A160 Auto Gear Box 65,000 needs replacing

[homeport]

We desperately need advice, had car from new 4 years, always had problem of loss of power and jolting. Mercedes could never find fault, now we have major problem with gear box and we have been told need to replace at a cost of £4,800. We are in shock at the moment. Have contacted mercedes, the main dealer has told us they spoke to mercedes who will not offer any help. Researching tonight there seems to be a lot of this problem about.
Any advice would be appreciated
thanks

 

[dubsport]

Morning ive a A190 W reg with an autobox thats giving me grief at the mo its stuck in F mode i think the £4k plus is a bit dear ive been quoted £1450 fitted with a secondhand box maybe best to look around

 

[television]

For starters MB or any other car manufacture have always been 3 times the price of a geerbox center, Back in 1999 my SAAB box went down, £4k from SAAB, £1.2k from the Exeter Gearbox Center. Your box has valve problems with a new valve block, until the old box is stripped down it would be too hard to say if it requires replacement.


alcolm

 

[homeport]

We are in Chafford Hundred which is on the m25 where would be the nearest garage, the gears are stuck in second we think.

 

[homeport]

was that a supplie price or supply and fit from exeter gearboxs, also is there a contact number for them please

 

[television]

was that a supplie price or supply and fit from exeter gearboxs, also is there a contact number for them please

That was supply and fit, will post details later in the day.

Malcolm

 

[jberks]

The car is 4 years old and the mileage isn't that high. Plus, and very importantly, you've had trouble since new that the dealer has failed to resolve. I wonder whether this is why the dealer is reluctant to make a stink with MB themselves, hoping that their incompetence will be covered by you paying out for a new box.

Call MB Customer services and state that you want your case investigating. MB have a team that are tasked with sorting these kinds of issues and have the power to tell the dealer to take the car back. Insist that your case is looked into by this team.

I'd approach the issue on the basis that the problem has been present since new, causing, as you say, "loss of power and jolting". The dealer has wholly failed to diagnose it competently during the entire warranty period and as a result your gearbox has now failed outside warranty.

On no account would i be paying even £400 for a gearbox repair in such circumstances. At the very least, this should be done FOC and ideally I'd declare the car a lemon and have it replaced. They can do an excellent deal in these circumstances.

Be polite but very firm and you may be surprised at the result.

 

[homeport]

Thank you for that information, it is really useful, could someone explain lemon to me. We phoned mercedes last night, obviously that is something we got right and we have an investigation number so best thing is to sit tight, our problem is we only have one car now. Can you do further damage driving it stuck in second, its slow but it is transport.
We have written proof of the problem during warranty, just found it. Also about the gear box 04 tested and found out of tolerance values in gear box reset all gear box adaptions, not sure if this could be part of problem

 

[jberks]

Your evidence indicates that there were problems at least.
Lemon is a law in the US where if a car have more than x issues, it is declared as a 'Lemon' and the manufacturer has to replace it. No such law here, but MB do take 'Lemons' back in extreme cases. There have been a number of reports on this forum of people who've had cars replaced under these cirumstances.
I'd get on to the dealer in the mean time and insist they find you something to drive. I normally don't have a problem getting a loaner, but on the one occasion I did, I just became intransigent and they found me something! - The managers shiny new E320cdi as it turned out. They are a garage and have lots of cars, so they CAN find you something - if they refuse remember it's because they don't want to and it's inconvenient, not that they can't, so deal accordingly!. He who shouts loudest wins!

 

[Micman]

keep trying!

Hi,

I used to own a 1999 A190, I bought it as a one year old with the remainder of the 3 year warranty.

The car was great, I had a manual, the only problem I ever had with the gearbox was a linkage rod failed and I couldn't get it into 1st!!

That was easily fixed, but I did suffer a problem when the rear wishbones / suspension collapsed!! A very common fault on the Aclass i then discovered, not to mention dangerous!

I kept that car serviced with Mercedes Benz and when the suspension failed, my car was 8 months outside of the warranty period. After contacting Mercedes Customer support I managed to get all the work carried out by Mercedes as they were aware of the fault with the parts. My main dealer had kept saying the car was outside of the warranty.

