rockett0

My company car is being taken away because I don't drive it enough. I went to the local dealer to purchase a used Diesel. They had a clean looking 2005 CDI on the lot. Certified etc. Purchased made. Including extended warranty.

First Issue: After taking delivery of the car, it becomes apparent that the inside was not really detailed well. Stains on the floor mats, what appeared to be yogurt on the headliner in the rear and lots of other marks that look like a normal dealer would address before putting the car on the lot.

2nd Issue: This certified pre-owned car had a passenger side seat belt that was almost ripped in half. I called the dealer service center and asked for an appointment to get this fixed. Makes me wonder what other certified points they missed.

Service Day: Friday, I told service manager about my concern with the seat belt and also informed her that the car I pick up the day before was dirty. While I was there I let my sales guy know it was dirty. They keep it over the weekend waiting for the parts to come in, and I get my car back the following Monday.
Seat belts replaced, headliner is cleaner, mats appear to have been cleaned. $0

Later that week, I'm exploring the car, checking out the things you don't noticed, like where the aux port is located, compartments under the front of the seats. I ran my hand under the passenger seat and find...

-Dog bone: Full size
-Several kernels of popcorn.
Come on, I'm better at detailing then this, missing a dog bone! I paid my daughter $5 to "detail" the company car, she wouldn't miss something like this.

Today my phone kit arrives. I pull into my garage to start taking apart the trunk. To make things easier, I lay down the passenger seats. Here is what I found tonight.

- Candy Bar Wrappers
- Legos
- Game boy Cartridge
- "First Bank" employee ID badge.
- And about a 1/2 cup other things that should have been vacuumed.
- The entire bottom half of passenger seat stained by some dark liquid.

I'm not so impressed by this dealer; I had higher expectations than this.

I'm just looking for an opinion, would you find this acceptable? I'll need to setup another service to get the phone coded. I'm thinking of just leaving the mess and trying a 2nd time to get a properly detailed car.

lkchris

The stuff is pretty inexcusable, no argument, but here's a "partly sunny" viewpoint:

You really want a service facility that is skilled and fair and just plain competent a lot more than you want the dealer's car washers to be top notch.

The "techs" that work on these cars are highly trained and should be pretty highly paid, too, and it just isn't going to be that these are the same guys that clean up used cars.

rockett0

I agree:

MB Service is one area and should be responsible for the "Certified" issue. They did take care of that after I brought it to their attention.

Detailing is another "department" at this mega dealer. I'm sure they detail all the cars for the combined MB, Lexus, BMW, etc dealerships.

I googled that name of the person from Frist Bank. Found her linked in profile, complete with local phone number. Perhaps I should call and ask if her son would like his "Spiderman" Gameboy game back.

JonMBZ

Funny story well probably not to you, ask them to version code your phone for free and toss the other trash away.

jimbo1mcm

Find the owner of the MB dealership and let him know what is happening. If he is responsible, he will make changes. I am sure he wasn't aware of the lack of quality control. He will be interested.

LeviDenim

I agree with Jimbo, these issues should go right to the top. Nobody in middle management
or a salesman is going to make this right.

I would at the very least ask to have the car properly detailed even if they have call in a
professional outside service.

gaazmon

I have found yogurt stains in many MB loaners I have received

aeggroup

I would take this letter and e-mail it straight to MBUSA customer service department with complain to that dealer, that sells MB CPO car in that condition. They must be punished and customer should get some money back. It's not a KIA ..or freaking mexican car .....they charge lots of money for the name only ......
Who is that dealer...what state is that ??

C43AMG

You (the OP) have to assume some responsibility in accepting the car in this condition.After discovering that "the inside was not really detailed well",you should have went over the entire car.The fact that it took you almost a week to discover the rest of the mess in the car is laughable.I agree that the car should have never been sold/placed on the lot in that condition.Shame on you for not taking your time to inspect your own purchase prior to taking delivery.

rockett0

C43AMG, you are correct, I was assuming that bringing it to the attention of the service mgr and sales guy would have been enough.

rockett0

I'll work with the dealer first.

K-A

That sucks. I'd raise a huuge stink about it, as to me it would be unacceptable.

Interesting thing about my car is, months after I bought it, I realized that tray in the center console can be pulled out, giving you a much deeper compartment to store things.... Well mine has TONS of un-opened junk-food candy in there, TONS.

Other than that the car is about flawless, so I didn't complain.

walter34payton2

No, no.....I wouldn't do that. All certified pre-owned Mercedes Benz models come with the Spider Man game. It is standard. I still haven't found mine yet.

aeggroup

LOL )))))

LeviDenim

Mine came with a Gameboy cartridge under the spare tire.

Yesterday I finally did the 16 spark plugs. I dropped the 4" ratchet extension. It stopped
on the undertray so I had to raise the car and drop the tray to retrieve the tool.
There was a sealed(albeit) melted package of package of Skittles stuck to the tray. Not the
small single pack. A one pound package. What a mess. Nobody eats Skittles in my family.
I had to call the SC dealer on a few items that I feel were overlooked. So I was given
a credit.
They were very good about it, but they also know there are 9 Benz products in my family
that go there for sales and service. This is a large dealer.
So now I am thinking obviously they never dropped the underside panels when the inspection
was done. Who does these inspections? I know lot attendants with better attention to detail.

gaazmon

I have wondered the same thing.

rockett0

Nintendo and MB must have a partnership. I wonder if the later model year cars come with a DS cartridge or possibly even a Wii disk?

Flash Gordon

Quality of service has nothing to do whether a product is expensive or not. It has to do with the attitude of management, especially in large dealerships. MB and its dealers charge premium prices for the products and the service because they know that the perceived quality of MB is much higher than they actually are.

The condition of your car is ridicules but that is only the surface. It makes one wonder what's beneath the surface, which is much more important than a dirty car. Check air filters to see they are new and check cabin filter as well. If these things were not replaced by the dealer BEFORE they gave you the key, I would return the car, I repeat, return the car to the dealer and get a refund because they have not done anything to the car. I would not accept any more excuses from the dealer. You have to be adamant about these things in life. By the way, the previous owner is a slob!

sunnySD

This is disconcerting. If I was to buy a CPO, I'd expect the dealer to have gone over the car with a fine toothed comb. Why pay the premium for a CPO if it's just the same as buying from the used car lot on a busy street corner?

I personally like smaller dealers because they seem to care about customers more. The large dealers feel they're better just because they're bigger.

gaazmon

Ur pretty much just paying for the CPO warranty IMO. But it did save me