Mercedes-Benz Nightmare

Richard7810

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Your Mercedes
GLA 220 4MATIC
I bought this MERCEDES-BENZ GLA 220 4Matic AMG in May 2015 - eventually. The original car that I wanted to purchase was sold to two different people by the same franchise - Hamilton in Scotland.
After having the car for one month, the automatic stop/start failed while I was waiting to turn right in the middle of the traffic lights. Imagine the screams from my daughter as the car was stuck in the middle of the traffic lights with cars moving in other directions. At this point the MERCEDES-BENZ franchise in Teesside (my local garage) decided to replace the starter motor without even identifying if the starter motor was faulty. This led to a heated debate with the lead mechanic at the MERCEDES-BENZ franchise - how could he claim to fix the problem without knowing if the part he replaced was the cause of the problem?
One year later, the engine started over-revving randomly. If the car was driven for several miles the performance became very sluggish until only two of the seven gears were available (and a random message appeared about the reverse gear being unavailable). This is a very dangerous situation with the car slowing to around 15mph, at the time on an A-road but it could have been on a motorway.
The roadside assistance was unable to fix the problem as their servers were down (they had been down for one week so why did they send a person who they knew could not help me?).
The car was taken to the local MERCEDES-BENZ dealership and I collected it a couple of days later. The car had allegedly received a software upgrade and a road test. After driving the car for less than 5 minutes it was apparent that the problem had not been fixed. During this short drive I identified that the problem disappeared if the auto start/stop was disabled (back to the original problem). The car was returned to the MERCEDES-BENZ dealership that night.
The dealership, relaying information from the MERCEDES-BENZ HQ, admit that they have never seen this problem on this type car. In a poor attempt to resolve the problem they have replaced the clutch (major work on a car of any age – never mind a car that is only one year old) without rectifying the issue (they are guessing at the cause of the problem). This has not fixed the problem.
The repairing garage has now replaced the gearbox and tell me that the car is ready for collection. They won't tell me that the car is fixed, because they can't diagnose the fault, they are merely trying to make the symptoms disappear until the warranty runs out. I am refusing to collect the car as I have no faith in it being fully fixed.
The car has now been in the dealership since 5th September and they refuse me a replacement. The reason that I can’t get replacement, via the original purchasing dealership at Hamilton, is apparently that they haven’t seen the car since I purchased it, and therefore haven't had their one attempt at repairing the fault. The Hamilton dealership have been kept fully informed of the faults and location of the car for repair. They have never asked to have the car returned to Hamilton and are happy for the repairs to be completed elsewhere. How can they get to see the car when it is in bits at an alternative dealership in the north of England? They could ask their colleagues for photographs or travel down and review it – but no – just hide behind the fact that they are remote to me. During the sale of the car, the Hamilton branch were happy for me to test drive a car at the local branch and sell it to me via the Hamilton branch without me viewing the car. That is called ‘double standards’.
I am now paying a lot of money for a car that I do not have and MERCEDES-BENZ cannot fix. The customer service has been shocking, refusing to return my e-mails and refusing to send me a copy of their customer care charter (I was eventually sent one that told me to contact motorcodes.co.uk) - so
that I cannot follow the agreed complaints procedure. The Hamilton franchise is not even a partner with the motorcodes.co.uk - The Motor Ombudsman.
I have no faith that the problem will be permanently resolved no matter what the MERCEDES-BENZ mechanics achieve, this problem has re-occurred in the past when they said it was fixed. They are unable to get to the root cause of the problem and definitively fix it.
The car is not fit for purpose.
I am suffering from Breach of Contract as I am paying for a car that I cannot use.
I have since asked for a record of the work that has been completed on my car. I was initially sent the service history - just one line of text. I queried this, and was then sent a more detailed list of repair work (well a strange list of the times that the car had been 'in tow' etc.). However, the list of repair work does not include, replacement of the starter motor (completed in June 2015), upgrade of the software (September 2016), replacement of the clutch (September 2016) or replacement of the gearbox (October 2016). This is the standard practice for the franchise (Teesside). Surely this is not a true reflection of the history of the car.
I then went on to ask about how that would affect the future sales value of the car. The service manager then went on to tell me that the repair history was not available to anyone else and was only available to me as I was the current owner of the car. He said that if a prospective purchaser of the car asked for the work that had been completed on the car, they would only be provided with services carried out on the car (the initial one line of text that I had been sent).
You have to ask yourself why they would do this. Surely, they are trying to hide all of the remedial work completed on the car and in turn drive up the re-sale value of the car. At best this is unethical and at worst, it must be illegal.
Does anyone have any advice on what I can do?
 

