A160 Petrol Smell

[Interpreter]

This is the latest of a long line of apalling failures of this car - details to follow. In the meantime has the terrible fuel smell inside this model of car been solved yet? I once heard that it was the fuel tank breather pipe that sometimes gets blocked - is that true and what can be done?

I purchased my car from a Merceds dealership from whom I had purchased 3 Mercdes in previous years. 14000 miles on the clock and the front seat collapsed 5 TIMES! They said it had been repaired/replaced under warranty but now at 61,00 it is as bad as ever and no warranty. Both front steering bushes, both front supension bushes and both rear suspension bushes replaced under warrnaty. Despite this car having been driven on metalled roads only - and 95% of the time with one person on board BOTH rear coils springs fractured! I asked Merceds for their comments through the dealership about this catalogue of disasters and Mercedes reply was those faults are OK for 60,000 miles. What a disaster of a car. I was about to purchase a new S class 500 but no way will I touch a Mercedes if that is there attidued to a good customer.

 

[Thetechnician]

have a look behind the airbox, there is a fuel feed from the tank to the rail, there is a metal pipe which goes through the car, and meets a rubber fuel pipe, this normailly needs the clip replacing. have a look.

 

[davebox]

Hi Interpreter! I hope you do not give MB's your custom. I've had a running with them and even though I'd buy another Merc, I'd use a supermarket. The level of service from my dealer is not worth the bother or expense. By the look of things, yours is the same.
If we vote with our feet maybe MB's will take notice.
No customers = no money = willing to talk, well we can all dream

 

[turnipsock]

I saw a repeat of Top Gear today. It seems that in 1994 MB were top of the dealership customer satisfaction list.

A couple of years ago (top gear was a repeat) they were 11th from the bottom. I fear they may have dropped even further since then.

Anybody know why?

 

[television]

I saw a repeat of Top Gear today. It seems that in 1994 MB were top of the dealership customer satisfaction list.

A couple of years ago (top gear was a repeat) they were 11th from the bottom. I fear they may have dropped even further since then.

Anybody know why?

Do you know Turnipsock, I feel so sad for some of the people in recent threads, Heads going, exhaust manifolds, gerboxes, these are people who thought they were buying something better than the average, these people are having to pay out sums of £1000 + just to keep their carefully driven cars going, Maybe I am out of date re earnings, but down here where I live its a lot of money. MB want to make a proffit out of their mistakes, it is getting worse by every month that passes, almost all of the recent postings are from new members who cant believe what they are told by MB. How can the customer be responsible for a fault in the casting of a cylinder head, or a exhaust manifold. What ever the customer did or the way he drove, he cant damage those items. Yet MB want the top money to fix, instrument clusters at£700 its stupid and unkind. At least with BMW that had problem with the pod (cluster) they are now giving a 5 year guarantee.
I do sometimes fear for the worst in the long run. In this country with TV's Bush and Murphy were the best followed by KB ,even Quad and wharfedale(60's) the arrogance of these firms was their down fall. they were arrogant unaproachable re service,the amount of mods,suggested by engineer's went unheaded, the thorn group were told of their mains switches that caught fire, they said that they did not, they have all gone, even the almighty grundig.
Its a long time since I have seen a happy thread, or it feels that way.

malcolm

 

[Jay Kilby]

i have a SL500 made in 1981. whilst looking at the exhaust system with my chosen mechanic we both commented about how over engineered the components were, wish bones, drive shafts, propshaft, ball joints....the list goes on and on. after we had finished he put a two year old C Class up to compare, and i am sad to say everything has been cut back and that is just on the things you see. i am afraid new MB's are built for profit at any cost and that means cutting back on the engineering and production techniques.
MB used to be proud to build quality items for a reasonable profit. they are now producing tat that is no better that a ford mondeo but you are still paying top dollor. when will people realise the reality and stop buying them? untill then you will have to put up with snotty dealers and substandard goods (for the price paid) MB will not change until we force them.

 

[maldon]

Petrol smell is a known fault and easily fixed - well, that is what our dealership told us. I bought (privately) an A Class for the Mrs - she took it in and the problem was fixed quickly and at little cost.

Sorry, am unable to elaborate on what had gone wrong - was cheap enough for me to just cough up and forget about.

 

[Interpreter]

Petrol smell

Maldon, Can you tell me which dealership you took your car to please.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[maldon]

Was Lancaster Mercedes, Colchester Essex.

Is Justoff the A12 if you are in this part of the world.

From what I gather, is a common fault. I don't know if the fix thetechnician talks about is the same - I get the feeling it is.

 

[OlafMaxwell]

Well said Malcolm. I have to agree. Arrogance is fine but eventually the customer sees the light. As my friend at Lexus says, our best sales tool for years has been the MB service department and customer service.

 

[OlafMaxwell]

Apart from anything else here it does seem the A class is best avoided. Its a shame MB could not address some of these safety issues. There is a big case for a lemon law here too. Having said that I had a problem car which was on a lease and we discovered it was possible to throw all of the troubles back to the leasing company provided you meticulously follow the servicing schedules.

 

[sheriff]

Apart from anything else here it does seem the A class is best avoided. Its a shame MB could not address some of these safety issues. There is a big case for a lemon law here too. Having said that I had a problem car which was on a lease and we discovered it was possible to throw all of the troubles back to the leasing company provided you meticulously follow the servicing schedules.

I think you'll find that the only REALLY common faults were spring breakage, and occasionally wear on the steering column joints. Admittedly, springs breaking is a pretty serious fault, but it appears that Mercedes did address the problems, as they only seem to plague the earlier models. It's a real shame that the stigma has carried over to the later models, as if you actually owned/drove one for a while, I think you would be pleasantly surprised.
When people stand up and say "don't buy one, they're rubbish", how many actually have any personal experience, not what they read, or a mate down the pub told them ?
Lets not forget, the A class isn't the only modern Mercedes to have issues, take a read through any of the MB forums, but it usually costs an awful lot less to buy one in the first place.