So, I'm starting a new thread, but will use the post from "Don't Trust it anymore" thread that was started a few weeks ago, that I posted, and then update from there:

I have an 2019 E53 Convertible, with the 20" OEMs. Came with summer tires, and I put 4 Michelin Alpin snows on the car, when I got it, in Dec 2018, and at Thanksgiving again this year. They've gotten me through everything, the 2 winters, thus far. Granted, they've been somewhat light snow seasons, in Westchester County. The complaint is the number of tires (snows and summer tires), that potholes have claimed, including 3 wheels. This last one is definitely the "winner". I couldn't swerve, as there was a car on either side of me, once I hit the pothole, I knew the tire was toast. I drove slowly home, put it in the garage. Waited until the weekend, called my dealer, as the car was due for service, and figured, may as well change out the snows at the same time. I didn't want to drive the car over there, as it would definitely ruin the wheel. They informed me to call MBA Roadside, and they'd flatbed the car to the dealership. I put the summer tires in the car, put the car in the driveway, put a nice tip on the drivers seat. The flatbed arrived quickly. He lined up the car, and proceeded to pull it onto the flatbed, and I could see immediately, that the car was going to scrape. I was standing on the front porch of my home (keeping distance). He stopped, backed the car back down the ramp, the same earsplitting scraping sound on the way down, then pulls out the ramps, he should have to begin with, and loads the car on. I called the service advisor, at the dealership, and asked her to please inspect the bottom of the car when it arrived. She sent me pictures showing fresh scrapping on the bottom. The entire car is wrapped in Expel Ultimate, and ceramic coated. I told her to please handle it, and I was informed that I had to call Roadside, to file the claim. I felt that wrong to begin with, but called, received a claim number, and told that they would expedite things. That was last Saturday. I've since been informed that the tow driver, and tow company, said it never happened. Really, I'm standing right there, They proceed to say, that if it happened, the way I said, why would I tip the driver. This is total bull****!!! Be careful driving in the winter, on anything other then dedicated winter tires, even with 4Matic!! Be careful of authorized Roadside Service providers. I've been assured, that one way or the other, this will be taken care of. There's no rush, as like most of us, I'm getting about 3 weeks, to the gallon, and do have other cars, at my disposal, should I need to go anywhere. I'm glad that the original poster is OK, and that the car has been restored to "as new" condition. I apologize for the thread jack. Be safe everyone!!!

So now fast forward, 3 weeks later, my car still sits at the dealer, and the Roadside service company, that Mercedes contracts with, says it never happened. I've been back and forth with the claims adjuster with a company that Mercedes uses to handle these situations, that is named "Urgent", which it obviously isn't. I finally called "customer service", and got the roundabout there as well. I just want my car back, in the condition it was in, prior to it being mauled by the Mercedes Roadside agent! In desperation, I looked up the CEO of Mercedes USA (Nicholas Speeks), and sent him an email on Wednesday 4/22, at 4:14 PM. The next day, at around noon, I received a call from an individual, who had received instructions from Mr. Speeks, to take care of this, and after 3 weeks of inaction, I finally felt that maybe things were going to be taken care of. He promised to call me the next day, with a time frame, and apologized profusely for how this has been handled. Everything, including the Expel Ultimate, ceramic coating, motorized plate device, and of course the bumper, will be taken care of. A loaner car was dropped off at my home, yesterday, and by Friday next week, I should have the car back. The bad news is that it took this long, to finally get some forward progress, in resolving something, that I never should have had to do, other than make one phone call. The good news, is that the man at the top, listens, reads his emails, and demands action. I never expected to hear directly from him, but hoped to shake the tree. It worked, and for the first time in 3 weeks, I expect to get my car back. Be careful out there, be safe!!!

 

Pretty incredible, I might need that email address in the future!

