Urgent help/advice required ref replacement key !

[alanlincs]

Suffering a frustrating time at my local dealership...I ordered a extra key for my CLK 320 [2002] at a cost of £215 when I went to collect...it didnt open the doors or start ignition-remote not working at all?,,,on further inspection by the parts guy it appears the chassis numbers didnt match up with their records for the vehicle...after 3 weeks of making 90 mile round trips to the dealership and many emails to and from MB Germany and uk HQ ..it has now discovered that several parts on my vehicle ie The Engine Control Unit and also the E.I.S. Switch have been replaced from those from another vehicle which is now believed to have been stolen and never recovered so MB are now refusing to provide a new key as all dealings with parts for this other 'stolen' vehicle have been blocked.
This leaves me in a very difficult situation as obviously I was not aware of any changes made to my vehicle before I purchased it in good faith and also the previous owner who had it for 4 years was not aware of it being altered....this as been going on for 6 weeks now...I have parted with £215 and still am scared stiff of losing my one key...my vehicle has never been stolen so as far as I know...I shouldnt be having a problem...or should I ??
Any advice would be very much appreciated...it is my first MB and I love it to bits but this experience is driving me and the family mad..Heeeelllpp !

 

[Cole@MBS]

Oh dear, this does leave you with massive problems, everything is coded so if that is the case, well, i really dont know where you go from here???

This is the problem we all face when buying a 2nd hand merc, see what the other guys come up with but the only way i can see is to replace all the stolen parts for new, that will really cost,

Welcome to the forums

 

[alanlincs]

Oh and by the way Hi everyone I am so glad I found this site..it has given me a bit of hope!

 

[Cole@MBS]

Glad to have you here Alan, Just ask us something simple next time!!!

 

[television]

Suffering a frustrating time at my local dealership...I ordered a extra key for my CLK 320 [2002] at a cost of £215 when I went to collect...it didnt open the doors or start ignition-remote not working at all?,,,on further inspection by the parts guy it appears the chassis numbers didnt match up with their records for the vehicle...after 3 weeks of making 90 mile round trips to the dealership and many emails to and from MB Germany and uk HQ ..it has now discovered that several parts on my vehicle ie The Engine Control Unit and also the E.I.S. Switch have been replaced from those from another vehicle which is now believed to have been stolen and never recovered so MB are now refusing to provide a new key as all dealings with parts for this other 'stolen' vehicle have been blocked.
This leaves me in a very difficult situation as obviously I was not aware of any changes made to my vehicle before I purchased it in good faith and also the previous owner who had it for 4 years was not aware of it being altered....this as been going on for 6 weeks now...I have parted with £215 and still am scared stiff of losing my one key...my vehicle has never been stolen so as far as I know...I shouldnt be having a problem...or should I ??
Any advice would be very much appreciated...it is my first MB and I love it to bits but this experience is driving me and the family mad..Heeeelllpp !

Hello and welcome, with your not such good news.

Now how could MB find out that your parts have come from a stolen car, only by reading the info on your existing key, or reading the data in the car could one tell.

The car could be put onto STAR and the info read out.

S-A-M knows how to do that

 

[Hertfordshire Merx]

Welcome to the forums.

Unfortunately Sam Unit is right and this leaves you in a pickle. There are a few chassis coded components deliberately fitted to Mercedes as an addition to the anti theft system. I dont know what you can do as in particular with the EIS and engine control unit, the chassis number is coded into them. Once this has been permanently assigned to the vehicle its locked to the car its fitted to.

Realistically, the components should be replaced and coded but this would cost heaven and earth to do.

Oh and dont go buying a key off of ebay as as you have found out they are programmed by the factory to work with your car and they cant be recoded either. Reason I say this is because I had a customer this morning wanting me to code his ebay key to his car. Was totally furious with me at first as I told him it couldn't be done thinking I wanted him to buy a new key off me and 'waste more money'. He then got upset with MB for designing such a system, and he finally left wanting the seller to be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life!!!

