oh lord no, I’d hate to see what that cost (and probably take 3 tries to get it right)! It’s an indi with German owners. It didn’t take them long, a day to replace the seals, then new spark plugs and an oil change/tire rotation. But the leak part was the most expensive part of the bill.

i have tossed in the towel on MB dealerships for service/repair if it’s not 100% under warranty, and even then I’ll consider paying for an indi instead if it’s not too expensive. After 3 of them and coming out as bad or worse than when I went in, I’ve come to the conclusion they’re in the business of trying to sell new cars too. The sheered transmission pan bolts my indi found was the last straw earlier this year. I even paid my indi to do the first oil change on my wife’s brand new 2020 GLS recently instead of trusting it in the hands of a MB dealership.

you want to keep a MB for a long time and enjoy it? Then never let a MB dealership touch it. That’s where I have come out with them. Indianapolis, Tysons Corner, Bethesda - all screwed up even the most basic of services for me before. Right down to installing a defective tire (obviously defective) and flat out lying to my wheel warranty company for fixing a bent rim after having the car an entire week. I could go on and on and on..

 

Not my experience. I use RBM of Atlanta. I don't use them for service on the car because the location isn't convenient and I do have an indy that is cheaper, but RBM has always repaired my Benzes correctly. They have never tried brushing me off and always go out of their way to make sure I'm happy.. even though I have never bought a car from them or paid for a service. Warranty or recalls only.

 

That’s awesome man! Good to hear there are good ones out there! I think around here (DC), where a black MB sedan is as common as a black suburban who’s owners want to think they’re secret service agents, the dealerships are overwhelmed to properly service and repair the cars, especially the one in Tysons Corner (bankers, lawyers, real estate developers). I remember hearing that dealership on any given day runs probably 300 cars through the shop. Just no way to have any meaningful quality control checks with that kind of volume. But the one in Indianapolis that replaced a damaged tire with another that was defective, just irritated me. That, and when I had the rear trunk lid spoiler replaced because the rear corner had come up via a car wash, and it came back to me all scratched up (Tysons), really set me off. I have only written two bad reviews in my life, and the second was for that dealership on Yelp after the lying about fixing the bent rim and billing CNA for it anyway (which I alerted they had been conned). The general manager responded to my Yelp post...18 months later. I was just one of many for that dealership on Yelp complaining.

These cars are not overly complicated, but they are different. I suspect the dealerships have a high turnover rate around here, and hiring a guy from the corporate owner sister Chevy dealership to work on a MB, is what I suspect is the problem for our dealers in our area. One company appears to own them - Penske.

With my indi shops (I now have two), I always tell them to take their time, no rush, don’t call me until you’re 100% comfortable with the repair. For me, it’s not entirely about the cost, but the time wasted. I’d gladly wait an extra few days and pay an extra 20% for it to be 100% correct.

 

Well, I agree with that, we have four Benz dealers within 20 miles of home, one Penske, one Mareno and two family owned, I go to the smallest family owned one, Leikin Mercedes, they seem to care the most and do fix things the first time, I won't go back to the two big box dealers again, but I am happy with my two Indy's also.

 

Update. I replaced the drivers side cover with new gasket (Just bought MB brand, black stuff). Seems to have resolved my issue. Well smell has gotten better each time driven. So crossing fingers it is burning off remaining oil and problem has been fixed. Thanks to all.

Forums like this is 100% the reason I get to buy MB, Porsche, and Audi. If it wasn’t for you all, I could never afford to maintain these beautiful machines.

Thanks
Thom

 

MBWorld has always been great. I've been a member here since 2008. The people really care, they know the cars and they try to help.

We bought a Porsche back in July. Their forums are miserable.. no one seems to have any in-depth knowledge of the cars (likely because Porsche withholds it) and everyone seems to think $500 oil changes should be met with a smile and you should buy gifts for your service advisor "just in case" you have some $25,000 transmission failure at 60,000 miles. It's unbearable.

 

My daughter says the same thing about the Volkswagen forum, she has a VW EOS, 2012 and no one responds, when they do she says it's like twitter, I have a Porsche dealer in my neighborhood, they are usually pretty good, but I go in jeans and a flannel shirt!
The local Tesla dealer is as you describe though.

 

Just returned from an A-7 routine service. The inspection revealed a small (wet) leak in the timing chain cover. Thankfully, the extended warranty picked up the cost ($720). After returning home, I couldn’t see even a small drop of oil on my garage floor. When I relayed this to the service dept was told the splash shields preventing oil from reaching the floor. Got me thinking this may explain why I would experience the burning smell almost every time when returning to the garage. Will let you know after a few days if the burning smell due to the “wet” leak has gone away after driving

 

I really think mine was exactly the same. I haven’t noticed the smell since I changed my cover seal but I bet we have only driven it 3 times in the last month (COVID keeps the miles down).