W211 BEAST

My Chrysler Service Contract is kind of ****ing me.

I dropped my car off at Downtown L.A MB 3 weeks ago for several problems, one of them was smoke under the hood (one time). Either way, I wasn't down to drive it like that. So I dropped the car off and I have a $100 deductible. I get a loaner and I'm on my way. It takes the dealership 3 WEEKS to finish my car. I went to pick it up yesterday and my SA was like
"Chrysler will only cover $175 of your loaner cost, and we're willing to match them. The rest is up to you". I called Chrysler and they won't budge, they say that the contract states that they wil only pay for $175 worth of loaner fees each time I drop the car off. They never told me that when I was buing the contract, they just said thay cover me for $35 a day, but whatever. My SA is currently trying to find out if he can get the dealership to pay for more. This is where it gets interesting though, Chrysler said that the dealership only logged 11 hours of work though in total. Then why keep it for 3 weeks?

Is there anything I can do or am I just gonna have to (somehow) bite the bullet.

MB_Forever

Sometimes the dealer has to wait 2 to 3 days for parts and then after they install them, they find something else wrong that needs to be replaced, so they wait another 2 to 3 days for the parts and so forth. This may explain the 3 week delay (just a guess).

If the difference in amount is not too big, then I would just pay it and remain on good terms with the dealer. If it is not, then escalate the situation to the manager.

mekantor

Repair downtime is the biggest reason I keep 2 cars.

W211 BEAST

The total cost for the loaner is about $650. Between Chrysler and the dealership they're willing to cover $350 of it.

And the last thing I want to do is get on bad terms with them, my SA has been nothing but good to me since I started taking my car there. But I really can't afford the $300 right now. If I talk to the manager can I just be like "I bring my car here all the time and I've been loyal to you, can you help me out on this one?"

MB_Forever

The matter doesn't always have to turn ugly..... you could always approach the service manager in a good calm manner and explain the situation. Tell him the car only had 10 to 11 hours of work yet stayed for 3 weeks which ran up the bill for the loaner. If he starts giving you trouble or you feel that they may create a problem, then just pay it and save yourself a lot of problems in the future.

W211 BEAST

^Sounds good, but I'd really like to not have to pay $300 for a loaner, especially since I'm paying like $140 for hoses and stuff. And the total bill was for about $4300, what's another $300 to them when I keep giving them business like this? Which I constantly do.

Does anyone know or have past experience with the Sevice Manager at DTLA MB?

Jud Chapin

Threaten to take your business elsewhere. I not sure how it is in LA but here in the Palm Beach area of S. FL, there are about 6 MB stealers within a hour of my home. BTW, they have always provided me a free loaner (fuel only charge) when I've taken my car in, and that includes MB Starmark warranty work. They didn't use to do that. They only provided a car when it was the original MB warranty. I think its because there is so much competition. However, my aftermarket MB warranty is now up so I don't know if they'll provide a car or not, but I would guess they would.
Anyway, give 'em hell and good luck.

c32AMG-DTM

Don't take this the wrong way - but, from the above, it seems like you're taking more of a "glass is 10% empty" instead of a "glass is 90% full" mentality on this one.

Regardless, I agree w/ others that how you handle it is completely up to you; I'm a strong believer that it never hurts to ask, as long as you take the right approach (friendly, optimistic, state your case, remind them how much you enjoy their dealership and svc. dept., if they say no, remain gracious, etc.). Best of luck.

AreL11

$300 now could save you five times that in the future... Just my two cents.

Hotrod-Realtor

You probably saved $300 in wear and tear on the Merc in tires alone.

W211 BEAST

I would never actually walk in there and be hostile. My SA has always been nothing but nice to me. I went over there and he set it up so 12 days of the rental would be paid for. I still have to pay about $580. It was a lot more than I thought.

He also put a lot of the new stuff that I had to pay for under Chrysler's tab. I'm not too sad about the situation, I just needed to pay more attention to what was going on.

The way I drove that Jeep for the past 3 weeks I probably saved thousands not doing it to my own car. lol