Jack Estes

I rarely take to the Internet to express negative experiences but this one bears telling. I purchased a CPO 2013 SL550 from Open Road of Bridgewater (New Jersey) and took delivery on March 22nd 2016. My salesman was Jarred Manzone.

Because I bought the car out-of-state, I conducted the negotiation for the purchase via telephone and email, ultimately agreeing on a price and I took care of financing myself through USAA's car buying service. They were paid for the car, extended warranty, taxes, and state fees almost 7 days before I picked it up.

I flew up to Newark from Indiana the morning of March 23nd, and was picked up from the airport by Jarred, who took me back to the dealership to begin delivery (the gesture was much appreciated)

The process took all afternoon during which the finance representative, Nick Powell, attempted to upsell me various third party warranties and services (I had ALREADY purchased the maximum duration CPO extended warranty through Mercedes Benz and given the dealership my money for it). Throughout the course of the delivery experience, I had to remind Jarred several times about items the car should have been delivered with (keyless GO adapter, owners manual, floor mats, SiriusXM and Mbrace activations etc). In the interest of fairness, I would like to mention that Jarred was attentive and professional throughout the sales process. Because I was out-of-state, I pestered him with questions remotely for a couple of weeks and he was always polite and helpful.

Ultimately, after spending the entire afternoon in the dealership, I was forced to accept the car without working Sirius and no MBrace. Instead of activating these services for me ahead of time, as the local Indianapolis MB dealer does, they left this until the last minute and discovered the car would require at least another hour in the dealership's service department. It was already the end of the day and I was on a tight schedule to get the car back to Indiana. These two items had to be repaired and activated by another dealer in Indianapolis after I got home with the car. This left me without the use of the car for two days. Additionally, the dealership replaced the MB floormats with rubber Weathertech mats and neglected to tell me that until I was already in the car. Who does that? Do you think I'm going to be driving this car in the snow? They offered to order me a set of MB mats, but I would have to drive the car back to Indiana with nothing on the floorboards until they came in and pay for shipping to me (ugh, a bird in the hand, I took the weathertechs so at least the carpet didn't get stained)

Here's where the real problem begins; the rest are just nuisances. Because Open Road took responsibility for registering my car with the state of Indiana, I took possession of the car with a 20 day New Jersey "Drive Away" tag that expired on April 10th, 2016. As that date approached and I still was without Indiana plates for the car, I contacted the dealership and was given the run around for over a day until my salesman texted to inform me that they were missing a document (VIN Clearance from Indiana State Police proving the car wasn't stolen). This I had already provided and have a return receipt for it signed by an "R. Cofield" at the dealership, well in advance of the temp tag expiration. I did get another original of this document signed by a Hendricks County (Indiana) deputy sheriff and overnighted it to the dealership via FedEx, who confirmed delivery. To be fair, the dealership gave me their FedEx account number with which to send the document.

On April 11th, I lost the use of my car because it would be illegal to drive it on the expired temp tag and Open Road has still failed to register it. I have made numerous calls to the dealership that go unreturned, including to the General Manager, Michael Tedesco, who has been completely unresponsive. The last communication I've received was a text message from Jarred Manzone on April 15th, telling me that the process was in the hands "of the Service".

It is now April 27th, 2016 and the Indiana BMV has no record of any attempt by the dealership to register my car and I cannot drive it. They have had my money with which to pay the sales tax and registration / license plate fees since before I took delivery of the car.

I did elevate my complaint to MBUSA, and while they were attentive to my problem, they were unable to offer any assistance other than contacting the dealership on my behalf. The MBUSA representative, Royce, spoke with the pre-owned sales manager, Issac Morgan, who promised to contact me, but absolutely did not.

With no other options apparent to me, I've been left to retain a lawyer to sue the dealership so that I can regain the use of my new car. He even emailed the GM of the dealership, Michael Tedesco, a couple days ago, and got a read receipt for it, but no response.

I've been driving Mercedes Benz cars exclusively since a w126 560SEL saved my life in 1993 and have since owned 9 of them. My w140 S500 has over 325,000 miles on it. My r129 SL500 has almost 200,000 miles. I have no issue with the brand; Mercedes Benz makes world class automobiles. This dealer, however, has proven unworthy to represent the brand. I would not recommend this dealership to an enemy, much less a friend or colleague.

I'm happy to provide further details to anyone considering buying from this dealership, including the VIN of my car to prove I'm not in cahoots with a competing dealer.

Jack

Steinhart

wow, that is just unacceptable, I'm sorry to hear this, I would go after them as well, glad you posted this for others to be aware and avoid, keep us posted and good luck

Mike P

Dealers have a well deserved reputation that they consistently reaffirm.
I took delivery of a 2015 SL65 about 2 years ago from Keenan-Philadelphia area ( graduation gift for my older son). The car was delivered on a trailer. Shortly after the delivery truck left I noticed an indentation in the middle of the rear bumper.......the distinct shape of a MB star. In all likelihood the car was hit by a car with a decorative front plate with the aforesaid star.

