Mercedes Dealership Messed Up My Car
12-07-2013, 05:06 PM
#1
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Mercedes Dealership Messed Up My Car
It's not often I've had a bad experience with Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-Benz Dealerships, or any Mercedes-Benz related service centers in the past - actually I've never had an issue with ANY regular service intervals or repairs but this time I feel like I'm really getting screwed. Today Mercedes-Benz of Littleton managed to break all of those things with the worst service and result I've ever had.
I took my car in today, Saturday December 7th to get Service C performed - which is just Service A on the one year interval plus a few other items that were checked and done. I'm very **** about maintenance and keeping my car pristine so it's not as if it is falling apart or plagued with mechanical issues. Usually I take the car into the dealership on week days and have them do routine service (Service A, B, etc) on a yearly basis or based on mile. Last time I had them do Service B everything went very well and the car ran great. The experience is flawless, you have someone approach your car and take the keys from you, you're greeted by a service adviser that goes over what they are going to do to your car, seated in a lounge with leather chairs, multiple TVS, snack bar, drinks, fresh cookies every half hour, and people constantly tending to you and your car. It's how it should be for a luxury automobile when you pay so much for labor and service.
I bring my car in, and they take quite a while to realize I'm out there and open up the bay door, granted it's cold but feeling ignored for a good amount of time out in the cold is a bit annoying. Usually I don't care though, not that big of a deal to me at all. They take the keys from me and I go into the lounge without ever seeing a service adviser or being able to ask what the total amount on my car will be. She makes me sign a paper in my lap, without something hard to write on like a clipboard or at a desk, and starts walking away before I stop her and I'm able to confirm what is scheduled to be done on my car and what that entails.
An hour and a half later they are done with the maintenance and I pay them, thank them and walk out to my car. Inside it smells like a heavy smoker has been in it and stinks pretty bad, I figure it will air out in a few minutes once I get going and open windows on this day that is only 8 degrees Fahrenheit. I go to start the car and return my settings back to normal for the seat and steering and with my foot surely pressed on the brake, I try to shift it from park to drive. It will not move out of gear. I hear a beep an on the dash flashes
ESP Inoperative, See Owner's Manual. The light is on and the car won't go into gear. Finally with the error still on I manage to get it into gear without forcing it obviously, the gear selector magically moved again, and I pulled it right back into the service bay to ask them what was going on. This has NEVER happened in the whole history of my vehicle.
As soon as I pull it in, they come up and ask me what's wrong. I tell the guy and without saying anything to me he goes back to another man in the service adviser area and comes back a few minutes later saying they can schedule a time on Monday to look at my car and give me a quote on the work that might need to be done. WHAT THE HELL. Really? You refuse to look at my car right after you finished service and it won't even shift out of park? You can't even take the time to run the codes and tell me what's going on?
Well I figure the message will go away it may just be a stored fault or something, maybe even ice build up on a wheel or sensor that is causing it to throw that code. I leave very unhappy but still restrained in my anger towards this whole situation. I stopped somewhere to pickup lunch, I come back out and the car starts and won't go into gear. I pull out the key, wait a few minutes, try it again and the same error as soon as the car starts up and the car still won't shift. I try it again and it won't get out of gear and won't clear the ESP Inoperative message. At this point I'm thinking I'm going to have to call a tow truck or get someone to pick me up. Finally, I try it AGAIN and it works. I get into the general area of where I live where the roads are still icy on the side streets and right after I turn onto a snowy and icy road ESP fails again. Unable to gain any traction on pure ice without it, I have to pull over and restart the car to make it home.
Maybe they didn't have a senior technician on the weekends but I'm a little disillusioned over this whole experience. I mean is it possible that just then something failed spontaneously that caused that problem? Yes. But what are the chances that this happens RIGHT AFTER service without even moving the car after they are done with it. I have a feeling part of the testing, battery load testing, or electrical checks that they did caused this. I have never ever had this problem in the past of spontaneous ESP failure and not being able to move the car at all. I plan to call the manager of the service center on Monday and have them fix this, because I'm not buying the fact that as one of the guys said at the dealership "Well it didn't have this error when we first brought it in, so it must not be related to anything we did." REALLY? What is the logic in that, you tell me that it didn't have the error when it you first started working on it and as soon as you're done the car won't shift out of park and the electronics are all jacked up?
