How's your luck?

[lulu]

I recently (Oct 05!) smashed my leg very badly in a motorcycle accident leaving me on crutches since then. After being told it was going to be a further 6 months (at least) on crutches, decided to sell the car and buy and automatic.
The obvious choice to my thinking was a Mercedes. I quite liked the idea of the C220 coupe and bought one last Wednesday. It was less than 12 months old, looks immaculate, 13,000 miles, doesn't need it's first service for another 1,300 miles, sounds great, doesn't it?
Then this morning, got the key to position 1 and the electrics went haywire, the alarm was on continuously, wiper blades wouldn't stop, fault indicator said the front off-side indicator bulb had blown, etc, etc. I had a look under the bonnet and oil had been ****ing all over the near-side front of the engine bay. My guess is that it's shorted all the electrics to earth.
Well, she's now with the local dealer down here in Dorset being looked at under warranty.
I just hope this isn't a taste of things to come.
I'll keep you informed on the outcome and how it's being dealt with under warranty since they weren't the supplying dealers!

 

[jberks]

Sods law, but ..
There are perfectly good cars that are on the dealers forecourt at 12 months old, mine for instance, however there are also the odd lemon that the dealer has been forced to buy back.

I would insist on seeing the full history including all warranty work done on that car since new. Assuming all is well, then you just had a glitch (happens), but if its spent half its life in the workshop (unlikely admittedly with 13k on the clock) you might want to consider handing it back under the 30 day agreement.

I've had several cars play up in the first week, including a new Audi that blew up, but all were fine once sorted.

 

[SJMaxson]

Hope all gets sorted out - there are some good ones out there....

 

[lulu]

Just got her back. Two separate problems that have now been fixed. The electrical problem involved having the fuse box replaced. The oil problem was the filter mounting coming loose. The comfort of having a warranty.

Very pleased with the way Mercedes of Dorchester dealt with it all for me, including cleaning the car and dealing with the hire company for the rental.

I'm possibly expecting you all to say that's the way things are done when you have a Mercedes, but it's completely different to the previous experiences I've had with other makes and their dealers. It doesn't take much, but the right attitude can go a very long way.

 

[television]

I did not know there was a dealer in Dorchester, I am 25 miles from Exeter and and 25 miles from Dorchester, in fact 25 miles from anywhere else.
Is it part of MB south west.

Malcolm

 

[lulu]

I don't know for sure but looking at the different websites and the 'contact us' pages it would appear that Truro, Plymouth, Taunton & Exeter are all part of MB south west, whereas Dorchester appear to be a single outlet by themselves. (Even though all the websites clearly use the same MB template).
For me it was the flip of a coin between Dorchester, and Jacksons in Poole, living as I do mid-way between the two.