saltydog

my wife just bought an 03 sl500 a month ago that came with an extended warranty. the srs light was on and we were told that the warranty would cover it along with the drip near the left rear tire. we took it in and were hit with a $520 bill for the srs and $1300 for the hydrolic shock. i know the car is @ 5 years old but it only has 26000 miles. the extended warranty doesn't cover either.
any ideas how to ground the srs (passenger seat) if that would work. can the shock be rebuilt or something else. any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

sosh

You said you were "hit with a bill". That implies that you had the work done and thats what you were charged. You must have an aftermarket warranty and a basic one at that. Read the warranty to confirm coverage, it may be worthless or a scam of the seller.

bigmel

where did you buy the car from? a Benz dealer or a used car dealer? as for a warranty if its aftermarket warranty you have to get preauthorized for the claim to be paid for by them. I'm hopeful that you did not get a bill but just a quote. bc if the repair was done before aftermarket warranty is aware of it. you have little to no chance for them to pay for it.

when I bought my car I got an aftermarket extended warranty too, however I did get it from a dealer I got mine after doing weeks for research on different aftermarket warranty companies fine print. Plus I used BBB.org to check the complains. I learn it best to use a large well known company bc it less of a chance the company going belly up. Also I found the most of the complains are due to the warranty company not paid for a repair. after a person fines complain some aftermarket warranty companies stand by there fine print "stating they must have preauthorization before repair is done.

saltydog

we paid for the diagnostic. the car was purchased from an individual who had purchased the extended warranty when he bought it. i think we are the 3rd owner and the car is in great shape other than these problems. apparently they did something to the srs because the light does not even light up when the car is started.

here's what the invoice says:

connectors for srs for both seats and the strut assy nedds go be replaced. if we would of had them do the work it was going to be over 2 grand out of our pocket. the insurance company is mercury and the policy is the platinum plan which says that everything is cover accept certain things and the list is extensive. just so happens both are listed as not covered.

sosh

So it is a half assed aftermarket with loads of exceptions. Don't know why the original purchaser did not buy the MB warranty, perhaps price.... and now you are paying for it. Maybe if you go back after the seller who claimed it was covered he will do something for you. Sounds like someone intentionally disabled the system most likely to shut up the seat belt warning. As for the shock, thats a maintenence item even though its a low mileage car this some times happens. Do not believe it can be repaired but should be replaced. Repairs and maint of this vehicle are expensive so prepare yourself. However I would stay with the dealer who even though is more expensive per hour you do have warranty on repairs and are insured of getting the latest part number on replacements with genuine MB parts. I have also found that the bottom line is less or the same with an independent doing in many cases questionable work and using aftermarket or rebuilt parts. Good luck and enjoy your MB.

bigmel

so you bought it from a private seller? if so the seller problem knew the srs and struts was not cover or they would have had them fixed before it is sold so the car value would be higher. however its not uncommon for a aftermarket warranty not to cover the parts in question, bc the struts in most cars are ware and tear items. however in these cars they are have servo and hydro in them. as far as the srs light its considered an electrical item and some aftermarket warranty won't cover it. However bought items could be over for a extra cost.

saltydog

we knew about the srs light before we bought it but we thought the warranty covered it(didn't read the entire policy). anyway i think that it is the frustration of seeing such an expensive car have these types of failures with so few miles. plan on doing everything after the holidays. thanks for all of ya'lls help.

bigmel

sometimes low miles on a car is a bad thing, bc some times that means the car was not driven do to problems. to be honest a 5yr car with 40k to 50k would be great, bc that would show the car was on the road.


well good luck my friend.

sosh

I understand your frustration, however you are the 3rd owner and it seems to me that the more owners a vehicle has had the more unrepaired problems you find. As for the SRS light, I am not so certain that its a fault of the vehicle but something that was done by one of the previous owners to allow him to drive without a belt and without the light flashing and alarm sounding. I am almost certain the at least the person you bought from had knowledge of the fact that both of these items were not covered or he would have had them fixed.