Terrible. Either someone is trying to screw me over to get money out of me intentionally or something they inadvertently did is causing this host of problems immediately after service.
I took my car in today, Saturday December 7th to get Service C performed - which is just Service A on the one year interval plus a few other items that were checked and done. I'm very **** about maintenance and keeping my car pristine so it's not as if it is falling apart or plagued with mechanical issues. Usually I take the car into the dealership on week days and have them do routine service (Service A, B, etc) on a yearly basis or based on mile. Last time I had them do Service B everything went very well and the car ran great. The experience is flawless, you have someone approach your car and take the keys from you, you're greeted by a service adviser that goes over what they are going to do to your car, seated in a lounge with leather chairs, multiple TVS, snack bar, drinks, fresh cookies every half hour, and people constantly tending to you and your car. It's how it should be for a luxury automobile when you pay so much for labor and service.
I bring my car in, and they take quite a while to realize I'm out there and open up the bay door, granted it's cold but feeling ignored for a good amount of time out in the cold is a bit annoying. Usually I don't care though, not that big of a deal to me at all. They take the keys from me and I go into the lounge without ever seeing a service adviser or being able to ask what the total amount on my car will be. She makes me sign a paper in my lap, without something hard to write on like a clipboard or at a desk, and starts walking away before I stop her and I'm able to confirm what is scheduled to be done on my car and what that entails.
An hour and a half later they are done with the maintenance and I pay them, thank them and walk out to my car. Inside it smells like a heavy smoker has been in it and stinks pretty bad, I figure it will air out in a few minutes once I get going and open windows on this day that is only 8 degrees Fahrenheit. I go to start the car and return my settings back to normal for the seat and steering and with my foot surely pressed on the brake, I try to shift it from park to drive. It will not move out of gear. I hear a beep an on the dash flashes
ESP Inoperative, See Owner's Manual. The light is on and the car won't go into gear. Finally with the error still on I manage to get it into gear without forcing it obviously, the gear selector magically moved again, and I pulled it right back into the service bay to ask them what was going on. This has NEVER happened in the whole history of my vehicle. As soon as I pull it in, they come up and ask me what's wrong. I tell the guy and without saying anything to me he goes back to another man in the service adviser area and comes back a few minutes later saying they can schedule a time on Monday to look at my car and give me a quote on the work that might need to be done. WHAT THE HELL. Really? You refuse to look at my car right after you finished service and it won't even shift out of park? You can't even take the time to run the codes and tell me what's going on?
Well I figure the message will go away it may just be a stored fault or something, maybe even ice build up on a wheel or sensor that is causing it to throw that code. I leave very unhappy but still restrained in my anger towards this whole situation. I stopped somewhere to pickup lunch, I come back out and the car starts and won't go into gear. I pull out the key, wait a few minutes, try it again and the same error as soon as the car starts up and the car still won't shift. I try it again and it won't get out of gear and won't clear the ESP Inoperative message. At this point I'm thinking I'm going to have to call a tow truck or get someone to pick me up. Finally, I try it AGAIN and it works. I get into the general area of where I live where the roads are still icy on the side streets and right after I turn onto a snowy and icy road ESP fails again. Unable to gain any traction on pure ice without it, I have to pull over and restart the car to make it home.
Maybe they didn't have a senior technician on the weekends but I'm a little disillusioned over this whole experience. I mean is it possible that just then something failed spontaneously that caused that problem? Yes. But what are the chances that this happens RIGHT AFTER service without even moving the car after they are done with it. I have a feeling part of the testing, battery load testing, or electrical checks that they did caused this. I have never ever had this problem in the past of spontaneous ESP failure and not being able to move the car at all. I plan to call the manager of the service center on Monday and have them fix this, because I'm not buying the fact that as one of the guys said at the dealership "Well it didn't have this error when we first brought it in, so it must not be related to anything we did." REALLY? What is the logic in that, you tell me that it didn't have the error when it you first started working on it and as soon as you're done the car won't shift out of park and the electronics are all jacked up?
