As promised, the decision was as follows: It turns out that because this action was filed with the car having a few hundred miles over the 12000 mile Lemon Law limit-this case was filed under a breach of warranty action. Merecedes lost.
Mercedes was ordered to pay me a little over $10,000.00 by a panel of three arbitrators. The attorney for Mercedes, commented- after the ruling- that he did better than he thought he would and felt that the award would have been about $3000.00 more than it was. All of this was done in a surpisingly friendly atmosphere.
Also as an after the fact interesting commentary- I traded the car in a couple of weeks ago and bought another car- obviously not a benz--never ever again. I inadvertantly left my cd's in the changer. I called the dealer and informed them of this- gave instructions on how to remove them- and told them I would pick them up . The used car manager came up to me and told me" We have a few MB's on our lot and I drove yours the other day. There is something wrong with it- it doesn't seem to track properly. It just doesn't seem right.The others on our lot are very different from this one. They wholesaled it rather than try to sell it.
So this is the end of my story. It was a simply horrible car and a horrible -inappropriate manufacturer warranty experience. The Merecedes Zone rep actually lambasted me in one conversation for ' costing MBUSA a lot of money 'because I would not accept this lousy car as delivered. Bottom line -they may be better now- maybe not. But- when a car manufacturer of this stature and reputation puts out a bad model.And when this is noted by consumer mags and others who are connected to the car business -AND it fails to do the right thing and make the consumer whole- that speaks volumes to the validity of the company and its integrity. They should have offered me an assisted trade at minimum. Instead they were arrogant and combative. So as long as they make you a good one- you will be fine. But if they put out another lemon- with bad technology- and you buy it- where will you be?
To those who offered support and kind comments- I thank you.
To those of you who have some curious -my brand right or wrong- loyalty who wrote 'less than kind' commentary- good luck to you as well.
Bottom line- When a company like this puts out a $65,000. error with multiple issues that are real and documented and doesn't step up to the plate to make the consumer whole -it deserves to be - at least- re-evaluated- as a top level brand. Mercedes did not appeal the ruling which also says alot. If you can't trust the company to back up a bad product , then you should seriously take pause before you plunk down the kind of $$ that these cars command.
I can tell you that I will never own a product from this car company again. trust and integrity are things that once breached are not really retrievable.

 

Glad you feel satisfied now. Thanks for submitting the final chapter. What do you drive now?

 

congrats on the positive outcome.

 

Barry, I drove a bunch of them. Wound up with an Infinity M35. It doesn't have the heavy planted feel of the e series- but is more like the light quick feeling of a BMW 5. A lot of car for the $$. I have about 1800 miles on it so far and comment to myself each time I drive it how much I like it. Much quieter inside than the benz- great technology - beautiful interior. I hope you are enjoying your new E.

 

Glad it worked out Roy! Enjoy that "birds eye view" Navi system.

 

Glad you can put this behind you. The Infiniti nav is killer!

 

The infinity has the light feel of a Nissan which it is, not a BMW. Not a bad car though

 

Roy,

Congrats on what sounds like a satisfactory outcome. I have 2 friends who drive Infiniti M's and both are happy with them.

I personally came to MB in '05 because of a similar, although less formal, situation with an Infiniti G; and Infiniti was not much more helpful for me than MB was for you. I made the decision to quit fighting with them after a couple of months and quietly traded it on my Benz. Fortunately, the G was not expensive, and I came out of it relatively well.

Intent is not to trash Infiniti; while I can't say that I have forgotten, I am rational enough to respect their product and might consider another one some day. What is obvious from these bad taste in one's mouth experiences that all the manufacturers, even the so called "premium" brands could and need to do better when a bad one slips into a customers hands. I hope that luck is on your side this time and your M proves to be a good one. Enjoy it, you have earned some happy motoring time.

 

At 300 miles, so far I love My E 550. I was looking at the M45 and the Acura RL, niether one "feels" like a Benz, but at that time I wanted out of my car too. The Acura has all the "Gee Whiz" and the M has all the "muscle". Who knows who made the better decision long term, but so far I love this car. Hopefully MB has made the necessary corrections to the E & is on its way back. It feels like it so far. Best of luck (to us both, LOL.)

