lemonspinner

So I just purchased a CPO 2013 550 with 20K miles on it. Before purchasing I made a trip to the dealership in NJ (I am in TX) to test drive it. A warning came up when we started the car about the tire pressure. It said 37 in the front drivers tire and 33 in all the others. When I asked the SA about it he gave me a story about how the gauges aren't always correct in the cold.

Fast forward 11 days, my husband was kind enough to drive the car back to TX for me so he had them deliver the car to him at a nearby hotel in NJ. The SA was off on Friday so he delivered it on Thursday afternoon and my husband parked it at the hotel. When he went to start his 2 say journey Friday morning the tire was reading at 14psi. Not the way he wanted to start the trip.

He called the SA who was off and he did not answer. He put air in the tire and off to the dealership he went. They did a thorough inspection and could not find anything, and were ready to send him on his way to Texas without any fix. He insisted that they remove the tire from the car to do a water test. After heavy persuasion they did and found a leaky valve. Four hours later he had it fixed and ready to go.

This 4 hour delay ruined any chance he had of making it to Texas in 2 days, and with a work commitment Sunday night in Chicago he was not able to come home at all. He missed his daughter's basketball game and I do not have my new car yet.

What is so upsetting to me is that they knew about this problem before delivery, and knew we were driving it to Texas, and did not fix it. The fact that the tire pressure was different when I test drove it tells me that they filled it up before I came without looking into why it was losing pressure. Then they had it for 11 days after the test drive before delivering it to him. The fact that it went from full to 14 psi in 20 hours tells me that they had to have known it was continuing to lose pressure.

This is not the customer service that I was expecting when I purchase a Mercedes. Can someone provide me with their perspective on this because it is really leaving a bad taste.

JimBarnhart

I'm aligned with your thinking - bad customer service from the NJ dealership.

My suggestion is write it off to them not caring about a Texas customer. But I do think it would be beneficial to get to know your local dealer. I'd suggest calling them, tell them you are buying a CPO and bringing it home and wondered if they would be so kind to give it their 'once over'. Tell them you'll intend to use them for your service (you still have 30,000 miles of warranty) and I would expect they would do it for free.

fabbrisd1

I can offer no excuses for that particular dealer not catching the issue - especially since at 20K miles for GL550 CPO a "good" dealer will have replaced all four tires. When I mean "good" dealer - Mercedes CPO minimum is 5/32nds but "good" dealers for a GL550 will automatically upgrade/replace if the tires had not been previously changed.

The salesman is also "questonable" - I know of no salesman that takes Friday's off except in emergency family situations - at bare minimum he should have picked up that call.

A leaky valve is almsot impossible to diagnose "on car" - so the right off-car check was done - however for that to take 4 hrs again was off-track.

Hope all is well now - enjoy your "new" GL550 - if you are into such things, give EuroCharge in Houston a call - a GL550 tune definitely takes a GL550 from fantastic to awesomeness !

Keep the beat !

cookstar

If you want my suggestion you should do the following: A) Get this resolved with the dealer B) if the dealer is playing games contact MB USA and they will at least give the dealership a talking to.

BlownV8

With the CPO, he's still got 80,000 miles of warranty left.

lemonspinner

Three of the tires were new, one had only a few thousand miles on it so it was not replaced. That is the one that had the leaking valve.

My husband is enjoying the distronic on his way down NJ. The lane keep assist is disarming and he turned that off.

I am interested in getting an ECU tune. I inquired with my local Renntech dealer and they told me over $3200 installed! So I will be giving Eurocharged a look, but I honestly know nothing about tunes except what I have read in this forum.

fabbrisd1

Well, I will call this a dealer-muddy-water-bull****: "Three of the tires were new, one had only a few thousand miles on it so it was not replaced. That is the one that had the leaking valve".

So - original owner had original set of 4 tires - ran to the ground - one tire original tire had a flat a "few thousand miles ago" was replaced - dealer replaced only 3 out of 4 tires when traded in and certified ? That's bull**** on that dealer. Sure, meets tread wear MB minimum - but that's bull**** for safety.

I "hope" that bull**** tire/valve was on the rear - if it wasn't then the whole take is even more bull****..

Really - you think that same original tire has had a leaking valve since it was replaced by the OW a "few thousand miles ago" ?

I would recommend two things:

1) Check your spare right away - make sure it doesn't have abnormal wear

2) Tell that NJ dealer you will call MB Customer Service and complain if they don't order a fresh/new replacement tire sent to your home address - and that you will take care of the install cost - do you really want a ONE tire that will wear out up to 20% sooner than the other THREE new tires ?

They fracked you since you were out-of-state hard ball price buyer - inexcuseable shortchanging a 4th new tire - absolutely inexcusable - do you really want to replace tires 20% (or more) sooner that you would have to with all-FOUR-new ?

Bull****..

Mbenz260e

Congrats on the new truck! I think you should take Fabs advice (always good) and see what MBUSA will do for you considering this is CPO and the customer experience. Might as well try for a new tire out of it. If they doesn't pan out though I would just enjoy the new truck and build a relationship with your local dealer as others suggested. I would also consider just replacing the tire regardless for piece of mind and to get almost a matched set.

JimBarnhart

Way to go Fab!

emilner

Sounds like a crappy dealer. I would check the spare and get a new 4th tire as fab said.

As an aside, a leaking tire valve is not normally detected because the very equipment you hook up to check pressure disables the valve. I had the same thing on my central AC system. Every year in the spring we would be low on 410a. By the third year, after trying dyes and all the rest the guy soaped the valve and sure enough it was leaking. The dealer should have soaped the valve after finding nothing else wrong but they normally don't...

lemonspinner

The tire that was used was the front driver's tire. Thanks for confirming how I was feeling. At purchase they only gave me $500 off asking price plus floor mats but I was OK with that because I felt that it was a good price to begin with. I will be talking to the dealer and requesting a new tire. However, the car will have been driven 2500 miles on the new tires by the time it gets here, so I will be faced with an imbalance again if I put one new tire on!

It will be arriving this evening. I will check the spare when it gets here.

Thanks all for the input. This is what is coming:

2013 CPO 550 with 20K miles

Steel Gray
Almond with Black interior
Anthracite Poplar trim
Distronic Drivers Assistance Package
Active Curve System
Trailer Hitch
Pano sunroof
Rear Seat Entertainment
Heated Rear Seats
Heated Washer System
Lockable Rear Storage

Mbenz260e

Sounds like a nice truck. 2,500 miles isn't a lot.

Ed Wolcott

Leaky valves are easy to check for if you know this trick. Just wet your finger well with saliva, and swipe it across the end of the valve where you normally attach an air hose. If the saliva film across the valve opening stays flat, you are OK, if it bubbles, you have trouble!. It is a good first thing to check for.

lemonspinner

OK, the story gets better. I drove 15 miles to the DMV and waited almost an hour to find out that I can't get the car registered because the dealer didn't sign the title!!!