occarfan

Got my recall letter today. I don't tow, but will probably get it fixed anyways.
Just in case I sell it to someone who tows. Does anyone know how long it will take? Especially if they don't take care of it at the dealership?

thebishman

Our SA yesterday told us that to be on the safe side bank on dropping it off in the am and pick it up towrds the end of the day.

Bish

bselph

Recall applies to VIN #419399 or lower. I am scheduled to have it done Monday. Mercedes dealer has me going to Cadillac dealer for certified welder. Mgr said it would take 2 hours as they had to weld, clean, primer, then paint. After talking to him I am not too worried. Will post results on Tue.

MKW

Sending an auto mechanic for a quick "lunch and learn" on welding ? There is some experience involved - knowing when the metals are truly fused but not under or overdoing it . It's like a dealer suddenly wanting to do in- house body shop repairs to capture the income and sending an engine tech to Earl Scheib for the afternoon to learn how to paint a car .
My boat is managed /stored for the season by a service at Tahoe so I'll just wait, as a couple of bikes hanging off the hitch ain't gonna worry me. I'll do it later and since there are lots of dealers in my area , I'll call around to see how each one is doing it .

scottybdiving

I find it odd that it is welded to the frame in the first place. Trailer hitches have always been bolted through the frame on pickups, including my 1 Ton C3500 Silverado. I assume whichever welder they use would be certified for liability reasons. A failure of a weld would be easily traceable and would open them up to a huge lawsuit if someone was injured or worse. If they knowingly used an unqualified person, it would then be negligence.

MKW

From my reading , the entire hitch unit IS is bolted to the GL across the rear framework as in all trucks . It was the square "receiver " part of it that was incorrectly welded to that cross piece during that subcontracted work.

scottybdiving

That would make more sense. Unfortunately, there's no getting around some welding to manufacture the receiver hitch. That probably would have been a sub contractor.

slim nicky

Got it done. As others posted it is not done at dealer. Here is what it looks like. Unfortunately I did not crawl under to see if the welds were there before, and do not have before pictures (recall was mentioned when I showed up for service; btw, still have not received letter). To an untrained eye, looks like a good job - welded at seams, consistant, and nicely painted. If you take it in, can you pls consider posting before and after pix? I suspect the quality will vary based on the welders.

Related - I'll post my experience with the suspension clacking in the right thread. In a nutshell, they did a whole bunch of stuff (including replacing suspension parts with new ones), loud noises have gone away. Some minor clacking from front suspension when suspension is on off road mode going over bumps. They could not get rid of this and after test driving a new one told me that apparently noise is "normal." Told me it is probable MB will have a service bulletin for this once they have a solution.... ugh.

To add insult to injury, they kept my car for 4 days and I just noticed they damaged my tire and wheel! Must have done this removing and installing wheel as they were working and testing suspension (tire has a slice in it and it looks like they tried to glue it, wheel has a ding). So now its back to the dealer. :-( I am not looking forward to this conversation, and hope they recognize and own their mistake. Wonder if I have any recourse if they do not? Thoughts? Has this happened to anyone else (dealer damaging your car when you take it in for service)?

emayer

Thanks for the pictures and I'm sorry to hear about the tire/ rim issue. I'd be pressing hard for a complete replacement. Just got the recall myself, and am apprehensive about the whole situation as well.

As for the pics, it seems as though they added additional weld to the joint. I'm no welder, but it's hard to believe we should trust this with a 5-6k lb load...

blittle

Got my recall notice yesterday......will be scheduling the work.....two hours to do the work......reality is, how long did they have the vehicle???

wbrownie

Dropped my GL320 at Crest this morning as well.

blittle

Made my appt. ......dealer said give it to them for 1 day.......I get a loaner. Sounds good to me.......maybe they will do the job right with regard to the weld and subsequent painting!

bselph

Crest did mine this morning in 1 1/2 hours. Paint is excellent and you would never know anything was done.

