Hi, guys. Looking for advice on how to handle this.

A couple of years ago I bought a used 2003 SL55 with a CPO warranty. The car has generally been reliable and the local dealer (Mercedes Benz of Ann Arbor) has been terrific with service and occasional warranty repairs.

I just ran into a problem that CPO warranty folks declined to cover, specifically a failure with the antenna line. It turns out the previous owner had spliced an RF modulator into the antenna line and that caused the the radio signal to fail. At first the failures were intermittent but they became persistent.

Good guys that they are, Mercedes of Ann Arbor identified the problem and restored the antenna set-up to factory-original condition.

This is where the runaround starts.

The Mercedes CPO warranty people declined to cover the repair since it was the result of owner furnished equipment, not factory equipment. The problem is, I wasn't the owner who made the change! The "defect" existed prior to the sale and should have been identified during the CPO inspection. The on-off switch for the RF Modulator was located 2" to the right of the OBDII port; there is no way the technician could have missed seeing it.

I then called the folks at 1.800.FORMERC. In a nutshell their response was, "not my problem." They claim it's up to the selling dealer to ensure the CPO inspection has been properly completed. If my car wasn't properly inspected I should take it up with the selling dealer.

So I called the selling dealer, Mercedes Benz of Greenwich CT. I explained the issue to the very pleasant woman who answered the switchboard. She spent five minutes looking for someone to take the call, then apologized and said that someone would call me back. Three business days later, no call back.

Any suggestions as to the most efficient path to getting Mercedes to engage on the issue?

Should I keep placing calls to the selling dealer? Should I stop in personally during my next trip to CT? Should I mail a formal demand for payment to the selling dealer? Should I demand satisfaction from Mercedes Corporate; their dealer, their CPO process, their problem?

I'd be glad to hear your ideas on this!

 

No flame; but how much is your time worth? How much are the repairs?

 

No sweat.

The repair bill came to $584. If that seems like a lot relative to my description, it's because the installation was a rat's nest and took significant time for MB-AA to clean up. It wasn't just a clean splice into the antenna line.

I've invested less than 30 minutes so far in payment discussions with MB-AA, the call to 1.800.FORMERC, the call to MB-GW, and my post to this forum. So not a lot of time invested so far. It takes me more time than that to drop-off and pick-up my car for service.

Beyond the money is the principle of the thing. I paid extra $ for a car with a CPO warranty. This problem should have been identified by the CPO inspection and corrected prior to sale. Someone on the MB side of things should step up to the table, admit to their mistake, and correct it.

 

...this is troubling. I'm considering a CPO vehicle, and am now worried that if I purchase it and there are problems down the road MB can simply claim that they were due to abuse by the first owner...

 

Buyer Beware!! CPO dealer term for an extra $2K profit on a used car.

https://mbworld.org/forums/showpost....8&postcount=22

 

Waste of time. The selling dealer is obviously blowing you off. Do you really want to go to small claims over less than $600.00? Because that is the only way you will recover the money. MBUSA could not care any less. They will not help you. They have already stated their position and that is, it's not their problem. Just be a PITA to the selling dealer by filing a BBB complaint and maybe, just maybe, they will cough up the cash to make you and the claim against them go away.

 

Not sure what you should do but am not surprised you haven't gotten a call back from Greenwich. It took me 2 months to get a simple steering wheel replaced after they tried sticking me with a USED wheel to replace a new one under warentee. It's a long story but I am currently looking for somewhere else to get my service done after buying the car there.

I was treated like a piece of CRAP at Greeenwich and will not be continuing my business there. This is my first MB and I expected much more. I truly hope they are not all the same cause I love the car.

Don't mean to change the subject but just wanted to share my experience.

Service manager's name is Phil Sitzman. I must have called him around 20 times in the last month and left around 4 messages and he returmed my call... once.

I would go in to see him personally if you want to avoid the frustration of waiting for a callback which will not come. I think thay have extended hours now. Open till midnight during the week. Good Luck

 

I worked for Phil. He's a Jerk Off