Yesterday, midmorning, I received a call from one the several MB dealers in San Diego, that I had given interest for the new CLK Cab. Our dealer of choice is MB of Escondido. Never had any problems with them either in Sales or Service.

Since this is our first cab, my wife wants to test drive to see whether or not she really wants a cab. We realize that these cars are hard to come by and a test drive is almost out of the question, so what we were looking for was to at least sit in the new cab, with top on and off. Test drive the older generation cab to get a feel of the open top on the road, and then test drive a CLK coupe to get a feel for the suspension and engine.

MB of San Diego located near Balboa Ave. called me and told me they had a cab on their floor so I may come down and look at it. I told the guy that we (the family) would want to sit in and operate the top. He said no problem. Later that afternoon we arrived at the dealer and the manager refused to let us sit in the car. Refused to open the car altogether. One could not describe the anger that was fuming inside of me as I had justed wasted my time, my wifes time and the kids time, to come down to the dealer after they initiated the whole visit.

There are many choices in life, and many MB dealers in SD, I for one recommend to all to stay away from MB of San Diego. They truly take the prize for the rudest dealership I had ever encountered.

Sorry for venting by I thought I would share this flame with all.

 

Go someplace else. If they value your business they will let you drive it. Even though I an E55 on order, I've driven the S, CL, and SL 55 at my dealership in San Jose.

 

Were the kids holding ice cream cones?

 

Absolutely move on and let as many as possible know about the service received there.

 

I had one of the worst experiences at Mercedes Benz of Escondido. I have a 02 C230 (non C7) so I called the dealership to get my black door handles replaced w/ white ones. So I called the parts department and they ordered white door handles (driver & passenger side), no problem. The guy told me that they would have them in about a week, so I was fine with that. A week roles by, I get a phone call from the MB of Escondido letting me know that the parts have come in so I set up an appointment. My service advisor told me that it would cost about $140 (for parts and labor). I was pretty hyped about that, $140 was a real bargain!!

Well, I drop my car off (Tuesday morning) and wait a while for my loaner. A guy at the loaner desk tells me that they ran out of loaner vehicles and they have to rent from Hertz. So guess what vehicle they give me, a FORD TAURUS!! I was like “wtf”!! So I thought you know, I should have my car back by the end of the day, so I was fine with the Taurus. I get a call from my service advisor in the afternoon saying that the factory shipped the wrong parts (one white handle & one white handle w/ a chrome strip). Then he says that he’ll have the correct part the next day (Wednesday). So the next day comes along and I get another phone call, it was my service advisor saying AGAIN that the factory shipped the wrong item (this time a black door handle). Then I was promised that they would have it straightened out the next day (Thursday). Next day comes along and they finally get the correct part (white handle), but now he says that the small IR piece came in black only and that it can only be painted to color match my car, and that I would have to pay an additional $140 to get it painted. I was like “BULL****”. First they stick me with a FORD TAURUS, waste my time, and then tell me that I have to pay extra for something they messed up on!!

I told them to forget it and to leave my car alone. Then my service advisor told me that they had already put one of the handles on and if I wanted my blacks ones back, I would have to pay for them to take it off. So he basically said that I was going to be charged for the install ($40) and to take them off ($40), which came out to $80. I argued with the guy telling him that he shouldn’t have put them on in the first place (because they were the wrong parts) and that I shouldn’t have been charged anything. My service advisor insisted that I pay for the labor. He said, “Most people would dish out the $140 and not think anything of it”. I felt that that comment was rude and uncalled for. First off, I’m not any other person and second, I know when I’m getting jacked. So I asked for his manager. So I gave my story to the manager and his manager sided with me and took all charges off of my bill. I was really pissed that he said that but didn’t bring it up w/ his boss because I just wanted to get the hell out of there (that’s how frustrated I was).

I’m gonna contact Steve to see if he can get me the door handles.

 

that is .... if you are going to order a car, you need to test drive it,,,not just sit in it and drive some different car...

btw, I would've made that manager feel really dumb if I was in your situation