Terrible. Either someone is trying to screw me over to get money out of me intentionally or something they inadvertently did is causing this host of problems immediately after service.
Last edited by AMGAffalterbach; 12-07-2013 at 05:17 PM. Reason: Gramattical Error
12-07-2013, 08:24 PM
#2
Super Member
Two common culprits, that I'm aware of:
-Faulty steering column module (common on other makes as well). An easy DIY, if that's the issue. About $200 part. Thirty minutes. About $500 dealer-installed.
-Low battery. You mentioned it was cold so that might be the culprit, putting a greater demand on an already low battery.
-Faulty steering column module (common on other makes as well). An easy DIY, if that's the issue. About $200 part. Thirty minutes. About $500 dealer-installed.
-Low battery. You mentioned it was cold so that might be the culprit, putting a greater demand on an already low battery.
12-09-2013, 11:51 AM
#3
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2007 E550 4-Matic, 2004 SL600
Same problem with mine, it was the brake switch, cheap and easy to replace. Probably had nothing to do with the service, but I agree, they should have looked at it right away.
Unless one of the services they did was to flush the brake fluid....then, yeah, it was them and it's not the switch.
Unless one of the services they did was to flush the brake fluid....then, yeah, it was them and it's not the switch.
12-09-2013, 02:08 PM
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14 550 sedan
+1 on the brake switch for ESP inoperative, at least for me.
This sort of reminds me of a story (in South Carolina?) where Chevy service center workers took a customer's camaro ss for a joyride, burnt the clutch, didn't admit anything, and tried to warranty claim repair under GM but owner caught everything in audio.
This sort of reminds me of a story (in South Carolina?) where Chevy service center workers took a customer's camaro ss for a joyride, burnt the clutch, didn't admit anything, and tried to warranty claim repair under GM but owner caught everything in audio.
12-10-2013, 02:20 AM
#7
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Yeah the issue reoccurred today, likely cold weather or bad technician related. From what I am reading it is the brake switch most likely. I returned the the manager's courtesy call earlier and he was very apologetic regarding the whole incident (obviously he wants my business) and it's not impossible that the switch went out right after they worked on it just by chance... but c'mon when you're doing a several hundred point inspection as they claim and testing out different electronic components there has to be SOME correlation. Impossible to prove causation but the way I see it is I don't have to. Not sure if I'm going to take it back to Mercedes-Benz of Littleton or not, or if I want to make the extra long trek down to Mercedes-Benz of Denver every time I need something done service interval-wise. Not sure yet, but thanks for the replies everyone!
So the car is currently sitting at the best independent shop along the Rocky Mountains called StarTech (independent shop) and not only do Sandor and his men do excellent work (I take it to them for repairs but usually not service intervals) they are incredibly honest. I didn't notice that the CV boot they replaced started leaking ever so slightly again and last time I had it in for the airmatic pump and serpentine belt, they caught it and are redoing it as a warranty item for free. Good guys, excellent service, always very concerned for the customer. One time they couldn't finish the work in time and didn't have any courtesy vehicles left so I got to drive his personal car for a weekend since I needed it. Kept that baby garaged 99% of the time though
Point is, I might have them pull the codes and let me know what it is because the last thing I need is to be stranded in Park somewhere because of a stupid switch. The Germans have never been good at electronics have they 
So the car is currently sitting at the best independent shop along the Rocky Mountains called StarTech (independent shop) and not only do Sandor and his men do excellent work (I take it to them for repairs but usually not service intervals) they are incredibly honest. I didn't notice that the CV boot they replaced started leaking ever so slightly again and last time I had it in for the airmatic pump and serpentine belt, they caught it and are redoing it as a warranty item for free. Good guys, excellent service, always very concerned for the customer. One time they couldn't finish the work in time and didn't have any courtesy vehicles left so I got to drive his personal car for a weekend since I needed it. Kept that baby garaged 99% of the time though
Point is, I might have them pull the codes and let me know what it is because the last thing I need is to be stranded in Park somewhere because of a stupid switch. The Germans have never been good at electronics have they
Last edited by AMGAffalterbach; 12-10-2013 at 02:27 AM.