StevethePilot

A serious no-no, returning the vehicle after damage and a cheap attempt to "patch" it. I don't know if you've got access to another dealership but if so, I'd include in that conversation that your continued (high profit) business is dependant on how they resolve this problem.

I guess having several dealerships near by has been an advantage as after a couple of bone-head moves I simply stopped going to the further away dealership where I purchased my vehicle and started going to the closer one, whose service department is head and shoulders above the first's.

STP

slim nicky

Totally! Just came back from dealer. Service rep has agreed to replace the tire and repair the wheel. I was surprised that he did not dispute it, and that he was not surprised that something like this would happen while the car was in their possession. Makes me wonder whether he was in on it, and whether they were trying to pull a quick one on me. It did go off site for the welding, so its possible welder did it. However, they were working on the front suspension noise issue, and did a lot of work on that side, so I'm thinking that dealer did this taking the wheel on and off. So partly irritated and partly relieved that he agreed so easily to take care of this.

Re dealers, there are two in the Seattle area, and I have been going to the closest one which is the one I bought from. I purchased the extended warranty and service contracts (had a real bad experience with my ML). Given this, I wonder if they have the same incentive to keep my business since my maitenace is pre-paid? Anyway, have bought two cars from these guys and they seem to do the right thing eventually, so hoping it doesn't get to that. Would like to stay with them.

StevethePilot

Considering how wildly profitable extended warrantees are, it's a tough call. They made dough off of you with it, no question, but how motivated are they to then spend that money versus earning more from you? I dunno. Cars are overall just a big pain in the butt.

infamily

yes right on. the hitch is bolted to frame, it was the weld on the hitch itself. Just got mine fixed, no issues can't even tell.

NbyNW

I gave my SA a hard time because they wanted to keep it two days as they were at the mercy of a local body shop doing the repair. That was no good, so after talking with the SM he assured me it would be one day. I was clear I expected MB service, not service based on a local body shop. After quizzing him about the repair he said the problem was getting a certified welder to do the job.

Got it done today (one day) and the body shop left lots of tape residue (swear it looks like it's from duct tape) on the two back side windows and two places on the roof. Plus lots of dust all over the back end. Glad my dealer looked it over before returning to my wife. Classic.

Wish I crawled under to look at before vs. after. So now the big question - do I trust it??

jongaines

Well said. Considering the negative comments about the MB techs, I am surprised anyone would think that a certified welder would be any more or less competent.

slim nicky

Very strange! Why are they doing this??

lkchris

Written by someone who has no idea of the training Mercedes techs receive nor I imagine what it means to be a certified welder.

I'd expect poor treatment from these folks if I were you.

lauer87

I noticed alot of people referring to where the trailer hitch is welded to the frame. Just wanted to remind/inform some that the GL is uni-body(subframe) construction, not frame based. I'm not sure if this means our hitches attach to the vehicle, but if anyone is towing alot of weight frequently, I would recomend a Heavy Duty style diesel pick-up instead if possible.

dieseldoc

In general, the technicians at my MB dealer have been outstanding. The only time I worry is when work is sublet. If someone is a certified welder, I would expect the work should be fine.

NbyNW

Sub'd work. Makes you wonder. The duct tape residue... guess they covered the back of the truck with something to 'protect' it, then just ripped it off when done. Plus lots of white dust all over the back third of the truck - makes me wonder if this 'protection' worked? Looked like buffing residue. It was perfectly clean and just waxed before it went in. I'll call the SM Monday to see if he has a clue what the shop was doing.

Crawled under today to look at the hitch. Not sure what part they welded but one weld on the back side of the square part looks pretty shoddy. Not a smooth bead. Lots of irregularities. More questions...

dieseldoc

As I said in my previous reply, I always worry about sublet work. my benz dealer has its own body shop. All work is done on site. I would never expect my car to come back looking a mess. My GL is always returned to me sparkling clean.