New Pads and Rotors at 30K miles ??
01-24-2009, 07:16 PM
#27
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07 - GL450
Premature Brake Pads & Rotor Wear : ESP Related
I thought that dealing with a high-end luxury car dealership was a smart choice based on my past experience with Mercedes, Lexus, Porsche and BMW in other cities.
I must admit, dealing with cars and their repairs is a BIG pain and I generally avoid dealing with it all. To that end, I buy a new car about every 2 or 3 years.
Lately, it was a new (07) GL450. I worked a decent deal with the sales team and they accommodated my personal strange requirement that I drive a car on an overnight extended test drive. Eager to make a $ 68,000 sale, they allowed me to take the car on a BCA.
After negotiating the best deal I could, I was told by the sales manager that my deal was so skinny, they wouldn't go a dime lower, they said they were loosing money on my purchase.
When I kinda chuckled at that concept she repeated, something like: No, no, seriously, we are not making any money on this, we expect to make it up on service. (or something to that effect).
I should have stopped right there, but we went ahead and bought the car.
Now, only 18 months into it, I've had to spend over $ 2000 in repairs that are arguably either related to manufacturer defects or faulty design, or somehow related to warranty related issues.
In many ways, this dealer is no better than one's I've dealt with in lower end cars. Except that even Hyundai dealers answer the phone, have loaner cars available with reasonable notice and work hard to make customers feel special.
If you like getting the run around, incessant voice mail hell when trying to reach an adviser, a "can't do that" attitude, and a feeling like, "well. what are you going to do about it" when you talk to them, then my local dealer may be your best choice.
I feel ripped off. I feel like they are not dealing with me fairly. I feel like they do not really care.
I've had 2 main issues, one with an admittedly poor design which allows debris, (leafs, etc) to fall into the a/c system due to open VENTS that face UP and outside on the hood. We argued that the necessary repairs should be covered due to the design defect, but our arguments mainly fell on deaf ears.
Hundreds of dollars later, we learned that after our repeated calls to Mercedes corporate, they reinvented the vents and changed the design, for the next year's model (08).
Then they issued a retrofit (recall) to fix the problem. Glad we could be of help. Feeling like a test ginney pig isn't great. Paying hundreds while doing it is worse.
Next, the ESP system has factory recognized defects that cause it to apply the brakes arbitrarily, usually when we are rolling down the highway at 65. The brakes get applied by the system in error. One has to accelerate more to keep pace. All the while, the system is braking the rear brakes.
This is an admitted defect that has a recall, related to the cruise control module according to the dealer.
Now, big surprise, we need new brakes AND rotors (rear only!?) and our argument is that it is directly related to the defective application of the brakes - thus causing this premature wear of the brakes.
So, for $ 600+ dollars we'll now have new rear brakes and rotors at only 26,000 miles.
My partner and I are "Brake Averse". We try to NEVER use the brakes, we never ride them and use the paddle shifters to slow when possible. Also, we do almost ZERO city driving. We live in a VERY rural, very isolated, very remote area.
When we explained the connection to the dealer, they argued that the system does NOT apply the brakes. Several phone calls later, we got Mercedes corporate to agree that YES, it does and rear only.
Anyway, this has been an expensive lesson.
Don't expect them to help you fight for warranty repairs that are not real straight forward and DO expect to pay for new brakes and rotors in the first couple of years, since we have been told by the dealer that it is not at all unusual for them to last 18,000 miles or less.
On a related note, I have a service animal. When I returned a loaner car one time to pick up my car, I, of course, had my service animal with me. He is certified and has a special vest he wears. The service person who checked us in was combative and physically threatening when he noticed the K9. We tried to to explain to him that the dog was not a pet, but he didn't care about this minor detail. His actions reminded of someone I knew from Alabama who was narrow minded and didn't care about things like Federal Laws that protect people with disabilities. The person was so abrasive and bombastic that my partner and I were literally in shock. Again, the "we don't give a hoot attitude"
So, be careful when you think you might be saving a couple grand here on a purchase...In my opinion, they'll get it back from you one way or the other.
