No towing with a 2016 E220 AMG Estate?

iaincpalmer

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Already on it, but in the meantime I wonder how many drivers are out there towing illegally, and how many are signing contracts of sale not knowing this. Even the media kits are misleading, no one has been told there's a long list of Merc estates that cannot tow.
Was there a conclusion on this. I have passed my case to the authority's?
 

Azreal

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E class/2016/220
Hello

Did you get this sorted in the end. I am in the market for a towing capable estate.

Seems the AMG night edition a lot.

Has this changed at all or no towing at all
 

Real Ale

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2017 E220 d SE
I have also been had with this situation from Syntner Northampton, no one in this dealership knew anything about type approval for towing, not even the technicians.

I wrote to MB Milton Keynes - UK Head Office, where they opened a case and took it up with the dealership, my email as follows confirming the situation;

“Many thanks for your email and advising me that you have opened a case, in order to investigate the situation further.

I wanted to advise you that I did not send you an email, but in fact I discussed it over the phone with Rebecca, due to the urgency of the situation. When I asked when I can expect a response, I was told that I can expect a response from Customer Services within 24 hours.

Although I am on holiday at the moment and do not have all the information at hand, perhaps this gives me the opportunity to confirm the situation and additional costs that I have incurred to you and include some new ones that have materialised since our phone conversation.

I purchased a Mercedes E220 AMG Night Edition Premium in grey, registration KR65 —-, which I absolutely loved, for £18,500, plus the cost of Star Guard Protection £465?, cost of registration number transfer £80, purchase of a tow bar £465. Total outlay of £19,510.
As this car was purchased primarily for towing a caravan, when I asked its suitability for towing, I was told on numerous occasions that this car was suitable for towing a caravan, in fact I enquired as whether they could arrange for a tow bar to be fitted, which they couldn’t and suggested I make my own arrangements.

It was only when I arranged for a tow bar fitter to fit the tow bar on 3rd August, he advised that it was illegal to fit a tow bar on my car, as it did not display any towing weights on the VIN plate, it was not Type Approved. This was a complete shock to me and we had a holiday booked and paid for in Cornwall on 8th August.

I visited Mercedes Northampton on Monday morning, once I had this information confirmed to me and advised them that the car they sold to me was, not fit for purpose. They reaction was surprising, as they appeared to know nothing of the information I shared with them, or the forums on social media that also confirmed this. They even checked with their technicians, who were also not aware of it.

I am absolutely horrified that a Mercedes dealership do not have sufficient product knowledge to advise their customers of the suitability of their vehicles and willingly sell their products that are not fit for purpose - unbelievable!

The car salesman suggested that I part exchange my vehicle against another one and after 3 hours spent discussing this, even then they were having to check if the log books were showing towing limits. Eventually a car turned up that could be suitable, it was newer, less mileage, less specification and not the colour I preferred, but more expensive and situated at Bedford dealership.

I was offered a part exchange value of £13,000 for my car, which was only 9 weeks in my procession, I protested at this as I felt insulted, it was then referred back to the manager, who altered it to £17,000 and delighted in telling me how they are going to lose out, of course I felt sorry for him - not! Even then, I felt that I should not be out of pocket through no fault of mine, as I was sold a car not fit for purpose. I have lost out a total of £2,510.

It got to the point where I wanted to leave and go to Ford, where I have received great service in the past. Having said that, I have also been in procession of three previous Mercedes cars and received good service. In the end I had a holiday looming and they could get me a car at the end of the next day, but I needed to get a tow bar fitted the following day, at great expense, in order for me to go on holiday the day after that.

I therefore felt under pressure and reluctantly accepted the alternative car, but still felt disillusioned that I should not be out of pocket with this transaction. That was when I contacted you to advise you of this ridiculous situation.

I would appreciate your help and assistance with this matter in order to resolve this issue and hopefully reclaim what I consider to be an out of pocket monetary loss.

Best regards




Sent from my iPad

On 8 Aug 2019, at 16:28, "cs.uk@cac.mercedes-benz.com" <cs.uk@cac.mercedes-benz.com> wrote:



8th August 2019

Ref: CS-1-22974281175

Dear Mr B

Mercedes-Benz Model: Mercedes-Benz E-Class
Chassis No: WDD2122012B——-
Registration: KR65 —-

Thank you for your email which was received at this office on 6th August 2019 via Head Office.

I am extremely sorry that your experience of Mercedes-Benz has caused you to contact us. Based on the content of your email I’ve opened a case file in order to investigate further. This process can take up to five working days and I ask for your patience during this time. I will contact you again as soon as I am in a position to advise you further.

