negvon11

Hi all,

This is my first post. Usually I am not active in forums but I am having issues with a new S580 order, which I custom ordered last April and I waited patiently until late December and paid for in cash upfront.
I got the car with some cosmetic issues since the car was standing in factory, which they quickly fixed in a week, the car was delivered also with some electronic and mechanical issues. In particular, there were issues with some of the assists (blind spot, driving, parking, lights, etc) and the car was vibrating. Sent it back to shop and got it back after 35 days!! and while they fixed the electronic issues, the vibration was still there so I had to send it back to shop. I was just notified they wait for replacement tires which are back ordered. This is the 3rd time the car is back in shop and until now, the only time I was in possession of the car is for the 2 weeks I was waiting for a loaner.

this is the first time I ordered a car from mercedes in the USA. Does anyone expeirenced something similar? any tips of what I can / should do? It is very frustrating as the old GLB loaner car I have right now is far inferior to the S580 2022 I should be driving and I was already waiting for so long and I dont know where I will get it and if everything will be ok.

by the way, I reached out few weeks ago to mercedes and got an "executive referral" on the case who told me they will be "looking to make me happy" once everything is resolved, but I was unable to reach him since and I don't get many answers from the dealership.

any tips will be greatly appreciated.

thanks everyone!

kenromero

Have you checked into the 'Lemon Law' details of your state? I'm in California, received the car with CEL light on and waited a month for that to be resolved. The service advisor said to file a complaint with MBUSA and I am now in the process of either a return or a goodwill payment. I've had a similar customer service experience as you with the lack of return calls and lack of email responses also. Have you received an email with a Case ID#? They did provide me with that the day after I spoke with an 'Executive Referral Manager' and said it would take about 8 weeks to process my complaint. It was at 9 weeks that they responded with a Goodwill offer which I refused. They then sent a letter agreeing to repurchase and stated that Sedgwick was their transfer agent which would process that repurchase. The representative at Sedgwick is quick to respond to either phone or email, at least they have good customer service.

RJC

Normally 30 cumulative days out of service triggers Lemon Law and MB knows this, and rather than have the vehicle marked as a lemon they will buy it back, get your dealership's GM involved to act in your favor with the MB district service rep

Bossanov

I also ordered a 2022 in April 2021. It was built in June and arrived at the VPC in August. The car was never released from the VPC. My dealer told me the only info MBUSA told them, was that there were some software updates needed from Germany to be applied. I made several calls to MBUSA and got a call back once with a generic response that the car was being updated. MBUSA was mostly unresponsive.

Finally about 2 week ago the dealer called to say MBUSA said they needed an additional 90 days to complete the updates. I told him to cancel my order and I placed a new order for a similar build. Today the dealer called to say the car was now being shipped from the VPC. I will go look at it, but I do not want that car. Sounds like your early build may have some of the same problems. I understand there are a few cars in dealer service for 2+ months awaiting some updates or fixes from Germany.
Good luck to you. Sounds like you need some legal advice as others here have suggested.

superswiss

Based on this and similar reports I can't help but think that the cars being sold now will be known as the pandemic cars in the future that nobody wants and many lost large chunks of money on with market adjustments above MSRP. Riddled with problems due to parts and staffing shortages, and rushed out so dealerships have something to sell and MB can make their profit margins. Wonder how long it takes until this fires back. First model year cars were always something to avoid, but seems like it's taken on new dimensions. As others have said, 30 days out of commission pretty much triggers the lemon law. Unless you really want the car and are willing to deal with potentially more issues down the line, your best bet is to probably rid yourself of it and wait out the current situation.

MBS63AMG

Best post and analysis I've read on this forum in many years!

