.[/QUOTE]

 

I suggest that you lemon the car, especially if you live in California. If it has the same issues three to four times or if it has serious issues like the ones you mentioned, you may be able to make the car lemon after only two attempts to repair it. If your vehicle has been in the shop for for at least 30 days all together, it will also be considered a lemon.

With a lemon, they buy your car back or send you the check for how much you paid so far plus your deposit if it's a lease. To value your car, they look at the first time you had the issues and how many miles were on the car at that time when the issue first occurred.

Again, these rules of fly in California but I'm sure every state has similar rules. If you need a lemon law attorney and you live in the state of California, please let me know and I could give you someone's number.

Good luck

 

Make sure you have all your receipts. Make sure you have the original invoice when you dropped off the car noting the problem and the invoice they gave you when you picked up the car referencing what the issue was and how they repaired it including how many days they had it in the shop. In California, if they had it in the shop for at least 30 days total, it's an automatic lemon. That is how you prove it was a lemon. Let us know how your journey goes.