2007 E350 4Matic "Lurching" Problem
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Newbie
Joined: May 2008
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E350 4Matic
Well, once again, my car is back in for this issue. To make matters worse, when I picked the car up last time, they had not only not fixed the lurching/jerking issue, but I also had a new issue – shuttering at low speeds when cornering (2nd time my car has come back from the dealer with this issue).
The service department is now replacing my transmission. Hopefully that will fix all of the issues, but I am not holding my breath.
After making my appointment, I received an e-mail from the Business Manager asking if I wanted them to appraise my car for a trade and whether I wanted to look at new cars. I declined their offer and explained the issues. I also said that, while I plan to get a new car in the next few months, because of my experience, it will likely not be another MB and I will be looking outside their family of dealerships (they have a dealership for just about every make).
I quickly received a call from my salesman who sold me the car apologizing for all of the problems and saying that they would do whatever to make it right. Today they informed me that they have been working with MB and they will give me $5000 off the price of another CPO car (I would give my car back and they would knock $5000 off whatever car I wanted).
Given the amount of trouble that this car has given me (it has been in 6 times for the same issue), $5000 seems rather low – Especially considering I have some equity in my car (assuming that they fix it this time), I have paid for unnecessary services in an attempt to fix the problem, and I have paid several thousands in interest to MB financial over the last few years for essentially a lemon. Maybe I am missing something, but it seems like the dealer and MB can do better than that. It would be a better deal than the average person that walked in off the street, but, at this point, I am not sure that $5000 off a car that may have the same problem is not enough to keep my business with MB or the dealer…
Do you agree or am I just being unreasonable?
The service department is now replacing my transmission. Hopefully that will fix all of the issues, but I am not holding my breath.
After making my appointment, I received an e-mail from the Business Manager asking if I wanted them to appraise my car for a trade and whether I wanted to look at new cars. I declined their offer and explained the issues. I also said that, while I plan to get a new car in the next few months, because of my experience, it will likely not be another MB and I will be looking outside their family of dealerships (they have a dealership for just about every make).
I quickly received a call from my salesman who sold me the car apologizing for all of the problems and saying that they would do whatever to make it right. Today they informed me that they have been working with MB and they will give me $5000 off the price of another CPO car (I would give my car back and they would knock $5000 off whatever car I wanted).
Given the amount of trouble that this car has given me (it has been in 6 times for the same issue), $5000 seems rather low – Especially considering I have some equity in my car (assuming that they fix it this time), I have paid for unnecessary services in an attempt to fix the problem, and I have paid several thousands in interest to MB financial over the last few years for essentially a lemon. Maybe I am missing something, but it seems like the dealer and MB can do better than that. It would be a better deal than the average person that walked in off the street, but, at this point, I am not sure that $5000 off a car that may have the same problem is not enough to keep my business with MB or the dealer…
Do you agree or am I just being unreasonable?
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Joined: Mar 2007
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From: Canada
2007 E550, 2007 GL450
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 14
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E350 4Matic
BenzBoyW210 – I was actually thinking the same thing about the extended warranty. The only problem is the car that I wanted was sold so now I have to find another one and the others are a few thousand more
Super Member
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 998
Likes: 136
From: VA
W212 E-class, W211 E-class, F10 5-Series
Lol. I think that's about it for major issues. For now. 
If you get the transfer case issue, you will definitely know it. It presents at very low speeds, when turning sharply. The car will shudder and groan. Like say when you are maneuvering in an underground car park. There is a bulletin on it, well-known issue. MB will first change the TC oil (per bulletin), which may provide temporary relief from the symptoms. However, it most likely will return, at which point they'll replace the transfer case.
p.s. did you mention the balancer sprocket to your dealer? Might help to do so in case it ever goes bad, especially out of warranty. That way, you have a starting point for the issue. Perhaps see if they can do an inspection of some sort if you are truly worried about it. Might help in terms of goodwilling the repair, should it occur. I've had some work goodwilled on my GL450 (it has the CPO warranty, not the ELW)...having a strong relationship with your local dealership goes a long way IMO.
If you get the transfer case issue, you will definitely know it. It presents at very low speeds, when turning sharply. The car will shudder and groan. Like say when you are maneuvering in an underground car park. There is a bulletin on it, well-known issue. MB will first change the TC oil (per bulletin), which may provide temporary relief from the symptoms. However, it most likely will return, at which point they'll replace the transfer case.
p.s. did you mention the balancer sprocket to your dealer? Might help to do so in case it ever goes bad, especially out of warranty. That way, you have a starting point for the issue. Perhaps see if they can do an inspection of some sort if you are truly worried about it. Might help in terms of goodwilling the repair, should it occur. I've had some work goodwilled on my GL450 (it has the CPO warranty, not the ELW)...having a strong relationship with your local dealership goes a long way IMO.
I had the same problem yesterday and the dealership tried to BS me, saying the spark plugs needed changing. My car only has 78k mi!! The sparks plugs go to 100k.
How did you convince them to change the transfer case? To my understanding, the service bulletin was only for 2006 4Matics. What did you have to say to them, or how did they chain of events go? For now, they have changed my transfer case fluid and said the issue isn't present anymore...but I fear that is just masking the "pain", instead providing a "cure" for the issue...
Any suggestions are appreciated----thanks for your help. :-)
