Fourdiesel

Agree, all this is a bummer. Those of us who have been around this forum a while realize that, with all the issues StevethePilot has had, we now expect him to have two-thirds of the fault codes for the '07 CDI memorized. (just kidding Steve) lol.

TamZ

Well in actuality, I feel rather silly complaining at all, now that I know what Steve has gone through! My goodness. And if HE couldn't/didn't lemon law his GL, how in the world could I ever consider they would lemon law mine. My problems seem trivial in comparison! I have just been sad (irritated) that they all started within 500 miles of owning the vehicle. It sort of ruined that whole "new car excitement" you get when you get a new vehicle. But hey, now I know the "go to guy" on this forum if I have any more problems

They called and said they think the turbo is fixed. It is not currently making that noise in the shop but they are taking it out for a test drive. They topped off the adblue and were just getting ready to take it out to see if that stopped the clunking noise. He said they would call me back if it did and I could pick it up tonight. Well....they have not called back. Which..leads me to believe that the clunking noise is still there even after the adblue top off. Hmm...I think I said that already from the very beginning.

Looks like another day with the C! I also still feel like I have the best SA and mechanic on my side, so that is a good thing!
T.

StevethePilot

I sounded grumpier than I meant to. My "Gee, thank you" was actually sincere, but when I just read it I sounded like a whiney ... person. As for me and my car and you and your lemon laws, mine took longer to break and it was night and day. Most of my stuff happened after the warranty (makes a big difference) and was fixed rather quickly. I can't give you any advice on that front I'm afraid!

There are, without a doubt, excellent MB dealers out there. Many are that way because they've been around for a long time (maybe it's the other way around as well?) but I have to say that the dealership where I get mine fixed, who are actually my adopted dealership (not whereI bought the car!) are one of the biggest reasons I'm sticking with it right now.

Good luck and God bless!

TamZ

Well you have every right to be grumpy. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't my comment that made you that way!

pteam

Lol I had a mental picture of a guy going to his garage turning on the car and going "NOOOOOO NOT THE P0160 AGAIN!!!!! ARRRGGGGGGG!!!!!!"

Fourdiesel

You are close. it was P0161!! LOL

StevethePilot

You guys are funny! Honestly, though, to this day I pull up in the drive without an appointment and the greeter says, "Hello, Mr. G.! How are you today?" Sad, they all know me on sight.

TamZ

Well..I am back to update on my GL. I am pleased for the most part.

My rear seats are back to working order, they installed the new turbo and the weird whining noise is gone. So that is good!

The odd thumping noise from the back is gone. They refilled the ad-blue tank and now I just hear the 'slosh' on sudden braking, but that is nothing compared to the louder thud I'd hear. They said it was definitely my ad-blue causing the problem, because it sounds like the tank was practically EMPTY. They thought they'd just need to add about 1 bottle of the adblue but he said when they went to fill it up, they expected it wouldn't take much at my mileage but they found that it needed 6-7 bottles of the adblue? I can't help but wonder if what might have happened is when they needed to change the NOX sensor at the other dealership maybe they had to drain it to get to it? I have no idea..the SA said he had no idea either, whether they drained it or it just simply didn't come filled from the factory---I don't think that, because it didn't make the thunk until after the NOX sensort replacement--so I'm thinking the other dealership must have done smoething, but either way, he's never seen a car take so many bottles after only 8 weeks of driving it-- He said he's seen a few take that many after 10,000+ miles, but not like my car. What little ad blue was in there was causing that terrible thunking. The thunk is gone and I now just faintly hear the slight slosh that the other poster mentioned. So..I'm okay with that.