In the meantime, should you wish to contact me to discuss any aspect of the investigation please do not hesitate to do so on 00800 9 777 777 7 and quote the reference number noted above.

Yours sincerely

Customer Service UK

Mercedes-Benz UK Customer Service can be contacted by telephone on 008 009 777 7777 or 0207 660 9993, Monday - Friday between 08:00 & 18:00.

Mercedes-Benz Customer Assistance Center Maastricht N.V. Gelissendomein 5, 6229 GK Maastricht , Netherlands. Register No.: K.v.K. Limburg 33014909

The out come of this is, I ended up with a face lift 2017 e220d SE, which did not have the extras I really wanted, not the colour I wanted and all I got was a free 2 year service plan, which has only just been agreed, a lot of hassle caused by an ignorant dealership with no knowledge of their products.

I was very tempted to go to the Ombudsman about this, but did not want to go through all the hassle again, it was wearing me out!

I found out eventually that the AMG Night Edition can have a factory fitted tow bar fitted from new, but not once it has left the factory, as it takes the Co2 level to a higher level, due to extra weight of the vehicle. The only conclusion I can draw from this is, the factory fitted tow bar is lighter than an aftermarket one and doesn’t push the weight of the vehicle up as much.

MB need to get their act together and start communicating this problem throughout their dealership network, as many owners are driving illegally - there is a massive void here! I have even spoke to tow bar fitters who know nothing about type approval on vehicles and do not check the manufacturers VIN plate.
 

Steevan Whittam

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E220D 2016 Estate AMG Night
Hi,

Newbie here..

I took possession of a 2016 E220 AMG Night (last in the model line) last month under a business lease. Had a retro-fitted tow bar on our 2013 220 (with permission) and mentioned to the salesman we were going to put it on the new vehicle, no problem he said. All fine until we took it to Macsalvors (who also do all work for the local dealer) to get it fitted to the new one the day after collection. VIN plate says it has no towing allowance, and therefore legally they cannot fit the bar.

Merc told them to go ahead because the book says it can tow. Macsalvors have refused because they HAVE to refer to the VIN plate regardless of what the book says.

Four weeks later Merc are still arguing and we still don't have a vehicle that can tow, with a business event taking place this weekend when we need to tow a trailer. The manual gives a towing weight. All online resources state the 220 AMG Estate can tow. But legally you can't get a tow bar fitted without the VIN plate showing a towing weight according to Macsalvors.

Dealer has suggested we just to take it to someone who won't check the plate, but are not prepared to take responsibility should anything happen (unsurprisingly)!

Has anyone else come across this or experienced similar problems? Given that the E Class Estate is meant to be one of the best towing cars in the world its laughable that the 2016 model can't have a tow bar fitted! I'm aware there are a couple of Saloons versions that can't tow, nor can the 300 AMG Estate, but our model should be able to.

TIA for any responses...

Hi newbie2 here.

Purchased mine on Wednesday last week, the day before having to go into isolation because my wife has an NHS Operation booked. Discussed at length with the salesman the need for towing, they even supplied the company they use. Anyway locked in the house since Thursday was a great opportunity to get this sorted out and booked in. Talked to the fitting company and came up against exactly the same issue. So it would seem I have spent £17,000 + for a car to do a specific job and though it can do it, it can't because MB messed up the VIN.

Methinks we need a get out of jail card for this. Evidently I'm told by the salesman that MB only made 50 of these … Hmmmm… not sure about that one, but I guess, and it sounds like, MB found out, and sorted the VIN plate issue and hoped to get away with the 50 mistakes. Sounds to me as though MB should acknowledge this and fit towbars to those vehicles and underwrite the fit themselves, for those customers who want towbars (Not expecting it to be free, but cost would be a good compromise).

Disappointed though, 60 miles in the car and now having to rethink giving it back, as not fit for purpose.
 

Blobcat

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Hi newbie2 here.

Purchased mine on Wednesday last week, the day before having to go into isolation because my wife has an NHS Operation booked. Discussed at length with the salesman the need for towing, they even supplied the company they use. Anyway locked in the house since Thursday was a great opportunity to get this sorted out and booked in. Talked to the fitting company and came up against exactly the same issue. So it would seem I have spent £17,000 + for a car to do a specific job and though it can do it, it can't because MB messed up the VIN.

Methinks we need a get out of jail card for this. Evidently I'm told by the salesman that MB only made 50 of these … Hmmmm… not sure about that one, but I guess, and it sounds like, MB found out, and sorted the VIN plate issue and hoped to get away with the 50 mistakes. Sounds to me as though MB should acknowledge this and fit towbars to those vehicles and underwrite the fit themselves, for those customers who want towbars (Not expecting it to be free, but cost would be a good compromise).