The dealer initially tried to blame me for the damage!!!!! I don't have a car with a decorative plate. I sent a photo of some other SLs to my sales rep months before.......none of them had decorative plates. The sent photo was my proof.

I previously purchased a 2011 SL65 from the same dealership which made zero difference. I had to argue with them to cover the damage........(I'm sure they lied and submitted a warranty claim to cover the repair.) The sales rep gave me lip service and the GM is a pathologic liar. I resorted to calling MBUSA and Keenan finally gave in. I wasn't happy about repainting a brand new bumper fascia but I insisted they provide a carefully lifetime warranty on the repair.

Keenan was a major disappointment to say the least. Is there such a thing as a "good" dealer????? I'm buying another SL (as a graduation gift in about 2+ years)........any suggestions in the Boston area??

nycphotography

Dunno about a good dealer, but do you happen to be looking to adopt another son?

Mike P

NYCphotyography:

Pretty funny!!! I try to limit AMG gifts to those with verifiable DNA linkage.

What's a '15 T&C???? Is that like T&A???

FYI: I drive a 67hp 240D as my daily driver.......both boys used it as their first car. If either got a speeding ticket I was going to get the ticket framed

nycphotography

A T&C is exactly T&A... when parked in a dark place with the seats down.

Oh, the stories I could tell about the Ford this one replaced. And this one came with purple lounge lights in the back. lol

Parents don't send your little girl out, husbands don't send your wife out, in your 8 seat family minivan thinking you're keeping her out of trouble.

LJ12530

I purchased a 2014 SL 550 from a dealer I will not name. I was in the dealership 3 days ( I bought it from a dealer about 250 miles from home ). The CPO checklist was signed off by a "suit", then another "suit" told me that the checklist hadn't been run. was CPOd, no it wasn't, then it was, then the tires they put on were not RFTs so they removed the ones they had just installed and installed new Continental RFTs. Then there is the on-going issue of the driver side seat massager replacement. The seat was pristine before they removed and replaced the massage mechanism. Now look at it. Not the damage, the wrinkled leather, the general lack of workmanship. I was a bit concerned when I saw the tech with the seat completely out of the car and being repaired on his metal tool cart....

The first pic is of the passenger seat. The pics were taken looking down the side of the seat to show the bolster fit.

So much for that good feeling when you purchase and drive a $60K new ( new to me ) car.

jeez.......

Wolfman

Have them order & pay for a new seat cover. I had both the massager and the dynamic bolster replaced over time and the seat look the same before/after.

Photographic proof is great as long as there isn't six months between the pics you posted.

LJ12530

I'm in contact with them. I am hearing that they will have a leather guy "repair" it. No mention of the poor fit and finish yet.

It bothers me to the point that I have told them I want a new leather back installed period. I have even suggested that I will pick up part of the tab if they feel replacement is not warranted. The started with the ..... well it is a used car....but it was pristine before.

It's a shame that they charged MB for a warranty repair and then damaged the seat and did an amateurish job on putting the seat back together.

In the event they don't feel an obligation to pay the entire cost I will still get the job done, but I will make certain that MB and others know about it.

Sad thing is that the trade process was going so nicely until they realized that the car had not completed a CPO inspection/repair even though they gave me a signed checklist saying it had been. They made that right.......but the seat damage...............we'll see. I will have a new leather back on there!!

Wolfman

You seem to be too accommodating. If they damage the seat, they have to replace it. No need to chip in.
Never have a guy repair the leather either. It will never look right, especially with light leather.

Have them make it right.

LJ12530

I concur about what they should do. Just rcvd a quote from a local dealer for an installed upper seat nappa leather cover. Over $2K. If they don'the do what'she right would you suggest I take them to court?
They have not responded to my request yet so we shall see.....are you a lawyer : - )

LJ12530

One reason I'm not yelling and screaming yet is this. It is a 500+ mile round trip to the dealer, and I would have to pay for a hotel overnight. So I'm going to spend several hundred as a minimum. I figure if I can get the cover from them it would cost me about the same to have it installed at a local dealer. If they screwed it up I'd be able to deal with them personally.

retguy

Hope you submitted a complaint to the Better Business Bureau and to the NJ department of consumer affairs (each state has one but the names may differ).

LJ12530

I now have nice things to say about Mercedes Benz of Miami (FL). The service manager called and told me they had a great leather repair guy and would have it fixed. I told them that was unacceptable and I wanted a new nappa leather cover. Svc Mgr said he would go back to mgt and tell them what I was insisting on. 30 minutes I get a phone call that a new seat back leather piece has been ordered and will be in next week.

It took a bit of effort, but they are making things right.

Kriston

Yes you have to replace the entire door panel. It's a tough fix if it's the plastic arm that holds the handle cord. Since it's under some tension when you pull the handle it breaks if you try to glue them back on.

I know how you feel, hate having to roll the windows down to open the door. 😂

Wolfman

Great news. Glad it is working out for you!