I need some help! I can't figure out if my dealer has been negligent or not. I have had nothing but good experiences with them, but this one is not sitting right with me. I need people familiar with cars to chime in! I also may get a second dealer's opinion.
Here's the back story: Jan 30 my GLK wouldn't start--8 degrees, still had original battery! (already had an appt to go in the next Wed for that and recall/service B). It did end up starting, but then wouldn't shift out of park. I thought it maybe needed to charge a bit first. After letting it run about 20 min, it did shift fine. I drove about 10 miles, let it run a little bit, then turned it offer for 2 hours. When I got back in, it started and shifted fine. But about 2-3 miles it made a hard shift into D7 (clunking noise, didn't hit anything, smooth road). Seemed ok though once in D7. About a mile up the road at the red light, it never shifted down out of D7. I had to coax it into a parking lot, where I shut it off and let it sit to see if it might reset itself. It started back up alright, but never would go above D2, so maybe half a mile later I pulled over and had it towed to the dealership. I chastised myself for waiting too long on the battery and hoped that was all it was.

I explained what happened to my service mgr and why it was towed. 2 days later, I had my new battery, my airbag recall done, and supposedly service B done. They gave it the all clear telling me it shifted flawlessly when the tech test drove it. I didn't ask at the time what else they did to look into the shifting issue, trusting they had checked it over and determined the battery and low voltage made it act wacky.

2 weeks later (with very light driving) it did literally the exact same thing, even at about the same road location...hard shift into D7, then not down shifting at all at the light. I called in immediately and pulled into the same parking lot, where I was told to turn it off, let it reset. I did so while on the phone with the service rep, and after that we drove the 10 miles home with no issue. We set an appt for it to go back in. I asked if it should be towed but was told no, if this is an intermittent issue, drive it in the meantime and see. Didn't need to use it the next few days (snow storm). The night before they were to pick it up for the appt, I drove it 5-6 min around my little town, and it seemed to shift slow the first time to D4, but otherwise seemed ok. They sent a driver with a loaner, and turns out he broke down on the way to the dealership, and it had to be towed. I don't know how far he got, but when I asked what exactly happened, I was told the "left front axle shaft had become dislodged and the car stopped" (!!!!)

Once they looked it over they came back to me with a $3500 repair saying the oil pan and retaining flange for the left front axle needed replaced. The service report stated "Recommend replacing the oil pan. While oil pan is out I will inspect the condition of the front differential. Found that the left axle was popped out. This is due to the retaining oil pan being broken where the axle shaft is held in". I asked what could cause such a thing and was told it would be hard to speculate. I haven't hit anything, no potholes. They offered a discount to $2900, but I told them I needed to get a second opinion on the whole situation before deciding if they will be the ones to do the work at this point.

So, being a layperson, I asked how the hell did you miss this when it was towed in for the exact same issue 2 weeks ago? I was told that it would be very difficult to see and could be missed. But, I have concerns as when it went back in this second time, suddenly I was also told there were 3 NEW issues: my right front wheel was bent and front tires at 5/32 but separating on the inside, and both sway bar links torn...well, noone mentioned those things at the time of Service B 2 weeks prior?? (and I absolutely know I hit nothing during those 2 weeks, only did light driving) I can't help but think they didn't carefully look the vehicle over the first time it was in. If I have a repair to make, so be it...but I am trying to get a good sense of if there's additional damage that would not have occurred if they had caught it 2 weeks prior? With the service that was done being the more extensive B, it seems hard to believe that they could have inspected all that is included in Service B and not noticed something...especially since it was towed in with a serious problem initially.

I have asked what diagnostics were done when it was initially there (besides a test drive) but am not getting an answer. They do claim the transmission tests out fine with no damage.

Anyone have any insights on what would cause such a thing out of the blue without hitting anything? and if it really should have been caught the first time, and whether missing it may have caused more damage? I have tried to google how all that interconnects and works together, but I can't quite figure out what caused what!

Thanks so much in advance!

 

Have you ever had trans oil changed, when they tested it it was warm from being inside, take it somewhere else. 2900, 3500, they just throw out prices hoping everyone bites.

Get a trans oil service, filter and oil and torque converter drain, and have someone else look it over. The axle? I just had mine done for about 450$

Buy your trans kit at FCP euro. You will know you have the right oil and filter. And be sure who you hire has done many of the mb transmissions,

There are better tires than your mb dealer sells, Michelin is one brand. A bent rim, it happens. Suspension parts, get a second opinion.

A dealer isn’t worth it after the warranty is gone, unless you have money to throw away.

 

So very true, unfortunately.

Good advice here. You'd be overpaying by a lot and not sure that I'd trust the mechanics there when they couldn't diagnose it prior to catastrophic failure.

Find a reputable indy shop that knows Euro cars for a second opinion. The drivetrain on our GLKs is not rocket science, a good shop should be able to fix the front axle without taking your skin off.

How many miles on your GLK250?

 

Thank you both. I am not a do it yourselfer (single mom lol) but I definitely will look into a good import shop, I am sure we have someone like that it can get towed to. Appreciate the advice, and I will look into the history of any servicing done on the transmission prior--I seem to recall that may have done but it would have been awhile ago. Both times they had it, it was towed in, so not sure if they ran it awhile before testing or if it was cold. It has 143,000 miles on it.

What causes torn links and wouldn't they have caught something like that during service B 2 weeks ago? Both were noted as torn, unless that happened from the 2 weeks of driving it had once they initially sent it back, or something that happened when it broke down on the way to the dealer.

 

Torn/broken suspension components would likely have been revealed during an alignment check or a good inspection, as all MB dealers should be doing. Parts can break from wear/tear over time and mileage, it's not necessarily due to one specific instance like a pothole or curbing. Those are typically the more instant and catastrophic type of failure. Rubber becomes brittle and cracks, metal fatigues and corrodes, things go bad eventually.

143K miles is pretty good for (likely) all stock suspension. I know mine needs work at 123K... Definitely find a good Euro Indy to replace whatever's broken with the front drive axle/shaft. At that mileage, I would have them also replace the driveline fluids. Over time there is seepage, there are metal flakes in old oil and other reasons such as loss of viscosity. If you plan to keep it, that's what I'd do.

And then budget out new springs and shocks, shock mounts, tie-rods and stabilizer links. Getting those replaced will bring your truck back to "as new" handling, which is important from a safety perspective.

BTW, I'm actually surprised your Bluetec is healthy still, at this mileage and on the stock software. Fixing the suspension and front shaft issue should make your little truck quite reliable.

Unrelated: has the drive belt and tensioner ever been replaced? 143K miles on the original parts is likely pushing it. If original, I'd have that Indy do the belt too.