Disappointed though, 60 miles in the car and now having to rethink giving it back, as not fit for purpose.
MB Salesmen will say just about anything... get them to write it down...:rolleyes:
Unless your VIN has figures for towing you can't tow and won't be insured if you do fit a towbar. So if you need to tow then you need to change the car.

The issue is that with the AMG bodykit Mercedes didn't send them for type approval (they don't for real AMG's either) as they don't expect AMG owners (and those with just the bodykit) to want to tow anything
 

V6Matty

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MB Salesmen will say just about anything... get them to write it down...:rolleyes:
Unless your VIN has figures for towing you can't tow and won't be insured if you do fit a towbar. So if you need to tow then you need to change the car.

The issue is that with the AMG bodykit Mercedes didn't send them for type approval (they don't for real AMG's either) as they don't expect AMG owners (and those with just the bodykit) to want to tow anything
Not so sure in that Russ, my 212 does have the AMG body kit and is type approved still with factory tow bar fitted
 

Blobcat

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Not so sure in that Russ, my 212 does have the AMG body kit and is type approved still with factory tow bar fitted
Some they did, some they didn't, don't know the rhyme or reason (I expect an account will somewhere...)
 

ajlsl600

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That's what we thought too, but Merc say they can't change the plate... I was wondering if anyone else has this model and can tell me if theirs shows a towing weight on the VIN.


This is not the first time this has come up there was a posting from a guy who bought an estate, forget model that sales told him could tow and then turned out, legally he could not. Search. You may find out more, I think eventually they took the car back?
If yr over 50 it would never occur to you that one could buy a 2 lt + estate car that as built, can't tow. If dealer telling you to go somewhere where they won't check, get it in writing, or tell them to organize it, then trot of to trading standards.
 

BOB HARVEY

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I have also been had with this situation from Syntner Northampton, no one in this dealership knew anything about type approval for towing, not even the technicians.

I wrote to MB Milton Keynes - UK Head Office, where they opened a case and took it up with the dealership, my email as follows confirming the situation;

“Many thanks for your email and advising me that you have opened a case, in order to investigate the situation further.

I wanted to advise you that I did not send you an email, but in fact I discussed it over the phone with Rebecca, due to the urgency of the situation. When I asked when I can expect a response, I was told that I can expect a response from Customer Services within 24 hours.

Although I am on holiday at the moment and do not have all the information at hand, perhaps this gives me the opportunity to confirm the situation and additional costs that I have incurred to you and include some new ones that have materialised since our phone conversation.

I purchased a Mercedes E220 AMG Night Edition Premium in grey, registration KR65 —-, which I absolutely loved, for £18,500, plus the cost of Star Guard Protection £465?, cost of registration number transfer £80, purchase of a tow bar £465. Total outlay of £19,510.
As this car was purchased primarily for towing a caravan, when I asked its suitability for towing, I was told on numerous occasions that this car was suitable for towing a caravan, in fact I enquired as whether they could arrange for a tow bar to be fitted, which they couldn’t and suggested I make my own arrangements.

It was only when I arranged for a tow bar fitter to fit the tow bar on 3rd August, he advised that it was illegal to fit a tow bar on my car, as it did not display any towing weights on the VIN plate, it was not Type Approved. This was a complete shock to me and we had a holiday booked and paid for in Cornwall on 8th August.

I visited Mercedes Northampton on Monday morning, once I had this information confirmed to me and advised them that the car they sold to me was, not fit for purpose. They reaction was surprising, as they appeared to know nothing of the information I shared with them, or the forums on social media that also confirmed this. They even checked with their technicians, who were also not aware of it.

I am absolutely horrified that a Mercedes dealership do not have sufficient product knowledge to advise their customers of the suitability of their vehicles and willingly sell their products that are not fit for purpose - unbelievable!

The car salesman suggested that I part exchange my vehicle against another one and after 3 hours spent discussing this, even then they were having to check if the log books were showing towing limits. Eventually a car turned up that could be suitable, it was newer, less mileage, less specification and not the colour I preferred, but more expensive and situated at Bedford dealership.

I was offered a part exchange value of £13,000 for my car, which was only 9 weeks in my procession, I protested at this as I felt insulted, it was then referred back to the manager, who altered it to £17,000 and delighted in telling me how they are going to lose out, of course I felt sorry for him - not! Even then, I felt that I should not be out of pocket through no fault of mine, as I was sold a car not fit for purpose. I have lost out a total of £2,510.

