jangy

Hi all,
I am looking for a new service department in the San Diego area. i am willing to drive the distance to get the dealer that really represents Mercedes Benz's level of quality. My current one has won all of the awards, but have failed to live up to my standards. First, i thought it was just MBZ in general, but I guess its not.

Let's hear some GOOD stories about service experiences so the rest of us can use them and reward them for doing the right thing!!

kaze81

May I ask you what your current MB dealer is? I would like to know which MB service in SD give the best service.

jangy

I live in Rancho Bernardo, so I bought the car from Mercedes Benz of Escondido and they are the ones I have taken it to. Let me be clear. They have not met my expectations in any way shape or form. The service representatives have all been extremely helpful, but the notion of ensuring good Quality Control, even after you bring it to the service manager's attention is lacking. They take the arrogant route and wonder why I am being so picky. LOL, its cause I love my car and i paid $60K for it!!

Sadly enough, I could have saved a few grand had i bought the car up in Irvine, but I chose to buy it from the local dealer because i was willing to pay extra to have great service AFTER the sale. Did not happen.

My dad (2002 E320) has also been unhappy with them and he goes to Hoehn in Carlsbad for all of his service. He is retired, so he doesn't mind the 30 minute drive. He has been happy with them, so i will try them out.

Anyone else have any experiences w/ service in San Diego??

jangy

p.s. neat avatar. is that the UCSD library? I'm an alumni, so I am kinda partial.

shorthair

I use Mercedes Benz of San Diego. I have always received excellent service. Very nice facility, friendly people, clean loaners (c240's mostly), free car wash, pastries in the morning, free drinks, kids waiting room.

They don't sweat the small stuff. examples: Tail light burned out? No problem - just drive right in and they replace it no questions asked. Want your wipers changed? Buy them at the counter and they will install them for you. Want your car washed? Just drive on in (although you may have to wait a bit as the free car wash is very popular.)

jangy

hmmmm, great to hear. I have also thought that MB San Diego may be nice. They are sticklers on price, so i didn't use them in the first place. I'll think about giving them a try. I'm less concerned about the small stuff (i.e. pastries) and more into how detailed they are to warranty needs. Can anyone chime in on any dealerships in San Diego that have shown any level of going the extra mile to alleviate customer concerns, rather than avoiding the issues??

kaze81

I just took one of my MB for a service A to MBSD. Currently, they didnt give me the service that I expected. However, one or two years ago I'd known one of the Service Advisor and he had been the best and cool SA ever. Everytime I got problem w/ my MBs he will take care them. Unfortunately he wasnt there anymore. Just FYI, I had very bad experience w/ one of the SA at MBSD after my cool SA left. She is just B*****. I am sorry I have to say this cos I am really not happy w/ her. I choose MBSD cos it's the closer and the most convinient for me. So, if you happen go to MBSD for service try to avoid her. I feel just she's just sweettalker but not really honest wanna help people. Sorry if I talk too much about her.

Anyhow good luck w/ your experience at MBSD. PM me if you want the name of the SA.

jangy

It looks like I may try Hoehn. I don't even want to deal w/ a dealer that tolerates bad servise advisors. Thanks for the input!!

ANY good stories from hoehn?? Or bad, I guess?

by the way, my FSS now says 1000 miles to service b, hehe

kaze81

Jangy: I havent tried Hoehn but my sales person who is working now at Hoehn recommended me to have my car service there.

Just too add my bad experience w/ the same SA, on Mon she called me to tell my car was ready to be picked up. I said I will pick it up tomorrow morning(which is today). I know that I have 24 hours to return the loaner car and the time starts counting when I was notified that my car is ready. She called me around 3 pm on Monday and as soon as I said I will pick it tomorrow, she told me that she needs the loaner car back before 9am today. I was like WTF..I actually can have the loaner until 3pm today...but I just dont wanna talk more w/ her. She is just a B****. I have more bad experience w/ her and I swear I wont have her anymore in my next service at MBSD. I just dont have any choice since my car's warranty will be expired at the end of this month and she is the only one available.

