I dropped my 2021 G63 at the dealer for 30k service and the latest campaign. Back in July when i had it in for something else I complained about a jerking sensation when manually down shifting from 5th to 4th gear. They didn’t find anything and updated the software. Fast forward to today. I’m still having the same problem. They checked it out and found metal shavings in the transmission gear box. Not sure how this happens or why. Bottom line they have to replace the transmission. What should i do? It seems crazy to me a truck designed to withstand much harsher conditions would experience a catastrophic failure such as this from normal driving in and around NYC.

Is there a scenario where they (dealership or MBUSA) keep the truck and replace it? The transmission is still under warranty. Will I have more issues down the line as a result?

thanks in advance.

 

it's not uncommon, it's a mechanical device after all. most service centers are more than capable of handling major repairs like these. just make sure you get a loaner while they replace it; usually a few days.

 

They won’t take it back for just this. Now if a second transmission gets chewed up maybe, but you probably are out of the lemon law range by age and mileage.

They will fix it under warranty and that’s the best you can ask for at this point.

 

i spoke with a local shop here in NJ who specializes in AMG vehicles. they said i should ask Mercedes to replace the vehicle altogether. obviously easier said than done but I raised the issue with my dealer and will speak with the service manager.

 

I went through a similar mindset when my BMW iX stranded me in traffic last month. I wanted BMW to take it back. Apparently it has to have the issue three times before a buy back is even considered, and this was a car with 3000 miles on it.

I don’t mean to dissuade you but want to temper expectations. If you can convince Mercedes to take a three year old car back with 30,000 miles then that will be the exception to the rule for sure. I’m sure they will give you something like a free service for goodwill but from what I can tell it takes a lot for these companies to agree to take cars back.

I hope I’m wrong but keep us posted!

 

Agreed. I would just have it repaired under warranty and then trade it in for a newer model.

 

There is a 1 year old G550 with 1,500 miles for sale with the professional package at a MB dealership in Chicago. It is a Mercedes Benz buyback from a customer who bought it from a dealer in Florida. I haven’t been able to get the details, as both dealers are not forthcoming with information. The dealer in Florida hasn’t called me back and the dealer in Chicago says they replaced the battery as there is a drain on the system and that the coil for cylinder 1 & 2 was replaced. I asked for a printout of the scan they did after they purchased the vehicle at auction, and the dealer has basically ghosted me since then. This is a very young vehicle with very low miles to have been bought back by the manufacturer.

 

Yes like I said in the other thread buybacks do happen but typically it is for a recurring issue that is not fixed to the owner's satisfaction after multiple tries. Often the person then has the ability to lemon the vehicle, so they have leverage as manufacturers would rather buy a vehicle back then have it lemoned.

If a car does not qualify as a lemon, then that leverage is lost, and it's up to the manufacturer to decide what to do.

Most buy backs are young vehicles for that reason because cars over 1-2 years and over say 10,000 miles typically don't qualify for lemon status.

 

They will not lemon law it for this. For all the reasons stated.

However if you have it fixed, and it keeps happening multiple times, then maybe, but thats a big maybe. Likely not with 30k miles, and 2-3 years old.

Good news is the new transmission will be covered under the MB 2 year unlimited mile warranty for the repair. Thats the OEM policy.

So what would likely happen is they would just replace it and continue to, but a new transmission would likely solve that issue, as there was probably a defect in that particular transmission.

Most lemon buy backs are things that they just cant replace one specific part and be done with it. Things like electrical issues they cant diagnose, or other issues they cant diagnose, and rather than replace all the wiring in the car or rip the entire thing apart they would just replace it. Or if they replace said part and it continues that signifies there is further issues elsewhere. Transmission problems would usually be isolated to that specific transmission.

 

So if it's electrical. Why would they buy it back, just to resell it to someone else? It's still a lemon with an unresolved major issue?

 

They buy it back to avoid a lemon case and to get the original owner out of their hair. I’m guessing it then goes to auction as there are dealers out there who specialize in buybacks. The draw is you can sell a great car at a deep discount and hope somebody will bite.

World Imports USA in Jacksonville is one example of such a dealer.

Not all buybacks are equal in severity but I’d hope if it were a major issue they wouldn’t resale it.

 

Agreed. I don't expect the dealership to do anything other than fix the problem. I'm taking a shot w/ MBUSA, I doubt it will produce the outcome I'm looking for but I'm willing to try. at the very least i want to get coverage beyond the limited warranty.

Can you share with me where I can find the OEM policy regarding the 2 year unlimited mile warranty for the repair?

 

The reason would be to recoup as much of the loss as possible. They send directly to auction. It's disclosed at auction, and new buyer assumes responsibility. They do NOT try to sell it to the general public, or a MD franchise dealer, auction only. The title is branded etc. Now that doesnt mean a shady dealership wont try to hide that, but MB USA doesnt just crush the car. There is still some monetary value even in a lemon. So they try to get as much as they can back. Not much different than an insurance company totaling a car. Doesnt mean someone wont buy it, fix it, deal with it. But by "lemoning" it, they essentially wipe their hands of it, disclose it and thats it. It's now on who ever buys it.

