RunInColorado

Ok guys, this summer my family and I went to Germany to pick up my fathers 06 E320 CDI. The car was delivered beautifully at the factory and then shipped to the USA. On August 1st we got a letter saying it had arrived in the country and would be shipped to the dealer (We all live in Charlotte NC). Today was the first time we got to see the car state side once it was picked up. The dealer first said a new guy was doing inventory and instead of notifying the salesperson it was in, merely added it to inventory. He thought at most it sat on the lot a week or two. My family believes it was more like 3. It then took the dealer 2 weeks to get tags on the car. This was very different than our experience last year when we had the car within the 6-8 weeks like MB promised at the factory. We felt that perhaps the car was damaged somehow and thats why it took so long. Needless to say we picked it up today inspecting it very very closely, yet it was parked in the bright sun and we did not notice anything. Drove the thing home 4 miles or less (non interstate). Putting the car cover on in the garage I noticed the trunk had several deep scratches (to the white primer). We then ended up looking very carefully throughout the entire car for other problems and found numerous scratches in the paint, pits in the clear coat both on the hood and sides, adhesive from shipping not removed on the rear bumper, chips in the paint on the door edges (apparently from flinging the door open into something), and on the lower edge of the driver door an area that looked like someone tried to touch up a chip with a paint pen (and a not very good attempt at that). The dealer was called immediately and they of course asked to have the car brought back.

So here is my question for everyone... what should the dealer do to fix this? None of us want the scratches "buffed" out, and the areas that are chipped should be fixed completly. Its brand new with now 29 miles on it. What should we look out for during the repairs?

The dealer is going to give us a loaner thankfully.

Many thanks.

amdeutsch

If that is the correct mileage on an ED car I would not even bother with fixing it. I would demand a new one. $0.02

Its not unheard of to have transport damage. Most stealers get reimbursed for fixing it. But from your description I would be leery.

Sorry to hear this as I myself am looking into doing ED.

RunInColorado

Our first ED just last year was perfect. Little or no scratches on the car at all (I know I have waxed, washed, clayed etc so I know the paint well!). Its this one that has been such a problem from the US side. In europe it was driven from the factory directly to the shipping lot. only 1-2 miles away. No problem with the car then. The odometer reads 29 miles right now sitting in the garage.

benzmodz

You went all the way to Europe to drive the car 2 miles.

RunInColorado

And to save 7% off list, factory tour, and 1 night lodging. Why would we drive it in europe as we already had a rental car.

AsianML

Damn, that sounds rough. Not to be a pessimist or something, but at some point the dealer may say that you have no proof that the scratches didn't happen after you drove it off the lot.

Demand a new car.

idrive

Jayhawk

You bought a new car, and all that implies (perfect condition), and I damn well wouldn't settle for anything less--and any dealer that doesn't understand that is not a dealer w/ whom I would ever want to do business! IMO...

RunInColorado

Ok, so I took the car in, and the salesman was mad it was even left off the lot. He believes some of the scratches we saw were adhesives that were polished over and that the first step to is to clean the car up completly, and reassess whats wrong. Then we shall make the judgement as what to do next. If they are scratches, we will demand a new car.

In the meantime.. I have a C280 as a loaner..

scottw

I agree. It is a dealer problem and not an ED problem. You should complain to the head of the dealership if they do not fix the paint issues. If need be write to MB USA head office.

RunInColorado

Ok guys so heres what happened, and how its been resolved. Apparently when they put the plastic/protective coating on the car for transport they use a certain type of adhesive that should be taken off completly and then the car should be detailed before delivery. That did not happen at all in this case. The adhesive was left on and then polished over giving the look and feel of scratches in the paint. The dealer gave a plan of action right away and promised to call us at every step. They cleaned up the car and the problems went away, the only thing that remained was the dings/paint chips on the edging of the door. The dealer was ordering touch up paint for those 2 areas and would have that done as soon as it came in. Apparently its very common for the doors to be dinged on the boat! Normally its fixed before delivery.

alboogiee

glad the bad situation is turning around! post some pics of the CDI!!

Musikmann

I'm glad to hear you are satisfied with the dealer's solution. However, Daimler should look for a different company to ship their cars! It sounds like some slob, when moving the car on, off, or around the ship was pretty careless to have opened the driver's door into something hard enough to chip the edges.

btshep

They do not have the option of controlling who unloads the ships in the United States. It is mandated union labor. Longshoremen do this. If the ship comes into the east coast it The International Longshoreman's Association is responsible for driving the vehicles either on or off the ship. It is not Daimler employees that do this. On the west coast it is The International Longshore and Warehouse Union

Musikmann

Thanks for the info jerseytuffguy,

I obviously don't know much about this issue, but I didn't think those were Daimler employees moving the cars. I was assuming that they worked for some sort of international shipping company. Furthermore, no one here knows at what point the damage occurred. So there are several points at which this could have happened:

1) Somebody loading the car onto the ship in a German port
2) Somebody working on the ship itself
3) A Longshoreman who unloaded the car here
4) The truckdriver that delivered the car to the dealer

Maybe there are more, but this should just about cover it

M

DukeBoy27

I am glad that you have the issue resolved to your satisfaction.

Since you are from Charlotte, I assume that you bought the car through Beck Imports? Well, a new MB dealership just opened across town, so if you are ever unhappy with Beck, just take your car across town to MB of South Charlotte.

xvvvz

It sounds like the wise thing to do when doing the Euro thing is to do a walk-around video of your car just as you drop it off at MB before it starts its trip to the U.S.!

Doug

Musikmann

Great idea - solid and indisputable videotaped evidence that the car was in perfect condition, or at least met with your satisfaction, before anyone other than you laid their hands on the vehicle from that point until you received delivery in the states.