tk9

I was in New York City over the weekend and the Hotel (Marriott) valet managed to get my car stuck as he entered the rarely used back entrance lot. There was a lot of ice and snow as he entered and he said that he heard a loud thump as the cars front end dipped into the puddle. He said that he tried furiously to get himself out and was unsuccessful. He was a teenager and did not sound very bright.

Guest services called me down as I was falling asleep to explain what happened. I tried to maneuver the car but immediately noticed the stiff wheel. I knew something bad happened. They eventually towed me out of the ice and I had the dangerous task of driving a vehicle with no power steering back to CT at 3AM because I was too annoyed and frustrated with the hotel.

Took it to the dealer today in North Haven, CT and after a few hours got a call quoting the replacement of the pump and labor at $1,467!!! I couldn't believe it.

Since i've been there many times before for warranty covered repairs and scheduled maintenance I hope they can extend some sort of discount to me. My warranty expired last month and I was not eligible for an extended MB warranty because I purchased the vehicle from a non MB dealer.

Also, the concierge at the hotel mentioned that they have insurance for these type of mishaps but failed to elaborate. I'm going to try to contact the hotel manager and get more information. Before they touched my car it was mechanically very sound.

Any direction or insight from my fellow MBWorld members will be much appreciated.

DC-IT

Why not get a quote from an Indie which should be cheaper?
Also speak to the service manager to ask for a discount since it's jsut a month after warranty.

Did you take some pictures of the incident at the Hotel and made the Hotel sign some kind of acknowledgement of their liability?

tk9

Unfortunately I did not take pictures because my iPhone was dead. Nothing was signed, only the gentleman's word at the front desk that he would "back me up" if I had any issues later on.

I submitted a complaint ticket on Marriott's website, and called the GM as well as the Manager of the Fairfield Inn today. I still have yet to get a response from anyone but Marriott stating that someone from the hotel will be in touch soon.

DC-IT

It is very likely that Marriott will come through for you as it's a reputable Hotel chain.
But I would at least get the Manager to sign a letter acknowledging it's the hotel's fault for the damage to your car.

Meanwhile call for more quotes for the repair.
Since it's out of warranty you are not obligated to have the dealer do the repair job unless Marriott agrees to foot the bill.

drsaab

hopefully it works out.

I Valet parked a car at Westin once, the car got shot at overnight, broke the window. They tried to say that there liability is only when the valet is driving the car, not when parked in the VALET ONLY garage. Also the valet was outsourced, so they did not want to pay since it was a small company.

It took a little back and forth, but the hotel paid for it, and not the valet company.

Tjdehya

There is no need to call around to price shop.
Its as simple as get a quote from your dealer, rent a vehicle while its repaired, and bring the bills to Marriott.

Also we all have lifetime roadside assistance, if you felt the vehicle was dangerous to drive you shouldn't have.

Like someone mentioned, I would head back to the hotel and ensure that you get something in writing before the valet finds a new job and everyone else involved that night develops amnesia.

GregTR

This is a simple case of negligence and you should be able to recover any and all damages.

JALLEN4

Does the dealer verify that the power steering pump was damaged by the actions of the valet parker? The pump would have to be damaged specifically by their actions and not simply failed to be their responsibility?

Arrie

I'm also curious to know as how the valet parker would be responsible about the power steering pump going bad... If the pump goes bad while driving it, it does not matter who is driving it.

But, the OP says he got a call when he was falling in sleep. To my knowledge the car will be parked before the check-in process is completed. If they called when he was falling in sleep it sounds it took oddly look long time to park the car for a valet? Did this guy actually go for a ride with the car on his own?

Secondly, the #1 reason for losing the power steering is to have a hose blow out. This will, of course, mean that power steering fluid is lost. When this happens the car engine should not be run at all because the pump running without lubrication will definitely burn it.

What should have happened is that the OP would have checked the power steering fluid level and if found low then under the car if it indeed leaked the fluid out. If no fluid under the car then it leaked out somewhere else. Interesting in this is that if the fluid leaks out slowly the pump starts making noise before it actually is at the level to ruin the pump. The OP does not mention if there was any noise present before the valet parking.

Driving the car with dry pump will definitely ruin the pump. Should not have done that because it could have been saved by filling it up if it was low and no hose was blown.

tk9

To help you guys get a visual of what happened...

Before entering the back of the lot there is a very thick layer of ice that causes the vehicle to tilt upwards and then dip downwards into a mix of semi melted ice and slush/water then the driveway rises immediately causing the cars front end to again face up and at that angle possibly scrape the front bumper.

The valet got the car stuck in the following position...

back wheels on solid ice, front end and wheels in slush tilted down. He tried furiously to back out or go forward while turning the wheel to max left and max right repeatedly (he explained this to me) ... the vehicle wasn't going anywhere. I have summer tires and RWD (take it easy on me fellas). He also said that when the car dipped forward it made a loud thump. By the time i came out, the rear wheels where 2 inches deep in the ice, due to him spinning the wheels for over 25 minutes causing heat.

All I know is i gave the valet a well maintained and mechanically sound vehicle, and about 40 minutes later my car's front wheels would not turn unless the car was in motion.

