jazzphile

Hi,

Just thought you all would enjoy this story. My factory warrant on my '05 SL500 expires on 1/30/09. Today my battery died. Jumped by MBUSA service, drove to dealer, and it was replaced under warranty. The service tech said it runs around $350 for the starter battery. I find that hard to believe and if true, outrageous.

While it's never good to be stranded with a dead battery, this was certainly fortuitous luck. I have not been driving the car much in the winter, and it was on a lark that I drove it today. If I hadn't, I likely would not have driven it until this weekend....and would have missed out on a free battery! Now I'm set for another 4 or 5 years.

For once, luck was on my side.

Regards,
Jazzphile

Rook3300

$350?? No freaking way. They'd better not pull that if/when my battery comes up for replacement.

Heck, I just replaced my own air filters for a cool $28 and 15 minutes of labor. (It would've been quicker if I'd remembered to charge my cordless drill.)

Rook

djamer

Moral of the story. Drive your cars, folks. They are meant to be driven. Batteries aren't supposed to die that easily. Despite the fact it's 22 degrees here in northern VA, i still take my SL at least three times a wk for nice drives to make sure the engine is running smoothly, suspension isn't dipping (ABC), and battery is charged.

mlandis

djamer, I completely agree -- and, given this statement, appreciate the irony in your sig file.

djamer

actually today it snowed like 3 inches here in the washington dc area.. pretty bad driving conditions, so naturally, i took my corolla to work.. honestly, this car is the most practical, fuel efficient, reliable point a to b car i have ever owned. It's a no frills daily driver which just runs well.

DeLorean00

Yep!! I drive mine everyday! I have no problems, and today I even had the top down most of the day.

DeLorean00

Thats great!!! What dealer did you goto? I bought mine from Mercedes-Benz of ElDorado Hills and they seem pretty good up there. I got my starter battery changed under warranty as well.

jazzphile

Hi Delorean00,

I have most of my work done at Sacramento Mercedes on Howe Ave. I've used both MBZ of EDH and Sacramento Mercedes. Both are good. I have had some bad experiences buying 2 cars at MBZ of EDH so prefer to take my business elsewhere. I feel that the strongarm, high pressure tactics at EDH are pretty ugly and unnecessary when it comes to how they sell the cars. I won't buy there again for this reason, just principle, and as such prefer to take my service business elsewhere.

By comparison, Sacramento Mercedes is better in terms of how it sells cars, but not too much better. Still quite a bit of pressure, just not as much as EDH.

I will say that the quality of service provided by the service department at MBZ of EDH is excellent....in my opinion a small bit better than at Sacramento Mercedes. The service department and overall quality of the EDH dealership is much better, but the Sacramento dealer will soon be moving to a brand new facility near Hagen Oaks Golf Course, so that will be just as nice as EDH, I'm sure.

Jazzphile

DeLorean00

Well I kinda strong armed them on this deal! LoL! I work in the car industry and I know all the tricks they pull. So when I bought the car they wanted $42,995 and $12,000 down with payments of $967. When I left I had $0 down with a check (cash) back for $5,000 and the car for $29,995 and payments of $620.00.

I knew I got a good deal when a few weeks later I got a call back saying that they mis-quoted what they could do on a loan. I told them that was the deal and if they can't meet it I will just roll-back the car (return it to the dealer). After they found out I wouldn't budge and give them more money, it suddenly went through.

I also did a lot of other tricks, like getting them to replace the tires, buy floormats, key chain, adjust the top for a rattle, replace the motor mounts (due to the common problems), etc. etc.

Its tough to sell cars out there now, so they are willing to put up with a PITA like me. The cards are in my favor, I have money, prefect credit, great job, home owner (not upside down), etc, and I don't need the car (I own 6 others).

I still know I paid more for buying it at the dealer, but it was a Certified Pre-Owned and in really nice shape.

I am excited to try the new dealer. It is a lot closer to me.

I am still waiting on my Argos unit, once it arrives I will let you know what I think. You are welcome to come try it out.

-Chris

jazzphile

Delorean00,

I appreciate your offer. I'd like to do that. However, if I recall correctly, your SL is a 2003. Mine is a 2005. That means yours is a D2B network, and I have the more modern MOST network running the audio system.

If so, that means I'd need to buy the Argos for MOST. Different animal completely. Another option for me would be the InCarTronic system that some have discussed here for Bluetooth and Ipod integration.

I just don't drive the car enough to justify spending a grand on that. It's a car I drive for enjoyment, not as a daily commuter. If I drove it daily I might make the plunge.

In any event, I'm still very interested in hearing about your installation.

Regards,
Dan K.

HSESL500MB

Jazzphile:
Just curious why the dealer would replace a battery under warranty absent some other issue which would have drained the battery down (e.g., electrical short)? I would have thought that a battery falls under "normal wear and tear" and, thus, not eligible for replacement under the factory (or extended) warranty.
Anyway, kudos.

DeLorean00

Ahh, you are correct. However I will keep you posted on the outcome.

-Chris

jazzphile

HSESL500MB,

The answer is simple: The battery is covered under the original 4yr/50k factory warranty. No proration. They simply replaced it at no expense to me.

Regards,
Jazzphile

bw53

yep, I live in Austin, TX, SL500 2005, and just had my battery replaced under warranty...drive it almost everyday...$350...OMG...had another MB and that was on $110, even though it was a E series. Oh well, cant wait till I need tires...heard that was $450 a pop per. I have only 18,000 miles so I hope I get another 8K of tread...