 

To all: Thank you for your good thoughts and wishes.
I got the M35x because I wanted the all wheel drive. No- of course it doesn't feel like a Benz. But it really is a surprisingly good car. Quite stable at speed , nimble - solid feeling and comfortable. I truly enjoy it. The whiz-bang technology is very well done- just talk to it and it does anything you want- ( well- ok I hasn't yet ended my alimony payments) .The six is quite spirited and it is geared well so it goes nicely.
So, yes I guess it finally ended ok for me. I still cannot understand why MBUSA did not step up to the plate and make me a loyal fan versus a lifetime enemy, but that's the way they played it. And yes, I do hope that they have gotten back to making fine well tested reliable cars. They used to be the unquestioned benchmark. Now they have continue to work diligently to make the recent questions go away.
Roy

 

Drop in from time to time & let us know how you're doing. Enjoy!

 

Glitzy ad campaigns don’t earn customer loyalty and referrals. What some of these bone heads out there don’t understand is marketing is not just ads. How a customer complaint is handled is what determines your future relationship. The response must be immediate and more than fair. Fix it quick, and fix it well. It may cost you big, but it will pay off in the future. IMHO customers who run into problems but whose problems are handled swiftly and politely actually wind up being more loyal than customers who never encounter a problem in the first place!

Anyway, best of luck.

 

Well said and good advice. This can be applied to any business really. I need to remember this for my own business.

So it appears your good advice to members of this forum is not limited to excellent technical advice. Drive safely!

 

I did watch your progress with MB in the beginning. I am glad for you it is finally settled. I really feel for you because I can see myself in your position. I have a file about an inch thick with service records of my E, mainly recalls and repairs. My daily driver, 2004 G35X, with 37K miles has never been to the dealer for repair, yet. My E rides fine and very quiet but I just cannot stomach the visitship to the dealer. Oh yes, the dealer service! But that's another story. I will not buy another MB for sure just based on my own challenging experience. Why did I sell my Acura for the E?

 

Roy, good luck and I'm glad you got a satisfactory settlement in the end. Everyone makes mistakes. What distinguishes good service and goods providers from the not-so-good is how they handle the situation once the mistake is brought to their attention. When it's handled well, what you remember (and tell your friends) is how well it was handled, and you overlook that the mistake occurred in the first place. In your case, it seems Mercedes built a lemon, and then refused to do the right thing to correct the mistake and keep you as a customer. Their loss.

 

I have had similiar experience as yours with dealings with MB Canada on my 2003 E500. It seems like MB worldwide would rather deny any responsibility with their design defects and shoddy manufacturing than accept that they have put out and inferior product and deal with it to make loyal customers. I too will never buy another MB not because of the crappy manufacturing but for the lack of respect MB has for it's customers. I had bought 3 cars from them from 2000 to 2003 a C320, 2001 S430 and 2003 E500, and still got treated like it was my fault for buying a horribly manufactured car.
I will be selling my 3 cars and going to the competition very soon and be happy not to look back. Not only do they lose a customer but have lost many other potential customers because I have convinced many friends and other forums and car club friends that Mercedes customer service is the worst to deal with.

 

In 1972 I bought my first Volvo, a 164E brand new top-of-the-line. A preview of things to come, on my way home from the dealer the gear shift lever came out when upshifting to third gear!
I never knew if the car would start in the morning, I used to leave the keys in it hoping someone would steal it, for all I know, someone tried but, it wouldn't start for them either.
I wrote a three page complaint letter to Bjorn Ahlstrom, then president of Volvo in Goteborg. Shortly thereafter there was a regional manager at my HOME!
They replaced dozens of parts and components to no avail but, no good. Finally found this car had been sitting in a flooded area of PA after offloading and the dealer bought them cheap. The dealer lost his franchise but, Volvo did NOTHING more for me.
After six months I tried to trade it for a different brand but, got little as a trade-in. So, I went to another Volvo dealer and said nothing about any problems, they gave me a decent price to trade for a new 142E and the rest is history.
Had I been able to buy another brand w/o getting killed on trade-in, I would not have owned 10-12 great cars over the past 30+ years.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it

 

Funny, I bought an M35 thinking it was a lot of car for the money. Turned out I hated it. Not that there was anything wrong with it, but I thought it was loud and stiff. And after awhile, I thought the inside was garrish. In less than 6 months I switched to the E350. I've now at 10,000 miles and 12 months. Not a problem and just love it.

