fld

Hi all,

Just wanted to share with you that yesterday when we washed/waxed our brand new 2013 E550C we found a chip at the the edge of driver's side door. Since we picked up this car on 10/02, I am the only one driving it and it is mostly parked in my garage where there is nothing that can cause this damage. Or if it happened, I would have been aware of it. I guess that during the transportation or at some point in time someone must have carelessly slammed the door onto something, causing this damage. I already sent an email to the dealer know of this but I don't know what they are gonna do about it. I think, at most and at this time, what I can do is to have the chip touched up, which still leaves a mark and is a bad taste in the mouth, knowing the price we paid and having the expectation that some more care would have been taken when handling this kind of cars at MB. I just don't know what can be done better than this.

So, have you guys had any experience similar to ours? And if you are gonna take delivery, probably you might like to check around.

Regards,
fld.

dav461

Pretty sure that diler wont do anything.Its your job to check it when you received a car, while a chip there is not a small, and you could see it.

emdem

Have it repaired - they may cut you a deal. What they're not going to do is do it for free unless you're a reaaaalllly good customer...

Or you could trade it in for a CLS 550 like me !!!

nauticalx

i think they should and will repair it as a customer service gesture, ask them to air-brush it in the next time their scratch repair guy stops by to fix their inventory. the airbrush should be able to repair it without being noticed. send us a post-repair pic when it gets done and the name of the dealer who took care of you once they do the right thing!

2010_E550

When I read "chip" I thought you got it tuned...

They should do it for free considering how minor that is, but it all really depends on your relationship with the dealer.

fld

Apologies, guys. This past few days have been hectic at work that I was only able to read your posts but not responding to you.

OK, earlier last week, I sent an email to my salesperson telling her of my finding and also attached a picture with it. She said she would have to check with her manager who would be out for another 3 days. However I think she came back to me on the same day or the following day letting me know a service appointment was made for me on this Monday morning. She did not mention anything about any charge at all. I was told it would take a few hours but she was not sure.

On Monday I brought in the car and while I was waiting I was told that it would take a couple days. This is because they thought the chip only removed the clear coat layer but not the paint layer so they tried to fix or by touching up (not sure, though) or by applying clear coat. But doing so only made it worse. So, they needed to keep the car so that a 3rd party specialist would come and fix it later like on Thursday or Friday. But I think I was told that this guy would only come in on Mondays. That probably is not my business.

On Tuesday, I received a call that the car would be finished toward the end of the week and I was confirmed that there would be no charge.

Today, I called for an update and was told that they were still awaiting the specialist to come tomorrow (hopefully). I was a little surprised that it would take this long but think OK as long as the work comes out perfect. They also gave us a C300 loaner car, which made us feel alittle missing our E550C's raw, grunge power.

My dealership is World Wide Motors on 92nd St. in Indianapolis. So far, we feel satisfied with their service and would recommend to our friends as well as would buy our next MB from them.


Thanks for you guys' input.

Regards,
fld.

nauticalx

good to hear! please post a post-repair pic!

fld

Update: On Friday, I was told that the paint job was finished but they had to replace the chrome molding since it would no longer adhere. They will get the part to on Monday and are expecting to finish the job on mid Tuesday. I just hope that the paint job and reassembly of the door, panel, rubber seal, and etc. will be perfect.

nauticalx

^^^ disturbing. this means the whole door was probably painted. no need to remove that piece to do an airbrush. absolutely NOT what I would have wanted on a brand new vehicle....in fact, I would go so far as to say that I would take leaving the chip as-is over a door repaint on a brand new vehicle any day of the week.

Please post pics, close and afar. Would like to see how it looks.

fld

At first, I only expected touch-up or airbrush and that was why I brough it in. After a couple of hours while I was waiting at the dealer, the service advisor came back telling me they think the chip only affected the clear coat layer, not the paint layer. Then he said touching up or airbrushing it (not sure that during that time they already had tried doing so) would only make it worse. To me, I assumed that they might have tried either of the 2 methods, and but telling them I wanted the car back at that point would not yield any benefit to both me and them.

We are definitely disappointed with MB delivery service quality, how they handle the car during delivery, and whoever they choose to do this delivery job. It does not matter if the car is $5000, $70k, or $1mil, since people buying it should be expected to have some good expectation of the goods they have saved their hard-earned money for.

cmc1998

I too had a chip problem (2) on the day I took delivery.When I got home I washed the car and discovered them ( a practice I highly recommend). Notified the dealer that same night and the car had 50 miles on it. No way in hell it was my fault. Brought it in for them to look at and they did a "courtsey" touch up. But they acted like they were doing me a favor and in fact said," well it has been on the road"

I feel the same way as you do. When you spend this kind of money..... you would think you would get less attitude. I also feel the MB paint chips too easily.

nauticalx

^^^ ridiculous

nawlinstornado

What dealerships did you buy from? I've had great service from mine - Mercedes Benz of Arlington (formerly known as American Service Center).

fld

I am sorry to hear what happened to you. I would hate this sort of treatment, too. We experienced an act of arrogance with one MB dealer in KY as well as one Lexus dealership in IN. In our car shopping experience this time, we felt people at luxury car dealerships seem to act a little sophisticatedly, which by no means is an indication of them being good or bad. I guess this would not be particular to MB dealerships. However, the salesperson from whom we bought our car was pretty straightforward and quick-to-the-point, which is why we decided to give her our business.

I guess, in general, my dealership was helpful. There was a minor issue which will be addressed next time we bring the car in for service. The head of the service dept. was good.

I still owe you guys the photos of the job they did but I have been busy and been under the weather in the past 1.5 week.

cmc1998

Thanks for the update and I hope you feel better.

There is a HUGH difference between sophistication and arrogance. You expect the high line dealers to be sophisticated to a certain degree.

The dealer tells me there are no internal reports about paint problems. If the car is a 2013 and the new models just came out....maybe they should start a complaint report.

I am not a kid, and this is not my first time to the rodeo. You can not baby a car more than I do. But this doesn't matter because, " we've been in the car business a long time". Last time I was there I heard an employee say, " This is why you should lease"

This is my third Benz and second new one. I will not buy this brand again.

Took the car out today, and found 2 more chips when I got home.They are very small but I know they are there. The car has less than 400 miles. THE METALLIC PAINT CHIPS TOO EASILY

Capn

Lesson to be learned, get a clear bra installed before driving off the lot.

cmc1998

Can't wrap the entire car. Until today the issues were on the sides.