Also, they DID NOT CHARGE me for the 7 bottles of adblue--they called it a "good will courtesy warranty" or whatever, so I was happy about that. I would have probably high-tailed it down to the other dealer because I do think that is where the problem initiated. I'm not sure what 7 bottles of adblue would cost at a Mercedes dealer. He did leave me the wrapper from the bottle in my cuphholder...perhaps as a hint as to what kind it takes

Now to the wind noise: It isn't better He said he has done everything short of exchanging the windshield, shot compressed air all around and simply cannot see where any air is getting in through the windshield. On the drive home, it was every bit as windy as on the day I dropped it off I was hoping for something at least a little better.

During our test drive of the other GL, I had mentioned I did also hear slight wind noise but it does seem as if my GL has quite a bit more. I'm not sure what to even do, except to just accept that the car isn't as quiet as I was thinking it should be. My husband says he thinks I am just "overly sensitized" now to any wind noise because it's all I've been concentrating on for the last 6 weeks. He could be right...who knows. Since I noticed the noise, I have been driving around without the radio on for so long, I can only hear the wind noise. I'm going to try and go back to "normal", use the radio as I normally would and really try to examine this to see if perhaps I am just being unrealistic about what proper wind noise is for this car. It doesn't help that I hear all the other GL owners say they have very little if any, because in my car, it truly is very noticeable. So..if any of you find yourself up Ventura County way, let me know--come drive my car--lol..tell me what you think of my wind noise.

So..I'm on a quest to start enjoying this vehicle--hoping that nothing else goes wrong. You can bet I will be back here to update when and if that happens. I'll still be reading around the forum, etc. I sort of like it here

Here she is, all(most) fixed . Now..it's time to get some new wheels and tires (off with the run flats) and really maker her 'mine'. THANKS GUYS!

Brocktoon

That's good news. I hope you enjoy it.

TamZ

On another better note:

Today my personalized license plates came in....so that helped to make me excited about getting the car back as well. So those are on..with my cute blingy license plate frame. So now..it's time to enjoy

T.

pteam

Very glad you got most of your problems fixed. I gotta say in my hummer I dont notice any wind noise and that car of any should have wind noise. I gotta say your GL looks really sharp in that picture, cant wait til I get mine!

And trust me, when I get mine if there are problems like yours there will be a 6+ page thread also, you can bet on it!

Whats your personal plate say?!?!?!?!

TamZ

Thank you! And yes.. Even though I realize Hummers are not the most aerodynamic machines in the world...I never complained about the wind noise in my H2 and by now, you can probably tell, I would have!! LOL! oh well--I like the GL better than my H2 in SO many other ways.

I really missed the "luxury" of my GL while they had it. The C300 sport was a nice car, but nothing like the GL inside. Even my kids were ecstatic to get it back--my son said "it feels like home, Mom" lol... So it was missed.

As for my license plates, here are a couple pictures. You can't really tell in the pictures but the Mercedes is done in Swarovski crystals. Looks pretty in the sun. (Girly)





I have a bit of a license plate habit. Admittedly, I'm not very original!!!!


Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Brocktoon

Ha! Cute!

pteam

Awesome! I hope nobody steals your license plate. I wouldnt tell too many people its swarovski (I don't trust anybody)

TamZ

I thought the same thing at first. Except it has these locking things (under those black covers where there are normally screws) It is a PAIN IN THE BUTT to get on with the special tool thing the cover came with. It's hard enough for me to get ON...if someone wants to take the time to try to get it off, they can have it LOL! I think they'd have to break it and that would sort of ruin the license plate.

It was a gift from the dealer I purchased it from, I don't think I would buy another one but I thought it was cute!

T.

TamZ

The weird whiney/motor noise came back. In all actuality, I started hearing it "lightly" the second day I had the car back, now it's back to full-force whine again at each stop. Only difference, is now it also happens occasionally while driving at a steady speed and it has started to do it in reverse. Heard it coming out of my garage as I backed out a couple times.

GL goes back into the dealership Thursday, they will have another loaner waiting for me. Again, can't say enough about the SA and the mechanic. They are really trying to make me happy....wish I could say the same thing about my particular GL. LOL!

