andreigbs

Totally true and a valid point. I suppose both the location and size of any perforation may make all the difference in the vehicle being safe or not safe to drive.

If there is any movement, tweaking, or perforation near seams, edges or suspension mounting points would be (at least to me) unsafe to drive.

MB-ME

I had the subframe on my 2011 GLK 350 w/ 148k miles inspected here in Maine this week. The inspection result is that the subframe needs to be replaced (and will be replaced under warranty) which is nice, however, they say that any parts that are attached that can't be reattached due to their condition need to be paid for by me. They're saying that all rear tie rods, thrust arms, and rear flex disk will need to be replaced to the tune of $1571. I'm fine with paying for ancillary part replacement, but think these parts should be provided at the dealers cost, not MSRP. I don't think they should be making a profit off parts installed as part of a warranty repair. I asked them if they can provide the parts at the dealer cost without markup, they said no. I also called MBUSA and who said they don't have control over what the dealer charges for the parts.

Curious if anyone has had experience with this or has any thoughts on how to go about this? Maybe I should ask to speak with the dealer's service manager or call MBUSA and see if they can provide the parts to the dealer at cost?

Couple other annoyances are that no loaner will be provided and the subframe parts are on a 3-4 month backorder, but they said the car is safe to drive for now since the rust isn't terrible yet. Just a small hole showing so far. I can live with these things though.

TIA!

Odd Piggy

My thoughts are about the same as yours.
There is also a difference between out of spec and unusable. My selling dealer always found $1500-$1700 of work that needed to be done on my C250 at every visit no matter what the car was in for. Tried another dealer who found nothing wrong until the camshaft phasers failed, fixed that under warranty, and didn’t find any non covered items to charge for.
I think some dealers see a car in for work as an opportunity to sell you anything you’ll buy. My current service advisor says that some dealers pressure SA’s to up-sell. Terrible practice.

Silver Shadow

Can you provide the necessary parts? They are much cheaper from FCP Euro and have a lifetime warranty. Don't forget that the labor to replace all those parts is free with the subframe replacement. In the future you would be charged parts and labor which would at least double the cost.

calder-cay

That's typical with most all repair facilities.

Back when I was a teen in high school (do I have to admit how many years ago?), I worked at a Flintstone tire store ... doesn't matter if a vehicle came in for a flat or oil change, etc - we did a "20 point inspection" on every one, to find anything rwong that we could sell on.

Odd Piggy

Well, there is a right way and a lot of wrong ways to play that game.
It’s fine, and even good practice to inspect and recommend services that you provide.
It’s not okay to do the inspection and recommend services that are not needed, because the owner won’t know better.
It’s even worse to pretend to do the inspection and then tell the owner that his vehicle is unsafe to get him/her to buy an unnecessary service.
Two examples to point this out;
On the first service after the warranty ran out on my first Benz, the dealer said the left front strut had failed and needed replacement. I wasn’t happy but had never had a Benz before and wasn’t equipped at that time to do it myself. $2700 later I was back on the road. After switching to indie shops because of cost, it was pointed out to me that the factory strut was still on the car because the paint markings used at the factory were still on the upper mounting nuts. They charged me for a new strut that I didn’t need and did no service at all.
Just this week at a national tire dealer I brought my granddaughter’s new car in for a nail repair. The service writer used his electronic tire tread gauge and said the tire couldn’t be repaired because it had less than 3/32 tread. The car is brand new and has 3600 miles on it. I also know the manager personally. I texted him so not to create a scene. He met me at the car, looked at the tires, and I told him to stop that or we would stop coming to him for tires.

Mmr1

It’s amazing how crooked car repairs can be , when you find an honest repair guy ( a shop) you stay with them .

MB-ME

The dealer experiences noted are generally what I've encountered with the european vehicle dealers I've dealt with (Audi, Mercedes, Porsche). Replace, Replace, Replace, regardless of need and options, and that's why I try to avoid them at all costs. But this subframe situation is a different story, they should cover most of it. When I brought in the GLK before looking at the car the advisor started with "Mercedes issued the warranty prematurely, these cars are old with a lot of rust so if things break as we take them of it will probably cost you thousands of dollars, so a lot of people decide to get rid of the car and get something else." I did go take a look at what they had for new cars, particularly EVs, and when talking with the sales department they said that I should buy a mercedes EV over a Tesla since they have their service departments and Tesla doesn't. I told the service department they're not doing a very good job of supporting this argument, LOL. I will say that so far the subaru dealer has been reasonable with my outback.

Good suggestion Silver Shadow, I'll see if they will take parts I provide, but doubt they will. I love FCP euro! Looks like I can get a complete set of OEM rear control arms and links on there for just over $600. If this isn't an option, I'm going to keep pushing the argument of them providing the ancillary parts at cost or at least a discount. I'll report back with any updates!

tomlande

I just had my 2010 MB GLK subframe replaced by MB in the dealer shop at no cost under the extended warranty. While the car was at the dealer they told me I needed new brake lines at a cost of $6,300. This is not covered under any extended warranty yet. I am in the process of trying to elevate my request with no luck so far at MB customer service. I have talked to several mechanics and they all tell me that the brake line problem is as common as the subframe but obviously more dangerous. I do not know why MB would not recognize this as the same problem as the subframe. I have never encountered problem like this on any car I have owned. The car is garage kept and is only driven 3 miles to work and 3 miles back and has less than 60,000 miles. Gets little exposure to snow. We have kept the car pristine and have had serviced at MB dealers. This is a real disappointment in a car company I expected to be of higher quality.

