Originally posted by Vic55
I don't mind helping, thats why I am here

associated taxes and fees as well. In your case there will be no terms but just one cash payment since you are seeking financing elsewhere. Oh and let me know how it goes with ELoan also.

I think once you sign the contract then they will be forced to deliver the car. Have you talked to the GSM or GM of the dealer about your concerns??

Most banks use Experian as their deciding factor as to what tier you will get. I am surprised in the disparity on your scores. What

Originally posted by DaMan
THAT would be an acceptable compromise - I just have a problem with paying $1650 for lights and heated seats and that funky "headlamp wiper blades" thing, living in LA.

Why do you think they'd eat that cost, though? Any reason you can give me would be great... I'm working on a letter to them where I state all the ways they've lied to me and specify a silver/silver or MINOR variation W/O COMAND OR K4 as acceptable compromise, nothing else... I'm thinking of adding your suggestion to the list.

Pls advise... appreciate it!

BTW, they will NOT throw the K4 and GPS in for free... and I won't seem unreasonable by asking for that, great as it would be

Originally posted by DaMan
True dat, my bargaining chip is that the car they sent me is NOT the car I originally ordered, so it would be a courtesy to... well, you get the drift. I hope they (Downtown LA Motors) care A LITTLE about what the RM and MBUSA think about them...

I'll get *****ing tomorrow, see what happens... I'll keep you posted!

Any other hints you wanna send my way?

To: MBUSA Customer Service

Cc: David Lee, Danny Aden, Reggie Bunagan, Better Business Bureau of California

Re: Dealer misrepresentation and false claims

Dear Sirs:

In October, 2000, I ordered a silver CLK320 Cabriolet from Downtown LA Motorcars in Los Angeles, California. I paid my $1000 security deposit and was told that the wait would be approximately 6-7 months.

ca. 6 Months later I called the dealership to find out what the status was when Reggie Bunagan, my sales rep, informed me that there would be a minor delay due to the COMAND system I had ordered. No specific date was given.

About a month and a half later I called again to find out if a delivery date was already available, upon which Reggie referred me to Paul (last name unknown) in finance who told me the following:

1. The reason for the delay of the COMAND had to do with – I am not making this up – “Russians scrambling and interfering with American GPS signals”, as a result of which MB had to “redo the GPS software”. I will not go into further detail, but my Master’s Degree in Computer Engineering tells me that there are several things wrong with that statement, and they are not just technical.

2. Paul then asked me how I planned to pay for the car (mind you there was no available delivery date yet!) and I politely told him most likely cash, though I wasn’t certain and will deal with it when the car is there. He was very rude and condescendingly told me that I was “grown up” and “should know” that by leasing or financing I would be able to grease the wheels and he could respectively bump me up in the waiting queue.

After this conversation I decided that it was no longer fruitful to work directly with the dealership and so spoke to the regional manager, Danny Aden, who very cooperatively told me he had discussed this matter with the sales manager David Lee who was more than displeased with Paul’s behavior. I was also finally given an expected delivery date of late August/early September. As a precautionary measure, however, I decided to have the COMAND removed to avoid any further delays. Both Danny and Reggie assured me that was not a problem as the car was not in production yet, and so the feature was deleted from my order.


I called the Downtown LA Motors in August to find out how the car was doing and spoke to David Lee, who told me it was on the vista and scheduled to arrive in DECEMBER, over two months later than the date Danny Aden had given me. Suffice it to say I was not happy, but waited nonetheless.

On December 1 Reggie finally called me to tell me the car had arrived and was waiting for me at the lot. I excitedly went to inspect “my” car merely to find that a) the top had the wrong color, b) it DID have a COMAND, and c) a K4 package worth over $1600 had been installed without my request. This was NOT the car I had ordered and waited for this long.

Amidst all these complaints I would, however, like to say that Reggie Bunagan himself was very pleasurable to deal with and, aside from consistently giving me wrong delivery dates, I believe has been very honest and understanding with my concerns and I would not hesitate to work with him again - at another dealership. Last we spoke he was looking into finding me a close match to my original order at an acceptable price and I sincerely appreciate that, though I am hesitant to sign any more requested paperwork, much less preemptive sales contracts, before an amicable solution is found.

As you can imagine this entire experience has been more than disappointing for me, and I would expect more from Mercedes, whose customer treatment should reflect the high quality of their cars. The only satisfactory solution will be to receive a silver 2002 CLK Cabriolet with a grey top and no COMAND or any K-packages within the next 30 days at or below MSRP. I will even reluctantly consider minor variations at the same price. After waiting for well over a year and consistently being given incorrect information I believe this is not too much to ask for.


Sincerely,

Me.

Originally posted by karl k
. I believe it also includes rainsensors for the wipers - great feature as well!