belle

Anyone have any experience...
I have a 2006 E350 PZEV with 154k miles. The dealer tells me that I am not covered because I exceeded the 15yr./150k Warranty by 4k miles. I called MB-USA, explained that this was not my first Mercedes and that I like the Benz brand. I asked for their assistance in grandfathering the car to cover the Warranty. Their response was that I had not been servicing my car at the dealer and their first loyalty was to customers who service at the dealership, however, they would look into the issue for me. The original warranty has expired as well the extended warranty that I purchased.

The first quote was $2,800 however the agreed to do the work for $2,500 to include tax for the plastic fuel tank. I just received a call from the dealership who said "I understand that you called MB-USA, they have asked for the diagnosis on the car and we have sent them the information. Unfortunately, the computer made an error and the cost is $4,100 for the steel tank!

I never received any notification form MB-USA that the fuel tanks in CA were an emissions problem and that this additional 15yr./150k Extended Warranty was in place.

Has anyone had this issue? What was the outcome? Any suggestions?
Thanks!

cetialpha5

Pzev isn't an extended warranty, Pzev cars have a standard 15 year/150k warranty. It just happens to cover the fuel tank as part of the Pzev warranty. I do believe the Pzev tanks are more than the regular tanks so your only luck may be to get the dealer to honor their original quote or take it to an indy mechanic, but I don't think there are really any aftermarket tanks so even if you get it online, it might not be any cheaper although I wonder if you can just use a regular gasoline tank instead of the Pzev one. But I believe you also have the balance shaft problem and you have SBC so maybe now is the time to get rid of the car.

belle

I will try going back to the dealership to see if they will honor the original quote. At this point, doesn't seem like there's anything else I can do.

MB-USA said I should have been reading my owners manual! Go figure!

Thank you very much for your response.

cetialpha5

It's unfortunate that in your case it was a Pzev car. Regular non Pzev cars have a 15 year unlimited miles warranty, but many Pzev owners had their fuel tank replaced under the Pzev warranty while many gasoline owners had to pay out of pocket until MB finally extended the warranty on fuel leaks to 15 years.

belle

Thanks for your input. Just wish I had known about it.

cetialpha5

What's the original problem with the tank anyway? Fuel leak problem? I suppose you could call MB-USA back and complain how Pzev cars aren't covered but regular gasoline cars are covered with unlimited miles. They didn't expand the extended warranty to Pzev because they probably felt that the 15/150k would be enough to cover most of them. Maybe hint that you'll file a complaint with NHTSA if they don't take care of you. Or just let it leak and either die from the fuel smells or let it explode.

belle

Followed up with MB-USA and they say it's a dealer decision. Not much help at all.

So... don't want to die from the fumes!!

Seriously, though the car is not running. Had to have it towed the dealer. Tomorrow will be a trip to the dealer to ask them to honor the original quote. Will see what happens.

NHTSA... will look int that but not sure what they can do.
Thanks!

cetialpha5

NHTSA won't do much. If they get too many complaints, they will open an investigation. That eventually lead to the extended warranty from MB on gas cars because they didn't want to do a recall and I guess that was good enough for NHTSA. Because they didn't make that many Pzev cars, it probably won't help. I think most of the complaints from Pzev cars were ones where they were not in Pzev states so the 15/150k didn't even apply and they had to replace the tank with much less mileage.

62bassman

My long term dealer agreed to replace my tank under recall. You should contact MB USA and request a review of that dealers decision. Make sure you have names and dates of the interactions.

belle

Dealer would only give a 15% discount. Still $3,500. An expensive lesson.
Thanks for you reply.

Crna Mechka

Not sure if this is related but I just got a letter in the mail from MBUSA that states they are extending the warranty for fuel related components on W211's indefinitely. I wonder if anyone else received the same thing.

Bahnstormer

I just had the fuel tank replaced in my 2003 E500 by Mercedes under the recall. The fuel pump assembly was bad and needed replacing (car wouldn't start) so my mechanic installed a unit he had lying around his shop just to get the vehicle over to the dealer. They won't honor the repair under the recall if you have to tow your car there - too obvious I guess.

cetialpha5

That's because it's not a recall, it's just an extended warranty on fuel tank leaks. Technically the pump isn't covered, but in order to fix the fuel leak, they have to replace the tank and everything in it which includes the pump.

Myred8

Today I had my gas tank replaced by my local MB dealer at no charge. I purchased the car about 6 months ago and have had a gas smell off and on. From the help of this forum I checked with MB and found a recall on the tank. Someone on the forum said they should replaced the tank and fuel pump. My invoice is $00.00. The invoice has a tank but no fuel pump. I am thankful they replaced the tank at n/c but should they have replaced the fuel pump? Thanks to everyone with your input to this forum.

konigstiger

Complete tank assembly should have been replaced inclusive of filter & pump, see attachment - flow chart VMI indicates "fuel tank".

rkilby16

I like others have had a strong gas smell every time the tank was filled. Brought the car in under warranty. I get a call 8 hrs after dropping the car off. I'm told that they may damage my 11 year old exhaust while putting in the replacement tank and that I would be responsible for the cost.

If MB didn't have an issue with the design/manufacturing of the tank and/or fuel pump + (threat of lawsuit), I would not need to have a new exhaust system installed.

The service manager wouldn't quote me a price, but it would be $1000 +.

I suggested that they just replace the fuel pump that was leaking. He said the warranty wouldn't allow that.