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12-12-2013, 02:22 AM
#12
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I have no idea if the dealer broke the switch nor can I prove it beyond a reasonable doubt but I just find it quite strange that I take the car in with no errors or warnings, or any signs of a failing unit and AS SOON AS THE SERVICE IS DONE the first time I start the car in the PARKING LOT of the service center for the first time, it won't go into gear and the dashboard is lit up with various warnings. Also, their attitude of "well that's curious that this happened all of a sudden, let's schedule you for Monday and we can give you a quote then" is beyond strange. You would think that if they ACTUALLY did the inspection as part of service c, in a normal situation they would have run the codes and done their tests and found that the switch was throwing errors if it was actually failing before I brought it in. Any responsible technician in my opinion would check these common failure items to assure the reliability and safety of the car for the customer. Seems possible but unlikely that this was unrelated to the tests/inspection/actions taken by the technician at the dealer. And seeing as how this was on a Saturday and their more senior staff didn't seem to be there, it doesn't take a very colorful imagination to come to the conclusion that they could have done something intentionally or inadvertently to mess up my car. Now this is a somewhat common item to fail on the W211 but the timing is just too coincidental and they should have seen it in their inspection otherwise. Never again will I take it to them, and I've been telling all the owners in the area that I know from meet to be cautioned when dealing with the crooked thieves at Mercedes-Benz of Littleton.
Yes, the car was back on the road at the end of Tuesday. As a preventative measure I had an idler pulley and tensioner that were about to go so I asked StarTech to replace that as well and got out of there with a bill of about $500 for all 4 repair orders I had done just to keep my car in pristine mechanical shape. Feels as if it idles a lot smoother now (and certainnly quieter in cold weather) but after they diagnosed the faulty switch and swapped out the unit I haven't had any problems. Still really disillusioned at the dealer, usually Mercedes-Benz of Littleton is very good.
Yes, the car was back on the road at the end of Tuesday. As a preventative measure I had an idler pulley and tensioner that were about to go so I asked StarTech to replace that as well and got out of there with a bill of about $500 for all 4 repair orders I had done just to keep my car in pristine mechanical shape. Feels as if it idles a lot smoother now (and certainnly quieter in cold weather) but after they diagnosed the faulty switch and swapped out the unit I haven't had any problems. Still really disillusioned at the dealer, usually Mercedes-Benz of Littleton is very good.
Last edited by AMGAffalterbach; 12-12-2013 at 02:29 AM.
12-12-2013, 07:54 AM
#13
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good to hear you have a indy shop that wont bend you over. If it wasnt for this board alot of us would be out of more $$$ by listening to the dealer for problems that we encounter with our cars.
12-12-2013, 08:04 AM
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didn't read your huge story, but good luck all the same brother
12-12-2013, 08:31 PM
#15
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TL;DR I took my car in for service without ANY existing problems and I got it back with a lit up dashboard and it wouldn't go into gear. Had the brake light switch replaced at my own expense at an independent shop, seemed to fix the problem. However I have a very strong suspicion it was an intentional or accidental slip up at the dealership that caused the problem in the PARKING LOT of the service center after they were done.
Thanks everyone!
Thanks everyone!
12-12-2013, 09:00 PM
#16
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Quote--I have a very strong suspicion it was an intentional or accidental slip up at the dealership that caused the problem in the PARKING LOT of the service center after they were done.Unquote
This opus has gone on now for five days and your allegations are very serious----can you elaborate on the portion of your claim that I made bold.
Please use as much bandwidth as you feel necessary to make your point!!
PS: Remember there are always three sides to an opus---the buyer---the seller--- and the truth!!
This opus has gone on now for five days and your allegations are very serious----can you elaborate on the portion of your claim that I made bold.
Please use as much bandwidth as you feel necessary to make your point!!
PS: Remember there are always three sides to an opus---the buyer---the seller--- and the truth!!
Last edited by Plutoe; 12-13-2013 at 06:13 AM.
02-13-2014, 12:26 AM
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On the off chance anyone here still pays for their Internet by the gig, I'll give you a very tardy follow up to what happened: got the brake light indicator switched replaced by StarTech and I've had no issues since, and the Mercedes-Benz of Littleton dealership manager was very kind and apologetic and is giving me Service B free on my vehicle a year from when I took it in to do this Service A and had the issue.
