I was just notifed by my service dept that if I did not buy my car from them I will be charged a 35 buck a day loaner fee and 25 bucks pickup and delivery fee. I feel like I am being blackmailed into buying my car from this dealer which is the only closest MB dealer to my house. I usually buy my cars from whoever can get what I want or whoever has the best price. Actually I have been going where my salesman is working since I liked him so much. It is bad enough that the quality of the cars has gone down so much. My 98 was one of the best cars I ever owned. When I needed service they would be at my house the next day with a loaner and the car was fixed right the first time and was returned in the same condition. Now you have to wait atleast 6 weeks if you want a loaner and apparently starting 3/1/05 will be paying 35 bucks a day for it.

My 01 is not half the car my 98 was. My SIL also has an 03 E and it has been plagued with problems. The brakes on that car are the noisies brakes I have ever heard, some type of motor runs and the entire car vibrates. The brake by wire has got to be one of the worst ideas ever.

I also purchased one of the best warranties they sell for these cars when mine expired and have to say it is not worth the paper it was written on. So far I have had 3 problems since I bought this warranty, door module, coils and seat module and not a thing was covered.

Since we are on the topic of the seat module, apparently they are designed to go bad right after the warranty expires. My nieghbor has a C and hers went right after the warranty expired also. Must be a real common thing because when you call and tell them that something is drawing down your battery, right away they say, probably a seat module. Everybody I know with a C has replaced them at the 4 to 5 year mark. The module is 383 and 306 bucks to put it in. It just plugs in under the seat and they want 300 bucks labor. I could probably go on and on about similiar issues but won't. I just needed to rant about what I thought at one time was one of the best cars, companies and service available to consumers which now seem to be striving to be the worst. They seem to be doing real good at that also. They might as well just hand out BMW brochures at the dealership.

Have all of you been having similar experiences? It seems everybody I know personally that owns one has been feeling the same way as me. I just think it is very sad that a company that was once the Pinnacle of the automotive world has sunk to these levels.

That's called 'incentive', not blackmail. Does the dealer you bought it from offer free loaners and pick up and delivery? Loaners and pick up are dealer sponsored perks, not MB perks. As far as your problems go....welcome to the club. The decline in quality is a hot topic with MB owners these days.

This is nothing new. It's typical for the dealer that you buy from to give you extra stuff compared to a typical dealer. I'm pretty sure any dealer is required to provide transportation (ie a ride home) but I don't think they are required to provide a free loaner.

I know that some of the dealers in NJ provide MB loaners only to customers who purchased their cars at the dealer, for other customers, they get whatever the rental car company.

Erik

The dealer I bought it from is about 1 hour away and does offer that service. But they also said I was entitled to that level of service no matter where I go. Of course they all tell you whatever you want to hear when you are buying the car. So if I move after I buy a car I now have to pay 35 bucks a day for loaner vehicles? Believe me, we/MB are already paying for that service. That cost is built in to what MB or we are paying for service. I think one of the salesman told me thay get some type of reimbursment from the company. Regardless, at 130 an hr they are making enough to put you in a loaner. Other marques are not charging this fee (as far as I know). Needless to say, this, combined with the quality issues will have me going to the BMW, Audi, Volvo and probably a few other dealers looking at what they offer as far as cars and service. Service, or lack of was why I stopped buying american cars. I may have to check Caddilac out again.

If they told you this they are wrong. There is a cost that the dealer has to pay to provide "free" loaner cars to customers. Often times, they only make this service available to those who purchased the car from the dealer. As someone mentioned earlier, this is an incentive for purchasing the car with them.

If you move after you buy a car, you may have to pay for a loaner vehicle, depending upont the policies of the dealer you work with. Whether or not it's $35 or more/less depends on where you are, and what kind of loaner car you're getting.

No, this is not included in the price of service. Just because you think it's a lot of money, does not mean that certain things must be included. By the way, other brands, such as BMW, Audi, and Volvo DO work the same way; it's a dealer service.

The one thing that I will point out is that there may be a difference between what is offered for "service" and what is offered under "warranty".

Also, you are not "blackmailed" into anything as you have the option of having your car serviced anywhere you would like. If you don't like what MB dealers charge for repairs, find someplace that charges less and take your car there.

Seems the "entitlement" culture is spreading.

I think that the dealer should provide you with a car even though you didn't purchase the car from them because he may not have bought the car from this dealer but he is going to get the car serviced at the location so the dealer is still going to profit from this. This is not a culture of entitlement but of corporate ignorance. This dealer no matter what is going to send that service car out to a customer anyways so if you want new customers do you say no to them? If you let this customer have the car and indicate to him that our dealership is doing it because we appreciate your business than hopefully this customer may eventually be a new car customer from this dealership.
My E500 also has many problems and if MB don't treat its customers better in the service area in all dealerships then they are going to lose all the customers to BMW and Lexus. This gentlemen should be getting superior service since it is MB that is churning out poorly designed cars that need service often.

Well, you should read the Kano model for customer service offering... whatever service is new and exciting today, is taken for granted and expected tomorrow. Sort of a self fulfilling prophecy.

Suppose there is only a set allocation of rentals. What about the current loyal customers? How would they feel if they do not get the rental per agreement when they bought the car? While trying to lure new customers, you lose current loyal customers.

By giving free loaners to a non-customer may show excellent service, there are always people who shop by their wallet. Why pay more when you could get the car elsewhere and get the same service? To curtail this 'view of shopping', the dealer must step in to make some new rules. It would sure suck if the real loyal customer can't even get a loaner when they bought their car there but the savvy spender gets everything with savings.

Your comments are about providing customer service. Businesses provide customer service because it helps them get new customers and keep current ones. Depending on the location of the business and it's local competition, some companies may have to provide more than others to hit this objective. If providing customers with loaner cars costs more money then it would bring in, then this is not a good program to offer. You also have to consider how such a program is paid for. Nothing is "free".

No thank you. I'd rather not see MB enact any kind of a program that would increases my cost of the car. This includes maintenance programs as well as loaner car programs.