Whats up guys? I am the sad owner of a 2002 Mercedes C320.

Last June I found a C320 for sale here in town and decided to get it. I'm 20 years old and work 9-5 so I can drive a nice car, and so far it has been a nightmare!

Since buying the car I've had nothing but issues out of it and didnt think there was anything I could do about it. Until my friend mentioned the Lemonlaw to me today and told me what it was. I was hoping to get some input from you guys on my situation.

I've had the car for just over 7 months. So far here is my experience... I had a tire blow on me and got all 4 replaced then had to replace all of the spark plugs. Then the car randomly breaks down on me, have towed to Mercedes and they cant find anything wrong after a couple days.

I then started to notice a lot of spots on my car where you can tell the dealer used a cheap touch up paint. I'm talking 20 noticeable spots, 5-7 very noticeable. Car randomly breaks down on me again.

I've had a headlight go out on me, 2 tail lights, marker light and the license plate lights go out on me. The transmission is acting up, and getting worse by the day. It revs at high rpms before shifting and the car jerks a lot of times. Now the break pads need replaced and the rotors turned. Also, last week a warning for my ESP malfunctioning came one. Then yesterday my car wont start, jump start the battery and go home. Wake up and its dead again, jump start it and start to drive only to notice it will not shift out of first gear or let me shift the gears. I've been told its my alternator?

When I was looking at the car I specifically asked the dealer if it needed any mandatory services by Mercedes, he said no, it already had them done. Well about 2 weeks ago a warning for Service B appeared.

I am sure I've missed a few things but you guys get the point. Please tell me that this is a freak accident and that Mercedes makes much better cars than this! Am I totally screwed or do you think I can do something about it? My parents next door neighbor/friend is a lawyer...

 

Lets start at the begining. Did you buy this vehilce from a MB dealer, non-MB dealer or was it a private sale? Did you have any form of pre-purchase inspection done? Did you do ANY reseach into this model before purchase? Did the vehilce come with any warranty or did you purchase a warranty?

A tyre blow out has nothing to do with MB, that's a tyre or user problem.

Changing spark plugs is a service item, nothin to do with MB

"Randomly breaks down on me"......any further description? if that's all you are describing to the workshop then I'm not surprised they aren't finding anything wrong. Is it a MB dealer or independent workshop you're taking it to?

The spots they've touched up, that was there when you bought it......tough.

The list of blown globes, you've got to be kidding me if you think that is a genuine fault of the vehilce. At most the brake lights tend to blow quicker than other cars, it's just they way it is.

The transmission problem, has it been inspected by anyone? What's the diagnosis?

BRAKE (learn how to spell it) pads and rotors are a consumable, it's you're problem.

The ESP light, has it been looked at?

The flat battery, likely that something was left on or something is draining the battery. Get it looked at properly, don't go off what someone told you.

Sounds to me that you have bought a relatively high end vehilce without looking into the costs of running a vehilce like this. Most likely you bought it at a greatly reduced price and ended up with someone else's problems.
I'm not familiar with the US lemon laws but I highly doubt that you have any claim whatsoever. These are not cars that run well on a budget, they can be maintained for less than dealer prices but they are still more expensive than your average car!

 

While the previous poster makes some good points, try to ignore the condescension.

There is a certain amount of due diligence that you, as a buyer, should have done when looking at used cars. At the very least, you should have had it inspected by a mechanic. You should have looked closely for any body or paintwork. I would imagine that if you can see it now, you shou have been able to see it then, if you looked close enough. If the seller said the service was just performed, ask for proof.

IMO, the problems you're having are typical for any car. Over time, cars need repairs and parts need to be replaced

Lemon laws vary by state but like the previous post said, I doubt you would have a claim because you aren't having chronic issues

 

Yeah, bit much in there........long day, nuff said.