b The "Official" GLK problems thread has a few mentions of cars developing a whine and then having transfer case or transmission issues. I would love if any of those members could chime in on my problem. Most of their repairs were rather expensive and I would really hate to have a repair bill for almost half of the car's current value. I don't want to seem panicked, but it would seem to be a good reason to dump the car now.

You will have to turn your volume up considerable. Please excuse the second video if it autoplays - just some douchey valet I caught on dash cam in my GTI.

Observations:

1. Speed sensitive, but not RPM sensitive. Occurs in or out of gear.
2. More apparent when cold, but never disappears.
3. Most noticeable around 20-30 mph. Below that it is hardly noticeable, and above that it is drowned out by other noise.
4. Vehicle was delivered 15 DEC 2012 and has 40,500 miles on it. Out of warranty... by 10 days.
5. Issue was never logged in any prior service records... because I never noticed it before.

Questions:

1. Does this sound like a transfer case/transmission issue?
2. What was your avg. repair bill? Cost of parts and billable hours?
3. Has anyone ever received a "grace" period on the warranty? Perhaps if they insisted the issue was present before the warranty expired?
4. Has anyone ever received a "grace" period on purchasing an extended warranty? Of course, I never thought to look into it until something went wrong and it can only be purchased during the duration of the original warranty.
5. Recommendations? Thoughts? Sell? Repair?




Happy Holidays,

Will

 

Update: Dropped off the car at MBZ and they are charging $300 to look at the issue. SA did a ride along and acknowledges there is a noise coming from the front end. He says the transfer case failure is an issue on the GLK, usually around 75-80k, however a failing transfer care is usually a persistent sound that is similar to the noise when steering is at full lock.

Will update when I hear back.

 

Sounds like a bad belt tension pulley to me...

 

Turns out it was a driveshaft center bearing. I will post the write-up, but they covered everything including the initial diagnosis (2 hours @ $149.00 per hour). I'm not sure if it was covered under warranty (10 days expired) and the SA was just blowing hot air, but he said they good willed the work as we have an extensive history of purchasing/servicing our vehicles with them.

 

Why can't you just graciously accept the fact they took care of it for you?

 

Did I sound ungrateful?

Just to be clear, I am very happy. They didn't even charge me the diagnostic fee.

However, I am interested to know whether corporate was flexible with their warranty policy, or if the dealership really did good will a very expensive repair. The write-up made it seem like they went through quite a bit to diagnose the issue, so the latter would probably warrant sending a small thank you to my SA and his manager.

On the contrary, I'm sure others would be interested in knowing if this was a known issue that resulted in corporate being flexible with the warranty terms. Perhaps there was a service campaign out for that part. That is why I was thinking of posting the write-up for you all to see. It could also be useful for anyone experiencing similar issues to present to their shop.

Thanks.

 

In general, the dealer must make the repair at warranty rate (usually lower than the retail rate) so they no doubt participated in the cost of the repair. They also must request goodwill from the manuafacturer and process a claim. You act like it's either or. Both the manufacturer and the dealer have skin in the game. And yes you should send them a thank you note.

 

I'm not "acting like" anything. I'm just relaying the information that I received. Although I appreciate your input, I think you're missing the point.

Thanks,

Will

 

Just making sure you give the dealer some credit. The tendency is to always think they are out to get you. I have spent a lot of years working at dealers and over 20 years working for a manufacturer.

I guess I still feel like I have to stick up for the dealer. Sorry if I seemed like I didn't understand you. Just encouraging you to be thankful of your servicing dealer.

 

Well, stereotypes exist for a reason. One DEF refill «experience» at an MB dealer is enough to further cement such a stereotype.

 

Well as shown above dcjwlee is very happy with his dealer...

There are good and bad businesses of all types.

 

No doubt that he is, rightfully so I might add. This dealer went above and beyond to give us all some faith in humanity. But you were saying that the tendency is to expect the opposite from dealerships, and my position is that it mostly is justified, for various unpleasant reasons.