GLYCOL CONTAMINATION & THE DEALER WHO DID THE PPI MUST HAVE KNOWN ABOUT THIS ISSUE!
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CLK500
GLYCOL CONTAMINATION & THE DEALER WHO DID THE PPI MUST HAVE KNOWN ABOUT THIS ISSUE!
About a Month ago I flew to LA to pick up my new car. An 03' CLK500 which was a private party deal. I had the owner of the car take it down to Penske West Convina Mercedes for a Pre-Purchase Inspection.
When I arrived, they told me the car was in EXCELLENT condition and everything checked out. Now one month later, my local dealership, Ken Garff Mercedes in Salt Lake is telling me that they found the dreaded "glycol contamination" in my transmission and that the whole trans was rusted and corroded. This is a KNOWN problem to MBUSA and it's dealers for this year, and I have the internal mercedes documentation stating so, but MBUSA, knor Penske/Ken Garff are not even willing to help me out because I'm not the original owner. Who gives a s*** what owner I am your company still produced the problem and installed the defective part in hundreds if not thousands of cars!
I really believe that this should have been a recall but because Mercedes no longer cares about their consumers who are paying top dollar for what the Mercedes name has came to be, and the dealer who inspected the car, knowing this was an issue, still told me go ahead and purchase the car. How in the hell was an issue like this missed? And they are trying to say that it could have been caused within the time period i've had the car? I don't think so. A whole transmission does NOT rust in that time period.
The car is out of warranty, but why did I pay money to Penske if this car was a P.O.S.? And what recourse if any do I have against them or MBUSA for these issues?
When I arrived, they told me the car was in EXCELLENT condition and everything checked out. Now one month later, my local dealership, Ken Garff Mercedes in Salt Lake is telling me that they found the dreaded "glycol contamination" in my transmission and that the whole trans was rusted and corroded. This is a KNOWN problem to MBUSA and it's dealers for this year, and I have the internal mercedes documentation stating so, but MBUSA, knor Penske/Ken Garff are not even willing to help me out because I'm not the original owner. Who gives a s*** what owner I am your company still produced the problem and installed the defective part in hundreds if not thousands of cars!
I really believe that this should have been a recall but because Mercedes no longer cares about their consumers who are paying top dollar for what the Mercedes name has came to be, and the dealer who inspected the car, knowing this was an issue, still told me go ahead and purchase the car. How in the hell was an issue like this missed? And they are trying to say that it could have been caused within the time period i've had the car? I don't think so. A whole transmission does NOT rust in that time period.
The car is out of warranty, but why did I pay money to Penske if this car was a P.O.S.? And what recourse if any do I have against them or MBUSA for these issues?
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 391
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From: Northern Virginia
2010 ML350 GAS 4Matic
wow - sorry to hear. I agree that this should be a factory recall. It seems to affect all the '03 and '04 cars. Too bad you didn't ask around this forum before your purchase. Everyone always gives the same advice on here when asked about '03 and '04 CLK's.... buy an extended warranty for this very problem - coolant contamination.
I would call the inspecting dealer and act like a new customer and ask them if they can inspect a car for you. Then ask them what guarantee they provide with their inspection. If they don't provide a warranty/guarantee on their inspection, then I don't see much recourse for you unfortunately.
Good luck. Hopefully you can at least find an MB mechanic (NON-Dealer) to do the work at a reasonable cost.
I would call the inspecting dealer and act like a new customer and ask them if they can inspect a car for you. Then ask them what guarantee they provide with their inspection. If they don't provide a warranty/guarantee on their inspection, then I don't see much recourse for you unfortunately.
Good luck. Hopefully you can at least find an MB mechanic (NON-Dealer) to do the work at a reasonable cost.
Junior Member
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 45
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What kind of issue are you have with the car? Is the trans making a humming sound during low rpm at light throttle? The humming is REALLY noticable. I think the glycol contamination effects production model of 203, 209, and 211 up to 9/03 with valeo radiator.
