garygnu

My CPO was in the shop for 19 days for a tranny repair. i had the thing for a month.
Corporate finally got back to me - upshot? Since the car was sold from Oregon (and shipped to NJ) they say i'm under the Oregon lemon law - which really stinks - oregon says "no lemon law for used cars"
NJ does.
I'm a lawyer and i am not sure about that, but i asked a lawyer tenant who has handled lemon law cases if that's correct.
regardless, i nicely mentioned to the nice customer service exec that this would be my last mercedes. the slogan is, "the best or nothing' yet they sold me a car with a defective transmission.
she said the oregon lemon law said no used cars, and the best they could do is a $400 service credit. sigh.
when i mentioned it would be my last benz she didn't quite yawn, but not much else.
so, yes, they stand by their cars with the warranties (i bought extended) but no, they don't care if you threaten to never get another one (i asked for a credit towards my next purchase) - nope!
thought i'd share.
final comment - i was on the fence if given a choice, would i go for a new 2018 or stay with my 29k miles 2016. the trunk on mine is much larger, and i'm reading some good and some less than good things about the 2018 versus the 2016 (or even 2015 or 2014) - not sure i'd switch, and at least now i don't have to make the decision. but i DO feel rankled.
okay, done with rant.

AppleFan1

What a shame that MB will give you basically nothing for the faulty transmission. How much do you think your 2016 is worth and what would a new transmission cost? You will obviously take a big hit, but if you can afford it, you should probably go for the 2018 or better yet the 2019 now and order it with the options you want. From someone who use to buy the LS from Lexus, the S-Class has it all over the LS.

Jan AMG

MTrauman

Maybe I am missing something--Is your vehicle under the factory 4 years/50,000 warranty or are you under the 12 month CPO warranty? Are you saying you are under these warranties and MBUSA won't cover a faulty transmission or they simply won't buy your vehicle back under the Lemon Law? I am a bit confused since if you are under one of the warranties they should cover a faulty transmission.

Jan AMG

ItalianJoe1

Did they fix it? It sounds like your major gripe is that they had your car for 3 weeks, did they not provide a loaner? I don't see where this is lemon law qualification, even in FL it has to be more than 30 days out of service or more than 3 attempts at repairing the same issue within a year, and I don't believe it applies to used cars here either.

If your car is fixed and ok now, it's unfortunate that you had to lose your car for 3 weeks but that's what the warranty is for, why do they owe you more on top of that?

superpop

I would drive it and enjoy it until the warranty is up and then sell it. If the tranny grenades you will get a new one, otherwise it sounds like they are doing what they can to fix the problem. If it was a new car I guess it might be different but it is a used car.

1bad540

Stinks, but its fine now no? def no shot on a lemon.

Wolfman

Quite frankly I don't get the point of discussing this for lemon law. Requiring a transmission repair with that mileage is unusual, not great but not really a big deal. Something breaks, they fix it, better yet, replace it. Done deal. Better for you in the future. But lemon law doesn't come into play no matter the state.

Besides not making the criteria, lemon laws seem (to me) more applicable when an recurring issue is not being resolved. This one here sounds simply like a slow repair job. For that matter I would make the dealer pay me for the loss of use of the car. Nobody buys an S-Class to drive s C-Class loaner (and possibly making payments on the S-Class). I would approach the dealer to pay for that lost time which wasn't free to you... $1k-$1.5k

MBNUT1

Appreciate you sharing your experience as it is very disconcerting to have a major transmission issue in less than 30k miles. Given that it is a 2016 with 29k miles I assume that it was fixed under warranty and they provided you with a loaner. Mercedes has done their part other than providing you with a car with a faulty transmission. Be grateful that it was still under factory warranty. If you don't like the fact that it needed a new transmission in 29k miles (I don't blame you) badly enough, don't buy another one. Kind of end of story there.

carnut1

You have obviously never owned an Italian car, three weeks is nothing, One of mine as of tomorrow will be at the dealer for three weeks, probably will not have it back till the end of next week. We become accustom to having things done quickly, and when they are not we think we are owed something. truth is we are not, nothing in the warranty says we will fix your car fast or pay you for the lost time without it. Really think about how that would apply to other things in life, if you washing machine needed a part and it took three weeks to get it, they would not bring you a loaner washing machine would they. You got a car to drive and they fix your car end of story. After 466 cars and a lot of years under my belt, I am not in such a rush anymore.