It got to the point where I wanted to leave and go to Ford, where I have received great service in the past. Having said that, I have also been in procession of three previous Mercedes cars and received good service. In the end I had a holiday looming and they could get me a car at the end of the next day, but I needed to get a tow bar fitted the following day, at great expense, in order for me to go on holiday the day after that.

I therefore felt under pressure and reluctantly accepted the alternative car, but still felt disillusioned that I should not be out of pocket with this transaction. That was when I contacted you to advise you of this ridiculous situation.

I would appreciate your help and assistance with this matter in order to resolve this issue and hopefully reclaim what I consider to be an out of pocket monetary loss.

Best regards




Sent from my iPad

On 8 Aug 2019, at 16:28, "cs.uk@cac.mercedes-benz.com" <cs.uk@cac.mercedes-benz.com> wrote:



8th August 2019

Ref: CS-1-22974281175

Dear Mr B

Mercedes-Benz Model: Mercedes-Benz E-Class
Chassis No: WDD2122012B——-
Registration: KR65 —-

Thank you for your email which was received at this office on 6th August 2019 via Head Office.

I am extremely sorry that your experience of Mercedes-Benz has caused you to contact us. Based on the content of your email I’ve opened a case file in order to investigate further. This process can take up to five working days and I ask for your patience during this time. I will contact you again as soon as I am in a position to advise you further.

In the meantime, should you wish to contact me to discuss any aspect of the investigation please do not hesitate to do so on 00800 9 777 777 7 and quote the reference number noted above.

Yours sincerely

Customer Service UK

Mercedes-Benz UK Customer Service can be contacted by telephone on 008 009 777 7777 or 0207 660 9993, Monday - Friday between 08:00 & 18:00.

Mercedes-Benz Customer Assistance Center Maastricht N.V. Gelissendomein 5, 6229 GK Maastricht , Netherlands. Register No.: K.v.K. Limburg 33014909

The out come of this is, I ended up with a face lift 2017 e220d SE, which did not have the extras I really wanted, not the colour I wanted and all I got was a free 2 year service plan, which has only just been agreed, a lot of hassle caused by an ignorant dealership with no knowledge of their products.

I was very tempted to go to the Ombudsman about this, but did not want to go through all the hassle again, it was wearing me out!

I found out eventually that the AMG Night Edition can have a factory fitted tow bar fitted from new, but not once it has left the factory, as it takes the Co2 level to a higher level, due to extra weight of the vehicle. The only conclusion I can draw from this is, the factory fitted tow bar is lighter than an aftermarket one and doesn’t push the weight of the vehicle up as much.

MB need to get their act together and start communicating this problem throughout their dealership network, as many owners are driving illegally - there is a massive void here! I have even spoke to tow bar fitters who know nothing about type approval on vehicles and do not check the manufacturers VIN plate.
 

BOB HARVEY

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i have just had this same experience why dont mercedes publish in their handbook under towing that the vehicle must be type approved as follows and show an id plate where you can tow and one that you cannot tow wouldn't that help. also the staff at all the dealerships are unaware of this problem can't believe mercy are not addressing this problem as posts here are several years old come on mercedes sort it regards bob
 

s5tuart

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My handbook tells me which CLS can’t tow. Namely the 63
 

EmilysDad

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i have just had this same experience why dont mercedes publish in their handbook under towing that the vehicle must be type approved as follows and show an id plate where you can tow and one that you cannot tow wouldn't that help. also the staff at all the dealerships are unaware of this problem can't believe mercy are not addressing this problem as posts here are several years old come on mercedes sort it regards bob

They do, like all car manufacturers, they fit a VIN plate with both max axle weights along with both gross vehicle weight and gross train weight. If there are only 2 weights showing ... like my Smart .... then the vehicle isn't type approved for towing.

Though I agree that if you go into a car dealership & say I want that car & I want it to tow my trailer, then the sales staff should know that car can tow or not.
 

BOB HARVEY

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E 350 CDI SPORT ESTATE AMG
yes you are correct but my point is why it doesn't explain this in the mercedes handbook -surely most customers will not know what a vin plate refers to with regards to towing -this needs to be explained in their handbook and it isn't--come on mercedes get it right !!
 

LostKiwi

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To be fair if you tow you should be aware of the legal aspects of doing so.
Even if MB put it in the handbook most people never read them anyway (we know this from the number of "How do I turn X on or off on my car" or "What does this button do" type questions we get on here).

The responsibility with determining if a vehicle is fit for purpose surely resides with the purchaser since they are the only ones who know how they will use it!
Fair enough complaining about MB sales staff - they should know these things but it's not MBs issue. They provide the information on the plate attached to the vehicle after all.
 
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