xyfbx

So we have had our Mercedes for 14 days now. It has been in the shop for the last 5 days. The two days prior to that we were waiting for an appointment to have our car looked at it and never drove it. So it is looking like we made a really great decision picking a Mercedes product over something else.

I like the fact that they are still on the first issue, with the Command system. It shows real concentration that they can work on a car for three days without moving on to the other issues. Apparently the command system is so messed up that they had to contact head office. I guess eventually they will look at the exterior and figure out why some panels don't fit evenly.

I am starting to smell lemon and I usually only like lemons in my rum not to drive one. Can anyone tell me if Mercedes are real *******s about taking a car back? I guess those people are now on BMWWorld or LexusWorld by now and can't respond. This has not been a good experience for us.

chilledbenz

Saddly yeah they are, they will however do anything and everything to make the situation to your liking short of getting you a new car. If your interested in going the lemon law route first check with your state law, each state is different for some stupid reason. Some states require you to pay for mileage, this won't effect you cause you have only had it for 14 days. Also keep in mind that the law states you must have the same thing go bad three times and not get fixed in order for it to be considered a lemon (once again depending on your state). Be sure you call MB themselves and let them know whats going on and that your not happy, its amazing how fast things happen once the main office knows of the problem. The first thing Benz will do is send out a regional rep to look at your car and to talk to you about the complaints. Honestly this is your man and as much as I hate to say it, it would be in your best interest to pretty much kiss his ***. He has the power to determine if your car is a lemon, or if its fixable in which case they will fix it and sometimes reimburse you for lost time, wages, ect. Just don't go into the situation guns a blazing and try to work with them.

xyfbx

Thanks for the advice. The Sales Manager will talk to me tomorrow and more than likely I will have to keep going up the line from there if I don't get satisfaction.

Canadians act a little sanctimonious in regards to Americans, but at least you guys have lemon laws, we do not. We actually got this vehicle for our travels to the US. We go down across the border almost weekly and have done so for years.

I am really disappointed with Mercedes. They have yet to step up and be proactive even to the point of calling us first. They had the receptionist call us Saturday late in the day to tell us the service rep would call us Monday. That never happened, we called first. I want them to let us know what is happening. I want them to call us and give us a better loaner than a B200 even though it is fun to drive in the city my 2002 BMW 320 would blow it away on the highway. We bought a fully loaded SUV and we should have one to drive while they have ours since it looks like they will have it for a while (or forever with any luck).

tarponbeach

Sorry to hear of your troubles. As said before, be cordial, and don't go on the attack just yet. In my experience, they are loathe to take a car back.

What exactly is wrong with Command?

xyfbx

At first the electronics installed and the gateways were not set up correctly. It was then reset. Now the volume of the music does not go down while the Nav voice gives instruction. It can't tell what road it is on in the center of the city. The bluetooth was not working. As it warmed up the sound would stop and start.
They can't figure it out. Of course the panels not aligning and the the sunroof sticking up too far have not been addressed yet.

lkchris

Alabama Mercedes are not the best Mercedes.

tarponbeach

I would tend to agree, having had 3 W-163's, but my W164 CDI is close to perfect. The fit and finish look as good as any S Class that I've seen, the paint is perfect, as are all body panels.

Flubadub

I agree that you should go into this trying to cooperate but being firm about your expectations. The dealer should call the regional rep in, and you should ask him to do this.
Did you inspect the car prior to delivery and notice the fit and finish problems at that time?? That would have been the time to say NO.

xyfbx

The car is back in our possession. The head mechanic took me through the problems with the Command system, they swapped out the Bluetooth device with one from another vehicle, same with some other electronic component and it all seems to work.

In regards to the fit and finish, they compared it to other new cars around the lot and found all were off more or less than ours. My complaints were with the fit of the roof to the top of the rear hatch and the amount the sunroof was above the level of the roof. Basically Mercedes can't build things that go together right and they will not do anything about it.

The mechanic guy was a nice guy and I believe him to be honest. The rest of the staff mostly had a lizard eye kind of look. I will never buy another Mercedes if they find the fit and finish as is acceptable and would advise others against buying their products. I was told by one of the staff that for a period of time Mercedes made a lot of junk (an example was the C-Class about 5 years ago) but they were improving again now.

So much for our dream car.

frizz2112

I'm sorry you're having a bad experience. I bought my 2006 ML 500 used and so far I am not impressed with the quality either (I've talked about this in another thread.) My local dealer has been great, but it's amazing how a few problems on a new car can ruin the experience for you, especially when you fork over the coin for a Mercedes. My previous car was a VW Passat, which aren't exactly known for stellar quality, but it had fewer issues in 3 years than my Mercedes had in the first 2 months.

I get the added pleasure of my father snickering at me talking about how his Ford 500 has 55K miles on it and has never had a single problem.

brakel8

Sometimes knowing a litle fact helps, when installing the sunroof MB wants 1mm higher in the back and 1mm lower in the front to prevent rushing air noise at high speeds.

xyfbx

Most at the dealership were out more than that.