Black5

Hi fellow MB aficionados,

We are in Australia and have a last of the line 2020 X156 GLA 180, that my kids mostly drive that has just completed a service at 20,000 km's and we have been told by the dealer that the "Main Battery" has failed and that this is NOT covered by warranty and will cost us in excess of $800 (AUD) to replace + labour!

Note: The car appears to drive normally with no warning lights or concerns.

I have questions that the Dealer and MB Australia are not being very helpful answering:

What is so special about the "Main Battery" anyway that justifies a cost of that much? The typical 12v Car Battery replacement cost is approximately $200-$250 AUD and even the premium extra heavy duty battery in one of my other cars only cost me $400. This smells like a scam!

The factory warranty is 5 years from initial purchase, so is still current, but the "Main Battery" is apparently excluded from this after 3 years and not covered!

The car was purchased used with Mercedes Certified Used Car warranty for 2 years which I was advised was the "Same as a New Car warranty".
I am now being told that this doesn't kick in until the factory warranty finishes, and doesn't provide any additional cover.
I asked them if the car was checked at all before it was sold to us in January, and apparently, it passed all the Certified checks, so I am concerned that they sold me a car with an already faulty "Main Battery" or I am being scammed.
It has been suggested that I should wait until the factory warranty expires, then claim under the Certified warranty, which just seems to be madness to me!

One of my other cars is a 2014 C204 and I had a factory extended warranty applied to this and the Battery that is used for the Stop-start feature was replaced under this warranty despite the car being 8 years old at the time, so I'm very confused as to why different policies apply to this much newer car.

Any suggestions or information I can use in negotiations with Mercedes Benz Australia and the dealer would be appreciated.

Thanks

190Efan

That doesn't sound right to me for the battery price. Is there another MB dealer you could take the car to for a 2nd opinion?

Black5

Thanks for your suggestion.

I agree, the Battery price seems insane, but they won't give me a part number or anything???

The Battery failure was detected during the service by my local dealer who also looks after my other Mercedes and who I have a history with.

I have also escalated to the Dealer that we bought the car from who are giving me the runaround and denying any liability or responsibility, but have not inspected the car.

At this stage I don't trust either of them, and involving a third dealer seems like overkill at this point until I have a better idea where I stand and what I'm talking about...

190Efan

The only other possibility that I can come up with to justify the high battery price would be if your car was a hybrid and that was the battery that needs to be replaced. Hybrid batteries are very expensive.

Black5

Hi,

It's a "mild" hybrid, so there is a battery that keeps the other functions running while the car is stopped and the engine switches off.
It does not drive under electric power alone.

It may well be the battery that runs this function that is the issue, and in my other car it was this one that failed.

It isn't showing any signs of poor performance or impending failure like my other car did.

Irregardless, this battery in the C350 was changed out under Certified Warranty when the car was 8 years old, the GLA is just over 3 years old, so I'm perplexed by their attitude.

I have asked them to provide me itemised part numbers and cost breakdown of what they are suggesting needs to be repaired so I can get it repaired elsewhere and chase them up under protections provided by consumer law if they still insist on payment.

At this point, I won't be giving these MB dealers or MB Australia any more of my business...

190Efan

I understand that hybrid batteries can be very expensive and more expensive than the typical 12v battery that everyone is used to. . You might try pricing them at some of the various car parts websites to get an idea of their cost. As for the warranty issue, you might try contacting a consumer issues reporter at one of your local tv stations to see if maybe they can help on that front. Sometimes getting the media involved can do wonders for resolving such a dispute.