Mercedes Benz and AMG Owners

I found that the Mercedes warranty website quoted some ludicrous prices. I called them and it was massively cheaper. I seem to recall website was 5k for 24 months and I paid just over 2k as I recall. There is a disconnect somewhere.
 
Just checked, £2669 for 24 months so £1500 seems expensive for 12 months for a taxi as opposed to my supercar for corner sofa owners.
 
Well looks like I will be having a 'tough' discussion with Macclesfield Mercedes this week after collecting my car this morning.

I got a message from said dealer on Wednesday morning, 9:53am just as the car headed into the shop for its service and I headed into an all day meeting.

"Ah Mr Housey thanks for calling us straight back. The tyres are on the edge and really need changing. The inside edges look close to limits (that is the typical wear pattern based on my previous set) and really they are on the limit".

I muse "Well I am off to Germany next week so wonder if I should wait until I come back (I never like to change without seeing first). Tell me, what are the insides at?"

"Well if you are going to Germany we should change them really as they are 1.9mm to 2mm and though the tread elsewhere is fine the insides are not, it's probably a good bet to do them now."

I agree, I give them what I am willing to pay and in good faith "give me your trust to get as close as I can" I agree to go head....."but let me see the old tyres when they come off please....later changed to send me a photo"


I collect the car today to see this on the service report....
OlugZHd.jpg

As yet no pictures either and dealership workshop was closed today. Car was also cleaned badly and they had to do the oil again as they at first overfilled it again.....the 8.1m road test pinged on my tracking fob lead me to call to be told "well we needed to test it for oil level....and you were right, it was overfilled again".

I would never normally let the dealer touch my tyres. Preferring a local shop I know and trust to do it, but knowing how hard they are to get, how little time I have before I head across Europe and onto 200mph roads I had to make the call, knowing I got a decent price, do get them done ignoring my better judgement.

The motor trade ladies and gentleman. I will speak with the branch manager this week. Just tiring having to do this, just be honest, do a good job = Happy Housey.

They will never see my car again.
 
Journey said:
If be asking for the money back, and the old tyres, they sound like a bunch of clowns
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The money is of course important, but I get so annoyed with the lack of, let's call it transparency, on what is really needed and what will be done. I don't mind paying £2,280.32 for service and tyres on a car like this, it's the price of running such a vehicle, but I expect higher standards and transparency. The motor trade has done far more to annoy me than satisfy me in my motoring life and I think I am actually a good customer.

Tell me what you plan to do and just do it, but if I give you instruction (the oil) or trust (the tyres) don't ignore it or take advantage of it, for whatever reason. I am unhappy that an 8.1 mile road test is needed to test if the oil level is overfilled, not least as my apple tag (on my keyring) showed it parked outside a house for 'some' minutes down the road from the garage. What might a customer think when he sees that?

If they come back with "ah, but the report is wrong, they wrote down the wrong numbers" they simply seek to mitigate their actions IMHO and miss the fact that is probably a worse offence, but that is conjecture on my behalf.

I will give them the opportunity to satisfy me and represent that accordingly here. I don't expect all my money back, that would be unreasonable, but I have said many times that good service often shows itself when they do something wrong, how they act being the true measure. I want them to do better, let's see if they step up.

To add, the survey I received reflected all this too. I also mentioned I don't appreciate being canvased by Service Advisors on the important part of the survey to them as individuals, which seems to be becoming more common I note as Audi used to do this all the time on the R8.
 
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Housey said:
The money is of course important, but I get so annoyed with the lack of, let's call it transparency, on what is really needed and what will be done. I don't mind paying £2,280.32 for service and tyres on a car like this, it's the price of running such a vehicle, but I expect higher standards and transparency. The motor trade has done far more to annoy me than satisfy me in my motoring life and I think I am actually a good customer.

Tell me what you plan to do and just do it, but if I give you instruction (the oil) or trust (the tyres) don't ignore it or take advantage of it, for whatever reason. I am unhappy that an 8.1 mile road test is needed to test if the oil level is overfilled, not least as my apple tag (on my keyring) showed it parked outside a house for 'some' minutes down the road from the garage. What might a customer think when he sees that?

If they come back with "ah, but the report is wrong, they wrote down the wrong numbers" they simply seek to mitigate their actions IMHO and miss the fact that is probably a worse offence, but that is conjecture on my behalf.

I will give them the opportunity to satisfy me and represent that accordingly here. I don't expect all my money back, that would be unreasonable, but I have said many times that good service often shows itself when they do something wrong, how they act being the true measure. I want them to do better, let's see if they step up.

To add, the survey I received reflected all this too. I also mentioned I don't appreciate being canvased by Service Advisors on the important part of the survey to them as individuals, which seems to be becoming more common I note as Audi used to do this all the time on the R8.
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I understand, and my previous response was targeting the only thing they care about, being your money, which is not going to help undo the pee poor service you have received, but if something costs money to them, and they lose a customer then they pay attention more. I'd be on to Mercedes UK head office, and ask them how a main dealer can be so deceitful, it tarnishes their brand and as someone who obviously has such a prestige vehicle, you word of mouth carries a lot more gusto than I would have in my little C Class.

Seems to me like they not only took your car for a ride, but they are trying to take you for one!
 
dLockers said:
2mm cowboy salesmen talk for '2mm remaining till at legal limit'?
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Oh I am sure they will suggest that, but that wasn't the discussion I had or the impression I was given.

Talk of close to illegal, do it now etc etc

As I said if I had not been time pressured (Spa and Ring next weekend) I would have said 'leave em'.
 
Housey said:
Oh I am sure they will suggest that, but that wasn't the discussion I had or the impression I was given.

