After one year with only 451 miles driven (the car has always parked inside a garage 24/7), I was shocked to learn from MB of Chantilly on 4/25/2015 that my car with 33,465 miles has the following problems: (1) REAR MAIN SEAL IS LEAKING, (2) UPPER OIL PAN STARTIN GTO SEAP and (3) TRANSFER CASE LEAKING. A year ago, on 4/15/2014, I brought the car with 33,014 miles, still under warranty, to MB of Tyson Corner for a maintenance service with an oil leak but they did not find any of the above mentioned 3 problems.

I wonder if MB of Tyson Corner's technician overlooked these issues while the car was still under warranty and now I got hit with over $3,200 to fix them or the problems just happened by themselves when the car was being unused most of the time. So much for MB quality!!!

I made a contact with MB HQ and talked to Rommey who promised to follow up with my case. We talked twice on the phone and now he completely ignored my voice mail. During that time, due to my feedback from MB for service performed by MB of Chantilly, I got in touch withKim Presby, Customer Assistance Center around May 19, who said she would help me to get a feedback from Rommey. She said he is the Case Manager, who is the right person for me to express my concerns. On June 1, I left a voice mail to Ms. Presby and then an email to let her know that Rommey did not reply to my voice mail. As of this writing (7/1/15), I still hear nothing from both of them. So much for MB customer service!

Can anyone confirm me if the problems mentioned above can just happen for a car with 451 miles driven in one year? The last time I talked to Rommey, he said he asked the service manager at MB of Tyson Corner this question and the latter said yes. If it's true, I feel bad for MB to make such a poor quality car. If it's not, is there advice you can provide me to make MB HQ to fix these problems with no or discounted costs for me?

Thanks so much for reading this post and God bless you!
Thomas

 

I smell Does it leak beneath the car? Is it using fluid? Do you get a heavy burnt oil smell after parking the car? My dealer tried to pull the same thing on me and when I checked the "leaks" they were minor "weeps" and nothing to be concerned about. Rarely will you find a car that doesn't have weeping or minor leaks from somewhere after 30K miles and often it's just a bolt or two that needs to be tightened. But I agree with you that 451 miles of driving shouldn't have caused anything and if they are real problems they were probably there when you bought the car. That being said, I haven't seen your car.

 

I don't smell or see any fluid trace on my garage. Just frustrated when I was told the problems happen without driving the car that much within a year and between 2 MB services. Their customer care is the worst. This is my first and will be my last MB car that I have ever owned. Thanks for your reply.

 

I feel bad for you and hope you get this resolved. I will say that cars need to be excercised regularly. All kinds of issue crop up when they just sit idle.

 

agreed.

I'd at least like to have them put the car on a lift and show me a leak. I've seen MB dealers hungry for work claim that a very slight oil film from a weeping gasket was a serious leak.

 

Yeah both those dealers have messed up my cars multiple times. ASC in Arlington is better but like ever MB dealer it is expensive. I would ask to see the leaks as mentioned already. You also need to drive the car more as sitting around that much will cause seals to dry up and you will have oil leaks and other crazy issues.

As for your customer service issues sadly every car manufacture I have had the pleasure of talking with is like that. Just yesterday I was dealing with ford as a brand new F350 with less than 300 miles had no working cigaret lighters. First dealer wouldn't help at all and second dealer did after dealing with corporate who then told the dealer to help me. But then they tried to charge be for 3 fuses that were blown? How do 3 fuses blow from plugging my cell phone charger in (works fine in MB and since fuses were replaced fine in the ford) but whatever the case they wanted $35 for fuses and $100 for labor. So after talking to corporate again and asking about lemon law (TPMS has already had issues) they said that this time they would cover it but next time I would have to pay for it lol. I knew we should have gotten a Dodge or a Chevy....

 

Whenever I drive by that dealership I always assumed it was top notch. I've never used it though.
It's in a wealthy area.

Goes to show you any dealership can make up BS (not saying they did... but if the original post is held to be true)

 

OP, is your complaint of fluid leaking noted on the service records from the 4/2014 service? That should give you some leverage with this.

Unfortunately, the delay is response is typical as others have noted. Customer service is only something you experience when you are handing them money.

 

If you don't see any trace of leaks on your garage floor I would question if there really are leaks.

Take it to a garage (no MB) and ask them to remove the under engine shields and inspect the car for leaks. You will have to pay for this but if it comes clean with no leaks you can take the bill to the dealer claiming you have the leaks. They would refuse paying the bill but you could raise a hell about them trying to fraud you for the nonexistent problems and you would have a proof to take it to the MB head quarters.

This all smells...