232 miles and the dealer already damaged my ML
 

Yes you are reading that correctly 232 miles on the clock and we were back at the dealership, only when we pulled in there was nothing wrong with our baby. By the time we left there is a different story altogether!

Let me start from the beginning and explain why we were there. My wife does not make snap decisions when under pressure and needs to think things out before she decides on them. While doing our paperwork weeks ago in the finance office they offered us Perma-Plate, a protectant for the paint and interior. Normally I will always say no because I have been a service manager at a high end dealer and it's a bunch of fluff n stuff, meaning we all made money on it on our side and usually charged the customer $900-1500 depending on the size of the vehicle. But they offered it at a fair price of $599 and guaranteed to replace our white leather seats if they get discolored for any reason and with white leather that was my main concern. We did not purchase it that day as my wife felt to think about it for awhile.she finally decide she would like to do it and contacted the dealership to make arraignments for Saturday (yesterday). She was told we would be charged for a full detail (no problem we had a service coupon for it anyways) then they could guarantee a perfect job. We dropped it off at 10:30 and expected to get a call around 2:30 or 3:00.

At 1:30 the salesman calls and says it finished and to come pick it up. We show up at around 4pm and it is parked up front next and had a crowd of people looking at it like it was for sale, he tries to shuffle us through with some BS about they didn't charge us for the detail (inferring they did one but we were not being charged) and get us to make payment and drive off. I am not one to just pay money without checking out what was done so I begin to inspect her and am disgusted to see there was NO detail done, they did a quick wash which was not even a good one. I start inspecting the coating on the outside and inside and see that they missed spots on the interior and half wiped down the trim panels that had gotten the treatment that we're not supposed to and of course they did not do the door panels either. I'm already beginning to fume when I walk up front and inspect the black grille that has water spots all over it and decide to look closer and have my wife pop the hood, this is when all hell broke loose. I see the front leading edge of my hood has been damaged and some one did a repair equivalent to a child finger-painting in kindergarten!!
I blew up when the salesman had the balls to say to me "We could not have done that, did you get out of the car and look at your hood before we took it back?" My wife was blown away, 232 miles with nothing wrong when we brought it there and this is how we are treated, write a check for $110k and this is how we are treated?? We bust into the sales managers office and demand he walk outside to see our car and what a ****ty job they did, as well as look at the damage. Of course he promises they will make it perfect and redo what they were supposed to do originally the right way and we won't have to pay anything. We are sick to our stomachs to have something happen like this. What makes me most mad is that they tried to cover it up instead of doing the right thing and admitting they damaged it and fixing it properly.

Look for yourselves and tell me what you think about the hood damage.

I am sure the dealer will take care of the hood ding - which might take a bit of time to do correctly/respray - I have the advantage on my side to have a Mercedes Certified Collision Center on tap - good time to check if your dealer has one on tap or not.

Personally, I would not choose put PermaPlate on my Designo interior - put that's me, because the look/feel of the open/natural Designo is a dream, and coating will change that a bit, not necessarily "bad" but again that's personal choice.

Denim transfer will be a ongoing conundrum, with PermaPlate or not, and with Designo Porcelain best addressed with a weekly or monthly spot cleaning cleaning using a cotton/terry cloth (not microfiber) and Lexol pH neutral cleaner:


Keep the beat !

Looks like they closed the hood on something. I'd murder someone if I found that.

I can't imagine getting a touch up job done on a brand new ML63 without some other significant compensation. I'd ask for a $5k service credit.

Seriously? Thats worth murder and $5k?? :eek:

Agree they were lousy at what they did and tried to cover up, but how about a little perspective here folks. :rolleyes:

Deleted as I don't want to cause an uproar

Well Mr Canada how about some courtesy. I had an ml63 order too but canceled when I figured that it would be outdated 6 months after delivery with the refresh expected mid 2014. So your high almighty car will not be as bad as you think.
I would think somebody of your caliber would have known this already?
I can't believe I'm responding to this. I need to get to the staples center to see Kobe's return!!

Dealer's name?
 

ChrisMclass,

Can you name the dealer?

I do not believe they are a certified collision center so I am very worried. Upon closer inspection it looks like they touched it up with Polar White paint and I have Diamond White Metallic :crazy:

I am sure they will try their hardest to make things right after getting the SM involved, Again the biggest problem for me was non-disclosure, I understand accidents happen but you gotta man up to your mistake and tell me about it, not try to hide it and make like they didn't do it.

The areas of the Designo Porcelain seats that have been coated have no change in feel or look, they are still supple, still soft and creamy feeling. We have a regular detail service commissioned with cleaning both our vehicles on a weekly basis and of course this one gets a little extra loving because of what it is plus the fact that this is my wifes baby so the occasional stain or dirt will be wiped up immediately.

Thank you for the recommendation of the Lexol, thats the only choice for leather clean up and conditioning!!

It's a South Florida dealer, I won't say any more until we see how they fix this issue for us. If I am not happy with the outcome I will put them on blast and name them for sure!

