Dealer says I need a new/rebuilt Transmission. The trans slips after driving a few miles. It acts like it is in neutral. I let the car rest for a few minutes it drives fine then after a few miles it does the same thing all over again. The car has only 91,000 miles, and has always ran great, also there is never any grinding or unusually noises coming from the motor or trans area. With the exception of this slipping it runs fine.....This is where the fun begins. I bring it into the dealership they state that I need a new Valve body for $900.00. I give the go ahead and have them do the repair. Dealership calls me back and states sorry, it is not the valve body, looks like you are going to need a total rebuild. The cost being we'll over $5000.00. The stealership goes on to tell me that if I decide to take the car elsewhere, I will have to pay them $478.00 in labor to remove the new valve body that they installed and reinstall the old one. After I explain to the stealership that I will not be paying this fee of $478.00 because their mechanic wrongfully diagnosed my car, why should I have to pay for his mistake in diagnosing the problem. After being transfered to the Service manager and threaten them with a small claims suit the dealership decided to not charge me anything and stated that I can pick my car up at my convience if I choose not to have the work done there. After thinking about this for some time now I get the feeling that the damn mechanic doesn't know what is wrong and he probably said to the service writer "Just tell him he needs a total rebuild". Does this sound right to you guys? Has anyone ever heard of a Tranny acting the way mine does? Does anyone have any ideas besides get another opinion? Any help would greatly be appriciated/

Thanks,
Dan

 

i just posted something like this in another forum as i had bad tranny's from another car in the past. it wasn't a benz but nonetheless a tranny's like an engine in that the primary purpose is the same, and the principles of how they work are pretty much similar. what i learned is that bad tranny's when they heat up they can either remedy the problem that happens when it's cold or vice versa, the problem appears when it's warm, as tranny has lots of parts that expand and contract based on temp. That explains why some trannys jerk when cold and don't jerk when they're warm, or vice versa again.

i think the mechanic wanted to try the affordable fix to get your business by guesstimating that fix could have been made by simply changing the valve sensor for the tranny which is the pressure sensor detecting if load is a certain level and changes the gear as you need. my take is that you signed the estimated cost for repair so they were trying to collect what they can for simply spending the time on it.

If he claimed that would solve it 100% then I wouldn't pay a dime and tell him it was his fault. If he said it might be the problem and you agreed to check it out, then I would pay some funds just for the time he tried to diagnose it, and for the goodwill of him trying to save you a buck for avoiding a complete replacement.


FYI, you can get a tranny on ebay now for cheap if you're interested.

 

on the P3 forum .... I have a transmission DIY for W163's .... Step by step with pictures ....

 

if you need a used trans call a plase in seattle Wa called Arora auto wre @206-524-8700 I get parts from thsm all the time. and they have 3 in stock.

 

a trans slip sounds like a rebuild is needed, valve body usually is shift quality.. like if it slams into gear. I am surprised they said valve body to begin with.

 

Thanks everyone for your replys. I have accepted the fact that I need a new Trans. I think I will be getting it from a place called Phoenix hard parts they quoted me a price of $2700, including a $700 core charge. They said I would get the complete $700 back regardless of the condition of the core. So I'm looking at $2000 for a new/rebuilt trans. What do you guys think? Has anyone heard of this place?

Pluebner Can you direct me to this site with step by step instructions with pictures. I'm thinking about putting it in myself. Does anyone have any thoughts on pulling and replacing it on my own? I have pulled and replaced my old turbo 400 out of my 69 chevelle. I know it not the same car but I do have some experience under the hood.

Any suggestions would be helpful

Dan

 

Go for it. If you can do a chevy, you can do the benz...let us know how it goes. But, don't think you will save money. You will make a mistake that a pro can avoid.

Find a good mechanic or do it yourself. Its a gamble either way. Oh, bad mechanics are not a gamble... They are always bad and will make the same mistakes as you will.

 

I did find a place that would pull the old one and replace the new one for $1500. Not including any other minor parts that may come up during the install. I just hate to pay someone $1500 when I think I could do it myself.

 

In Oct '07 my nightmare with these guys began. I was in the same situation as you with a 99 ML 430. I saw the trans on ebay then visited their web site which is very impressive. I won't go into the whole thing but some highlights:

4 weeks for the trans to arrive at repair shop. It was the wrong trans ( for a e430) and was spray painted black. Who paints an aluminum case? My mechanic suspects it was never rebuilt as it threw several codes and had an electrical connector falling apart and covered with grime. Oh, and the "free torque converter" arrived 4 days later.

Called and they said, no problem. Send it back and we will refund.

Sent back, refused to refund any money. Basically stole $2400 from me, plus the core charge! Unbelievable!

Visit www.ripoffreport.com and research Phoenix Hard Parts or Phoenix Rebuilt Transmissions. Also check with Phoenix BBB. Tons of complaints.
I would never flame a company this hard normally, but seriously, this seems to be S.O.P.for these crooks!

I didn't do my research until it was too late, so shame on me for that, but this is still outright theft.

In the end I went with the rebuilt unit that my shop recommended in the first place. Still trying to get my money back on the bad deal.

 

i know you didn't want to go into details about it but a few questions...
why didn't you pay credit card and just dispute it for false advertising on the product.

pls do post the details of your experience if you get a chance.

 

I made the mistake of paying with a debit card, so in effect gave them cash. All of these mistakes I would not have normally made, but I was in a hurry and got sloppy looking for a deal. Too good to be true is exactly that. Tought I'd learned that one a long time ago.

Just wanted to give the guy a chance hopefully to check them out before he buys.

 

Thanks Cadillacbart for the information........This is my dilema. The other day I was surfing the net and I came across the website you mentioned. I got very concerned and worried. Two weeks ago I paid for the Trans with a credit card. However, I never signed the contract and faxed it back to them. I have all along been having reservations with Phoenix hard parts. After reading your post I think I will just bite the bullet and have Mercedes fix it. From your experience what do you think my best approach should be for getting my money back? Also before I roll the car into Mercedes does anyone have any suggestions on where I might be able to find a respectable parts/Trans place to buy this Transmission. Although I'm now leaning more than ever to just let Mercedes fix it, I really hate to pay someone to fix my car when I know I can replace this Trans myself and save me a ton of money.

 

If you paid with credit card I would definately cancel the order and contact the cc company for a charge back if they give you the slightest grief about it. If they haven't ran the card yet , then run and count your blessings!

I don't know where my indie shop got the rebuilt unit hey installed for me, but I know it came from a rebuilder in Oklahoma. It has been great now for about two months (knock on wood).

I really hope the best for you, this has been very frustrating for me.

 

the better than fix at mercedes solution if you're trying to get the best value would be to go to craigslist, then look for a mechanic that advertises mercedes service. more chances than not, you will find a moonlighting mercedes tech that you can verify works at a dealership, knows mercedes, and gets the factory training, but willing to work on the benz in his garage as part time work. then you can negotiate a price with him and then ask him where he can buy the parts. you will save 30% average off parts and 50% off labor, paying him cash.