New member looking for advice - about to give up on MB for good

Cole@MBS

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Southampton
Website
www.mbssouthampton.co.uk
Your Mercedes
124 300 CE 24 Coupe, C220CDI, Porsche 911 4s, Dolomite sprint,
Well my car has 250,000 miles, 6 yrs old and i love driving it. It is so nice yet drives like it only has 50,000.
My previous golf had 225,000 ,was very well looked after, never driven in anger yet you knew it had serious miles when driving it as it was worn out (but engine was very good).
I joined here to learn how to fix things and general help with my car.
I also have rust which no other car of similar age has including the cheap and not so nice protons,kia,s and perodua so i do have something to moan about !;)

About time we see it for a service :D:D:D
 

Rappey69

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hants
Your Mercedes
c220 w204 amg sport
I only do 3k a year and it aint due for another 4k miles...;)
 

dervmerc

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Hello everyone.

I'd like to introduce myself and to let you know why I'm here. My name is Simon and I'm fairly average family guy from Somerset. I own a C220 CDI which I bought as an MB approved used car almost 3 years ago and it's one of the nicest cars I've owned.

The reason I'm here is that I've just about run out of patience with MB and I'm about to sell my car and walk away from the brand for good but I thought I'd share (vent) my experiences and seek input from other owners before throwing in the towel.

My car was 1st registered in 2002 but I bought it with 77k miles in 2006. I bought it from an authorised dealer in Somerset as a approved used car and I was smitten from the start. This was my 1st Merc and the buying experience and early ownership certainly lived up to expectations. I was a happy.

Things started to go wrong at the 1st service, 1 year later when I was given my 1st unexpected bill. This was for £500 to reline the brakes (something which the salesman had assured me would be done before I purchased the car). I grumbled but paid it and tried to forget about it.

And then things hit a roll.....

Rear axle failed (warranty)

Alternator failed - £624

Aircon failed - £619

Aircon failed again - £342

Parking brake failed - £100

Bodywork penetration noticed - £200 (I had to make a contribution to MB "goodwill" for 30 year bodywork "warranty")

Starter motor failed - £535

Signal acquisition module failed - £270

Wheel alignment - £300

Injectors & middle catalyst - £800

Back catalyst (1 month later!) - £500

So in less than 3 years I've spent almost £5000 on repairs on a car which came from MB and has been serviced by them since.

The last straw was that whilst the car was collected from the dealer after the most recent fault (mid catalyst) I noticed marks to the paintwork caused by bird droppings or "bird-lime" as it seems to be called in thre trade. The dealer is in Weston Super Mare and I'm sure it was the victim of an assault by local sea-gulls. The problem was that the paint seemed to have been burned by the bird-lime and several large streaks were clearly visible on the driver's door. I pointed this out to the service manager, who sought advice from the bosyshop manager, who told be it was due to defective paint. Fast forward to the dealer who had recently resprayed the door as part of the anti-corrosion warranty, who told me to take it up with his supplier (MB approved body shop) who then told me there was nothing wrong and I should have washed my car sooner!

A call to MB customer service was made and I asked them to bang heads together to get one of the dealers to take responsbility and sort out the burned paint. I received a phone call from MB customer services a few days later to be informed that they had conducted an investigation and that there was no fault with the paint and further the marks were already present when the car was taken to them. I was fuming, and told them so but they would not listen!!!

So I took the car to a local bodyshop where the marks were polished out within 10 minutes for £10!! Now why couldn't either of the 2 dealers have done this or their approved body shop?

The last straw has been applied and my back is broken. I've decided to sell the car and buy something Japanese.

Now if you are still with me, perhaps you could offer some insight.

Is this normal? Is it me?

Thanks for your time, I hope you have more luck than I have with MB.

Simon:mad:

Sorry to hear about your bad luck.Mercedes build quality was, I've learned on here,suspect to say the least between 2002 and 2004 .Bodywork was an issue which Mercedes in my case,rectified to my utmost satisfaction with no cost to me.

I too bought a 220 cdi Dec 2002 with 78k miles but apart from a foot handbrake ratchet at a miniscule cost for the part and 5 mins to fit, I've only put fuel in the tank,taxed it and just put it through an MOT with no advisories even so I guess I'm the lucky contrast to yourself.Maybe my luck has increased my regard of the marque whereas you feel the opposite.Maybe you should consider another Merc which could then restore your belief that Mercedes do make good cars?
 

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