Good Luck w/ Hoehn and let me know if you have a good experience over there

DaveFr

Jangy,

I've used Hoehn since September 2003 and, with the exception of several minor problems, I've been very pleased with their service. The service manager's name is Steve Crosby and I suggest you introduce yourself to him and discuss your service expectations. Both Steve and the shop foreman (Rodger) have gone the extra mile for me several times after initial denials by a factory rep.

jangy

Thanks for the replies. It looks like concensus has Hoehn as walking the walk that they (and MBUSA) talk.

kaze81, I strongly suggest you follow up with the treatment that the SA is giving you at MBSD. I would never allow anybody to treat me that way. I'm one of those that will cut off my own nose to spite my face, and I would do something crazy like letting the warranty void and let her sit in her own pi**!!
First, document everything like a diary. Contact the MBSD chain of command and if that does not get you some resolution, document your treatment and send a note to MBUSA. I do not think that they will allow such behavior. I have had some pretty major issues with my car, BUT I have always nipped the disrespectful tone in the bud. She will learn to act in a professional manner or she will no longer represent MB. If MBSD allows it, then MBUSA will step in and stop it. They may be hesitant to address issues that they feel may be nit picky (since they only have so much money to spend on customer service), but there is no cost involved in stopping innapropriate behavior. Even the people at MB of Escondido, who have grown to openly "dread" me do not speak to me in that way!

DaveFr,
Thanks for the Hoehn seal of approval. I will surely contact the service manager and foreman. I am due for a B+ service in 900 miles and while I was planning on going back to MB of Escondido to force them to deny me the usual warranty issues I have had (for a final time), I may try Hoehn for the service and take the ride to MB of Escondido for my battles at a later date.

To all who are having similar issues, I strongly suggest documenting everything up front. Do not wait until the facts become foggy. I go to the dealer each time with a document stating exactly what my warranty concerns are. That way there is no doubt later as to when these concerns appeared. This takes all of the ambiguity out of the invoices and shows exactly how you were treated. I send follow up emails and certified letters when needed, so no claims can be made that MB of Escondido was not notified. Oddly enough, I recently went in and asked for a copy of all of the documents that have my signature on them (that is all they legaly have to give me for now), and there are so many discrepencies that it isn't even funny. Good thing I have all of the original invoices and my letters to show the chronological events as they really occurred. I for one am done taking crap from these 5 star dealers. Its about time for them to take the heat that so many of us have sent towards MBUSA. While I do feel that the rating system and follow up needs to be better by MBUSA (including placing more pressure on the service depts by leveraging the availibility of cars), it is the dealerships that are to blaim for a good amount of the PR issues that MB is now suffering. Don't get me wrong, there are issues that MB is aware of and I am hopeful that they will address them to regain their image and quality, but having crappy dealerships that compare themselves to Chrysler dealerships instead of other high end dealerships is simply not going to suffice.

Thanks again for all of your input. Its too bad that Hoehn is the farthest from me, but I am more than willing to drive the 30 minutes if it means that I will have the MB experience that I remember from my childhood. I was starting to think it had something to do with southern california dealers, as all of my past experiences have been with MB Europe / Africa or Northern California. The service used to be awesome. I remember the vans coming to my house to make repairs so that we didn't have to make the drive, and that was for something like a burnt out bulb! I know that we are now living in a competitive world where every penny is counted, but doesn't one's reputation mean anything anymore??

ems211

I went to go and buy my car from them and they would not even let me in the showroom... They told me to stay out in the lot... It was funny because one of the Dr.'s I work with suggested Hoen to me, So I went to MBSD and got decent service... Collette Connors is my advisor and she is really good at updating you on your car... Try her...

jangy

Can you elaborate??

Saprissa

my experience at MBSD has been nothing but exceptional & professional !

