benzcl500

MY ML is now past warranty, and my switches went out for the second time (first time covered by Warranty).

I was wondering what I can do to remedy this. Can I request a new switch free of cost? He told me they cost $76 for a new switchboard, which I really don't want to shell out for such a well-known problem.

I can install it myself, so it would just be a part. How many of you were able to get a free swtich after warranty was over?

Thanks

pointman

i got one for free... but mb doesnt like doing it. how long ago did you have it fixed?

Ron in SC

You might want to shell out $38. and be done with it. They can be changed easily and quickly.

I purchased my last switch unit in July 2003 for $38. from Phillips Automotive Inc. (a Mercedes Dealer) located in Virginia Beach, VA. I deal with Malcolm in parts, his # is 800-613-7278. The dealers email is phillips@phillipsautomotive.com

Driver55er

Which switches are you referring to ?
Thanks

pointman

WINDOW.

benzcl500

My dealer said $76.50

I guess I will stop by and hope they give me one...i'll stop by on a rainy day and say i have no money and its gonna start pouring, and if you dont give me one now you will be responsibile for damage.

Driver55er, the window switch unit by the gear shift

pointman

you think thats a good way to get one... say you dont have money?

and by the way, the dealer couldnt care less when someone makes a threat like "your responsible if the rain damages my car"... this is MERCEDES BENZ youre talking about, not some little independent owned company.

benzcl500

That's what pisses me off...

I buy a brand new forty thousand dollar SUV, and after I fix the window switches under warranty, they fail again, denying me of such basic features as operating windows. What's worse is that MB knows of the problem but refuses to fix it.

Why shoul I allow myself to be treated like sh*t and not fight back?

pointman

benzcl500, i know i know. trust me, i feel the same way but sometimes its just an uphill climb.

saturnstyl

Threats will get you nowhere. Remember you are dealing with PEOPLE and they have feelings just like you. You are not dealing with the corporation at all. The service advisors and management are just trying to earn a living and doing their jobs. Difficult clients (jerks) are rarely given the benefit of the doubt. Go in with a positive and upbeat attitude, act cool, and you are far more likely to get what you want. Bottom line is if you make thier lives difficult yours will become difficult also. Typically those window switches are good will items, but remember often times you must meet the guidelines for goodwill. A good service history with a good customer who is polite and pleasant to deal with is often given goodwill.

Sincity

You can sometimes find the center switch pack on EBay for $25.

tablahan

See this link for the removal and installation http://www.grill.org/rodney/mclass/mlswitch/index.html

LVDell

totally agree with Saturn on this one.....being a ***** demanding something will get you NOWHERE! Kill em with kindness.

Also, it helps if you have the window swithc documented in system with your dealer (possible goodwill). Hopefully you have dealt with them in a polite way in the past as well as it hopefully was a part that was replaced recently.

By the way, when did your warranty expire? There is a reason the warranty ends. It's called upkeep is transferred to the owner from the company. I hear this crap on the Porsche boards as well people complaining about parts that PCNA should cover b/c they know it is a known problem. This falls into the category of pay the 75 bucks, install the part, and move on.

saturnstyl

Dell, your a beautiful person..... You can be my customer anytime!!!

LVDell

thanks saturn. My rationale is that I see too many people get into car that they can't afford..or better yet can barely afford to get into the car and then forget about upkeep, maintenance, etc.!

My porsche dealer here and I have a pretty good relationship and we talk about crap like this all the time. The dealer here also sells Jag and Aston Martin and the ONLY people that think EVERYTHING should be covered even past warranty are the baby jag owners. Case in point. People who have NO BUSINESS in a car to begin with but spend every last drop of their cash to buy that $30K hunk of Ford crap so that they can belong to the Jag,Porsche, Aston community at the dealership (they are so concerned about status). I always thought it would be the $100K plus crowd that would be demanding but it is the other way around. I don't ***** about much when something on my $100K P-Car needs service, but if it is a part that the dealer says is not covered under warranty it is very easy to say "wow that is pricey" but thanks for looking into anything you can to help out. And sure enough, they come through with some goodwill.

And as SINCITY said, go buy one on eBay for $25. Trust me, you will save yourself alot of grief and heartburn trying to ***** at the dealer.

Cheers,
Dell

LVDell

fyi...my asterisks are for the word Bit$h (too complain) sorry, but I didn't realize that was a censorable word. that was my bad.

pointman

:v

hecdog

And then there are some of us who can afford a coupla porsches, and an Aston to boot, but refuse to participate in the rotation of a material world. We just buy a car cause it's a good one and don't expect it to break down. And when it does, there's no need to pay $1200 for a part that's in mass production. The high prices are seperatist prices. Like you said, to keep us no-so-well-offs away from your fancy cars. Re-read your post to see a good example of elitist jargon.

With all due respect. This is not a forum for that kinda talk.

saturnstyl

Hecdog, I strongly disagree. You simply can never predict when a part will fail, it just does. Pricing often reflects many factors, I am sure it has a lot less to do with your seperatist theory than you think. Mercedes is relatively low volume in comparison with other makes. Of course the parts are going to cost more. Many parts only fit one particular model or are different for various options the vehicle may have, which makes them even more low volume. Mercedes has to maintain a supply of these, and it costs money. More than you would expect.
If you don't think you should pay $1200 for a part, then try to find a car that doesn't have $1200 parts. When you purchase a Mercedes you should be well aware of what you are getting in to, no different than getting a rolls royce or porshce etc..... There is a reason for the lack of popularity of a mercedes among lower income people. They cannot afford the car, maintenance or repairs. Its not elitist, its the truth. Mercedes does not cater to these individuals, they have chosen the upper end of the market instead. Its how the "image" many people are after was built. There are quite a few folks out there who buy for the image alone. Some of us are still buying for other reasons.