 

Follow up.................So I get the email, the car is ready, come pick it up. I get to the dealership, the car is parked inside the service area, looking pristine. The 20,000 service was prepaid, and the only charge was for the mounting and balancing of the summer tires They had quoted me a sales price of $99 for that. When they told me that the balance was just under $200, I questioned it, and said realistically, since I had the tire and wheel insurance, while the replacement of the snow tire wasn't covered, the mounting and balancing of the tire should be. The service manager agreed, and adjusted the bill accordingly. All good right? Not so fast. On my way home, I notice a vibration in the wheel, even at 40 MPH you can feel it The car tracks straight, but I had asked them to check the wheel alignment, and since I did hit a pothole, you'd think not only would they do the alignment check, but they should inspect the suspension too. I emailed the service manager, and he apologized, said he had been focused on making sure that the damage the tow company had done, was repaired to his satisfaction, and was unaware that I had asked to have the alignment checked. Somehow I don't think that this rocket science, you hit a pothole, lose a tire, alignment should be checked. I had to go back to the dealership, leave the car again, and now will get it back on Monday. The car was picked up, and damaged by Roadside Service on April 4, I'm hoping to have it back on May 4. It will still have to wait a bit for the paint to cure, before I can bring it to my detailer to have it re-wrapped with the Expel Ultimate, and ceramic coated. At that time, the license plate retractor that I have on the car, will be replaced (at Mercedes expense), as it was destroyed when he initially pulled it on the flatbed, without using the ramps. This has been a nightmare.

 

You may want to have them check the runout of the wheel that hit the pot hole because the vibration is more likely to be caused by a bent wheel than the alignment. I’d definitely have the alignment checked and adjusted too though.

 

the wheel was checked, should be sop to check the alignment, especially if requested!!!! This is unacceptable at a Kia dealership!!!

 

I hit a huge pothole on the freeway in my previous car, the C450, back in April of 2018 and blew out a tire entirely. Had to tow it directly to the dealership as I was 40 miles from the vacation house. Long story short, I told them to check everything in the area and ended up having the tire replaced (rim was bent but not leaking, no worries, so they didn't replace it nor need to) under my Wheel and Tire protection plan. Got my car back, car felt bumpy and something felt off just as you described while I was driving around. Bring it back and find that they told me that they didn't even check suspension or any of that LOL. I ended up having to pay for the suspension fix, I think it was somewhere around $190 or so, as it technically was my fault and isn't covered by Wheel and Tire warranty...

Apparently they have a tendency to just check and replace tires and rims without looking at anything else. Disappointing.

 

And so, it gets even worse!!! I receive a call today, from the service advisor at the dealership. Even though the wheel was checked at the time the car arrived at the dealership 1 month ago, and determined that it was sound, I'm now being told it's bent, and needs to be sent out to be straightened, and by the way, 2 of the other wheels, also seem to be slightly damaged. So a month after they received the car, they're now sending out 3 wheels to be trued, and will then check the alignment. Hard to believe that the other wheels were anything other than fine, as I had the car up to speed, prior to the latest pothole incident, and no vibration, whatsoever. Also, hard to believe that the car was driven over 10 miles, to and from the bodyshop, and nobody detected the obvious vibration. This is how a car was deemed ready, and returned to me, after one month. This definitely wouldn't be acceptable at a Kia dealership. On a car that has a MSRP of just under $100,000, and a high end dealership, that owns 2 Mercedes stores, and many other brands, this is just wrong. I did send a follow up email today, to the CEO of Mercedes USA, and am looking forward to what develops as a result. The wheels are due back @ Wednesday, lets see what happens next...............stay tuned!

 

They likely just did a visual check the first time. The one that hit the pot hole directly is the badly bent one (hence the suggestion to have them check the run out, not just look at it). The other two wheels are probably slightly bent. Possibly not enough to notice a significant vibration but enough for you to want to get straightened, being the really bad one is getting sent out to be fixed.

 

Ya, I kinda had a similar thing happen a year and half back or so. Thought it was a bad tire and the other tires were getting along so had the dealer replace all four and balance them. When I got the car back it still had the Vibration pretty bad. When I took the car back turns out both the pass side rims were found to be bent and had to be sent out. I guess it really depends on who the tech is that works on the car the first time. I could not believe either that they missed the bad vibration and released the car the first time.

 

In either of the two above cases, did they have your car for a month? I'm guessing not. Did the CEO of Mercedes USA get involved in either case? I'm guessing not. In properly balancing a rim, when being roadforce balanced, it should be obvious if there is a rim that is slightly bent, and when you've been told that the wheel was inspected, in it's fine, it should have been thoroughly inspected. When you've requested the alignment be checked, it should have been checked. If the car has been driven more than 10 miles round trip to their body shop, any idiot could (and should have) have felt the vibration, it wasn't rocket science. Maybe I'm being too demanding, but I don't think so!