absent

My '06 SL65 just went into "status 8" ,meaning there is no warranty on the car at all.
MBUSA put that in force since the car has Kleemann ECU and they just found out...

v8plus4

How did they find out?

absent

Car has serious handling problem (getting very unstable at speed),I complained,they investigated service records (dealer installed Kleemann mods) and pulled the warranty.

DFW01E55

I believe that they can only deny repairs that are directly related to the after market mod.
There's a law ... Magnuson Moss.

absent

"Status 8" means that each and every time the car is in repair for anything,it would be my responsibility to prove that repair is not related to modification.
Dealer will not accept the car for any warranty work until MBUSA reviews and approves the request.
The handling problem is still unresolved and in my opinion MBUSA is looking for a Red Herring to avoid Lemon Law.
I don't have the time nor desire to fight them ,so I will just keep it through the remainder of the lease (just 11 months).

amdeutsch

I'm here. Above you state the dealer installed the mods. What does Kleemann have to say about this? How will "status 8" affect your lease return? There are probably more questions from others.

I think that there will be more than meets the eye on this.

Murtaza

Sorry to hear you have to go through this bull**** with an SL65 of all cars. MB should be ashamed

Tyler Durden

That's insane, is the dealer that installed the Kleeman mods the same one that it's at now for service? I think that if it was, you'd have at least some leverage with them...

The lease issue brings up a good point too, both about it's return and whether or not you'd consider MB again.

Insofar as the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act is concerned, very long story short, the MMWA doesn't protect your right to mod your car, it protects your rights to use aftermarket parts that are OEM replacements, like oil filters, wiper blades, etc. It prevents the manufacturers from creating a monopoly by forcing you to buy their parts. Anything that results in other than OEM performance, (chip, tunes, etc.) and you're SOL, but if they deny the claim they must tie the part to that failure. I.E., the Kleeman mods didn't make your power seat stop working.

Best of luck getting this all squared away.

absent

I am also curious about the lease return,will see what surprise MB might spring on me.
Dealer installed mods are not "approved" or condoned (as far as I know) by MBUSA and are a very iffy and difficult to resolve in case of trouble.
Kleemann here,as I know,will guarantee their parts only and just for one year.
I am not going to completely roll over ,will demand MB to warranty anything not related directly to modification.

Fast55

Hate to be the barer of bad news, but I believe you bought it. Status 8 follows the car permanently. I seriously doubt they will accept the car on return, or they will bend you over for Big $$$ at the very least. Had this happen on my blown E430. It was returned to stock and running perfectly before it was traded in on my '02 E55. Fortunately for me, it happened after the car became the property of the dealer. It was their fault anyway. They noted the blower on a warranty repair work order for a failed fuel tank level sensor! Idiots. Hopefully the dealer who did the work was the one that told MBUSA it was modded. At least then, you can put the screws to them unless you signed something that told you the warranty would be voided. Good luck.

IngenereAMG

Sounds like a nightmare.

I am surprised that the MB dealer installed the Kleeman products. Generally, manufacturers frown upon dealers modding their car to the point that they will threaten to pull the franchise.

Best of luck.......

jbondox

Sounds like there is some story missing

for one an ECU upgrade isn't going to kill the warranty, and you stated a dealer installed it? a MB dealer or Kleeman? because the 2 are different.

absent

MB dealer who is a rep for both Kleemann and Renntech.
The warranty is not "killed" entirely, just made it much more complicated to get any claims through,with some (if in any ,even most remotely way connected with the ECU ,power increase ,etc)impossible to be covered.
With the "status 8" being "on record",there is still a question of resale value and my potential liability at lease return time.(a possible way for MBUSA to extort more $$ from me?)

ItalianStallion

I also have "Status 8." It happened because even though I tipped off the S/A and told him not to let anyone look under my hood, of course someone did and found nitrous lines running into the throttle body. They also were pissed about my subwoofer and all the random mods I had. Now, when I bring my car in for warranty work (I'm afraid to even bring it around MB so I just go to a different dealer) I have to always tip the s/a.

Just like you absent, my car is leased and will be going back sometime in the Spring. I have no idea what to expect. The warranty will be expired by that time anyway, so I guess it won't really matter though. But if MB tries to pull anything, they'll never get mine or my family's business again so I don't think they'll make an issue out of it.

NOTA4RE

Yeah I bet MB will try and nail you big time when you return the car. This is why I never mod cars, it is way to risky. The SL65 is pretty damn fast right out of the box anyways.

absent

Sorry to hear about your similar situation,however NOS is way more radical and dangerous mod then the ECU (which probably half or more of all AMGs have).
I am curious myself to see how this will be eventually resolved by MB ,since I did buy a lot of cars from them(all new):
'01 CLK55
'01 CL55
'02 C32
'03 E55
'03 CL600
'04 S600
'05 G55
'06 ML500
'06 SL65

JR.

sorry to hear about your problems..

in May of 2006, the S/A at Knauz told me that they would stand behind ANY applicable warranty problems related to Kleeman products that they install. (almost like Knauz as a secondary warranty)

in light of the fact that you are a good customer, it will be VERY interesting to see if they do in fact take care of you meaning Knauz or whoever your dealer is, eats the cost of any repair work that MB doesn't cover.

i myself, would plead directly to the head of MB North America. I have contacted him in the past and this has resulted in my satisfaction.

please keep us updated ..

jbondox

Hmmm,

Here is what i don't understand, why would the dealer sell it to you then turn around and screw you? I would be highly motivated to return with a lawyer, and proceed to have them reverse their decision, make them pay for the kleeman tune, and everything else including your lawyers fee.

Now i have heard everything under the sun, I have heard that dealers warned the car owner before hand also... but if they did the tune, they should be responsible

me i am all about knee cap'n a fool so i am glad I do not have your issues. I once worked for a dealer in Ohio, and they will look at the mod, decide if it would harm the vehicle and if you had their approval, then they would stand by it as long as you owned the vehicle. Sure if you came up to them and told them you want to cut the wells out to install 28" rims on your R class they would say no warranty. I believe the only iffy one that they were trying to determine when I was there was if they should or shouldn't do the kleeman supercharger on a S550 because of the wall thickness... I think how that ended was a trio of techs researched it, and voted on it... they have great techs there, and they are all about horsepower so when you say you want to swap out the turbos for something bigger... they will hump your leg just for saying it... sure you will pay top dollar also, but they stand by their work and you when/if the poop hits the fan. take it to another Benz dealer and you are on your own...

absent

I'm screwed by MBUSA not the dealer who does not have any control over warranty status.

NOTA4RE

So you are saying that MBUSA came to the dealership and blew you in to themselves about the mods???

If I am reading this correctly, the dealer installed the ECU then blew you into MBUSA and it that is in fact what happened I would NEVER buy a car from them again.

jbondox

screw buying from them, they can buy the one you have back

absent

MBUSA was investigating why the car spent over 100 days in service in just one year without the suspension being fixed properly.
While checking all the records they discovered installation of Kleemann mods and pulled the plug.
Seems like a convenient way to wash their hands of the problem that is still not taken care off(car unstable while hard accelerating on less then smooth surface,feels like 60's muscle car with bad shocks).

NOTA4RE

That is complete BS on their part. I would be so pissed if I were you.

absent

You have no idea.....

eugeneC55

Sorry to hear about your trouble...I'm sure you'll find the way out
How's 599? I still remember the sound when you floored it on Green Bay