LapTimes

Driving it today and it suddenly goes dead in the middle of an intersection in rush hour! It's a brand new '05 E500 with 1200 miles. MB roadside assistance is close to useless as they quoted me 2 hrs to get me a tow truck, and I'm in the middle downtown LA during rush hour, where tow trucks are plentiful and my car is sitting dead in the middle of an intersection! my car finally gets to the dealership and they said the computer won't respond. Waiting to hear more..... Anyone experience a similiar probelm?

CALBenzo

That sucks. Sorry to hear about that.

DWP

I don't recall anyone in this forum reporting that their W211 just went dead on them like that. I suspect that after all that grief, the fix will consist of removing one black box and substituting another, after which (hopefully) nothing like that will ever happen again.

lig

G55? Baller!

My E320 has certainly experienced more than it's share of irritating little stuff but it has never stranded me.

Good luck on getting it repaired properly. That would really pi$$ me off.

NATS64

I have never had that problem with either of my E's, but it did happen to me with a brand new Thunderbird (rental car) in Boston.

paulhu

It has happend to me this summer on a pre-owned 2003 E500. The car just stalls, then goes into limp mode (2nd gear). Luckily, I was within the 5 day return policy of this used car dealership. This happened to me 4 times in three days. I returned the car after three days and got my full refund. I was told by roadside assistance that many causes are the sensors (fuel, oxygen, throttle, etc.)

LapTimes

The extremely odd thing was that this occurred about 2 hours after I picked up my car from the dealership for the 1k mile service/inspection. Secondly, I doubt this is the case; but I didn't buy the E from the same dealership where I got it serviced, and the fact that the car went completely dead a couple hours after picking it up from the dealership makes me slightly suspicious

cte430

Check the E55 forum under "stalling". Did you get any "check engine" lights, or did it just die? This might be different than what me and some others are experiencing.

Barry45RPM

I don't service my car where I bought it either (2 States away), but the servicing dealer is happy to service me. They make money from MB & they feel they have the cance of winning me over as a purchaser by taking good care of me...

Come to think of it, I always buy my cars from the dealer with the lowest price in a LARGE area, and have not serviced any car at the selling dealership in over 30 years. Some places are great for service, and some places just want to move iron..."Turn & Earn"

DWP

If you get your service at a dealership where you didn't buy the car, they might not wash it for you, and they might give you a Corolla beater instead of a M-B as a loaner, but they probably wouldn't exact revenge by sabotaging your car. For one thing, they still get reimbursed by M-B for warranty-period service whether or not they sold the car. For another thing, sabotaging your car would be a crime under California Vehicle Code §10852:

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/di...le=10850-10855

RJC

In South Fla almost all of the the tri county dealers have joined together and will not give you any type of loaner if you did not buy from the respective dealer. MB should be like Lexus, you get a loaner as part of the new vehicle warranty; if this does not change it might be my last MB.

Barry45RPM

All you have to do it TIP THE SERVICE ADVISOR in advance $ 20.00 (after he writes you up) the first few times. They will remember your name, business, and will never tell you there is a wait for service or a loaner after they get "to know you". Also write the service dept manager a letter after your 1st service thanking the man who wrote you up for the great service & being sure the car was kept clean & the work done on time. Be sure to always see the same service writer every time (If you liked him) Been doing it for years when I drove a Chevy, Olds, Caddy & now a Benz.

I feel like Tony Soprano!

RJC

Yo Tony! (LOL)

The rules at my dealer Autohaus and others are so strickly enforced that if a service advisor gets caught giving a free loaner to anyone but those that bought from them they will be terminated. I've got a very good relationship with my advisor($), shop team leader, service mgr etc. The owner of the dealership made this decision and enforces it well. If anyone out there goes to Autohuas and has experienced something different please post here or PM me.

Thanks

Barry45RPM

He's very short sighted. You never will make a customer out of someone you punish. Business is earned, not demanded. ...again VERY short sighted.