Talk of close to illegal, do it now etc etc

As I said if I had not been time pressured (Spa and Ring next weekend) I would have said 'leave em'.
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what car was this for?
 
I had the same kind of experience from the Oxford Dealer.

Told me the rear springs was broken and needed changing. Told them okay i’ll sort it.

Got my local indy to do it and found neither spring was broken or even chipped or cracked. I challenged them and it wasn’t until i told them i’d take the old springs in to show them that they conceded and refunded me for the parts and service i paid at the indy.
 
dLockers said:
The warranty on my E is up at the end of the year.

What are peoples thoughts on swapping the car, buying the warranty, or just YOLO'ing without warranty?

I guess big bills could come up - it has air ride. It is relatively low mileage though (almost 13895 miles) and typically only enjoys longer trips on v power.

I have considered an X3M but I imagine they'll be on the slightly older side of things; and the Merc SUV type cars are mostly out of budget.

Hmm
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Do you still like the car? Do you want to keep it?

Which E class is it? A 63?
 
MrRockliffe said:
Do you still like the car? Do you want to keep it?

Which E class is it? A 63?
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E43. I still like it, but this is what was whirring around my head yesterday:

I need a small car to batter/do local trips in, to keep 'boring' miles off of the E43 - problem solved, I ordered a Nissan Leaf e+ Tekna.

Then I thought, actually half of my 'boring' trips today I do in the E on the off chance I can blast it on a country road - zoo etc. If I rinse the Leaf as much as possible (it's a lease up to 15k including all wear and tear, so seems really silly not to) then I'll literally only use the E for 'fun'..

Cue the idea of getting something actually fun given the limited use - Lotus, Alpine or something - but 2 seats then becomes an issue as my little one is too young. I also don't have the time to track them or really have big fun. A 911 then becomes the obvious answer...however,

... the big trips to see family (2x month at least normally - 200 mile there and back). I do often need the larger boot given the clobber we take away. There is a big trip to France scheduled in August too.

So I think in conclusion, other than having 3 cars total (Leaf, Fun, Family Car) - the E43 is the right balance of fun/family; so I'll probably "stick" rather than twist. It also owes me very little, it'll be fully paid off by the end of next year and has full dealer service history. Bar a couple of scrapes on the rear bumper it is pretty immaculate as well.

Edit: Hopefully my X3M idea is clearer now too, but at 20+k cost to change, I'm not sure it is worth it. I can do some man maths but really I could do with the E being paid off so I can afford to fix my new house up.
 
dLockers said:
E43. I still like it, but this is what was whirring around my head yesterday:

I need a small car to batter/do local trips in, to keep 'boring' miles off of the E43 - problem solved, I ordered a Nissan Leaf e+ Tekna.

Then I thought, actually half of my 'boring' trips today I do in the E on the off chance I can blast it on a country road - zoo etc. If I rinse the Leaf as much as possible (it's a lease up to 15k including all wear and tear, so seems really silly not to) then I'll literally only use the E for 'fun'..

Cue the idea of getting something actually fun given the limited use - Lotus, Alpine or something - but 2 seats then becomes an issue as my little one is too young. I also don't have the time to track them or really have big fun. A 911 then becomes the obvious answer...however,

... the big trips to see family (2x month at least normally - 200 mile there and back). I do often need the larger boot given the clobber we take away. There is a big trip to France scheduled in August too.

So I think in conclusion, other than having 3 cars total (Leaf, Fun, Family Car) - the E43 is the right balance of fun/family; so I'll probably "stick" rather than twist. It also owes me very little, it'll be fully paid off by the end of next year and has full dealer service history. Bar a couple of scrapes on the rear bumper it is pretty immaculate as well.

Edit: Hopefully my X3M idea is clearer now too, but at 20+k cost to change, I'm not sure it is worth it. I can do some man maths but really I could do with the E being paid off so I can afford to fix my new house up.
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Sounds like the perfect combo. Do you need something as big as an E? Otherwise, if you’re looking for fun, you could always move to something like an M340i, which will be as quick, as fun (I’d have thought, compared to a 43), cheaper to run, lighter
 
MrRockliffe said:
Sounds like the perfect combo. Do you need something as big as an E? Otherwise, if you’re looking for fun, you could always move to something like an M340i, which will be as quick, as fun (I’d have thought, compared to a 43), cheaper to run, lighter
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Space is a must, but size less important (?) - I've not looked into it hugely but I guess the E is quite a bit wider/'larger' and the M340i Estate may have a similar size or even bigger luggage compartment?

The main reason I went for the E43 over the C43 was the interior upgrade and digital dash - much more compelling over what felt like incremental upgrades to a standard dash setup.

M340i quite a compelling option, I really like them - however I imagine cost to change would outweigh any running cost benefit. I only paid £32k for my car with 6k miles, so it is pretty much 'brand new' in condition and usage.

Cheapest M340i is already +£10k to change with similar mileage.
 
dLockers said:
Space is a must, but size less important (?) - I've not looked into it hugely but I guess the E is quite a bit wider/'larger' and the M340i Estate may have a similar size or even bigger luggage compartment?

The main reason I went for the E43 over the C43 was the interior upgrade and digital dash - much more compelling over what felt like incremental upgrades to a standard dash setup.

M340i quite a compelling option, I really like them - however I imagine cost to change would outweigh any running cost benefit. I only paid £32k for my car with 6k miles, so it is pretty much 'brand new' in condition and usage.

Cheapest M340i is already +£10k to change with similar mileage.
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Blimey, seems good value for the E43. Bet they’re worth more now though.


If the car works for you, I don’t see a reason to change. I can’t think of anything which would be sportier, while also saving you genuine money, that wouldn’t also be a downgrade in quality.
 
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