I'll keep everyone posted.
T.

Brocktoon

I'd be demanding a replacement car at this point. Get MBUSA involved.

If they won't help, maybe the new dealer will, especially if you upgrade to a GL 550, or even a G Wagen. Insist you be made whole on the first car, though...

luv2sleep

You have way more patience than I do. Just add up the hours and energy you have spent on this problem child. I'd ask for compensation for my time dealing with this problem!

I'm with Brocktoon on this one. Enough is enough! I'd look into California's Lemon Law. I once had an Infiniti that went in the shop 3 times in less than a month. I went online and did quite of bit of research on the lemon law. On my third visit to the dealership I told the service manager that I will be pursuing the lemon law and their posture immediately changed. They flew a guy out from Infiniti HQ and the problem was fixed. I'm not 100% sure but I believe that if a new car (18,000 miles or less) goes in the shop 4 or more times for the same issue and the problem isn't resolved, then it is considered a lemon. Don't quote me on this but it would be worthwhile to check it out. There are numerous law firms that also deal with this specific issue. I personally don't like dealing with lawyers so I tend to try things out on my own first.

spdracer53

getting anyone to compensate for lost time is going to be nearly impossible. the service manager might use some of his allocated "goodwill" money to get you some sort of gift from the gift shop, and or a full detail but that would be it.

you are better off using the lost time, and inconvience to help support your case to mbusa to lemon the car or buy it back. its what i did for the continual minor problems on my 07 ml500

i got lucky, and wrote a lemon law demand letter myself and set it off to mbusa in NJ. they agreed to make an exception and offered to buy back my 07 ml500.

TamZ

The service department has been SO nice about all of this. When you say they changed their posture, do you mean in a good way or were they irked you mentioned the lemon law thing. This is only the second time I've had the car to this particular dealership, the other 2 were at the original one. All the same problems, however.

My husband is going to call MBUSA (thanks to the person way up bove who gave me the #!) I feel like it needs to be a MAN who does all the dealing with them on this. (sad as that sounds.)

I take the car in Thursday- Which is a huge issue, considering I was suppose to cart 6 High school basketball players to a tournament this weekend for my daughters High School and now we have to find a new driver because my BRAND NEW CAR has to once again go in the shop! GRR! I can't even use the loaner to take the girls to the games because I had to go through the whole inspection rigamaroll and have my GL "cleared" for use with the team. Last time they had it nearly 2 weeks--I hope it won't be that long this time.

I think I come across more patient than I really am, on here. trust me, there have been quite a few choice words come flying out of my mouth about this.

My wind noise is till freakin' ridiculous, too. Ugh.

T.

StevethePilot

It's not the dealership that's at fault here, honestly. It's Mercedes' problem. The fact that you've had such great people to deal with at the dealership has everything to do with the dealership and almost nothing to do with MBUSA. But I agree that your best bet is to put the energy in to getting this vehicle bought back.

On another interesting note, I got a call the day before yesterday from the dealership where I originally purchased my 320, asking if I wanted to trade it in. The guy jumped through all the hoops - they want 07 320's, the new car is great, they can "save me money", all of it. I didn't have time when he called me but basically I would be willing to see what they'd offer me to buy the truck outright. I have a feeling ... heh ... it's not anywhere near what I could get for it on the open market!

luv2sleep

All I can say is that after their third attempt at fixing my car, the dealer asked for help from Infiniti HQ. They flew out a couple of Inifiniti's big shots (can't remember if they were engineers or techs) and they sat down with me and went over their plan of attack. Fortunately, whatever they did it worked.

You are on the right track by contacting MB USA. IMO, you have a lemon. In my experience, a car with many recurring problems early on usually becomes a bigger problem child down the road. You said that your turbo was replaced, right? That's just not right.

