ChinaBob

I got a Blind Spot Assist Inoperative message the other day, and sure enough, the red warning triangles failed to light up when they should have - both sides - so I took it into the dealer first chance and here's the invoice, verbatim:

"... Performed quick test. Faults in both rear radar sensors with communication to right front door module. Fault in RF door module for output for lamp of blind spot assist warning. Removed RF mirror glass to check wiring. Found excessive resistance in warning LED. Removed and replaced glass housing with integrated LED to remedy."

The dealer, saying that it is a glass problem and glass is not covered under warranty, charged me $415. But it looks to me from this description that the problem is in the sensors and wiring, which are under warranty; the glass is merely where the warning LEDs reside. There is no internal or external (as in collision) damage to any of these parts.

I haven't seen the actual assembly and if I did I might change my mind, but so far it looks pretty clear to me that it is an electrical problem and should be covered under warranty.

What say you? I'd like to hear from some knowledgeable people before I take it to MBUSA. Thanks

larrypmyers

I'd say your dealing with a crappy dealer.

ItalianJoe1

Should be warranty if there is no damage.

mtberman

This is nonsense and indicates a bad dealer. That's like saying your battery isn't covered because it has water in it, and water is not covered by the warranty.

The part that failed (component with integrated blind spot LED) is covered by the warranty. If they push back, get a detailed written statement (demand it if you are forced to) from the dealer's warranty manager explaining why they declined to honor the warranty on this specific part. Then escalate to MBUSA for an apology and reimbursement.

fred9x

I anin't "Knowledgeable" about MB,. I have owned my MY2019 GLC300 for 3 days
But here's what the warranty says in the ITEMS NOT COVERED section:
.
DAMAGE TO GLASS: Glass breakage or scratches are not covered unless positive physical proof of a manufacturing defect can be established.

Your description doesn't mention your glass being broken or scratched so I don't understand why your.vehicle's operational failure is not covered.

Keep pushing back/fighting.

.

dieseldoc

This should have been covered. I would escalate to the service director at the dealership as well as MBUSA.

larrypmyers

+1

ChinaBob

Got a call from the dealership this morning. They agree that it should be covered under warranty but MBUSA won't budge so the dealer is reimbursing me for it out of pocket.

I wonder if it had anything to do with the negative review I gave the dealer over this issue on dealerrater.com? Hmmmmm

fred9x

Good for you!!
But scary that the dealer says MBUSA won't pay? I have owned a MY2019 for only 7 days and was thinking about buying the extended warranty. I read I can buy it within 30 days of purchase. Now I'm not sure I want to deal with MBUSA for an additional three years....

ItalianJoe1

I think they messed up on the warranty claim or something, in which case they can't re-submit and it's easier for them to just eat it. There's no way that it would not be covered, I've replaced mirror glass before for BSA light faults, always under warranty unless the customer hit something and broke the glass obviously.

ChinaBob

One further note on this that might have made a difference, though it shouldn't have.

I drive a lot of miles and intentionally bought a CPO because of the unlimited-mileage CPO warranty, which, at least in this instance, reads exactly the same as the new car warranty. The car has almost 62,000 miles on it and this was my first claim under CPO. They didn't say so, but they may have balked because of the high mileage. If that's the case, they're going to have to get used to it. I also bought the 2-year extension, which means that it's under warranty until January of 2024, by which time the car will have over 200,000 miles on it.

ItalianJoe1

Ahh wait. CPO isn't the same as original warranty. They have to run the coverage on the failed part using a damage code for whatever the failure was, and it may not be covered. There are a lot of things that are not covered in CPO that would be in factory warranty.

ChinaBob

Like what? I haven't delved into it too much, but from what I've read so far, the CPO coverage is identical to the original factory warranty. I'd be interested to know what surprises might be down the road for me.

ItalianJoe1

Hard to say, but we run coverage on everything that is failed on a CPO car. Things like light sources, trim, almost always are not covered on CPO. There are also different levels of CPO, Base, Total, and then there's ELW you purchase, they go from lowest to highest coverage it seems.

I'm not a warranty admin, so I'm not sure where the policies are laid out, I just know we have to check every time that something is covered before assuming it will be under warranty just because it has CPO or extended warranty, where with the original 4/50, as long as it isn't outside influence damage, it's covered.

ChinaBob

Thanks for the info - this is helpful. It looks like I may be facing closer scrutiny on warranty claims from now on.

Can you say more about "different levels of CPO, Base, Total" and "ELW ... they go from lowest to highest coverage"? In both cases I got the MB warranties. The CPO is automatic when you buy a (slightly) used car from an authorized MB dealer; the extended warranty also came though the dealer. In other words, it is not a 3rd party warranty.

This seems to be confirmed by my Mercedes Me app and the MBUSA website which show my
Warranty Information: Active thru Jan 3, 2024 or 999,999 miles

fabbrisd1

With copy of dealer Repair Order - or Service Invoice - in hand - regular business hours call Mercedes Customer Care (800) 367-6372 - calmly lay out the facts to them - will take the information from you - then they will start a 2nd channel back to dealer management to get this resolved.

ItalianJoe1

Base CPO is that included 12/12k warranty. You can purchase additional 2 years or so, it shows up as CPO Total on the VMI. Or, if you purchase ELW (Extended Length Warranty) while the car is under factory coverage, that's another thing. Your VMI will show which policy you have. Doesn't matter, we run the coverage through the same system for all of it, but it determines what is and is not covered.