Musikmann

My dealer in Charleston, WV deserves a plug here. I have spoken with the owner (Jed Smith of Smith Motor Cars) several times and he always begins or ends the converstion with "Are my people taking good care of you? If not, I want you to call me personally". I have never had to resort to that last step, but it's nice to know that he seemingly cares about his customer's satisfaction.

Can Drive 55

There are no outstanding dealerships in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Ewing Autohaus seems to be adequate, but certainly nothing special and Park Place leaves a lot to be desired. Neither one of them come close to the customer service offered by the local Lexus dealerships. I think even the Honda dealerships have them beat handsdown. The good point is - I didn't buy the car to have a good relationship with the dealership, I bought it to drive and it does that very well.

Walla

Love'em.

Took in the cars today. Gave me a Lancer as a loaner, after i declined the 300C(to bloody heavy on gas).

Cars were clean, and in top notch, on the W211 the steering wheel was replaced after the leather went a bit tatty.

Final Bill was $500, but that was covered buy the Motorplan.

Can Drive 55

I can only dream about such customer service. SA must have different priorities than USA.

Walla

We 1st went through a Horrible spell with the dealers till late last year. but they were losing sales to BMW in a big way, and most of the Merc faithfulls went over, hell even my Folks had enough of Mercs quite frankly **** poor Aftersales.

But after Merc SA got with the program, and started getting Hard with bad dealers things have moved on. And should you be unhappy, call HQ and not long after said dealer will call u and they WILL sort out the problems.

Can Drive 55

Glad to hear that there is at least one success story. Now if we could only have a few here on this side of the planet.

rich123

I had a very bad experience with the purchase of a used SL65 at Fletcher Jones Chicago. I posted details on another thread. Check it out. Especially if you are in the Chicago area.

https://mbworld.org/forums/general-mercedes-discussion/200387-my-fj-chicago-experience.html

djamer

In Northern VA:

HBL Tysons - When i had my CLK, I took my car there for scheduled maintanence. Nothing bad to say. They were courtesy, on time and did fix most problems the first time around.

Mercedes of Arlington - I bought my CL there and serviced it there. There are a few advisors to avoid. I don't like to call out people on a forum, but PM for more details. Their service isn't the best. My CL had a ABC pump issue, and couldn't be fixed after several visits. I was very disappointed in their quality of work.


MB of Alexandria - Have not gone to them. This dealership is very close to my home, so I will most likely visit them for any warranty work or scheduled maintanence. My neighbor just bought a new S550 from MBAlexandria, and raves about their service so I will use them, and report my finding.

--
In Maryland: I have used any of the dealerships.
Interested in anyone whose been to

EuroMotorCars
Herb Gordon Benz

cascade

I'd agree, the SF BayAreas dealers aren't good. I have heard bad stuff about the places in Walnut Creek and Pleasanton too, sorry to say, in addition to the ones you mentioned. My car is long out of warranty, and the new ones are difficult to diagnose

The best experiences I ever had were at RAB, in Marin, though they made mistakes sometimes too. It's not such a good area to own a new Mercedes, I would think.

Even the good independents are hard to find. I never found a really good one either.

ultraseven

I have my car serviced at Autobahn because I literally live 5 minutes away from them, and the experience has been fine. However, I just had my car towed there this morning and I've been told it had to stay over the weekend. Needless to say I wasn't thrilled. And yes, loaner cars are only covered during the weekdays. At least you get a choice of C's, ML's, R's, and an occasional E350. I will have another update after my car is done, hopefully, next Monday.

windynews

Ran into the most professional salesman I have ever met in all my years of buying cars. He was very upfront and honest about the whole deal. I guess it just depends who you have for a salesman. I found out he was a previous owner, maybe that's why he was so busy. Really made me feel special the whole time. He seemed to be able to do the whole deal without running to a Mgr. He had letter's of reference on his desk from customers all over the USA.He delivered on everything he said he would. I hope he doesn't mind me giving out his name(sorry). It was Barry Schuman at Mercedes Benz of Chicago.(I already referred two people, and they we're as happy as I was with his service). Thanks for making the purchase a pleasurable experience instead of a miserable one.(Love my E350).

amgqmp1

We have one dealership in town (likely in the state), European Motorcars (Des Moines, Iowa). I can only speak for their service department, however, they're the absolute worst I've ever dealt with. I won't get into my tirade, other than to say...they won't be working on anything of mine ever again. Forget a loaner...I had to rip into my service guy just to get a "shuttle" ride back to get my car from them...that they hadn't touched all day (with a two day advance appointment).

I'd be leary of their sales department too...I saw a familiar face (previously from a local Ford dealership) in their sales staff while I was waiting to get out of the place. I recall dealing with him once...years ago. He required a cash deposit to take a test drive of an old, used POS. I left and never returned to that dealership.

My car is about to go into the one independent MB service shop that we have in town. I hope they fair better...

sexysl

I go to Chandler Mercedes-Benz.. When I was looking to purchase an SL the guys there were total and complete *******s. I don't know if it was because I'm Indian or 18 or both but it was the absolute worst experience. Anyways, I bought my SL from a different dealership but take my car to the Chandler one for servicing and they are absolutely amazing for that. They fix things properly and quickly and give me a cool little red c230 loaner car for free too. The salespeople there though.. complete *******s.

alpinweiss

Here in New México, we have one dealership for the entire state, so making a choice for factory-authorized repairs is not difficult. Mercedes of Albuquerque is the only game in town.

The good news is, I have always received excellent service there. It is a small dealership and service department (only 2 service advisors), so they know most of their customers by name.

Mercedes is not a very common car here, so one dealership may be all this state can support. Same story for Porsche, Audi, Lexus, etc.

