SERVICE
11/13 (Thurs AM) – Dropped off car (4,500 miles) for first visit to dealership with list of concerns. Picked up loaner. Other than engine noise and responsiveness, no “problems” affected driveability.

11/13 (Thurs PM) – Received call from service adviser requesting car to be held overnight. No problem as list was fairly long.

11/14 (Fri PM) – Heard nothing from service adviser by 4:30 so I placed call. Service adviser checks on car and asks to keep it until Monday. I asked what seems to be the problem. No answer other than to say they wanted to make sure everything fixed. I voice concern that he is being vague. No offer to call me back with update.

11/15 (Sat AM) – Dropped by dealer to pick up several items. Waited for few minutes to be escorted back to service area by some other service adviser. Car was all wet and obviously out all night. Also learned that car was promised for 10 AM Monday, which was news to me. Highly suspicious that car has not even been looked at yet.

11/17 (Mon PM) – Received call from service adviser saying motor mounts needed replaced and parts ordered. Parts would take “several days” to get in. No offer to keep me updated.

11/19 (Wed PM) – Received call from service adviser car was finished.

11/20 (Thurs AM) – Escorted to cashier by service adviser. Noticed on bill that several items said to see service adviser. At that point, not wasting any more of my time at the dealership.

FINAL SCORE
Dealership had car for one week. Motor mounts and door seal replaced. Windshield washers adjusted. Maybe 3 hours of actual work?

BONUS
Car is absolutely filthy with fingerprints all over driver’s side headliner and visor and kick marks on door, sill and lower driver side areas.

EXTRA BONUS
Ordered touch up paint for third time. First time no record of order. Second time sold out from under me. Third time who knows.

EXTRA, EXTRA BONUS
Different door seal falls off car today.

FINAL, FINAL SCORE
Service manager got detailer to clean the car up, changed service adviser for when/if a return engagement anticipated. Entertained by his story of how this could happen. I offer him choice of service adviser lying to me or incompetency of his team to prioritize work. No comment. Door seal replaced. Touch up paint ordered on the house.

FINAL, FINAL, FINAL SCORE
Have gone from thinking about ordering a CL500 to celebrate wife's 50th birthday next year to wondering if I should dump this car - what is the point of having a great car if you can't get it serviced properly? Maybe my friend with the LS 430 is right. It grated me to no end to have him tell me about the courtesy paint chip touch up and this is what I had to put up with. It was a distant second choice but who needs this kind of aggrevation.

 

Hopefully, you will get a survey about the service experience from MBUSA. It sounds like others have been bribed to give full marks to this "award winning" dealership.

Isn't there another dealer in the Chicago area?


__________
Ed

 

rdtjr - I understand if you'd rather not mention the dealership name. If you can let us know, great. Just want to be sure those of us in the Chicago area are aware of any potential issues. Thanks!

Bruce

 

We have never been hesitant to name dealerships, good or bad, in the forum:p .

It is the best way for our fellow members to avoid problems or to get good service if that is the case.


________
Ed

 

Wasn't sure if it was in good form or not. The dealership is Autohaus on Edens. And they are not shy about their awards.

http://www.edens.mercedescenter.com/.../b/index.jhtml

The sales manager also went over the "see adviser" notes on the invoice. "Inconsistent rain sensor? I had a 99 S Class that did the same thing. Sometimes had to turn it on and off myself!"

One of the reasons that this was such a disappointment is that the buying experience was great. The salesman was such a professional and called me proactively a number of times to let me know the status of my order. They prepped the car great and spent over an hour on explaining the features.

Anybody have any experience with Loeber, Mark Motors or the new dealership in Arlington Heights? Got a very bad vibe from Fletcher-Jones when we were shopping so not interested in them.

 

The dealership in Arlington Heights has been around a long time but was known as Mark Motors. Recently bought out by the same folks that own Woodfield Lexus and some others. I usually go to Motor Werks but the one in Arlington Heights is way closer. As Mark Motors they always seemed to have a good reputation. Hopefully that will hold true under new owners. I'll be using them soon so we'll find out!

 

really dissapointing to see dealers do these things. My dealer has not been perfect but certainly did the right thing when they goofed. Am considering a new ML 500 when the E gets here.

 

DO NOT WAIVE YOUR RIGHTS!!!

https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...threadid=52549

 

No experience with those dealerships, but I bought my car from Knauz in Lake Bluff. I had some issues with service early on, but have been generally satisfied lately.

One point of interest - I have yet to bring my car in for service - whether for audio gateway, pull-to-to-the-right or other issues - and not have to leave it overnight, sometimes for several nights. I guess it could be attributed to how busy the service department is, but I can't determine if their level of "busy" is related to the excellent work they do or the number of problems with MB cars of late.

The service adviser I usually work with is Joey. He's a good guy and seems to genuinely car about what he does.

 

konigstiger:

Thanks for the reminder. I remember seeing this recently. They most assuredly will be hearing from me in full detail. I also wrote a very glowing letter to the President of MBUSA when I bought the car. I will be attaching a copy of that letter to the survey for a lesson in how to lose a customer. Interestingly enough, the survey was never mentioned at any time. The service advisers have a reduced copy on the counter I noted.

BMcD-E500:

I thought Mark Motors was a very small dealership. Didn't realize they were bought out. Will look into it. Maybe they will bring in some of that Lexus attitude. Also I think there is a new dealership in Hoffman Estates, related to Motor Werks, that is closer to my clients. May check them out too. Thanks for the information.

marksatex:

I agree. Not sure what the right thing would have been in this case. I was certainly inconvenienced. I charge by the hour for my services so I was out money by taking the morning off. (I judged it unlikely that they would reimburse my time.) What could they have offered when I won't likely have to pay a dime for 3.5 more years? Inexpensive bottle of paint small recompense, especially when they already promised that for screwing up the paint order.

 

Your Chicago area dealer appears to be ripping you off. I had a lot of problems with my pre nav, E-500 delivered in early Nov, last year, but only had to leave it over night one time. That was for the SRS warning and possible air bag failure. All the other problems such as the motor mounts, audio gateway, alignment, etc, were fixed the same day and often while I waited. A good service manager can usually tell by your description of the problem over the phone if you need a specific part and advise if parts are available for repair without your having to go in for service. Some will not do this unless they know you so it helps to establish a "long term relationship" with one Service Advisor. They all should give you an accurate estimate as to when it will be available, and it should be washed and clean at the time you pick it up.

With my replacement E-500 delivered in August of this year, the only thing that failed was the Nav system which in turn took down the entire COMAND system. It turned out they needed a new COMAND unit. For this failure, the dealer offered to drive a loaner to my house and pick my car up so that I didn't even have to drive back and forth to the dealer with my own car.

Good Service is essential for repeat customers any where. We have a lot of MB dealers in southern CA and most try hard to keep you happy. One of my daughters switched Honda dealers to one near where she lives as opposed to the one near where she works and where she bought the car. The new dealer gives her excellent service and she is now buying her next car from them. Go to another MB dealer in your area for service if you have one and let them know why you are going to them. The warranty is good at all dealers.