Then the customer is always right!

 

[Cole@MBS]

Hello and welcome, with your not such good news.

Now how could MB find out that your parts have come from a stolen car, only by reading the info on your existing key, or reading the data in the car could one tell.

The car could be put onto STAR and the info read out.

S-A-M knows how to do that

Yes i do malc, but as H/M has just added, it sounds like thats what the chaps merc dealer has done, its a no win situation!

 

[alanlincs]

thanks for the flag up re ebay...I must admit I was tempted!

 

[alanlincs]

Thanks very much for your help and advice so far....bit of further info...I did do a text check on the vehicle which came back all clear...not stolen/not scrapped...I did buy it from a private seller who I have contacted re this problem and he has no knowledge as to why the engine control unit and EIS switch were changed before he purchased from its original owner.[3 owners inc me]..all I can think is the 1st owner lost their key or keys and decided to buy'cheap' the parts...had them fitted by a non MB dealer and carried on as normal....I did ask MB what the alternative would be = new ECU/EIS/keys total cost £1.500 plus!
MB are clearly telling me that my car has never been stolen but the parts which have been changed were from a stolen/never recovered vehicle and that is their reason for blocking the sale of another key to match the serial numbers to these parts....a real pain...I am the inocent party ...not even sure if I will get my £215 back as they could argue that they have already offered me a key to match my chassis number and its not their fault that it doesnt work?....

 

[outsmartsmart]

You say the vehicle was "stolen/not recovered"?

That is a generic statement, dunno how but check with insurance company (there is an insurance database thingy about stolen cars and that) as it may well have been "stolen/not recovered" in the period the insurance company sets before it pays out. After that it could well have turned up and been broken/scrapped, whatever.

Also, trying to forget your sorry tale (sorry) is this implying you can NEVER use 2nd hand parts of various things on a Merc'????

 

[television]

On cars with EIS these are the ones where everything is coded to the car

 

[alanlincs]

Must be honest not sure re 2nd hand parts...its an whole new ball game for me...I would be very suprised if that were the case!...I think its just because my parts fitted were from a stolen vehicle...dont supose you could enlighten me on that Insurance data base site?..cheers Alan

 

[discoking]

So if they can't recode the key you got because of stolen parts then how is your current key working or is your key 'stolen' also?

 

[carabind]

I know MB dealers are a pain for aftersales, but this is why I prefer to buy my cars from them .(nearly new from MB Direct) At least if something goes wrong, no-one is better placed to sort it out.
As current "new" cars slips down the life chain to say 6-8 years old , I wonder at what stage they become uneconomical to repair? Particularly if you need main dealer help at £150/hour....

 

[television]

So if they can't recode the key you got because of stolen parts then how is your current key working or is your key 'stolen' also?

The key must have come from the other car,so hardly likely to have been stolen. I wonder if the metal part fits the locks though that is interchangeable

 

[mikestrivens]

...Particularly if you need main dealer help at £150/hour....

Which dealer charges £150 per hour? MB Manchester charge around £66.50 per hour and I get at least 33% discount off that.

 

[television]

Which dealer charges £150 per hour? MB Manchester charge around £66.50 per hour and I get at least 33% discount off that.

Its £150 in London and £110 plus vat down here in the west country

 

[brianbrian]

If you have stolen parts on your car plus the key I am surprised that the police have not got involved to try and trace who and where they got them from

 

[Miffy]

any chance MB letting you know when it was registered stolen? it may give you some leverage somewhere?

 

[Jay Gee]

The question here surely is -Why would an apparently 'clean' car have required such major and dubious surgery relatively early in its life?The OP's VIN has not rung any alarm bells.The previous owner has had no work done on the suspect components,so did someone,maybe out of warranty and faced with a major bill take a 'helping hand'? i.e. Can help you out here-got a write off-£500 all the parts ya need. Worrying!