RJC

Indeed...he's short sighted, as is MB. The dealer still gets paid and makes a profit for doing service and warranty work right?

I believe they all started this because a smaller dealer on the west coast of Fl was offering much fairer deals on the purchase price, trade-ins and finance rates in additon to having all the hard to get cars readily available. This smaller dealer has been mentioned here before, Glausser in Sarasota; unfortunately they were sold to AutoNation and now only have a Colorado location.

Customer service and satisfaction along with going the extra mile to gain and maintain clients is paramount to my business. I guess it doesn't mean that much to Autohaus in Pompano Beach. I wonder how they would feel if you buy from them and another dealer you live closer to won't give you a loaner for service...think they'll still take your money? Think they'll care? Think you'll buy from them again? Oh yeah, I almost forgot, that's what they wanted to accomplish with this policy.

MB needs a nationwide loaner program of C and E class cars period.

Barry45RPM

I'm would be willing to bet 4 out of the 5 dealers in the L.I. metro area meet & decide between them the per cent off sticker they all will give, period. I was quoted the same exact price at each. To the penny. (A couple of these dealers each own 2 stores). There has always been 1 dealer here who will sell for less every time. Now, one of the dealers has been sold to a newcomer. He has been actively looking for deals on the internet, so we will see.

Now, the car business is just like any other buisness, and they can sell their product for whatever they want, or even to sell based on on the competition, not just whatever the market will bear, but they do get paid by MB for service, and being NICE would encourage me to buy my accessories from them, and alignments, and brakes, etc... Being punitive will NEVER get someone to voluntarily spend their money there. Never.

Be competitive, I'll buy from you. You make more on some customers, and less on others, but at least you move product. ...and the person who gets my car used? Hey, I'd reccommend they go to the nice dealer, not the *******. So he loses twice.

alewifebp

Barry, you bring up a good point. Weren't MB dealers accused a few years ago of price fixing in the NYC metro area?

Barry45RPM

Didn't know that, but I'm NOT Sherlock Holmes and it was blatantly obvious to me when I was shopping... Its just not likely that all of them would have the same exact smug, you'll be back, price no matter how I configured the car... so I bought elsewhere. I got a great price, even though I was custom ordering my car the 1st week the pricing of the '04's was put on the dealer's computer systems. The selling dealer had a build allocation for first decade* month 11, which he gave to me & said I'd have it 2nd or 3rd decade month 12. He was right. All he asked if NY was a "2 plate state" so he would order & mount the front license plate frame/bracket... I would do it again in a flash.


* MB's months are broken down into 3, 10 day periods

RJC

I believe they were. Another thing I've noticed here in S. FL. the dealers will pay no more than avg. Black Book condition for your car no matter how low the mileage, how perfect the car, if the car was dealer serviced or not, has brand new top of the line tires, etc. etc. etc. this seems to be true for most brands of dealers. The little black book has 5 different conditions if I remember correctly, rough - extra clean. Talk about price fixing...everybody with a super clean car gets avg and if your car's avg you get rough. No matter its all still wholesale pricing even at extra clean which is never paid, that is unless you getting hosed on the purchase price and or financing of the new car!

Dema

Strange, I do a service at a dealership where I bought a car, and they never washed it and always gave me crapy Enterprise rent (Ford Focus).

paulhu

Next time buy your car in the big city like Atlanta, JAW-GIA. The dealers have coffee, muffins, and bagles everytime I go there. They also give me a MB loaner, if I am on time, otherwise, if I show up at 11:00am or later, I would get a Ford Focus.

konigstiger

Yes!
http://www.cmht.com/casewatch/antitrust/mercedes.html

alewifebp

Thanks for the info. I didn't realize that my dealer was involved.

Dema

Next time I'm going to get serviced at Mercedes-Benz Center/Autobahn Motors in Belmont. Any opinions about this center?

glojo

Hi,
Any update yet on what caused this embarrassing situation?

Thanks,
John
From a 'cool' clear, sunny morning in Torquay