Help with towing advice.

Craiglxviii

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I only no about the roof due to my son being a caravan technician and he told me not to get a Mercedes with the panoramic roof.. as I do believe some of the higher powered cars r the same and cannot tow caravans.!
That’s b@llocks. Roof type doesn’t impact towing weight. Pano or glass roof cars have additional roof bows and reinforcers to make up for the slight reduction in strength lost by cutting big holes in the roof metal.

Also, look at the stress vectors of the roof (stops the car from hogging, or sagging lengthwise; and from twisting corkscrew wise; and protects occupants from being crushed in the event of turning over). Compare it to where the drive is located (rear wheels) and where the towbar is located (aft of rear wheels). The drive force vector goes straight aft through the towbar. The forces imparted on the towbar are translated into the rear side members which pass straight into the platform metal. Forces are all front to rear with some slight twisting of high winds are present. How does that affect the roof..? It doesn’t.

To qualify this, I work in Body Design for a major vehicle manufacturer. Your son’s understanding is flawed.
 
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Uncle Benz

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I think Mercedes' eye may have come off the ball as far as towing is concerned. One of my customers is a very experienced caravanner, 50 years with the caravan club iirc. Huge number of miles covered in his time. He recently bought a brand new GLC with the factory fitted electric fold away tow hitch. When deployed the back of the ball is only about an inch from the face of the bumper. This makes hitching without damage very difficult, but worse, when manoevering hard on the lock its very easy to impact the rear of the car with the caravan. He has just had a new rear quarter and bumper fitted due to this exact thing. Damage to the caravan was even worse. I had a look with him, and because the hitch is so close to the car its very easy to do. Bad bit of design by the look of it.
 
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Craiglxviii

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Yes our car does have a pan roof but this hasn't been mentioned as a reason for not being able to tow. Not all Blue TEC SE have a pan roof, yet the model is stated as not being able to tow in the owners manual for Estates, page 193 under the heading for towing.

My husband telephoned the dealership yet again this afternoon as we still hadn't had conformation of whether they would let us have our original car back. He was told the manager needs to "sign it off", maybe tomorrow they will let us know!

What they mean is WE will have to chase them yet again. I cannot emphasise the disappointment we are feeling with the utter lack of basic knowledge and decent customer service.

You really do expect more from MB.....
Just call them, ask once more, and then ask them to give you the number for the Ombudsman. That’ll fire a shot across their bows.
 

Craiglxviii

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I think Mercedes' eye may have come off the ball as far as towing is concerned. One of my customers is a very experienced caravanner, 50 years with the caravan club iirc. Huge number of miles covered in his time. He recently bought a brand new GLC with the factory fitted electric fold away tow hitch. When deployed the back of the ball is only about an inch from the face of the bumper. This makes hitching without damage very difficult, but worse, when manoevering its very easy to impact the rear of the car with the caravan. He has just had a new rear quarter and bumper fitted due to this exact thing. Damage to the caravan was even worse. I had a look with him, and because the hitch is so close to the car its very easy to do. Bad bit of design by the look of it.

IME these types of parts are designed right at the end of the project cycle and are almost an afterthought... I note though the F-Pace’s electric towbar is really well thought out.
 

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I think Mercedes' eye may have come off the ball as far as towing is concerned. One of my customers is a very experienced caravanner, 50 years with the caravan club iirc. Huge number of miles covered in his time. He recently bought a brand new GLC with the factory fitted electric fold away tow hitch. When deployed the back of the ball is only about an inch from the face of the bumper. This makes hitching without damage very difficult, but worse, when manoevering hard on the lock its very easy to impact the rear of the car with the caravan. He has just had a new rear quarter and bumper fitted due to this exact thing. Damage to the caravan was even worse. I had a look with him, and because the hitch is so close to the car its very easy to do. Bad bit of design by the look of it.
Well the GLC is a piece of crap and with many design flaws including the poor Ackerman geometry. It should be recalled immediately.
 

Uncle Benz

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Well the GLC is a piece of crap and with many design flaws including the poor Ackerman geometry. It should be recalled immediately.

Pains me to say it, but I drove a GLC and an Audi Q3 on the same day. Audi felt superior in every way. The variable ratio steering on the GLC felt very peculiar. I dare say you'd get used to it, but the Audi was great straight out the box.
 
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Deborah Burton

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After waiting all day for a call from MB that never arrived,my husband has just called them. After being fobbed off 2 times with "oh he's not available" on the 3rd attempt we get to speak to the sales guy.

He said we have to drive the E220 estate back down to Colindale to exchange it for our Coupe, a refund of monies paid will be refunded in 3 working days.

Thank god!! But ****** hell, what dire customer service from MB. No apology from them and we have to drive 162 miles there and 162 miles back through no fault of our own. Disgraceful!

Yes, we do have a dealer closer to us but the car we saw was exactly what we wanted (so we thought) so we were prepared to drive the distance.