Has anyone experienced this problem and, if so, can you tell me how it was resolved? If you had it repaired can you tell me how much and what type of shop did the work?

Thanks.

Silver Shadow

I have had brake line problems on several cars I've owned. GMC Sierra, Subaru SVX etc. On a 13 year old vehicle brake lines are a common rust area. It should be mandatory that they be made of SS or some other synthetic material. It's a danger on all older vehicles.

P.S. $6,300 is insane for brake lines.

tomlande

Thanks for the reply. The car is not worth much more than that once you do the transmission and the routine services.

Mmr1

Instead of having the dealer stealer doing the brake lines, for his yacht payment , TOW it to an independent mechanic, if they won’t let you drive off . I’d guess 5-700.

Mmr1

I don’t think your dealer can hold your vehicle without the brakes done if it’s towed.

tomlande

Thanks. I did not have them do it. I am looking to have done at local mechanic.

Llamaslife619

is this true ? I just took my car to get slighment and they notifie me that i better be carfull going home while have my child with me be my entire rear driver side sub frame is about to rust out were the linkage is the denied the alighnment of.course but im looking for cost of repairs and my vehicle has hardly any rust been garage kept and services all on file all carfax up to date was even dealer owned 1 owner prior to me but I did see the bad area and it is only that spot rusting out no other damage at all from rust any where
I drive a 2010 glk 350 4matic

calder-cay

Why would anyone in here fib about this? Might read all the posts.

See my post #15, which shows the notice sent to dealers.

My reply #20 includes the actual document I received (scanned in) for extended warranty.

Your 2010 is probably included.

MB-ME

I wanted to follow up on my initial post #27.

I went ahead and had the dealer replace the subframe, and it was not a fun process at all. When I brought it in for inspection, they noted that the warranty would cover the $5,275 estimated cost of the rear subframe and hardware. Based on condition, they thought a handful of rear suspension components would need to be replaced at my expense (BOTH REAR TIE RODS, BOTH THRUST ARMS, REAR FLEX DISC AND HARDWARE) at an estimated parts cost of $1,571, full price. I argued that I shouldn't be paying full markup on parts that are only being replaced because of the warranty work, the service manager declined. When calling the parts department to get an update on the "backordered" subframe, I spoke with the manager who said he could give me a discount on the parts I needed to pay for, which ended up being about 10% for which I was grateful. Turns out the subframe wasn't backordered, but the service manager needed to approve the order, which he didn't, so I had to call parts again. After I finally got the car in for repair, after 2.5 weeks there they said the mid section of the exhaust needed to be replaced ($4,400) or repaired by welding at an exhaust shop ($1,200). I asked if they could provide the exhaust repair shop invoice, and they said they couldn't, it was a flat fee of $1,200. The first exhaust shop I called just so happened to be the one the dealer was sending all their cars after subframe replacement and they did the work for $700. The Mercedes dealer had the car for 3 weeks, luckily we had an extra car to drive. Most of this time the car was just sitting, I think they did the work in 2 days.

I'm happy the car is repaired and safe now, but I think this was the worst car ownership and repair experience I've ever had. Several instances of misinformation along the way that were only clarified once I pressured them, phone calls that were not answered, voicemails not responded to, etc. etc. but it's finally done.

I had my rear brake lines done at an independent mechanic a few years back, the cost was $1,200. I think the stealership quoted me about 4 times that.

calder-cay

I'm horribly shocked that a MB dealer repair would put someone thru all that torture. But I guess it shows that no matter the car maker, they all have the same mindset (sadly).

Good that's it's all now behind you! And thanks for that follow up!

GLK-K

I haven’t received a letter. Is the rear subframe warranty for all GLK models or only for 350? I have a 15 250 Bluetec.

calder-cay

Might want to read this whole thread for the answer.

See my post #15, which shows the notice sent to dealers. My reply #20 includes the actual document I received (scanned in) for extended warranty.

GLK-K

Thanks for the response. I was reading the l-o-n-g thread including the letter to owners. What made me inquire was the letter addressed specifically to a VIN #. Since I didn’t get a letter I assumed my model wasn’t applicable. The MBUSA letter to dealers confirms all GLK class are included. Thanks again.

Odd Piggy

Here’s the NHTSA notice.
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...33780-0001.pdf

MB-ME

Yeah I was pretty shocked with the whole process too! But glad I did it in the end. Should get another several years out of the car, my wife still loves the car, and getting it fixed was cheaper than a new car loan or lease payment.

The dealer did proactively call today saying that they want to redo the alignment free of charge since they got new software, and they're providing a loaner, so that's nice.

FullMoonParty

My 2005 Sprinter had a brake line failure while stopping, very scary, fortunately nobody was in front of me or entering the intersection. I figured it was the rubber lines deteriorated but my guy actually found rusted metal lines and fabricated all new ones. $1,100.

Yugo26

Mystic Man, This is not a 'Recall' but a warranty extension. This means you have to discover the sub frame perforation.
The dealer is not going to call you to come in to look for it. Toptick's 4-11-23 post sure outlines the issue well. Good luck, Eh.

Mystic Man, I just saw your later post- you nailed it.