Gunite

Just came from the dealer today and I'm a little confused by the service managers answers. I had fifty miles on the car when I saw a srs malfunction message in the display, ok no big deal I'm sure the dealer can fix it. I also checked the oil and it said It was 1qt low. I proceeded to check it numerous times with the same result. The service manager just told me not to loose any sleep over it and that the electronic oil checker was not that accurate anyway. He said even if the oil was a touch low it would still read one qt low and that the only time to worry is if the oil warning light comes on. He then proceeded to say that these cars never burn oil. So is there any truth to what he told me. And if there is how do we accurately check our oil if the electronic oil display is not accurate.

Another question I asked him was why the car had 20 miles on it when I picked it up brand new. I'm thinking about 6 would be normal and this is what he said it came in with when it arrived, but then they have to test it for about 7 or 8. He nervously recalculated his math and then said sometimes about 14 miles. Again I ask is there any truth to this statement.

Ok so know I jump in the car ready to drive off and it has 4 more miles on the odometer from the time it arrived at the dealer. I get out to ask him why and he says because they had to take it around the block once to warm up the engine to get an accurate oil reading. He says the loop around is about 2miles. Then he says they probably went around twice. As I'm driving home I look at the Nav history and there is a new location mapped out to a nearby Restaurant about 2 miles away. What gives here guys. Am I just being paranoid about someone at the dealer joy riding my $90000+ car or is there something fishy here. By the way when I first took delivery of the car there was route mapped out in the Nav history to a super market.

Anyone have any explanations concerning the above.
Thanks again

Lady Wolf

I personally think they joy ride the cars but you'll never prove it. We took our new SLK55 into Auto Steigler here in Encino, California for a check engine light. They drove the car 17 miles and took it out of C mode and put it into S even though it was still in it's 1000 mile break in period. When asked why all the miles they ignored me until I got MBUSA involved and then gave a story about having to drive the car 5 miles to make sure the reading was right when they checked the computer to see why the light was on then another 5 miles after they fixed the problem to make sure it stayed off and then ANOTHER 5 miles to again check it on the computer. I think it's bull but how can you prove it?
Kim

BoBcanada

Well i test drove one of the first E55 when it arrived, brand new!, just coz i wanted and because i knew the salseman, and i gave it a hard time too for a few kilometers, so Yea they might give it to someone to jayride, My car had somthing like 30 kms when delivered, salseman said that its because of all the testing and driving around the port or whatever i just dont buy that bs! But so far it's all good!

Ray J

Not sure about the oil level, but I had the same happen to my car and the dealer added a quart of oil.

As far as mileage racked up on service calls, i guess the only way to track it is to install a Lo Jack on the car, and tell the dealership that if it goes more than 5 miles away from the dealership the police will automatically be notified that the car has been stolen.
Doubt they'll buy it but theres not much else you can do. Annoying I know, but MB is not known for its service, even in Europe. This type of stuff never happened with my 911.

CynCarvin32

fix my car but dont drive it....


wash my car but dont get it wet....

Evolution Marine

Never wait till the low oil level light starts to flash to put oil in the motor. The low oil level light is most likely operated off of an oil pressure-sending unit; so the flashing light is indicating low oil pressure which causes premature wear on the bearing surfaces in the motor. The only time a flashing low oil level light might not be damaging to the motor would be in a dry-sump oil system where the oil level in the remote oil tank is what is being measured and not the oil pressure in the motor.
I would keep the oil level with-in 3/4 to full between the low and high marks on the Dip Stick. - Bob

CynCarvin32

Bob

the new MB's do not have dipsticks. The car's computer reads oil level and then tells you to add or subtract oil from the motor via the information display inside the speedo. The system does not function via oil pressure either. Not sure I like this system but this is hot it works on the newer motors.

I have had many oil level sensors break and then the car tells me there is too much oil in the motor and that I must let some out as soon as possible. More things to go wrong I think.

cte430

What dealer? PM if you don't want to post.

corgiman

The dealers definitely take the cars out for joyrides. I complained after they put 10 miles on the car which was in the shop for an electrical problem - no road test required!

RJC

My 04 500 came with 14 miles, my 03 500 has the same, my 01 430 had 53 miles and I was not a happy camper with 53 miles, the dealer tried to give lame excuses about the mileage but I'm pretty sure it was tested by prospective buyers(like we've all done). I will not buy another car with more than delivery miles especially a high performance car where they take test drives with the engine still cold and still under break-in restrictions and redline them hit the brakes hard etc.

If you're really worried go back to the dealer and with you watching, have them download info from the cars computer and see if its been redlined etc..if so return it and ask for another...

Gunite

Chris,

Same place you bought yours.

Thanks for the response folks. I really feel this joy riding has to stop. I can assure you I will find a way to snag them. I feel really bad for those of you who experienced the same situation. No one should be joy riding your car that you worked hard for all your life to afford. Especially during the critical break in period.

RJC, I may try to read the memory with my car chip when I get back from vacation but I think it only reads real time.

Thanks

cte430

Gunite check your PM

CynCarvin32

guess im odd...

when my car goes in i throw the keys to the service manager and have him drive it 70 miles home for the night. That way I know the car works correctly before I pick it back up. I trust the guy and if they crash it they buy a new car for me. Oh well...

its 10 miles people...is that "joy ride" worth messing with?

Cars have 20k,40k, 100k miles and we are talking about 10 miles...not like we amg owners never drive our cars hard. Its hard to hurt an automatic powered car...it does all the work for you!

Gunite

I'm really not saying our cars should not be test driven for specific problems that arise from time to time. In fact to accurately diagnose a problem without test driving the car is impossible sometimes. What I'm worried about is the unnecessary joy riding. In my case racking up 4 miles is not necessarily a big deal but I would like to think the lower my odometer reads the higher my resale value and the longer my warranty lasts as far as miles are concerned. Another issue is the wasted time and money the dealer incurs for this. The next time you call the dealer and they tell you your car is not ready yet, is it because of all the unnecessary wasted time they spend out on the road with your car joy riding and racking up miles.

I just find it hard to believe they had to drive my car 4 miles to check the oil level and a srs malfunction code( which by the way is the seat belts).

What really still worries me is why my oil was 1qt low. Did someone beat the **** out of the car before I took delivery.

cte430

Joe, get her involved now. It will help in the long run. I did several years ago when I had a problem and she has been a very big help since. She routinely sends me e-mails seeing how things are going. Since it is tough to prove, I would definitely take the "mellow" approach and voice your "concerns" as opposed to accusing them.

RJC

I don't have a problem with the tech driving the car for a reasonable distance to test it out after a repair or to verify a complaint BUT I will no longer stand for test drives by potential customers of the dealership, these drives are most abusive as I mentioned previously with high rpms on cold engines full throttle starts, hard braking etc on new engines and components; everything the owners manual tells you to avoid.

Pbglas

I got the 'add 1 quart' notice after 8K miles.

My dealer said they don't always fill the oil all the way to the top at the vehicle prep center. They added the quart. Has not happenned since.

I also found a number of settings changed when I took hte car in for the recall. I did not keep track of the miles so I dont know if there were joy rides.