I'm so relieved but to be honest won't feel totally happy until the funds are back in our bank account.

We both agree we will never again purchase a MB. Utterly utterly disgusted with the service and unhelpful staff.

You may well say "oh that's a bit harsh, just because you had one bad experience it shouldn't put you off", No this is not the first bad experience we have had with MB. they not knowing their stuff.

I will let you know once we have our car and funds back.

Once again, thank you all for your support and advice. Xx
 

Craiglxviii

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No I wouldn’t say that, I’d say that this is ****ing outrageous and utterly disrespectful to the customer base. Does the Dealer Principal know about this? Has MB Customer Services in Milton Keynes been alerted? If not I really do suggest you copy them into all correspondence and perhaps a link to this thread, showing what a travesty of duty of care has been taken by them with you.
 
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Deborah Burton

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No I wouldn’t say that, I’d say that this is ****ing outrageous and utterly disrespectful to the customer base. Does the Dealer Principal know about this? Has MB Customer Services in Milton Keynes been alerted? If not I really do suggest you copy them into all correspondence and perhaps a link to this thread, showing what a travesty of duty of care has been taken by them with you.
Absolutely! once we have our car and the money we will be contacting Milton Keynes and informing them of what's happened along with a link to this thread. We're just worried they will withhold our money if we complain beforehand.

We feel exhausted by it all....
 

LostKiwi

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Sadly the quality of service from some dealerships is just not up to scratch. There are good dealerships too - Basingstoke are very well thought of for instance (I've had a car from them and they were excellent and another regular on here has had several and is very pleased with their service).
Its a shame the poor service from the dealers you've encountered has been less than satisfactory and it has turned you away from the brand.
At least it looks like you'll be back to where you were at the start (I hope they compensate you for the travel!)
 

Craiglxviii

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Absolutely! once we have our car and the money we will be contacting Milton Keynes and informing them of what's happened along with a link to this thread. We're just worried they will withhold our money if we complain beforehand.

We feel exhausted by it all....

That’s irrational; MK getting involved should increase the speed of your money coming back!

But- I totally understand your position!
 
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Deborah Burton

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Sadly the quality of service from some dealerships is just not up to scratch. There are good dealerships too - Basingstoke are very well thought of for instance (I've had a car from them and they were excellent and another regular on here has had several and is very pleased with their service).
Its a shame the poor service from the dealers you've encountered has been less than satisfactory and it has turned you away from the brand.
At least it looks like you'll be back to where you were at the start (I hope they compensate you for the travel!)
Hahaha.....I wouldn't hold my breath! An apology would be nice but everyday since Saturday we have had to chase them with either calls and emails. The only email we have received from the Sales Manager is a copy of the E Class brochure used to inform us that the car would tow 2000kg, What a joke. The actual sales guy has not responded to our emails. As stated previously we have been ignored. We are only where we are because we have called and emailed everyday about this.........unbelievable, you really could not make it up!
 

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Hahaha.....I wouldn't hold my breath! An apology would be nice but everyday since Saturday we have had to chase them with either calls and emails. The only email we have received from the Sales Manager is a copy of the E Class brochure used to inform us that the car would tow 2000kg, What a joke. The actual sales guy has not responded to our emails. As stated previously we have been ignored. We are only where we are because we have called and emailed everyday about this.........unbelievable, you really could not make it up!

Been away for a few days, so unable to update you.

Perversely, the original car you were told you couldn't tow with, you can. The AMG Line E220 does not have the issue with the AdBlu tank. The SE cannot tow due to the AdBlu tank, hence no plate data.

It seems you have had a useless salesman.

Have you spoken directly with the Dealer Principle at the dealers. Organ grinder not the monkey. Emails are not the same as the spoken word. The DP should be sensible enough to resolve this, it aint rocket science. At the very least you shouldn't be returning the car and collecting your old one at your cost.

Unfortunately there are bad staff, don't let it taint you against the brand.

As above, Sandown are a very good group with MB franchises.

Is the AMG Line car still available? The DP might like to consider a retrofit OEM towbar as a token of goodwill. It's not unheard of with MB.

You've had a bad experience with a w4nker of a salesman. You could probably find a similar experience in any other brand of car, estate agent, TV seller etc. Unfortunately the old adage caveat emptor applies, moreso in this modern age. You as a buyer have to do a lot of homework to protect yourself regardless of consumer laws. What a car will tow is not a figure in Kg for example. It depends on what you are towing. A flat empty low trailer is not the same as a large caravan, or boat.

I contacted an AMG Line owner I know who is extremely pleased with his E220 Estate with factory towbar. He changed from a 3 litre V6 E class estate S211 to a S212 AMG Line E220. As he says 'Its a splendid towcar and although I dropped down from a 3 litre V6 its not that obvious when towing and fuel consumption is better.'

