Hi all,

so yesterday I am driving my 2017 SL450 with 17,000 miles on it and my dash lights up like a Christmas tree, every message it has in yellow and red, making all bings and every idiot light is on. My tach, Speedo, gas & temp gauges dead. No power steering, transmission not shifting except for with paddles. I had to hold the start button 8 seconds to shut engine. No park or brake.
This happens 2 Miles from my local Me/Be dealership.
I have an extended warranty but only good if it is repaired by a dealership.
It turns out that because of humidity in my left headlamp housing, it caused a short in 3 control boxes linked to this headlamp causing all of these issues. Due to it being from humidity, the extended warranty is void and I have to pay 4,000.00 out of pocket to repair this. I am pissed off that Mercedes builds a car that wouldn't avoid a situation like this. Or is this a BS story from dealer. I never heard of such a thing. My last car something like this happened to, it was the computer. They offered me a 10% discount on job. No parts available but on the way except for headlamp housing. I had no choice but to say do it.
Anyone here share a similar situation?

 

The dealer is bull****ting you. This is covered by your warranty, since the headlight assembly was not properly sealed against humidity.

 

Was the vehicle ever damaged such that the headlight assembly could have been cracked to let in moisture and/or precipitation? If not, seems this should damn well be covered by your warranty. Find another dealer or immediately call MBUSA.

 

So the car is out of factory warranty? This is CPO warranty? You can make a case for a faulty headlight as mentioned. Have them show the warranty exclusion in writing. In the rare case that repair is in fact out of warranty for any reason, you can request the service manager to contact MBUSA and have them cover the parts as a courtesy replacement (MB usually does that for cars less than 7 years of age with less than 70k miles on it - after all, a MB and its components should not fail like that). You would still pay for labor but a majority here will be parts.

Good luck!

 

never hit

 

[QUOTE=rmorin49;8379213]Was the vehicle ever damaged such that the headlight assembly could have been cracked to let in moisture and/or precipitation? If not, seems this should damn well be covered by your warranty. Find another dealer or immediately call MBUSA.[/QUOT

question is, can headlamp condensation blow out my 2017 SL450 complete dash electronics?
I never heard of this

 

I asked this, let me ask you.
i have worked on many cars and have never heard of condensation inside a headlamp housing blowing up all of my dashes electronics.
Is this dealer scamming me or is it possible?

 

Sounds crazy that this would not be covered

BUT

My investigation Re extended warranties showed BIG differences in coverage CPO vs Factory and reason I decided to go with the Factory extended version.

The Factory Extended Warranty in fact covers ALL same as the Original but, CPO does not.

I had Cassandra and Jeff send me copies of both and it is clear that the CPO does not cover all but, Factory does cover same as the Original.

 

I called MBUSA and they said that someone would be calling me back within 24 hrs about issue.
The warantee after market guy at the Benz dealer said that factory after market insurance is only available to original owner. I had to get a second party.
i just don’t agree with the diagnosis that they came up with

 

I have a problem with corrosion on my 5 spoke 19” alloys (painted). 3 wheels showing corrosion around the hub. The rest of the wheel is pristine - so not wear and tear. MB offered me a 50% discount to replace 3 wheels. 17,000 miles & 1 year out of warranty and the car is stored in my garage. Going around to my local MB independent and refurbishers, they all say that this is a common problem with MB alloys. Not acceptable.

I’ve now raised a case with the ombudsman that deals with issues like this.

 

Unfortunately problems like this are rarely covered after about 12 months. Manufacturers usually claim that this is "normal wear and tear". A competent wheel repair shop should be able to refinish each wheel for under $200 if the corrosion is not too bad. I have heard about corrosion on high end aftermarket wheels as well. The chemicals used on the roads in areas with ice and snow really do a number on wheels. I wish you good luck in getting this resolved.

 

Yep on 3 out of 4 wheel and the rest of the non corroding bits are like new. Struggling to see how tehy say it is wear and tear on such a low use car. I doubt I’ll win but have to try. The ombudsmen here are pretty good watchdogs protecting the consumer. If they say I have no case, I’ll accept their decision.