 

That's the whole point. Any company can make a bad or faulty product either through faulty construction or engineering . It is how they clean up the mess that this causes which is the most important - the Paramount- thing. The reason I will never buy and will continue to "un-recommend" a Benz to friends, family and associates- is because of the way they left me in the ditch. If they can do it once - there is no reason to believe that they won't do it again. I am sure that they will come out with cars that I will be drawn to- that I would like to drive. I will simply never purchase them because I cannot rely on the company that builds them to back the product up. This is an astounding mistake for a company of this stature to make. But they have made it and apparently continue to make it based on the many anecdotes on this board and elsewhere. As stated , had they done the right thing, I would probably be a customer for a long time. As it is , I am a business owner, my wife is a doctor and our friends, family and associates have and will continue to hear my tale of woe when asked about this brand of car and will probably be dissuaded from buying one of these cars. But as they say- you make your bed and you lie in it.

 

Roy:

I have owned 30+ cars in the last twenty years and have shared your experience several times. The worst company I have ever dealt with ironically is Lexus who is the only company I ever chose to sue under the Lemon Law act and won a settlement similiar to yours on an '06 GS300. I have also had issues with Audi on an '05 A8L I owned and chose not to sue to avoid the hassle but would not buy their product again. These companies are too large to care about one customer and would rather spend a small fortune on advertising to gain a new customer rather than take care of existing ones. I have found that the dealer and their willingness or lack thereof to put pressure on the manufacturer plays a MAJOR role in how these car companies deal with you. Incidentally the best customer service I have experienced has been with Porsche who remains one of the most profitable manufacturers in the world -- I wonder if there's a connection ?? Good luck with the Infiniti as they make a great product. I had a G35 coupe and G35x and loved them but hated the dealer wich is why I bought my '07 E350 instead of the M45x.

 

Dr Deming was my professor,, although many may not know of him. He was the American that lead the Japan's auto industry to improve quality.

What I think he would have to say on auto quality issues would be,


"The cost of quality is unknown and unknowable" . No one knows how much it cost to put out a bad product. Not just the cost of the product but the labor, materials, shipping, raw materials are all losses. This cost is incomprehensible. The cost of your reputation for making quality is at stake and the future of your company.

The cheapest advertisement is a satisfied customer who will return. He will tell everyone how good it is. A unsatisfied customer will also tell .

So if MB is putting out a defect, (every one can) then the reputation of the company will stand on how the customer is treated.

Arrogorance will not be tolerated. If a company thinks it "wins" by shorting the customer, it really loses. Not all customers are right, neither are they all wrong. But customers must be nievely listened to for understanding and most companies don't do this.

Ok enough preaching. But there really is a cost to Poor quality. My E500 has been a good (although expensive) car to service. But I must consider every report on the car by any magazine, consumer report has rated reliability poorly and poor value. So only I can judge my car. But it does make you think about brand loyalty. I have loyalty to the company that provides the product and service at a price that I think is fair that will meet my needs/specifications.

Best of luck hope your I works out . Jim

 

About a year after I got my E, I noticed a very smally corrosion on one of the rear wheels. During one of the repair service, I brought that issue up, the dealer just brushed it off that it was due to the corrosive chemical used by car wash companies. I told her that, one, I don't generally use car wash unless in snowy winter. Two, if the chemical was corrosive, why just one wheel? She told me, they will take a look again if it gets any worse. It did, not only that, another wheel was starting to look that way too. During another service, I took this up with the service manager. This time, he told me it is not covered under warranty! I showed him the responses from forum members that their wheels were replaced by their dealers. He laughed it off by saying that the car forums are not for real!

I wrote to the uncaring service manager and asked for the MB rep to see my car. I follow up again a couple weeks later to check the progress, nothing happened. That was over a year ago. When the service manager of a MB dealer has this poor attitude and lack of care towards their customers, what kind of service do you think you would get from the dealer? Like someone said earlier, the quality of service is being judged by how well you handled the complaints. By ignoring me and hope I just go away is certainly not the right way, I resent to be treated in such a way.

In November last year before my free service expired, I had almost 2k miles to go before the service is due, I called my dealer to see whether I can bring the car in for service before the expiration of the free serice. The answer was an emphatic NO. I called Ray Catena in central Jersey, a huge dealer in the East Coast, not only they honored the free service and I paid less than $500 to replace both the front and rear pads.

The 2 wheels are now much more corroded than before. This in addition to the almost one-inch file I have for the recalls and repeated repairs done by the incompetent dealer. Does anyone think that I would buy another MB? Does MB really care that I would buy another one? Oh, by the way, the terrible dealer is Millenium in central Jersey.