The pano roof comments are bullsh1t. I had a pano roof on my W221 S350L and towed a very large caravan thousands of miles with it. My current tow car a W166 GLE350 AMG Line has a pano roof. Both cars were/are the electric deployed units. The tow bar has to meet type approval which includes a height and distance from the bodywork. The MB electric deployed tow bars are bought in and are the same as fitted to JLR / RR / BMW / GM. There are requirements of a tow bar to meet the needs of an Alko stabiliser head that are best requested when ordering a tow bar. There has to be sufficient head height for vertical articulation. LR Discoveries fit with replacement tow balls following the recall do NOT take an Alko stabiliser, something JLR didn't know. Toyota Land Cruiser standard tow ball also don't accept Alko stabilisers.

Hope you get a resolution that suits.
 
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Deborah Burton

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Been away for a few days, so unable to update you.

Perversely, the original car you were told you couldn't tow with, you can. The AMG Line E220 does not have the issue with the AdBlu tank. The SE cannot tow due to the AdBlu tank, hence no plate data.

It seems you have had a useless salesman.

Have you spoken directly with the Dealer Principle at the dealers. Organ grinder not the monkey. Emails are not the same as the spoken word. The DP should be sensible enough to resolve this, it aint rocket science. At the very least you shouldn't be returning the car and collecting your old one at your cost.

Unfortunately there are bad staff, don't let it taint you against the brand.

As above, Sandown are a very good group with MB franchises.

Is the AMG Line car still available? The DP might like to consider a retrofit OEM towbar as a token of goodwill. It's not unheard of with MB.

You've had a bad experience with a w4nker of a salesman. You could probably find a similar experience in any other brand of car, estate agent, TV seller etc. Unfortunately the old adage caveat emptor applies, moreso in this modern age. You as a buyer have to do a lot of homework to protect yourself regardless of consumer laws. What a car will tow is not a figure in Kg for example. It depends on what you are towing. A flat empty low trailer is not the same as a large caravan, or boat.

I contacted an AMG Line owner I know who is extremely pleased with his E220 Estate with factory towbar. He changed from a 3 litre V6 E class estate S211 to a S212 AMG Line E220. As he says 'Its a splendid towcar and although I dropped down from a 3 litre V6 its not that obvious when towing and fuel consumption is better.'

The pano roof comments are bullsh1t. I had a pano roof on my W221 S350L and towed a very large caravan thousands of miles with it. My current tow car a W166 GLE350 AMG Line has a pano roof. Both cars were/are the electric deployed units. The tow bar has to meet type approval which includes a height and distance from the bodywork. The MB electric deployed tow bars are bought in and are the same as fitted to JLR / RR / BMW / GM. There are requirements of a tow bar to meet the needs of an Alko stabiliser head that are best requested when ordering a tow bar. There has to be sufficient head height for vertical articulation. LR Discoveries fit with replacement tow balls following the recall do NOT take an Alko stabiliser, something JLR didn't know. Toyota Land Cruiser standard tow ball also don't accept Alko stabilisers.

Hope you get a resolution that suits.
Thanks for the advice. No, we haven't spoken to the Dealer Principle. We asked to speak to a Manager on Sunday when we felt we were not getting anywhere with the sales guy who sold us the car, the Manager was the Sales Manager and he said he would look into it. At the end of the day on Sunday the Manager emailed us a page from MB sales brochure where it shows the E Class E220 Blue TEC SE as being able to tow 2000kg, which is not true (please see previous post re VIN plate) tbh we just want this whole episode to be over. On a more positive note, we bought our E Class Coupe from Sandown and they were great! It was Lincoln MB who told us we couldn't tow with a E Class estate AMG line, something to do with suspension they said, which has been most frustrating as nearly all the E Class estates we liked were AMG line.
 

flowrider

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Then Colindale dealership is actually owned by Mercedes and is not a franchise so you would think the level of service would be better. I believe this dealership also has the Regional Managers office so that could be another contact. Something to note is that the Dealer Principles have a huge amount of say compared to MK Customer Services.
 

Craiglxviii

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Then Colindale dealership is actually owned by Mercedes and is not a franchise so you would think the level of service would be better. I believe this dealership also has the Regional Managers office so that could be another contact. Something to note is that the Dealer Principles have a huge amount of say compared to MK Customer Services.
This is true. Dealer Principles run their own business plans; Cust Svcs just apply pressure to them.
 

Ken_R

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I'm not sure what level of training staff at these places get but surely the obvious, "If the customer mentions Towing. Check the VIN plate!" Seems rather elementary.

Indeed, if the VIN plate of any vehicle they are selling doesn't show a GTW, then this, and its consequences, should be pointed out to any prospective customer.

It's a simple principle to apply. Just open the door and look!o_O
 
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Deborah Burton

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Well I have just spent the last 1.5 hours typing an email to Mercedes Benz Customer Complaints Milton Keynes. I'm not confident it will make much difference but I feel soooo much better for off loading!

Will let you know how tomorrow goes down in Colindale.
 

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Hope everything goes a little more smoothly from now on.
 

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