So my advice would be don't give up, keep trying, go direct to Mercedes customer service. After all you have owned the car from new and you alerted them to suspicious problems with the car while it was still under warranty. If you still get nowhere then shop around for a replacement gearbox, don't get it from a Mercedes dealer, they will charge an arm and a leg to fit it.

Good luck


Micman
2004 C180K

 

[homeport]

We are off to the dealer now. I have asked for a loan vehichle and they said no, they had none, so I polietly asked them to try harder. Also talk of dealer doing some kind of deal, but it sounds as if it will still be expensive. Have whole record of problems from new and we think the loss of power, jolting and this latest issue are connected. We just need to persuade our dealer of that.
They have a don't care attitude, but I did learn that the investigation team contacted them this morning, so hopefully they have all our records now and will be fair with us.

 

[jberks]

If they still refuse a loan car, just point to something on their used forecourt and say "I'll take that". They can't really argue, it's their property so they could lend it to you ... Either that or accept a test drive, drive to your house and then tell the salesman you're keeping it until yours is ready and would he like to use the phone to call for a lift back to the dealership?
As intransigent as they get, just get more so. They'll break first.

 

[homeport]

Well back from the dealer, no loan car, they literally said that they would not loan one until a price is agreed for the work. In case we are arguing about it for weeks.
We stayed calm and listened to their offer which is now 3,300 instead of 4,600. Apparently although mercedes received help they can get it through MB anoother route, does not make sense. Oh he also admitted it was a manufacturer fault on the gear box, but they are still expecting us to pay and he said we were better off because we would get a two year warranty, whereas if it was done free we get no warranty on the job,
We told them no we were not prepared to pay for the job nd it has been left that they will go back to MB and try and get a bit more help. They said the fault could not be related to the other problems because the F warning sign would have come up then, he said it was a specific fault now.
So we wait and I think we are going to hire a car.
I might go and stand outside with a placard saturday and see if that helps
(joking) but they did take us into a back room after a woman waiting for her c class for three days (service) agreed they were crap and we told her what was going on. They were not too impressed with that.

 

[Blobcat]

Get some nice large really bright poster paper, write all your car woes on it then stick it in the window of the car and park it across the dealers doors. (Suggestion borrowed from Malcolm)

 

[homeport]

That seems a good idea, seriously it is so frustrating. Especially as they admit manufacture fault and still will not do it.

 

[bibamus]

Can you do further damage driving it stuck in second, its slow but it is transport.

I wouldnt drive it. You have told MB of the fault, driving it more could result in further damage and you may lose your right to any claim. They could argue that before you drove it, the box may have been salvageable, after driving it with a known fault, you have increased the damage and they would not be liable. Cynical, I know, but I am sure they will want to limit their liability by any means and driving it with a known fault could give them the ammunition.
Also, if you want a loaner from them, your case will be stronger as you have no transport available to you, and, if they are going to repair it, let them collect the car too.
Anyway, good luck, lets hope for a positive result!

Allan

 

[mioba]

you need to push really hard with MB customer services, They are really just intermediaries between you and the dealer.
They often humm and hahhh and will try to fob you off. If you get this response demand speaking to someone more senior and keep going.

 

[television]

That seems a good idea, seriously it is so frustrating. Especially as they admit manufacture fault and still will not do it.

I have pages of info followed up by do not tell customer, other things where it states manufacturing fault, but no offer for poor customer like the faulty cylinder heads where the customer cant possibly damage it, other thing where the wrong data is down loaded and the customer has to pay.

Malcolm

 

[Nencrono]

Honest John (Daily Telegraph) says great things about King's Automatics, Epsom, if MB don't offer any help. http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/motoring_answers/index.htm?id=213

A class cars are nototious for self destructing at 3-4 years.

 

[homeport]

Just to update we are still waiting to hear from both MB and the dealer. We are hoping that the longer it takes to hear, the better the news will be. No car loan still, I can only say that the walk back and forth to the garage must be helping us to keep fit.
Thank you for all your help and advice, will let you know when we know.
thanks