RESOLVED->NEED Help! Aircon standard on a C220 Classic 20

[jez275]

Updated 25/4/03 ****Many thanks to Piestore and Rozzer and everyone else on this.

Mercedes have agreed to retro fit the Aircon at no charge "as a gesture of goodwill", which that garage valued at £3,500!

thanks again

Jez

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If you can help me on this one then I'd really appreciate it.

I ordered my dream car last August (2002) using the price list and spec (dated 1st Nov 2001) that had been given to me month before.

I opted for a black C220i cdi CLASSIC and looking at the brochure, price list (and sales person) understood that it had air con as standard( "Automatic Climate Control" is listed under "Standard Equipment").

The car was delivered a week before Xmas 2002.

With the weather turning a couple of weeks ago I set the temp to the lower setting and noticed no aircon, which I've subsequently confirmed.

Now I understand that Mercedes made aircon an extra at some point last year. Anyone know when? If its AFTER the date I ordered (Aug 23rd) then I've an arguement that either the Garage or Interleasing should have informed me that it was nolonger included and I have a chance of getting them to retro-fit it.

Any comments?

Jez

 

[fuzzer]

Ive got a pricelist dated June 17th 2002 and it says in there about having to order the SE pack to get aircon.

Did you not get any pricelists when you ordered the car that told you about spec?

 

[jez275]

Jason,

No. As it was part of a work scheme, it was a question of deciding what you wanted from the list and then phoning Interleasing.

I didnt put aircon down as an "extra" as I genuinely believed it was standard, and the brochure and pricelist i was working from said it was.

It appears they removed it (at some point) from the standard spec after 1st November 2001 (my brochure) but before I received it (Dec 02).

If what you're saying is correct and they changed it before I ordered in August then I'm knackered. I'm just so annoyed about this as noone told me (infact completly the opposite) and I wouldnt dream of spending £22,000 on a car without aircon.

thanks for the assistance on this

Jez

 

[piestore]

Air Con

Hi

I must admit to being a little in the dark here. I assume that you are talking about the late C class (203) I thought that A/C was standard on all models and I have never seen one without it and Ive seen plenty. AAC (automatic air con) is an option but you should still have Air conditioning.

On the heater control panel have you got a button labeled EC if you have the car has Air con and this is the button to switch it off (Economy) If the LED in this button is illuminated the A/c is off, press the switch and you should get LED out and cold air, if you do not get cold air there is a fault.

I will check this and confirm only if A/C is an option

 

[jez275]

piestore, thanks for the comments

No, I do not have the EC button.

I took the car into Mercedes Nottingham believing there was merely a fault and the engineer said it had not been fitted. The sales people didnt want to get involved as they said that they had not supplied it (interleasing buy from the cheapest UK dealer and had got it from Newcastle!).

The salesman did say that sometime last year they made AC an option on the Classic in order to reduce the peceived price of the car. My point is whether I can argue with Interleasing/Mercedes that they should have told me or I ordered when it was a standard.

I'm so angry about this as I can believe I can buy a quality car at £22k with AC removed due to Mercedes wishing to make the car appear cheaper.

Jez

 

[piestore]

AC

Hi

As I said in my previous post Ive never seen a 203 Cclass without A/C and I would be very upset if it had happened to me. Post me the full Chassis Number and I will check that it is a UK car it sounds like it may be an import !!!! In which case you would have a very strong argument.

 

[jez275]

Piestore

Thanks for the help. Glad you think I may have a case.

The plate on the inside of the doore reads:
TYP 203
P2 3
WDC 2030062R087533

Cheers

Jez

 

[jez275]

Just a quick update to say that Interleasing are giving me the impression that they think I've been done on this and are investigating the costs associated with terminating the contract early and re-ordering, and hopfully bearing this cost themselves.

We will see!

Cheers to all

Jez

 

[jez275]

Sorted - see top!