Sleeper Benz

Hmm. A single post by a new BMW factory member and your running with it. That & Covid Cars, now I've heard everything

KenRockwell

Not a newbie, owned Mercedes ever since my 1984 190D and had lots of previous Sonderklasse und SL. I also bought a 2022 S580 in 2022 and it was a complete lemon. It took until January 2024 to have it lemon-law bought back. Never more than a day or so without a problem like door handles not popping out, limitless stupid and distracting error messages and also had to wait months driving a GLB while waiting for parts like 48V batteries and cameras to arrive. Sad thing is that mb should have put this car in the crusher when it was bought back, but I hear it will go to auction and be resold to some other poor sucker and further tarnish the mb name. Six months after I returned it, it’s still haunting me with email and text messages telling me its battery is low and I’d better recharge it - did that pretty much since the day we drove it home. The VIN and details are at my website https://www.kenrockwell.com/mercedes/s580.htm Sadly I also had a new 2018 GLE63S AMG coupe (https://www.kenrockwell.com/mercedes/gle-63s.htm) which would stop running while driving and was also bought back, so my newest mb today is my 2013 S550 (https://www.kenrockwell.com/mercedes/s550.htm) which has always run flawlessly. This is the sticker about to be applied to the door jamb of the cursed S580:

Streamliner

Please advise as to WHERE you are located.

Streamliner

As someone who has bought or leased 17 new MB’s, mostly higher end models, I feel very strongly that MB is in “triage” mode right now, tripping over themselves as they try desperately to keep their post 2020 vehicles on the road. The numerous problems with the W223 S Class have been well documented in this forum and frankly, I don’t think MB is out of the woods yet, not by a long shot. They are probably making progress, but not quickly enough and have allowed serious issues to continue from one model year to the next. I would not even consider any post 2020 MB—new or CPO—until possibly when the mid-cycle “facelift” models show up. Hopefully, MB is really kicking some *** in Stuttgart and working diligently towards a MONUMENTAL increase in quality and dependability over the current models.

NbyNW

What a complete pain. This is the main reason I couldn’t go with a W223. Maybe the newer versions are better?

VIN from your window sticker: W1K6G7GB4NA075491

Your pictures of the car are beautiful, as expected!

KenRockwell

thanks! That VIN looks about right. Of course whoever gets stuck with it has warranty coverage still, but we never got to drive our S580 as it was always at the dealer. Also a design flaw are the ultra low profile tires. Our dealer, Hoehn Carlsbad California had a tire warranty, but man, we popped so many of those tires on local potholes that we felt guilty having so many replaced due to sidewall bubbles.

KenRockwell

consumer reports says it all: look at the April 2024 auto issue ratings of brands. BMW tops the list, Porsche is right up there, too, while MB is down at the bottom overall. Their first hundred years were wonderful, but my 2013 model is the last good one I’ve owned. My top end 2018 and 2022 models both went back as lemons. We’re sticking to Porsche and BMW for the foreseeable future. Good news is mb usa simply bought back the first lemon easy-peasy, but did the dumbest thing ever by not buying back the second lemon and making us have to twist their arm. My local dealer is always a huge help (Hoehn in Carlsbad California), while mbusa lost me as a loyal decades-long brand ambassador by trying to stick us with a car that met lemon law requirements many times over. The days of MB simply replacing lemon cars as they did in the early 2000s (mb offered to build two different neighbors brand-new replacements for new cars with problems back then) are gone. MB made superior cars for the first 100 years, and for the next twenty made less amazing cars but at least supported them extraordinarily well (free lifetime road service etc.), but as of about ten years ago those days are obviously gone and they’re resting on their considerable laurels.

NbyNW

We've had a bunch of MBs also, but it will end with our 2020 S560. Their hybrid system is a mess and for our long road trips no way I could trust it. We'll keep our 2020 a while longer - it's a fantastic road car. Then maybe a Porsche or BMW, maybe a big SUV, but we don't need something that big. I also don't understand the rubber band tires, the look is nice, but give me a better ride.

I've followed your reviews and web site for a really long time. Probably back to the early 90s? Good stuff! I've been a Nikon shooter for 35+ years. My dad shot Nikons and I followed.