Keep in mind, MOST if not ALL banks will not finance a lemon law buy back, and the value of the car is greatly diminished. Usually rebuilt, branded, salvage titles are worth 40-60% of the equivalent vehicle that does not have a title issue.

But yes there is plenty of schemes that can and are done on a regular basis to wash titles between state lines, to achieve a "clean title".

It's a buyer-be-ware situation, and Mercedes? After they disclose and sell at auction? They say "have a nice day, we're done here, no longer our problem", no harm no fowl, unless they (MB USA) try to hide the lemon buy back, which is nearly impossible. But im sure if MB USA wanted to open that can of worms and risk being bashed and "canceled" they wouldn't dare try to pass off a lemon law car as "clean title". Even if they repair it the VIN is still tarnished, and it's not worth MB USA to try and hide that, because they don't lose as much as people think.

Let's say its a 200,000.00 MSRP car, they already made their 30-40K on it when a dealer bought it from them. Dealer makes their 30-40k when someone buys it. Then they have to lemon it. They now give a new owner a brand new vehicle at a cost of 120-140K (manufacture cost i'm making up, I dont know, but I imagine its in that range), so they're now only negative 80-100k... but they also now re-own the lemoned unit. They resell it at auction... it brings 80-100k (40-60% of wholesale of a clean one) they're made whole (mostly). They just basically broke even... unless some sort of insurance policy they may have to cover a loss in that situation (not sure). but maybe they lose 10-20k on one car worst case. best case they still make a little $. But remember on every single vehicle they sell, built into their "cost" they have a line item for things like this. $ allocated to the general fund, or maybe a lemon fund, whatever they call it. So we all pay for it in the end anyway, as part of MSRP. welcome to the business world. lol. Thats how they all do it.

 

they will resell anything and try to recoup as much as possible. But yes some are worse than others, and they know this. But at the same time, they will try to get as much as possible. It's on the buyer. Who is usually small "pot lot" independent dealer, a franchise MB dealer wont touch lemoned cars, unless for an employee or buying for parts or something, but I would imagine in their franchise agreement there is something in regard to this sort of thing. Buyers need to do their diligence. As long as they (MB USA) disclose it at auction, and the title is branded, it's not their problem anymore.

Mercedes and any other OEM is not in the business to keep cars in any capacity, unless it's a rare 1 off marketing type of unit or something along those lines. They need everything to be liquidated. I imagine they have large insurance policies that cover portions of it, and the rest is recouped at auction. Don't get me wrong they still likely lose a little money on that particular unit worst case. But they certainly have things in place to cover those losses and money in "general contingency funds" to be prepared for things like this, as well as large recalls etc. It still (maybe) costs them $$ but not as much as people think. And in most case I bet they break even maybe still make a little when you consider the original profit on the original sale. The bigger the losses they take the bigger the contingency fund is which is then in turn passed right back on to the customer/end user in things like "msrp" increases etc. They keep their margin intact at all costs thats the whole "hold the bottom line at all costs" mentality. They still want to keep their brand in tact, and not be known as a bad OEM, so they get creative with accounting to make up for it.

 

I dont have literature on it, but the MB dealer will have that. It's a MB policy, not a specific dealer policy. Mandated by MB USA.

Edit: spoke too soon... here ya go... and looks like transmissions are still 24 months, but not unlimited miles, 24 months, 24k miles on trannys. (not the Caitlin Jenner type :-) ) Sorry, in my situation I wasnt looking at transmissions, so I misspoke when I said unlimited in this thread. It is unlimited in most cases however.

https://www.mbusa.com/content/dam/mb...20Warranty.pdf


*edit* : just had a realization that the 2 yr repair warranty MIGHT be on customer or 3rd party warranty claims only. Meaning if it’s an OEM warranty claim they may or may not offer that part a new warranty. I’m just not sure. They may. Read through the link and ask the dealer they should be able to tell you. But for sure if you pay out of pocket for a repair, or an aftermarket warranty replaces the item there is a 2 year MB USA warranty.

 

Thanks for sending. I asked the service manager and he said it only applies to purchases not repairs that are still under warranty.

 

I had a feeling that could be the case but wasn't sure, which is why I made the edit. So you would continue on with the standard powertrain warranty.

What I would do is make sure somewhere its documented what the actual cause of the failure was. That way if the same thing were to happen again after the warranty expires you COULD possibly have a leg to stand on to be offered good will. Tough to say though.

I would definitely want to know what the cause of the failure was regardless, and a little deeper explanation than "the transmission has failed" LOL. Ya, but what caused it. a defective part? poor assembly? poor installer? lack of maintenance that caused "XYZ" part to fail prematurely?

As far as I know there isn't wide spread transmission issues with these cars, but could also be too early to tell. Hopefully this was an anomaly and the new transmission is fine. Which if they're just replacing the entire unit I would think you'd probably be ok and shouldn't be too worried moving forward, as long as the failure was not a signal that there is starting to be issues with this transmission.

 

Also consider purchasing an extended Mercedes warranty from the dealer. You can purchase up to an additional 3 years/100,000 warranty as long as the original warranty on the vehicle has not expired yet.