Newbie CLA owner

[Stuart Tyrrell]

Hi There. I'm Stu from Oxford and have recently bought the new model CLA. While I love the car I am finding working with Mercedes a bit of a pain. I can't seem to get answers to the most basic questions from the dealership, which is why I have arrived here. I'm looking forward to picking your brains and hope to reciprocate by giving as much info back as I can as I discover the hidden depths of my new car and it's latest gen MBUX system.

Cheers
Stu

 

[Blobcat]

Hello and welcome

 

[A.J.]

Hi Stu, welcome to the forum

 

[John Laidlaw]

Welcome

 

[dry run]

Welcome

 

[SmartAmg]

Welcome, Stu, nice motor

 

[Srdl]

Hi Stu and welcome - I’m from Oxford originally. Let’s see some pictures of your new car sometime.

This is a great place to get help although there aren’t likely to be many of us that have experience of MBUX I’m afraid!

 

[Stuart Tyrrell]

Thank you all for your welcome. I do love the new CLA but ownership is not without its problems.
I stumbled across your community when I was looking at enabling the Dashcam ability on my new car. Unfortunately I couldn't find an answer as to why it doesn't appear in the system options when the manual says it should. After some protracted discussions with the Mercedes Me support folk and the MB customer support I finally got an answer. MB have not released the Dashcam licence for the UK yet! They offered no apology or estimate of when this part of my vehicle will be enabled. Anyone else here suffering with poor aftersales service from MB?

 

[Srdl]

Thank you all for your welcome. I do love the new CLA but ownership is not without its problems.
I stumbled across your community when I was looking at enabling the Dashcam ability on my new car. Unfortunately I couldn't find an answer as to why it doesn't appear in the system options when the manual says it should. After some protracted discussions with the Mercedes Me support folk and the MB customer support I finally got an answer. MB have not released the Dashcam licence for the UK yet! They offered no apology or estimate of when this part of my vehicle will be enabled. Anyone else here suffering with poor aftersales service from MB?

I think many will have stories of poor aftersales service but I don’t think MB are alone. Sadly, many firms seem to lose interest once they’ve got your money.

My local dealer has someone called a “Star Expert” and he was quite useful when I had a technology matter to discuss. Your dealer may have one who may (or may not) be helpful.

 

[harrye500]

Stu I would think surely if your car was sold as dashcam fitted you should expect it to work. Nice motor the CLA. I'd be complaining most vocally!

 

[Stuart Tyrrell]

Stu I would think surely if your car was sold as dashcam fitted you should expect it to work. Nice motor the CLA. I'd be complaining most vocally!

I have complained to MB custoner services, Mercedes Me support, and Inchcape Oxford (my local dealership) without any luck so far.
The salesman at Inchcape has been asked three times to call me back but seems totally uninterested in anything after sales related and so hasn't bothered. Mercedes me shrug it off as being a customer support question. MB Customer support take all the details and promise to get back with an answer but so far no answer has been forthcoming. What a total shambles!
Good thing that the CLA is amazing or I'd be asking for my money back!

 

[V6Matty]

By chance is the dash cam built into the rear view mirror, if it is then it’s not legal in the UK due to data privacy laws

 

[Stuart Tyrrell]

By chance is the dash cam built into the rear view mirror, if it is then it’s not legal in the UK due to data privacy laws

No. I believe it uses one of the three forward facing cameras which are also used for reading roadsigns and providing an enhanced reality overlay to navigation. Not sure that data privacy is the reason, afterall in the UK there is no law to stop you adding aftermarket cameras as you wish. DashCams are actively encouraged by both the Police and Insurance companies. Other countries may have different laws though.

 

[V6Matty]

No. I believe it uses one of the three forward facing cameras which are also used for reading roadsigns and providing an enhanced reality overlay to navigation. Not sure that data privacy is the reason, afterall in the UK there is no law to stop you adding aftermarket cameras as you wish. DashCams are actively encouraged by both the Police and Insurance companies. Other countries may have different laws though.

Ah wasn’t sure on the new models where it might be, I’d be surprised if it was using another camera though, they are there for a specific reason and most manufacturers don’t like to double up on sensors providing different outputs.
Re the data privacy thing, it is a valid reason although I’m not saying it’s going to be the reason here. Any footage of a person is considered as data of that individual, so storage, obfuscation and destruction of said data has to be considered. Where OEM’s fall foul I believe if around the data security and GDPR, meaning you should by rights tell people your recording them or be able to obfuscate their data (fuzzy their identifying features) so they cannot be traced back without judicial authorisation. Essentially OEMs have built a system they are scared to turn in because they can’t confirm it meets regulations.
As I say I could be wrong here but I don’t think I’ll be far off the mark.

 

[Stuart Tyrrell]

It is not recording people without their consent that is unlawful, (we in the UK are all recorded hundreds of times daily without our consent) but it could be the purpose which the recording is subsequently used for which might be unlawful. Facial recognition being one example.

 

[V6Matty]

Possibly, although at the cctv cameras around that are recording us do have signs saying cctv in use,
I’m with you though that it’s carp that MB can’t give you a strait answer for what is a simple enough question, even if they admit it can’t be used at least you’d know where you stand