John Laidlaw

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Wow!
Sorry to hear your woes, that took a bit of reading!
I would suggest you go direct to Mercedes Benz uk HQ and air your grievance.
I seem to remember someone on here had a contact , hopefully they will see this and contribute.
I don't think it's acceptable for two franchised? MB dealerships to bat between them with you in the middle, if it's an MB under warranty it shouldn't matter where it's being rectified and how long it takes except to you the customer...
 

bembo449

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wow , disgraceful treatment of yourself by these 2 dealers , hope you get somewhere soon with it
 

KennyN

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BMW 440i, Cayenne, ZX12r / ZRX11 / ZRX Monoshock
I am refusing to collect the car as I have no faith in it being fully fixed.

So what happens next , you just leave it at the dealership to rot away ??

If they are telling you the car IS fixed and you can collect it then i suggest you do so as that is the only way that things will move on.

If the car still isn`t right then take it back for round 3 with the dealership , or a different one if you have lost faith in the Teeside branch.

From your initial , complex, post it seems you wish to reject the car , if they have "repaired" the car then how can you do that ??

Kenny
 

umblecumbuz

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S204 and CLC 204 cdi, MX5, Kia Soul
Sound advice about collecting the car, as the repairing dealer has indicated that it is now running properly.

How can you move on if you now refuse to collect it? Time is against you, and the dealer will be aware of that.
Presumably, once it is in your possession, you can drive it to Hamilton, which puts the ball firmly back in their court.
I get the feeling that personalities may have clashed somewhere along the line. If so, now is the time to ignore that and take action.

From that point on, you have the choice of rejecting the car and possibly beginning the long legal wrangle to get this resolved, or having them fix the car to your satisfaction.

Either way, a fully detailed record must be compiled by you for future reference as needed, bearing in mind that you may have to approach MB direct.

A sorry affair, and anyone reading your saga will obviously feel for you.

Umble
 
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Craiglxviii

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970 Panamera Turbo; W221 S500L AMG Line, C215 CL500, W251 R350L AMG Line, plus several more now gone
I'm willing to bet we never hear from the OP again. This isn't the first tale of woe we have hard in this vein.
 

LostKiwi

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'93 500SL-32, '01 W210 Estate E240 (RIP), 02 R230 SL500, 04 Smart Roadster Coupe, 11 R350CDi
You need to collect the car. If it fails return it to Hamiltons and engage the services of a solicitor. Frankly you're better off getting legal advice from a solicitor that seeking it in an Internet forum.
Craig I suspect you could be right.
 

Frontstep

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T210 320cdi
Unfortunately the post is confused and contradictory, and thats after presumably reviewing "his" post after writing.

Customer services are probably wondering why he "cannot use the car"

It would appear he just doesn't want the car, MB have clearly not ignored him they have replaced the starter, clutch and gearbox plus a software update.

Perhaps someone should negotiate a warranty extension for him or some way of extricating him from a car he has lost enthusiasm for.



Is the car on a finance deal ?
 

Naraic

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2005 CL500.
The op asked for advice...then logged out. If he doesn't look in within 24 hours of starting the thread it will be removed. I don't think we should be used by grand standers.
 

mioba

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W124/E200, W220/S320CDI, W205/C200, W251/R350CDI 4Matic
To the OP,

Calm down, if you feel so angered by all of this, from the way your post reads, contact MB UK.

It seems like the dealers between them are trying to rectify the problem, thus I don't see what more you want.

As a side, bit of a strange first post. We like a little intro
 

Craiglxviii

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970 Panamera Turbo; W221 S500L AMG Line, C215 CL500, W251 R350L AMG Line, plus several more now gone
The constant repetition off "MERCEDES BENZ" in his post raises my suspicions. He don't smell quite right to me.
 

d215yq

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Valencia, Spain
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1987 W124 300D 280k miles
And apocalyptic imagery exacerbating the dangers of being stalled at a traffic light junction for a full house!

A hire car I had had this happen a few times when the start stop got confused and I remember nothing more happening than some beeping of horns from behind...
 

Frontstep

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T210 320cdi
Stalled at a traffic lights is quite common near me, waiting for the person in front to finish texting, applying makeup,chatting,daydreaming, observing the opposite sex etc is a regular occurrence.
Perhaps I should include gripped with fear or in my case thinking oh I wonder whats caused that.
 

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