SL/R230: I can't stand Mercedes Benz's arrogance...
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2026 Mercedes CLE53A4 AMG Cabriolet and 2025 MAYBACH EQS680V4
Originally Posted by 03SilverSL
Lovin' -- I thought you were getting rid of that car
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From: Los Angeles
'05 Porsche 911 Carrera; '04 BMW X5
Lovin -- I loved my SL, but the problems with it drove me crazy. I really didn't want to dump it after 18 mos., but so far I've got 1,600 miles on my new 911, and not one problem. We'll see. Hope it lasts.
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'04 S430 4 Matic and '05 997
The demise of the SL500 started with the introduction of the SL55 and SL65. MB needed (wanted) some way to differentiate these models and justify the much higher priced turbos but instead of improving on the 55 and 65 interior they simply decontented the Sl500 to the point where it has become a dog. Still an aethetiically pleasing car they cheapened the sun visors, A-pillor, door handle and countless other small details. If they cut corners on such evident things I'm afraid to speculate on what they may have done to the car's internals in order to save money as well.
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From: Memphis
SL500 and A-CLASS
Originally Posted by JDM
for the record, I have been a Cadillac/GM/Jeep advisor for several years. GM caters to their customers like their the last ones! I could get customers warranty covered repairs as much as 25000 miles out! Jeep/chrysler corp. on the other hand was terrible! They denied customers every chance! And pled ignorant to faulty engineering. Talk about mad customers! Whew! It would be like trying to collect money from visa.
I had my GMAC Yukon Denali for 3 years and never had any problems. The dealership was always nice to me.
I have never seen a car company like Mercedes try to deny stuff under warranty. It took me 10 months to get all 4 of my wheels replaced and 3 months to get my head replaced. On trim stuff, they act like its your fault. What I do not understand is that in 2002, Mercedes replaced most of the trim in my SLK 320 with no questions asked, because the paint was peeling.
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Originally Posted by pilot20
The demise of the SL500 started with the introduction of the SL55 and SL65. MB needed (wanted) some way to differentiate these models and justify the much higher priced turbos but instead of improving on the 55 and 65 interior they simply decontented the Sl500 to the point where it has become a dog. Still an aethetiically pleasing car they cheapened the sun visors, A-pillor, door handle and countless other small details. If they cut corners on such evident things I'm afraid to speculate on what they may have done to the car's internals in order to save money as well.
MB has ALWAYS used suede in all the AMG cars/600series.. plus leather instead of MB TEX. The SL500 has NOT been deconted......
Now the e-class is a different story.. I had one and the 05 lost several features... none of which were very important. Do you use your REST feature? I have yet to meet a Benz owner that even knew this feature existed.
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From: oregon
2011 C300
Originally Posted by tiggerfink
I had my GMAC Yukon Denali for 3 years and never had any problems. The dealership was always nice to me.
I have never seen a car company like Mercedes try to deny stuff under warranty. It took me 10 months to get all 4 of my wheels replaced and 3 months to get my head replaced. On trim stuff, they act like its your fault. What I do not understand is that in 2002, Mercedes replaced most of the trim in my SLK 320 with no questions asked, because the paint was peeling.
I have never seen a car company like Mercedes try to deny stuff under warranty. It took me 10 months to get all 4 of my wheels replaced and 3 months to get my head replaced. On trim stuff, they act like its your fault. What I do not understand is that in 2002, Mercedes replaced most of the trim in my SLK 320 with no questions asked, because the paint was peeling.
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2026 Mercedes CLE53A4 AMG Cabriolet and 2025 MAYBACH EQS680V4
If you could believe this one...
I got a call today from my Service Manger who said they got a call from Mercedes corporate who said that they would "TRY" to get Germany to pack the next door panel differently. 
"TRY", please, I'd be out of business in my company if I had to "TRY" to do something so simple.
Hey, "TRY" is more than I had yesterday.
"TRY", please, I'd be out of business in my company if I had to "TRY" to do something so simple.