One of the main reasons why we got rid of our '09 GL450 was because of all of the little mechanical annoyances. It went in for warranty work 5 times in the first 4 months of ownership. I have better things to do on my days off than driving to the dealer. I'm sure you do too. I feel your pain and wish you better days to come.

TamZ

I totally agree, I can't say enough nice things about the SA and the mechanic at this dealership. My problems aren't with them at all. I even found myself apologizing to them for not wanting to seem like a pain in their backsides and he reassured me over and over that none of this is my fault and that is what they are there for. They are providing me with top notch service, no complaints there. It's just the car I'm unhappy with.

I am not trying to get out of my MB product, I just want the MB product I spent $70k for. If they called me tomorrow and said "here, we'll take this GL and deal with the problems, you shouldn't have to.." and offered me another new GL, I'd be fine with that. (lol..who wouldn't!?) I feel like a whiner when I complain about it.

The car really made the odd motor/whining sound a lot today. I'm not convinced it's the turbo, I could swear, several times today I heard a VERY loud Whoosh of air sound when coming to the stop sign. This is something new. Maybe it's supposed to do this? Maybe its not. I have no idea, but I will be bringing it up. It also made the whine/motor sound the entire time I was driving/coasting down a hill by my daughters high school..and then it "peters" out when I come to a full stop. When I say it peters out, I mean..its whining/motor sound....and then it starts to slow..and sputters and stops. Very strange. But if none of you have this weird sound when coming to stops, I guess it's not normal. It is random..happens each stop for awhile...and then I might get 4-5 stops where it doesn't do it...then it does it again. Frustrating. I will just drive the mechanic around as long as I need to until it does it. Strangely, it can almost always be counted on to do it at the first stop sign after I start the car to drive it. Then, its tough and go.

I'm long winded again. Sorry!

nobogie

ear Tam
what a tread.
I drive a Gl450 2008 with more noise than I find approrpiate for the car.
I only use crossbars as needed and will do alitttle playing around with tape and areo dynamics.
if it does not solve the problem I will switch mode and accept that just may be this car has a bit of soul and it attempts to talk to me if only I would listen instead of try to repair it.
So what does it say.
Well first it told me I am driving with my kids in the car on roads full of peopler
I speed up the Gl and the windtalker gently raised its voice ,I clearly could hear it made me aware that I was going quit fast and all the laws of physics applied to driving makes it more dangerous to drive.
I thanked the gl for the audible warning so much nicer than a beep or sireens from a patrolcar.Accidently I started enjoying the slower ride more and talking with the kids instead of racing .
I think you get the point.
My grandfather was a mastermecanic in Europe his long life as was my father I spend the childhood among a staff of 45 mecanics ,grandpa knew and could identify the holistic relationship between a car and its owner.
You have to" Repair" both .With out a doubt they are connected in ways it takes a quantum physicsian to explain or the wisdom of somebody who spend 6 days a week in a car shop for a lifetime.
Look at both and find out about you and your car will behave and become a mirror of you.I am sure the GL must be beutifull so do not worry.
Life is truly mystical not just the sum of parts.
I recall Grand secretly telling me stuff like this custumers heart is bad,I would ask why and naturally he would say something like ,well I cleaned his carburator 3 times in a month and it still do not run right.
Then a heart attack a short time later and he would say," told you, bad
carburator.
If all else fails Tam try decaff ,it lowers tinnitus in people with that problem and other noise sensitivity problems.
love your car.
Best of luck
Nobogie

TamZ

Yes.. I am very bummed at the fact that, pretty much, when it comes to this vehicle, I can't wait til the day I can just trade it in on another car. I have only owned it 8 weeks!?! Aside from the drive home from the dealer and maybe the first 5 days I owned the car, I have not been able to experience that neat feeling of "new car" bliss. At 500 miles, the engine light came on..and it's been downhill from there. Talk about sucking all the joy out of spending $70,000. hehe

I admit, it looks pretty sharp. I smile when I see my license plates. But that's about it.