I will say 2012MLBlue may have been a little harsh with his words... but I was thinking it when I found out what they did! But of course we are giving them a chance to fix it before Ii escalate any further.

And honestly Jtorrebl I don't care about a mid year refresh, we bought this one because we feel this ML was made for us, it came in at the right time and after some careful thought and prayer we felt this was the right purchase.
With that being said I was upset when the original car I went to go see at the dealership wasn't in stock yet (E63 S-Model) and when we were there on Saturday that particular car was sitting out front taunting me... begging me to purchase it. I didn't but I was close to pulling the trigger when I saw it lol Thankfully my wife has more common sense and will power than I do!!

It was Polar White with the AMG Night Package, Gloss Black 19's with black painted trim pieces front rear and side, black exhaust tips... absolute masterpiece.

I got it you were livid. If be pissed too.

hi Chris. can you say its the west or east coast and if they are part of autonation or pm me this answer. I am about to order from south FL dealer.

Wow, so sorry to hear about your experience. And thank you for posting your story; sometimes it's best to take that extra few minutes to check everything out before assuming it's all OK. A good lesson for future reference.

I hope they make it up to you and then some!

I completely agree. While the damage wasn't anything "major" I would nonetheless be livid if it happened to my car. I would have accepted it for what it was if they were up front about it, but the fact that they 1) tried to cover it up 2) tried to rush you out of there 3) try and say it wasn't their fault, well..... Sub'd for conclusion.

OP, sorry to see this happen, specially at such low miles. Hope everything is taken care of in an orderly fashion.

This sitch will not affect your order. Relax.

UPDATE
 

Thank you to everyone who can feel our pain, I appreciate it.

So we brought Sasha to the dealer today to see how they wanted to fix it. First they had a guy from Dent Wizard look at it and see if he could spray the egde to make it right, he was very honest and said he did not believe that would be the proper repair as he did not have the right materials for the job as well as the spot it lays being on the edge would be hard to blend. He suggested the whole hood be sprayed to keep the Diamon White uniform across and suggested a great body shop to do it. The dealer agreed and brought it to them and said it would be done by tomorrow so we will see how it comes out. I am happier to have the whole hood re-cleared then try to blend and have an issue down the road with fading.

They offered a C class for the day but we declined as we have the Acadia and didn't need it.

After picking it up tomorrow I will take some pics of the repair and post them, cross your fingers and say some prayers for us!

This is why I go with solid colors over metallics or pearls, as you can much more easily touch up a solid color, instead of having to paint a whole panel.
There is no way that I would want my entire hood painted. I don't care what anyone says, no repaint will ever stand up like the factory original. Whenever you get a rock chip, instead of a tiny nick, the chip will be much larger. If a dealer did this to my brand new vehicle, I would insist on them replacing the vehicle. They screw up and now you have to live with a less than perfect ML, after you spent all that money? I would REALLY pressure them on this. It might be futile, but I would even consider legal action. Being a perfectionist car nut, I really feel for you on this. Best of luck.

Actually it would. I wouldn't order from this dealer after reading Chris experience. I am quite relaxed thank you.

No it won't. Every dealership has horror stories, this one is not about ordering.

You're welcome.

That's a bit extreme. How about replacing the hood?

That would be great, but with a color like Diamond White, there is a 50/50 chance that it won't match. In addition, obtaining a factory painted hood would probably prove damn near impossible. I think the dealer and MBUSA would sooner swap out the whole vehicle, but that's just my opinion.

Sorry being as anal as I am with my car there is no way I would want a body shop to repaint the hood for that small scratch. There is no possible way they would ever match it, yes I know people will chime in but realistically give it a few years and you will see the difference, shine, texture, stone chips that rust quickly. Factory paint is a certain thickness, let the body shop try to duplicate that thickness. One thousand or 15 hundred dollar credit at the dealership then we would be talking. Remember this guy just spent 110K for the way the car was, not the way it is now. Now to the owner, Touch-up paint (2X) 1500 grit wet sand, two coats of wax, that is after the credit from the dealership. :) Enjoy the car, watch the techs that will surely work on it in the future.

The dealer damaged the side skirt on my S class last month and took care of it no questions asked. I couldn't ask for anything more really.

So is the body shop visit going to show up on the cars history?

I once could bought a car for about $5k under msrp because the rear bumper cover had to get repainted after transit. This was a car that at the time would fetch $5-15k over msrp. Was just a car sitting at a dealer and when I inquired about a price they offered a discount and disclosed why.

Regardless of how minor the reason, a repainted body panel on a vehicle means added depreciation to anyone who later considers buying it. I hope the dealership is compensating you financially for the added depreciation that put onto your vehicle.

Well, a rocker panel and a hood are completely different matters. I feel that the hood is "THE" most important body panel as far as cosmetics go. In addition, it is also subject to the most potential damage, due to rocks and other debris hitting it on the highway. A repainted rocker panel I could live with, but not a repainted hood. All that said, it was great that your dealer took care of you.