klpete

Hello-

On 10/29, I brought my 2004 E320 to MB of Escondido, CA for service for:
-Check engine light on
-Service C needed
-vehicle had been shuddering on acceleration

They performed the C service on the car, replaced the Poly Belt (found cracks), replaced the engine mounts (found to be deteriorated), changed the fuel filter, cleaned the fuel induction system and changed the Air Mass Sensor ($641.50) to solve the shudder problem.

On 11/2, I picked it up, payed $3757.38 and drove to the office, about 45 miles. Half way home, I felt the shudder again. I called the next dat and returned the car on 11/5 for the shuddering problem again. The shop foreman test drove it with me, felt the shudder and decided it was the Transmission Control Unit that was the problem.

I picked it up on 11/9 and payed $1272.75 for the Control Unit replacement. Once again, driving to the office, I felt the shudder again. I emailed my service rep on 11/11. He dropped a loaner off at my home that evening and took my car to the dealership the next morning.

My rep called me later that day and stated that they had figured out that the problem was that the transmission fluid was losing viscosity when it heated up and that's what was causing the issue. They flushed and replaced the transmission fluid and changed the filter, all at no charge. I picked up the car this evening and, so far, everything seems fine.

My service rep, Larry, was nothing but apologetic and helpful through this two week, 5 trip (45 miles each way) hassle.

My question is: Shouldn't MB Escondido refund me the $1272.75 for the Transmission Control Unit and the $641.50 for the Air Mass Sensor? They replaced both of these to solve the shuddering problem and neither one solved it.

Luckily, I payed for both on AmEx, so I can dispute it if need be. Is it worth my time to pursue it with MB Escondido or should I just dispute it with AmEx and let them fight it out?

Thanks in advance for any advice,
Kirk

Klinh

They should. I ran into a similar problem with them about 4 years ago. I pay about $300 for them to fix a problem but after about 3 days, the problem came back and so I took it to Mercedes of Carlsbad. They fixed the problem and i showed Mercedes of Escondido the repair print out. They refund my total bill of about $500 for the inconvience.. I still bring my cars to them to this day for service. btw, my service writer is Larry also.

charliele729

I say always give the service dealer the chance to make it right first.

Vik888

yup, agree with Charlie .. dealer should refund it if they are reputable. Otherwise, call Amex. Please update and let us know, so the rest of us will avoid the dealership if need be.

werewolf34

You pay MB service rates for their expertise. No one is perfect but that is very expensive 'learning on your dime' work

You paid them to fix a problem not b/c you wanted new parts

wally AMG

Why you should pay this people for do training on your car ? why you should pay for the service advisor mistake? ask for a complete refund, also talk with the service advisor that you are agree to pay for the transmision flush but you want the refund of the other two services.

Mackhack

Exactly what I keep posting here all the time. They so called experts, trained technicians or however you wanna call them don't know what they are doing. We're not talking about indy shops which service x different makes and models. They only work on one single make with different models and many are modular built so everything is similar or even equal to other models.

In no other industry do they charge their customer the hours for trial and error if they don't know how to fix a problem but the dealers. Train on the job isn't that good of a training obviously. And when I hear how many people laugh about the education system in Europe where we have the dual education system (3 years duration for practically every job out there) where you work at a dealership as an apprentices to become a mechanic and twice a week you go to vocational school for theory and in depth hands on training then I must question how good these UEI and other colleges are where you pay lots of money and still don't know jack.

Get your money back since their first attempts didn't solve the problem.

Just my 2 cents.

Klinh

I agreed but sometime they keep replacing parts and charges you for the parts. The only way to prevent then doing that to you is by taking it to another dealer and that's what I did.

klpete

Just sent this. We'll see.
Larry-

I'm happy to report that my car appears to be running fine now. No shudders or other problems since I picked it up Monday evening. Thanks for sticking with it to get it figured out.

On another note, I feel that I am due a refund for the two fixes that didn't fix the issue. The Air Mass Sensor and The Transmission Control Unit were both replaced to address the problem but neither fixed it. By my logic, they did not need to be replaced and I should not be expected to pay for them. By my calculation, this comes to $1914.25 plus taxes and any other fees. Please talk to the powers that be to put this through.

Thank you,

KP

Klinh

I took mine issue directly to the services Dir/Manager and they took care of it. One time, I has to took another issue all the way up NA Mercedes. They agreed with me and came back told they Service Manager to fixed the problem as no cost. Save me over $7500 for a CL 55 cluster.