Hey, "TRY" is more than I had yesterday.
Last edited by LovinMercedes; Apr 7, 2005 at 04:09 PM.
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Its pathetic that they dont send a courier to the plant that makes the panel and have them deliver it to corporate pack it then Fedex it to the dealer. For the amount of money it has cost so far they could have a courier carry it on a plane and bring to your front door.
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Trust me cars get damaged on a regular basis... When the cars get off the boat they go to an inspection facility where scratches dents and dings are fixed.
The first SL I got had major dent repaired on the fender, whomever fixed it did a terrible job.
The first SL I got had major dent repaired on the fender, whomever fixed it did a terrible job.
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From: Pittsburgh,pa
2010 Range Rover S/C 2010 Land Rover LR4 HSE Lux Plus 2007 BMW R1200GS
I thought you guys were going to try to be more positive... Oh, sorry, this is the negative thread... you guys should really get rid of these cars if you dislike them so much. It's really made this forum a downer!
Pilot 20, no need to comment TROLL, you should not even be on the SL forum...PLEASE GO AWAY!!
Pilot 20, no need to comment TROLL, you should not even be on the SL forum...PLEASE GO AWAY!!
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From: UK
SL55 AMG
It's clear the MB arrogance extends all the way through MBUSA. We had a similar problem with MB dealers here but a programme of initiatives has improved things so that visiting an MB dealer now is a rather better experience than a couple of years ago.
There's a realisation in MB as well that they have to fix the product, hence the recalls but it will be a long time before their tarnished reputation is rebuilt.
I'm really surprised the cost of a door panel is $3000. Doesn't cost them anything like that to make of course, which is why it is all the more inexcusable that they can be bothered to package it properly for shipping.
There's a realisation in MB as well that they have to fix the product, hence the recalls but it will be a long time before their tarnished reputation is rebuilt.
I'm really surprised the cost of a door panel is $3000. Doesn't cost them anything like that to make of course, which is why it is all the more inexcusable that they can be bothered to package it properly for shipping.
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2026 Mercedes CLE53A4 AMG Cabriolet and 2025 MAYBACH EQS680V4
Originally Posted by blueSL
It's clear the MB arrogance extends all the way through MBUSA. We had a similar problem with MB dealers here but a programme of initiatives has improved things so that visiting an MB dealer now is a rather better experience than a couple of years ago.
There's a realisation in MB as well that they have to fix the product, hence the recalls but it will be a long time before their tarnished reputation is rebuilt.
I'm really surprised the cost of a door panel is $3000. Doesn't cost them anything like that to make of course, which is why it is all the more inexcusable that they can be bothered to package it properly for shipping.
There's a realisation in MB as well that they have to fix the product, hence the recalls but it will be a long time before their tarnished reputation is rebuilt.
I'm really surprised the cost of a door panel is $3000. Doesn't cost them anything like that to make of course, which is why it is all the more inexcusable that they can be bothered to package it properly for shipping.
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From: UK
SL55 AMG
Originally Posted by LovinSL600
Not sure how much Germany pays for the part but they charge the Dealer $2,100. The $3,000 is retail.
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2026 Mercedes CLE53A4 AMG Cabriolet and 2025 MAYBACH EQS680V4
Originally Posted by blueSL
The cost is hiked hugely because it is a spare part. The marginal cost of building an SL is less than $20k, and my guess the buy-in cost of a door panel will be, maybe, 1/10 of the cost to the dealer. There is huge margin on spare parts to take account of the handling, shipping and inventory costs, plus, as in your case, the wastage.
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From: New York
Spyker C8, MB ML63 AMG, land rover
Originally Posted by Natalie
Wow, you guys must have awful dealers! Every problem encountered with my Benz's has been well taken care of (bravo MB of Honolulu). From your post I'm sure this is NOT you, but I have met customers at the dealer who expect to be treated like a godess because they owned a benz. If people are truely unhappy they would walk away from Mercedes. We keep buying them because they are special cars. Believe me, if you think MB's have bad service try Ferrari .
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