I don't get it...
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 462
Likes: 0
From: CT and FL
SL500 E320 ML350
I don't get it...
I took my new '05ML350 in for it's "free" 1000 mile check last week. All OK according to the service rep. This week my wife says the ML surges forward under brake pressure and even skipped into neutral once! Back it goes this morning. Service advisor says, "oh, we did the software upgrade and now it should be fine". Jeeez, shouldn't they have done this automatically last week? 
Saturnstyl, any thoughts? 
Saturnstyl, any thoughts?
Member
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 196
Likes: 1
From: Maryland
2000 ML430
Originally Posted by benzboy
I took my new '05ML350 in for it's "free" 1000 mile check last week. All OK according to the service rep. This week my wife says the ML surges forward under brake pressure and even skipped into neutral once! Back it goes this morning. Service advisor says, "oh, we did the software upgrade and now it should be fine". Jeeez, shouldn't they have done this automatically last week? Saturnstyl, any thoughts?
Saturnstyl, any thoughts? 
Super Member
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 630
Likes: 14
Look at it from our side of it.... WE SIMPLY ARE NOT ALLOWED TO UPSELL WARRANTY WORK. If it is not a safety related Item, we cannot fix it unless the customer has complained about the problem. The warranty auditors debit claims for this, and they know exactly where to look and what to look for. They red flag warranty add ons for closer examination when they audit.
Keep in mind also, that most techs do not own mercedes, and if they do, they are not new mercedes. They often miss things because they are not used to that particular car. I can't tell you the whole story, it would take days... Suffice it to say a percentage don't care, and a percentage just don't know any better.
So keep in mind when you take your vehicle in for service, be it the 1st 1,000 mile checkup or whatever, you MUST complain about everything, or nothing will be done. Do not count on the technician to find these things, chances are it won't happen. Also, given the nature of the problems you describe, it is extremely doubtful any fault codes were present in any control units to indicate a problem exists.
Mercedes still makes a better car, but their policies and procedures on the service side of things are becoming more and more like what you find at other car companies. I guess they found out how much money they were losing by being 2 steps ahead of the game, and one step ahead is still ahead right?
Keep in mind also, that most techs do not own mercedes, and if they do, they are not new mercedes. They often miss things because they are not used to that particular car. I can't tell you the whole story, it would take days... Suffice it to say a percentage don't care, and a percentage just don't know any better.
So keep in mind when you take your vehicle in for service, be it the 1st 1,000 mile checkup or whatever, you MUST complain about everything, or nothing will be done. Do not count on the technician to find these things, chances are it won't happen. Also, given the nature of the problems you describe, it is extremely doubtful any fault codes were present in any control units to indicate a problem exists.
Mercedes still makes a better car, but their policies and procedures on the service side of things are becoming more and more like what you find at other car companies. I guess they found out how much money they were losing by being 2 steps ahead of the game, and one step ahead is still ahead right?