Let me go off topic for a bit and say this to clear the air: STAY AWAY FROM PERSONAL ATTACKS. Lets discuss this topic as if we were face to face. There is no need to slam one another directly.... it projects an image that is very "unmercedeslike". Keep it clean fellas! Debate is all fun and games, no need for hurt feelings. Its helpful to hear both sides and their points and counterpoints, its not helpful to hear about someone being directly insulted.
I came here from a less than friendly environment, and its been cool up until recently. Things are starting to fall apart... The approach some folks are taking is uncalled for. Think before you post!

LVDell

from saturn...."Its not elitist, its the truth"

Couldn't be more right. And thanks for the moderating as well.

At no time (even now) do I have an ill feelings toward hecdog or anybody else who plays in this semi-anonymous forum called the internet (I take these attacks at face value). People can freely trash others and vent in a style not like one in a face to to face meeting. Quite the childish antics though.

As for the elitist comment. I really wish you could meet me (and my wife). We are probably 2 people who are furthest fromt he elitist attitude and minset. Do you have any idea how long it look somebody at the Porsche dealer to actually believe that we wanted to buy the car??? Do you have any ideas how many times we were turned down for a test drive? Until we finally "dressed" the part were we approached and sold a car. I know, you are goin to say, go somewhere else then. WRONG. there is only one P-Car dealer here and they know it.

The MB dealer is quite different though. They will sell anybody a car. Why? because they treat everybody like somebody that can only afford a stripped down C class in the 25K range. The beauty is that I have seen no different treatment (all good) between myself (spent over twice that for my ML430) and the others ($25K C customers AND the $100K SL customers). This is the reason I will be trading my ML in for another MB next year on another MB SUV and NOT the Cayenne.

Moral to the story here? Think before you speak (or type) and understand (or at least try) the others point of view or better yet the truth. Personal attacks don't help to win an argument. Didn't you ever take a debate class? You can't expect to win or be undersstood or taken seriously if you are just popping off at the mouth without substantiating your claims. Case in point....MB parts DO NOT cost the same as honda parts. You are trying to equate money with quality. While we are on the discussion about taking classes, did you ever take an economics class?

Listen, I am not mad about the childish and extremely presumptuous comments you made. Let's just try to understand the other side of the coin sometimes.

Cheers.

pointman

Hecdog, well said.

To the gentleman who stated that "I see too many people get into car that they can't afford"... you are not the only one with the financial prowess to afford a benz, porsche, ferrari, or whatever. I am sure you will find many of us do own these vehicles. So do not asssume that we are incapable of affording these cars. Thats extremely pompous and arrogant of you to make such a statement.

LVDell

ahopeter....are you serious? Did you even read my comment properly? I guess not. I have not prejudged anybody (unlike some on this thread). What I said was that:

"I see too many people get into car that they can't afford..or better yet can barely afford to get into the car and then forget about upkeep, maintenance, etc"

Key to my comment is they FORGET about upkeep costs!

At no time did I ever assume what people had in their garage. You people seem to have since according to you and (hecdog) I have a couple P-cars, astons, ferrari's, etc. What? Please deliver them ASAP b/c I went down to my garage and checked......they were not there. Please point out this mysterious assumption I made.

All I have said, is people spend "x" amount of dollars on a car and more specifically a MB and EXPECT everything for free when they realize the parts DO cost money. BUYING MORE CAR THAN THEY CAN AFFORD. This is not elitist, pompous, , arrogant, or whatever else you want to claim it is. It is the truth about owning a car.

pointman

"My rationale is that I see too many people get into car that they can't afford..or better yet can barely afford to get into the car and then forget about upkeep, maintenance, etc.!

My porsche dealer here and I have a pretty good relationship and we talk about crap like this all the time. The dealer here also sells Jag and Aston Martin and the ONLY people that think EVERYTHING should be covered even past warranty are the baby jag owners. Case in point. People who have NO BUSINESS in a car to begin with but spend every last drop of their cash to buy that $30K hunk of Ford crap so that they can belong to the Jag,Porsche, Aston community at the dealership (they are so concerned about status). I always thought it would be the $100K plus crowd that would be demanding but it is the other way around. I don't ***** about much when something on my $100K P-Car needs service..."

Do you read your own posts? Try reading this one and then speaking on your own defense.

pointman

This thread started with someone asking about having a previously broken part warranteed... you then proceeded to making comments like the one I quoted above. well?

LVDell

simple....he wanted something for free. Expecting a free part (or service) AFTER the warranty ends is just not standard. FYI, I was on his side from the beginning. You need to read my first post.

THIS IS MY ORIGINAL POST:

totally agree with Saturn on this one.....being a ***** demanding something will get you NOWHERE! Kill em with kindness.

Also, it helps if you have the window swithc documented in system with your dealer (possible goodwill). Hopefully you have dealt with them in a polite way in the past as well as it hopefully was a part that was replaced recently.

By the way, when did your warranty expire? There is a reason the warranty ends. It's called upkeep is transferred to the owner from the company. I hear this crap on the Porsche boards as well people complaining about parts that PCNA should cover b/c they know it is a known problem. This falls into the category of pay the 75 bucks, install the part, and move on.



AFTER THIS POST I HAD A DIALOGUE WITH SATURN (not you OR the others unless I was directly attacked) . Maybe I should have taken it up with saturn in PM format. Sorry about that.