I hope this helps with a visual of the situation.

tk9

about 20 minutes after being towed, i stopped at 24 hour mechanic in queens and had him fill up my power steering reservoir. That didn't help. I'm not sure what other details you guys need to help me derive a theory on how this pump failed.

schorert1

I can't believe they even called you. the pump fried because they were using the wheels to make snow angels with heavy slush while the car was stuck. doesn't matter why it's cooked, just that they obviously cooked it, and even brought you down to see how they did it!

the smarter thing to do would be to call the tow company, pull the car out and leave it parked in the driveway of the hotel pointed at the street. "here you are sir, we like to leave mercedes right out in front"....so long sucker!

JALLEN4

The fact is it still needs to be diagnosed. That is something a competent shop should be able to do and ascertain why it failed. Did it run out of fluid, was damaged by a collision with the ice, or any one of several other possibilities. Simply turning the wheels repeatedly is not going to be the answer.

schorert1

why does it need to be diagnosed? If the existing problem is a burnt motor, and replacing the motor solves the problem, then nobody cares WHY the motor burned out.

turning the wheels back and forth would not necessarily burn out the motor. But the car was weighted heavily to the front, with drive wheels in the rear applying force against the angled wheels in the front, with those wheels stationary, while a valet works the wheel stop to stop. As the steering is electric, he feels no change in resistance, but the motor is indeed working much harder than intended.
the amount of force to turn the wheel at speed is nominal, to turn the wheel at a stop is manageable, to turn the wheel in the position described, extremely difficult...as the valet discovered.

MDMercedesGuy

I'd also have the dealer look the entire car over for damage - at Marriot's cost. Who knows what that loud thump was, and what he hit. It could be the cause of these issues, or he could have whacked the subframe on something. I'd be concerned with alignment, bushings, everything at this point.

Also - spinning the wheels for that long? Did he disable ESP - or was he forcing it to spin through ESP? What are the brakes like now as a result? (not sure if ESP defaults to throttle intervention or brake application as the first line of defense in wheelslip situations like this)

People make mistakes, and then there is plain stupidity. I very rarely immediately point to "fire him", but this valet needs to find another line of work.

DC-IT

The OP's car is out of warranty so since the hotel agrees to fix it why bother to determine what caused the power steering to fail. I would get a written quote and submit it to the hotel and get it fixed.
I suggested getting an indie shop in case the hotel turns around and deny liability as there is no written record, then the OP would save some $$.

PeterUbers

Something tells me that the Marriott is not just going to bend over on this one and offer $1500 plus rental fees to the OP, but I hope he gets it.... where's the proof of causality, or is this implied with any valet service? That would mean that if anything randomly went wrong with any car valeted in this world, the valet would always be responsible.

mleskovar

If the hotel will pay for it take the money and run. I don't see how they could have damaged the ps pump by getting stuck in a hole. I hope the dealer checked the undercarriage for damage as well. Ground clearance at the front is the only thing I don't like about my sport trim but I'm learning to live with the inevitable scrapes under the air dam.

MDMercedesGuy

Very easily. If the tires can't turn because they are physically blocked and you have someone sawing away at the wheel, it can overheat the pump quite fast. It's no different than holding the wheel at full lock. If the guy spent 20 minutes at it, it definitely could have done it.

mleskovar

Isn't that what the pressure relief valve is for? Is this a common problem in snow country?

PeterUbers

I just re-read the original post --

the Marriott should pay handily for this and be grateful the OP doesn't sue them.

This idiot valet got his wheels locked in some pothole/irregularity in the pavement and destroyed the steering mechanism

Also -- I would have mb or an indie look for further damage as well to the undercarriage as already posted -- rim scrapes? tire sidewall bubble? control arms?

Primus63

+1 Definitely sounds like the car just got back from a joy ride. A couple of donuts with the esp off for a extended period of time will surely ruin the pump. Ask me how I know,get the car repaired at a reputable shop if your not going to the dealer. The steering rack is gonna have metal shaving in it an it will ruin the new pump again, that's how your old pump got damage. Anyway good luck an hope it all works out for yaa.

Arrie

Do you know if this one really has a pressure relief valve? I remember my old Tahoe when it really did cut the pressure when wheels were turned all the way either direction. There was a definite sound of a valve or something cutting the power steering pressure at the turn limit.


On my W212 I don't feel for this. It sounds like the power steering pump pressure goes way high when the wheel is turned all the way either direction. After my Tahoe experience I found this to be kind on disappointing.

PeterUbers

On this 550, I don't hear any of those traditional steering pump noises.... Related to the electromagnetic steering system? Wonder how this system would defeat a scenario like this

mleskovar

Short answer....no. But I can't imagine a ps system without one. Think of a car parked, idling, at full front wheel lock (like after a parallel park) and the driver leaves for a while. Not a far fetched situation and it needs to be addressed. Of course the release valve could fail and defeat its' purpose as well. My thinking is that if someone could cause a ps pump to fail by something they did....other than abuse....then many more would fail I've read several accounts of the ps failing on other models after parking lot doughnut exhibitions with ESP turned off and maybe they did take it out back to play with.