I have registered here especially to send a warning to other Mercedes owners. My husband collected his first Mercedes 5 weeks ago - an absolutely beautiful brand new Mercedes C-Class Elegance - we loved it. It was going to be a lightly used car because we have an old run-around for work etc. We did a few trips but only put 500 miles on the clock in the first 3 weeks.
At the weekend, we took it out of the garage to wash it and then returned it, locked it and closed the garage door. The boot was firmly closed and in fact was not opened that day. The Mercedes keys were put safely in a drawer. Three days later, my husband decided to use the car - he put the keys of the Mercedes in his pocket and went to move the old car out of the drive.
Then he opened the garage - but the door stopped with a clang before going fully up. He thought it had just jammed so took it down and tried again with the same results. When he crawled under the door to look and see what was going on, he was horrified to discover that the boot was fully open and the garage door had hit it on the way up. It was scratched, badly dented and twisted out of shape through being pushed beyond its limits.
As you can imagine, we are absolutely sick about it. The car is now in the repair shop waiting for a new boot to be delivered. Luckily, he has a protected no claims bonus but he still has the excess to pay and cannot afford another mishap in the next year. Worst, the chances are that the car will never look as good again.
The only way we can see that this happened, is that the remote boot opening button on the key fob was accidentally pressed while the key was in his pocket and this opened the boot behind the closed door of the garage. The manual says you have to press and hold the button - but its only 2 seconds hold. The boot itself goes up like a bullet when you raise it - very powerful and quick.
We contacted Mercedes who say the boot opens like that because that's what their customers wanted - we reckon its downright dangerous. What if someone were leaning over the boot when the button is accidentally pressed? It could brake their jaw or worse! They say that all cars are being manufactured with this facility - I don't think that's true. Remote boot release Yes - swinging wide open at speed, No.
Mercedes also say there is a warning light if the boot is open - fat lot of good that is behind a closed garage. They say it is really difficult to press and hold the button accidentally - we disagree. The buttons are not recessed in any way and they are rounded outwards - pressing against any flat surface could do it.
I saw a post on another forum from a VW Passat owner who had a similar issue - he had his keys in his pocket, inside his house and leant over a kitchen work-surface to open a window. He didn't realise he had pressed the key against the edge of the surface and opened his boot.
Our problem is deciding what to do now. Mercedes say the facility cannot be disabled and suggested reversing into the garage every time. Yeh great - who wants to do that in a modern garage which is built to be just big enough to hold a car? The only other thing we can think of is to put a window in the garage wall and check every time to see if the boot has opened!
So beware all - don't walk away from your car with your keys in your pocket. Just bending down to tie your shoe laces could mean you leave your boot wide open - rain, snow, thieves, anything could result.
Sorry this is so long - but I really think it's worth it to warn people. Has anyone else had similar problems? What's your view on how easily this could happen?
At the weekend, we took it out of the garage to wash it and then returned it, locked it and closed the garage door. The boot was firmly closed and in fact was not opened that day. The Mercedes keys were put safely in a drawer. Three days later, my husband decided to use the car - he put the keys of the Mercedes in his pocket and went to move the old car out of the drive.
Then he opened the garage - but the door stopped with a clang before going fully up. He thought it had just jammed so took it down and tried again with the same results. When he crawled under the door to look and see what was going on, he was horrified to discover that the boot was fully open and the garage door had hit it on the way up. It was scratched, badly dented and twisted out of shape through being pushed beyond its limits.
As you can imagine, we are absolutely sick about it. The car is now in the repair shop waiting for a new boot to be delivered. Luckily, he has a protected no claims bonus but he still has the excess to pay and cannot afford another mishap in the next year. Worst, the chances are that the car will never look as good again.
The only way we can see that this happened, is that the remote boot opening button on the key fob was accidentally pressed while the key was in his pocket and this opened the boot behind the closed door of the garage. The manual says you have to press and hold the button - but its only 2 seconds hold. The boot itself goes up like a bullet when you raise it - very powerful and quick.
We contacted Mercedes who say the boot opens like that because that's what their customers wanted - we reckon its downright dangerous. What if someone were leaning over the boot when the button is accidentally pressed? It could brake their jaw or worse! They say that all cars are being manufactured with this facility - I don't think that's true. Remote boot release Yes - swinging wide open at speed, No.
Mercedes also say there is a warning light if the boot is open - fat lot of good that is behind a closed garage. They say it is really difficult to press and hold the button accidentally - we disagree. The buttons are not recessed in any way and they are rounded outwards - pressing against any flat surface could do it.
I saw a post on another forum from a VW Passat owner who had a similar issue - he had his keys in his pocket, inside his house and leant over a kitchen work-surface to open a window. He didn't realise he had pressed the key against the edge of the surface and opened his boot.
Our problem is deciding what to do now. Mercedes say the facility cannot be disabled and suggested reversing into the garage every time. Yeh great - who wants to do that in a modern garage which is built to be just big enough to hold a car? The only other thing we can think of is to put a window in the garage wall and check every time to see if the boot has opened!
So beware all - don't walk away from your car with your keys in your pocket. Just bending down to tie your shoe laces could mean you leave your boot wide open - rain, snow, thieves, anything could result.
Sorry this is so long - but I really think it's worth it to warn people. Has anyone else had similar problems? What's your view on how easily this could happen?
you have to look on the bright side, chin up