Looks like a day in Small Claims Court to get back some of my money is in my future.
I must admit, dealing with cars and their repairs is a BIG pain and I generally avoid dealing with it all. To that end, I buy a new car about every 2 or 3 years.
Lately, it was a new (07) GL450. I worked a decent deal with the sales team and they accommodated my personal strange requirement that I drive a car on an overnight extended test drive. Eager to make a $ 68,000 sale, they allowed me to take the car on a BCA.
After negotiating the best deal I could, I was told by the sales manager that my deal was so skinny, they wouldn't go a dime lower, they said they were loosing money on my purchase.
When I kinda chuckled at that concept she repeated, something like: No, no, seriously, we are not making any money on this, we expect to make it up on service. (or something to that effect).
I should have stopped right there, but we went ahead and bought the car.
Now, only 18 months into it, I've had to spend over $ 2000 in repairs that are arguably either related to manufacturer defects or faulty design, or somehow related to warranty related issues.
In many ways, this dealer is no better than one's I've dealt with in lower end cars. Except that even Hyundai dealers answer the phone, have loaner cars available with reasonable notice and work hard to make customers feel special.
If you like getting the run around, incessant voice mail hell when trying to reach an adviser, a "can't do that" attitude, and a feeling like, "well. what are you going to do about it" when you talk to them, then my local dealer may be your best choice.
I feel ripped off. I feel like they are not dealing with me fairly. I feel like they do not really care.
I've had 2 main issues, one with an admittedly poor design which allows debris, (leafs, etc) to fall into the a/c system due to open VENTS that face UP and outside on the hood. We argued that the necessary repairs should be covered due to the design defect, but our arguments mainly fell on deaf ears.
Hundreds of dollars later, we learned that after our repeated calls to Mercedes corporate, they reinvented the vents and changed the design, for the next year's model (08).
Then they issued a retrofit (recall) to fix the problem. Glad we could be of help. Feeling like a test ginney pig isn't great. Paying hundreds while doing it is worse.
Next, the ESP system has factory recognized defects that cause it to apply the brakes arbitrarily, usually when we are rolling down the highway at 65. The brakes get applied by the system in error. One has to accelerate more to keep pace. All the while, the system is braking the rear brakes.
This is an admitted defect that has a recall, related to the cruise control module according to the dealer.
Now, big surprise, we need new brakes AND rotors (rear only!?) and our argument is that it is directly related to the defective application of the brakes - thus causing this premature wear of the brakes.
So, for $ 600+ dollars we'll now have new rear brakes and rotors at only 26,000 miles.
My partner and I are "Brake Averse". We try to NEVER use the brakes, we never ride them and use the paddle shifters to slow when possible. Also, we do almost ZERO city driving. We live in a VERY rural, very isolated, very remote area.
When we explained the connection to the dealer, they argued that the system does NOT apply the brakes. Several phone calls later, we got Mercedes corporate to agree that YES, it does and rear only.
Anyway, this has been an expensive lesson.
Don't expect them to help you fight for warranty repairs that are not real straight forward and DO expect to pay for new brakes and rotors in the first couple of years, since we have been told by the dealer that it is not at all unusual for them to last 18,000 miles or less.
On a related note, I have a service animal. When I returned a loaner car one time to pick up my car, I, of course, had my service animal with me. He is certified and has a special vest he wears. The service person who checked us in was combative and physically threatening when he noticed the K9. We tried to to explain to him that the dog was not a pet, but he didn't care about this minor detail. His actions reminded of someone I knew from Alabama who was narrow minded and didn't care about things like Federal Laws that protect people with disabilities. The person was so abrasive and bombastic that my partner and I were literally in shock. Again, the "we don't give a hoot attitude"
So, be careful when you think you might be saving a couple grand here on a purchase...In my opinion, they'll get it back from you one way or the other.
Looks like a day in Small Claims Court to get back some of my money is in my future.
01-24-2009, 10:12 PM
#28
Member
"Warped rotors" or premature rotor replacement? Interesting thread here:
https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...ve-warped.html
https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...ve-warped.html
