Thanks, but at this point I am most annoyed by the lack of communication from this place. They told me on Friday the car was done and needed to sit through the weekend for the seals to "dry". "It will be ready to pick up on Monday", I was told. Monday comes around and now my SA is on vacation and I have to leave messages for the temp SA to call me back. He finally calls me back Tuesday to tell me he will check on it and return my call within an hour. No word back on Tuesday. Called this morning and of course when asked for the sa, I was told he could not be located. Miraculously, when I asked to speak with the service manager they found my "temp SA". He now says they are waiting on parts to arrive!! WTF!!! If the car was ready last week, why are we waiting on parts now! And now, that is the question of the hour as I wait for another call.

Sorry for the long post, but I needed to vent!!

i think i know of the fellow to whom you referred, who manages the SAs.

i believe there's another fellow who's his superior in service.

suggestion: write a very pleasant, succinct e-mail to that superior asking for a complete diagnosis of the problem(s) and the anticipated prognosis, including time to resolution. perhaps remind him that MB pompano is not the former autohaus and that you aware the general manager of the dealership wants very much to lose the reputation of the former. just a bit of timely, forthright communication could go far to that end.

if that doesn't work, i'm fairly sure i could point you to at least a few lawyers who've had poor autohaus experiences and were able to resolve them.

oh, and vent all you wish. i've done my fair share of that and understand quite well. this is board is like group therapy for MB freaks. ;-)

Thanks, but I finally got the car back yesterday. I couldn't get a straight answer out of the SA, but looking at the paperwork it looks like it was repaired twice while it was there. The first time they used the wrong type of glue to seal the oil pan and had to redo it.

i hope it stays fixed.

well, it's a good thing my SA and i have gotten along so famously because the "check engine" cluster notice just lit up tonight.

i sincerely hope this car isn't going to continue to be so problematic. searching the mbusa preowned website, i notice a diamond silver SL65 is available. that'd be the best of both worlds: performance for me, and fashion for the GF. either way, it's job security for the MB techs. ;-)

David,

Sorry to hear about your continuing nagging issues with the SL65. It seems many "first year" cars have those type of issues. The bugs get worked out later. Maybe GF's first choice of silver will eventually work out for you. You might want to go for an 06 model

On another note, I just ordered my 07 55 in designo graphite. Now the hard part will be the 3-6 month wait!

Bob

thanks for the thoughts, but i think i should stick with this one for now because i'll probably get all the bugs exterminated and drive nearly trouble-free into the sunset.

so, the engine was diagnosed with what probably is a computer issue. MB pompano will make an appt as soon as parts are in. for this service, they tempered my expectation of waiting.

about the diamond silver 65, well, who knows...

i'm looking forward to seeing pics of your graphite SL.

have a good afternoon.

Wow, All I have to say BEAUTIFUL CAR, worth the price, and if I could I would trade my 500 + some money and buy that car ASAP. That is a STEAL!

to which car are you referring?

MB manhattan's got that diamond silver SL65 at a reasonable number, but carfax indicated it was an auction car. to me, that's like garlic to a vampire.

i'm still searching for the right diamond silver SL at a reasonable number for the GF. maybe a MY2005 or 2006 500 would be best with the majority of options. a 55 would work as well. nonne of the cars i've seen on mbusa.com have fit the bill.

if any of you come across a starmarked car at an MB dealer, then please let me know. and if you see a diamond silver 550, then please give me a holler. thanks very much.

just thought i'd write to say that days like today make the SL65 a pleasure to drive top-down for a couple of hours along A1A.

so, i'm back at the former autohaus awaiting word on the renewed "check engine" light that popped up on sunday. it goes along with the "rectify tire pressure" light that's been lighting up intermittently.

the ever-pleasant SA here said that "check engine" probably will continue to pop until the underlying problem is resolved. (that's sensible.) and the parts have not yet arrived. the tire pressures looked to be appropriate, but the techs will look into it anyway.

before arriving here, i stopped at mickeyD to indulge my guilty pleasure of a mcmuffin. so far on these boards, i've disclosed my two indulgences -- an occasional mcmuffin and an occasional car.