Have a 2005 SLK with 1100 miles, a total lemon. Was at the dealer 17 days for repair & was called it is ready. Got there still NG with more problems. Been there 5 more days checked 2 hours ago still not fixed, got call an hour later is fixed. Got MB-USA involved as I wanted them to buy it back for another SLK as this is my 4th & last MB. They got the regional rep Larry Stains involved, he reminds me of those dolls you pull the string & it repeats a sentence as he kept saying MB will honor the warrany as prescribed no matter what I said. Call NJ Mr. Halata's office the CEO & they said Stains is the final say they have full confidence in him & no one can override him. I will never buy another MB as this is a lemon & Stains is a bigger lemon. The more the dealer does the more damage & problems occur. MB is not what it used to be. Stains is a total fool. I hope he reads this.

 

sorry to hear that, well MB of Austin is very good, My C230 was having a lot of problems, after 11 months they did a buy back and put me in a CLK320 at a good price, great people to work with. I did not even call the local rep, I just went to the dealership and talked to the manager, he then handled the rest of it.

 

The dealership was useless, the sales manager was willing to work with me but it was up to the service manager who said no. In case anyone was wondering the dealership is Mercedes Benz of Sarasota. They contacted the regional rep, Larry Stains who was a complete obnoxious higher then mighty person, thought I was talking to a tape recorder in that he kept repeating the same warranty statement over & over. I called MB USA & they said he is the only authority & there is no one at MB USA over him. They said they back him fully. It seems they both read from a cue card. I hope no one else goes through this & has to deal with a person like Stains. I can only hope in his life he has a crisis & has to deal with a person just like him. After 4 Mercedes Benz this is my last, don't want to have to deal with MB USA or Stains.

 

Doesn't Florida have a lemon law? If you qualify under the law who cares what some regional rep says. If you don't qualify or Florida does not have a lemon law then either move to another state or get your representatives in Tallahasee to do their job in enacting one.

 

Florida has the lemon law & just applied today sent MB-USA a registered letter & the state another letter. They had the car 22 days & said it is now fixed. Will pick it up Monday & check it out but it is a lemon & either way if they won't take it back I will sell it. Don't want to deal with MB-USA if they have a rep with so much power as Larry Stains, I am so upset about this I only wish him the worst, he deserves it.

 

Steve, is your problem mainly to do with the rattles in the trunk or do you have any new problems?

 

A few other problems, everytime they fix something another thing is damaged. They messed up the trunk cover where not only now does the roof work sometimes & the cover does not feel right. There was nothing wrong till they worked on it. When you bought an MB previously you bought quality & good customer service. But customer service & dealer service is worse then an ecomony car MB used to treat customers as special. Especially when I have to deal with a jerk who is the regional rep Larry Stains. MB-USA says that there is no one at HQ's that I can speak to above this moron. Just the tone of his condolescing voice turns me off. Talks like a teacher scolding a student. I will never buy another MB because of this Stains. I hope he is in tune with this forum but I would guess not because he is in his own world that MB created for him. He is an out & out sarcastic piece of garbage. You can have the best product but if the people around it & supporting it are like him it tarnishes the image. So anyone in Florida I hope you do not have any major problems with your car where you need the regional rep Stains because he is a you know what. Some dealers handle it on there own to provide customer service that MB owners have known in the past but MB of Sarasota depends on the likes of Stains, that is the only knock on them otherwise they are great. So if you are in the market for an MB here in Florida just avoid the two items mentioned, because if you need help with a lemon you won't get satisfaction form that dealer or you definitely will get aggravation from Stains, the name fits him to a tee. If yours is not a lemon they are great to work with. I just want to add this about the dealer, they have tried fixing the car & have not given up. They are trying there best to make this car workable. They have not turned me away & are trying. I do want to give credit where credit is due. For service they really do try, they do go out of the way for repairs. So I want to say that, I cannot fault them on that issue. On any of the 4 MB's I have had they do try hard in that respect. So if yours need service & is not a lemon they are great to deal with. I am not going to badmouth them on service as they are as good as any if not a lot better, but if you need them to go to bat for you in trying to exchange the car when it is a lemon forget it. Again Stains gives a stain to the reputation of MB>

 

It's bad enough MB is 34th out of 37th in quality but you'd think they really try to make the service stuff THE most pleasurable thing to help offset the poor quality...fools.

 

.....decide to skip the SLK altogether? I really like the car! I test drove the SLK 350 and was planning to order the 55 AMG undriven. But, fortunately, I came to my senses in time to avoid an emotion driven, impulse purchase. I started researching the car with Consumer Reports which didn't have anything specific about the SLK 350 or AMG but did open my eyes about M-B quality issues in general. Then, on to the JD Powers reports for more bad news. Then, I found these forums which have really scared me.

You are absolutely right about arrogance coming from a regional rep or anyone in the service end of an automobile manufacturer which is struggling to recover from a serious image problem. As a professional myself, nothing POs me more than being treated disrepectfully by someone who should be bending over backwards, yes, even sucking up to me, to take care of my warrantee issue.

 

Is it a good analogy that Chrysler may have "ruined" MB quality and service when it started to influence MB, kinda like KMart has ruined Sears? (Just pondering out loud).

 

It is really a good thig you had a good dealer to work with. Here in Florida most are of the opposite where they call the regional rep Larry Stains who is a total fool. He is the opposite of what Mercedes Benz used to be.

 

Hard to say what the real issue is. I rented a Dodge Grand Caravan 2 years ago and drove it a lot while on vacation and was so impressed I bought one. Excellent unit. I then sold it back in October and bought the Dodge Magnum RT. It has been a tight, super performing wagon with no issues other than the side moldings were installed a little wonky, fixed promptly at dealer. Being a member of the Magnum forum I hear some problems and some lemons, and some members who have the "drive it like you stole it" mentality, but by far a very satisfied bunch of Magnum enthusiasts who have no regrets at all and would rather give up their wives than their Mags..(well maybe that is not much of a testamonial..).A very active, vigorous, enthusiastic forum too. I hope Chrysler has not been detrimental to Benz but when dealing with big corporate mentalities God only knows what can happen. Personally, When I get the SLK 350 Parked next to the Magnum in the garage I will be one happy, satisfied car enthusiast. However the wife will be driving the Magnum..Yes I get to keep the Magnum and the wife. Maybe cruising in the MB I can pick me up a little Hottie and then go and OUCH!!! $%#& it dear! what are you doing looking over my shoulder!?!? Just kidding sweetie...I didn't really mean it....