Highly recommend Travis Cupples as an S.A.
Also, Ryan Ogilvie (British). Both are no nonsense, take care of warranty items. Even when you give them a list of items to look at, they always reply: "That's it? Are you sure there's not anything else you want us to check?" Service A & Service B appointments have been flawless. They will make sure you have an MB loaner waiting for you, will call you at least once or twice per day to let you know status of everything. Extremely helpful.

My wife is taking her MB to Hoehn next month, for her first Service A.
We've heard really good things about their Service Dept too. But we don't know any specific S.A. to ask for.

On July 9th, I'm setting up a Mercedes-Benz & AMG meet in Encinitas.
Very close to Hoehn Mercedes in Carlsbad. This might be a good place to share experiences with the 3 local MB dealership service depts, as well as other local MB independent shops and tuners. The meet will take place at the Encinitas Coaster/Amtrak Station on the corner of Encinitas Blvd. & Vulcan Rd. @ 2pm JULY 9th. I hope you can all make it !



Carlos

Saprissa@aol.com

Gill500

Jangy,

I wouild recommend Hoehn because of my personal experience & I've gotten feedback from friends who've been to Escondido & MBSD. I told my friends that Hoehn's service was great and they tried Hoehn out and now they both get their cars serviced there.

The problem with San Diego, is that it is owned by a Group or Corporation that owns a couple dealerships including Penske in Los Angeles. So basically they are more about profit margin than truely caring about the customer and taking a loss on something to make you happy.

Bill Hoehn owns 6 dealerships, porsche, audi, mercedes, infiniti, mazda, and acura and cares about his reputation especially in their flagship dealership which is Mercedes.

My friend told me at Escondido its generally ok service, but the service manager has a "we reserve the right to refuse service to anybody" sign in his office. That's not quite a friendly image coming from the dealership.

At Hoehn, like someone else mentioned, Steve Crosby is the service manager. I've seen a customer recently who was in wrong, and was very loud and rudely complaining in front of everyone to Steve, and Steve & Hoehn took the higher road and just let the customer calm down and addressed his problem when the customer was clearly going about it in the wrong way.

I know at San Diego, my friend didn't have his driver's license on him and they would not give him a loaner car. I was sort of surprised because that had happened to me at Hoehn and they were like well try not to forget it next time and just gave me a car.

So while some people have had positive experience at San Diego as well as Escondido, I think the culture coming from the Top at Hoehn gives you a good service experience whether or not you have a chill Service Advisor.

Hope that helps.

jangy

I agree 100%. Actually, I am now on my 3rd car from Hoehn since i started that post!!

I love Hoehn sales and service. Bar none, the best in San Diego. Not necessarily the cheapest price I could have gotten (nobody beats Laguna Niguel), but the treatment has been MB all the way. Even when they say no, it is in a respectful and rational manner. Top notch, and it does come from the top down. The General Sales Manager (Kevin Browne) has shown me multiple signs of respect because I have bought multiple cars from him. He fosters a keep the customer for life type attitude that i hope MB also has.

jangy

I gotta throw in some props for my salesman, Billy Daniels too!!

shorthair

You have bought 3 Benzes in the past three months? Wow!

jangy

Hehe. i know, it's been a roller coaster. Lots o new leather smell around my house!!

Actually about to buy #4 in a week!

konigstiger

Arjang, you seem to have most bases covered - E55, ML500, E350. What's #4 going to be? ... BTW, best of luck.

shorthair

<Deep inhale through nose> ahhhh....

FYI, I was over at MB of SD today. They are having their summer clearance sale. Lots of 06's. Some cars seemed to be aggressively priced, some not.

Let us know what you what ya get!

calboy

Check out dealerrater.com. If you guys really have such a positive experience at Hoehn and San Diego, you should post there to balance out the negatives. Personally I think Laguna Niguel is great and Carlsbad is not bad but maybe a little far for you.