Jessica90

I barely ever go to a Mercedes dealership, unless I need floor mats or something like that.

But I do get treated well at Mercedes Benz of San Francisco.

My car is from my dads dealership. All merchanical or body work is done at my dads dealership or at an independent shop.

raymond g-

i perform most of the auto needs myself, if it's within my level of skill. the several
times I brought the car into Seattle's Phil Smart MB, I was not impressed:

- had a malfunctioning sunroof...which did not operate under convenience mode.
they studied it and then reported to me that the car had convenience for windows
only, but not the roof (bad, bad response, as it's always windows/roof as pkg)

- i had malfunctioning changer in the trunk. brought car in for tranny cable
leak. told them not to touch changer. they called and confirmed no changer
work to be done. when I picked the car up, they disconnected changer, and
charged me $75 for the privilege. WTF?

- asked for paint chip touch up and low level detail. well, I got it. chips done
reasonably well, but the rear pax fender was left unwashed. very glaring.....
and sloppy.

- no one from Phil Smart attended my wedding j/k

Fortunately, Sunil/Sunman has family in Seattle and periodically makes a trip
up here....and has SDS hardware to perform mods if needed.

otherwise, I've done all fluid changes, spring and shock swaps, blinker mirror
mod, bixenon HID retrofit.... myself. just changed spring pads yesterday.

would still like to find independant for those tougher jobs though.

cool_breeze

You nailed the Bay Area good, however you forgot the US's absolute worst dealer, hands down, cannot be topped: STEAD MOTORS of Walnut Creek. Crooks and scumbags.

Chauss

I use RBM - have for years.
I have had no problems with them. They always treat me like I own a "MercedesBenz"...maybe it is just your service advisor?

If you are not happy with the treatment you recieve let management know about it!

SilverarrowE55

Took my E55 in for a smog check on Thursday. Got failed at a local smog shop, not for emissions (0) or visual but for the check engine light (functional failure) which did not come on when the car was started by the tech. I told the tech that the light had been working that morning. All dash lights were working.. I checked all the lights just to avoid any problems. His response was, "Hey, I'm not some stupid Mexican down the street!" I told him maybe not but that he was most assuredly a racist. He then stepped up to me toe-to-toe and told me to get outta the shop or else.... Or else what, I still gotta wonder... Some tough guy, I'm wrapped in an ice sleeve with an igloo cooler pumping ice water and immobilizer sling from my rotator cuff surgery and he wants to threaten to kick my ***. LOL. His boss wasn't there, a fellow I have dealt with for 7 years with all of my cars and many of my neighbors cars as well.

I immediately took my car to the local dealer, RA.B. Motors in San Rafael, California. They found the problem in no time after I returned the next morning for my appointment. The bulb was burned out. $5 fix.. Apparently the Check Engine bulb is one of the first things that can pop if any incorrect attempts are made to plug into the OBD port. Similar to the way rear license plate lights are one of the first things to pop when a car is hotwired. R.A.B. also performed the smog test and passed my baby with no prob. They DID however get some grease on my door panel and on my sun visor. I went back on Monday and met with the service manager who had the detail manager come and take care of everything to like new... The service manager informed me that if need be, they would replace anything that could not be cleaned to my satisfaction. The shop shouldn't have messed up in the first place but the fact that they handled it very professionally and promptly. Heck they had offered to send a detailer to my house to see if he could clean it in my driveway... But I preferred to bring it into the dealership and work with the service manager face to face. Must say that for all the bad rap alot of dealerships around here get especially San Francisco Mercedes Benz, I was really pleased with how R.A.B. handled things. I'll be going back.

I'll be going back of course to the independent smog shop to talk with the owner about his "problem" employee.

just sharing my experience...hope it helps

itsmeek

I purchased my '05 e500 new from mb alexandria and now also have an e55. The sales staff there is ok, but the service is HORRIBLE. I have had so many negative issues with these people it's out of control. I am going to submit a complaint about them soon here since their service advisers don't want to listen to a valid complaint.

djamer

Thanks for the update Meek. I have going to HBL for 2 yrs now, and knock on wood no issues to report. Excellent service, no waiting for appts, top of the line waiting area and convenient tyson's location. On their website, they have coupons for service, you can usually get pretty good deals on service A/B and regular oil changes.

Untertürkheim

What a crock.

xx 5id xx

Hi... haven't been on here for years!
got a Merc now, and need to know what dealership or independent specialist to take mt C220 Sport to ... 2005, 32k miles, just bought it.
I am in the South East of England, UK.

Thanks.

bigben320e

I have to agree with you Chauss. I have used RBM of Roswell many times over a two year period. They have always extended fast prompt service, good prices, and if something went wrong they fixed it. One time they forgot to wash my car, and they gave me a full detail (which costs about $150) and a $50 gift card to Office Depot as they knew I own a small IT business.

Who does that?

Now I do have to admit some others in Atlanta do suck. Buckhead Mercedes gouges on prices, simple example: I went to get a Ipod kit I bought installed in my CLS, and not only did the manager question me on how I got it (saying the public could not buy them) but wanted to charge me $800. WTF?

RBM did it for $225.

Mercedes South sucked so bad they went under new ownership and management, I hope they are better now. I can't really speak on that.

acr2001

Sovereign Mercedes Benz in Brooklyn - we have two cars and 8/10 times when you go for warranty work, they figure out a way to damage it before they give it back! Or they do a horrible job washing it, leave soap residue all over it, and "tag" the dirt left on windows with their names. Whenever they have to remove a panel to do repairs it always winds up scuffed up like they threw it on the floor. You get excuses about why they cant fix certain things because they have no understanding of the problem or the vehicle in general. Really highly recommended if you want to go postal. This is all WHILE under warranty!