garygnu

hi all,
1) with 29k and 2.5 years in service, i'm under the original 4 year/50k mile warranty. on top of that, i get 1 year unlimited miles, and i bought 2 more years of unlimited miles, so i'm in warranty (unlimited miles) until October 2022
2) transmission seems fine now, though I AM annoyed i was sold a car with a faulty transmission - all their CPO stuff talks about piece of mind
3) i'm sucking my thumb at 19 days out of service - on the plus side, and i mean this, i brought it in for the GPS software update, to verify the heated windshield works properly (very hard to tell), and because it had gremlins one day. THEY felt the tranny had issues, not me - but i'm really happy they took the overt action of fixing something i didn't complain about or "know was broken." i will say though i did'nt buy the car at the local dealership, they arranged a 1 week rental (no cost to me) and then when there was no end in sight, they took it back and loaned me a GLC for the remaining time. they didn't ask nor know i still have my BMW that i could have used - that's fine - so no complaints on that end. "damages" are that i paid for an S550 and was "stuck" driving lesser cars - no major damages there.
4) i wanted options - if MB said i could return the car and get a new one, i'd be on the fence. i do love the car - it has the options i wanted (which is why i got it across the US and had it shipped) - not the color i would have bought (black on black) but it looks great. anyway, if they gave me a $5k credit towards a new car, i'd be happy and feel i was ahead
5) NJ lemon law says 20 days out of service including used, there's some verbiage. as my glitches involved the suspension not working properly (one day) i think another major system would put me squarely in the NJ lemon law category - HOWEVER i bought the car over the phone/internet from an oregon dealership - oregon lemon law says nothing for used.
6) skipping the lemon law, i COULD make a UCC or other type of complaint if so inclined - misrepresentation from their trade materials, etc. - not sure i want to do that. if i was "made whole" and bought out, i now question if a 2018 would be "that much" better than what i have - i like the new whee and updated software, and there's the facelift. i don't like the smaller trunk, and i've read complaints on the forum about wind noise. i believe the systems like the driver systems are better on the 18. i also believe in 2022 or so the new model should come out which will devalue my car that much m ore - so instead of keeping until say, august 2022 and selling with a few months left on the warranty, i may sell a year earlier - on the fence. of course, if ii'm in a crash or it's stolen, those choices go away (if car totaled, etc.)
when i thought i might have an option, i was on the fence for a 450 or 560 (my fuel economy is horrible, but i love the power) versus keeping my car. without the option, keeping my car is fine.

i would have liked MBUSA to have stood behind things a little more - yes, warranty coverage and tranny repaired (my lemon law lawyer tenant thinks they replaced with a rebuilt tranny anyway, that serious tranny repairs are not done at the local dealership level - i have no idea) - so a "sorry you had a bad experience, here's something to make it up to you" would have gone a long way. Will i get a MB for my wife when her lease is up next year? i'm no longer predisposed, but if we like MB best the answer will be yes. if they gave me a $5k credit? it would have bee "hell yes."
make sense?
thanks for all who responded - this was intended to be less of a whining and complaining session, and more of a "this was my experience, your mileage may vary" (pun intended).
also moral - WATCH OUT FOR YOUR STATE'S LEMON LAW STATUTE, AND IF NECESSARY, CONSIDER BUYING OR LEASING FROM AN ADJACENT STATE. Oregon's truly stinks. Florida 30 days? even Jersey is better - and we're the Garden State (as in guarding your wallet)

2012 merc amg

Thats what seems really weird in that was not even a real unusual issue with the trans to start with. All the 7 speeds have some strange manors at times it seems.. I'd complained about a sometimes a slight harsh 1 to 2 upshift the first shift when the car is cold. Sometimes a harsh 3 to 4 downshift like a once in a every 2 month rare issue when coming off a exit ramp. They did a software update, car still does the same thing. I live with it, car is still under warrantee but its just how it is. Point is the trans probably would have never really bothered u but then it was dealer who went and opened pandoras box and then has kept the car in the shop forever, I don't get it?

garygnu

lol, i also thought about either pandora's box, or "no good deed goes unpunished."
i HAVE heard the dealerships make the most profit in the used car section,and the repair shop. i don't know in which order.
as the factory would have to pay for the repair to the dealership, i assume they got at least a few thousand for the work.
whenever i'd bring in my BMW for service, they'd put on the page "customer complains about noisy wipers" and replace my wipers. i never once complained or asked, but heck, fine with new wipers! (not sure if i even got them, but hey, didn't cost me anything)
i do THINK it's a LITTLE abrupt up-shifting from 2 to 3 - but by rough, i mean it feels like a conventional transmission. the rest? buttery smooth.

2012 merc amg

It's too bad they just did not leave well enough alone, it's sounds like you were fine with the way the car was acting. Oh well, what's done is done I guess.

jenz

garygnu

ItalianJoe1

But the car is fixed now... it's not a lemon. You're trying to make a big deal out of nothing here. If every car was perfect all the time, you wouldn't care about warranty, CPO, whatever, because it just would keep working 100% always. Reality is, that's not how it works, if the dealership actually fixed the car, that's what you want, don't start a lawsuit over it.

XboxMeister

First world problems....

garygnu

Nice Ride

I don't understand. If the car is CPO,the transmission repair should be fully covered. How many miles on the car?

garygnu

sam9187

I don't think this is a Benz issue. It's at most the other dealer was not forthcoming or that they didn't know. In the end it was fixed under warranty and all is well. Mercedes can't buyback every car that has something wrong with it. My car had been at the dealership for many weeks and it didn't bother me that much as they gave me a loaner. I agree with you that the loaner in most cases is not as nice as tour own car.

Wolfman

MBNUT1

This thread is a perfect example of "When your only tool is a hammer every problem looks like a nail".