Spare Lug nuts are way TOO important to replace a tire

oak_ca_disapp

Design flaw????

I recently went through the worst experience with any car in my 30 years of dealing with cars. Two and a half years ago I got a 04' CLK-500 and on Sep 14 I found the right rear tire flat. I was very eager to change it not knowing what I had ahead of me. :lemon:

I am an athletic/fit 45 year old man and could not remove the tire from the car after I removed all lug nuts and was high in the air. :sick: So, I went ahead an called MB Road-side assistance around 8:30 PM PDST and spoke with Michelle, she said: "it might sound estrange, but kick it and it will come out" :confuse:

I thought maybe that will work, after multiple kicks it finally gave in and came out. At that point I was very happy I finally got it out. I went ahead and put the spare tire (I was :confuse: confused why there were spare lug nuts. I thought they were spares in case I lost the other ones and said good thinking Mercedes Benz) with the regular lug nuts, I did noticed that they went in too far and didn't get tight. I lower the jack and the car didn't move it felt as if the emergency brake was engaged. I called again MB road side assistance and they said that I needed to replace the lug nuts for the "Shorter" ones rather than "Spare" ones. So I did it, but the car didn't move at all. I called again and spoke with the same representative and she told me that I need to take car to the shop. So, I left the car parked and had it towed the next day. The local dealer quoted and charged me $1500 to repair it (Replaced wheel bearing, flange, brake shoe and emergency support. Labor itself was $919).

What does the people think about this? To me this is a design flaw and the dealers should warn us about this issue before we buy the cars. Has anyone else gone through the same situation?

oak_ca_disapp

Yeah, they will fix your car for 1500 :shades: (which $1000 is for supposed labor) that's what they care for: MONEY. This is an irresponsible attitude :mad: and we need to raise a protest about it and against Mercedes Benz dealers. Has anyone had this problem before?

shued

Hi, Oak_CA:
That is unlucky for you. In fact, all MB spare tire requires spare nuts. When I picked up my C280 at 2007, the salesperson had told me that information. Such design is not friendly.

iagree

Well, Oak CA, I hope you are still around. Yes a very similar situation happend with us. My husband put the spare on, only we didn't even have the "short" lug nuts in the replacement kit!!! That was what we realized hindsite after the car barely budged when the spare was replaced with the regular lug nuts.
Needless to say, I am so upset!!! One gal was quoted $1600, you were quoted $1500?!? This occurred on the weekend, so I am anxiously awaiting Monday, to hear about the damage that has been done to our vehicle. We have a private Merceds mechanic so I am hoping his quote will be less than the dealership. On that note though, I just placed a call with them to inform them that the car's tire changing kit did not even come with the lug nuts!!! The floor manager told me that he was not familiar with the spare lug nut scenario... I will be calling our mechanic and the dealership service dept. on Monday.
In a nutshell, I am thinking class action lawsuit!!! This is a major design flaw. The spare tire should be shouting with red stickers to warn about the lugnuts!!!
Please respond, if you are still out there.

oak_ca_disapp

I am still in Emeryville and hating Oakland Mercedes. The Service Rep that used to help, just stopped talking to me because I pressure him a lot to help me with this issue to document it. I will never trust this dealer again. :mad:

iagree

Oak, CA, what a bummer. So I spoke with dealership service rep, he said it would cost $155 for inspection, and that he could not vouch for what the mercedes dealership may or may not, or even at all, cover... So my husband and I opted that it would be best to have it towed to our private less expensive very good mercedes mechanic. At this point I will have to communicate with the dealership in accordance with the work I've had done out of my pocket.
I am curious to see what stance they will take. I will start w/ phone call again, then a friendly informative letter, then I will contact an attorney who may be interested in a class action lawsuit.
The issue I have with them is that the lugnuts WERE NOT EVEN SUPPLIED in the changing kit! I purchased a certified preowned, which they claim is thoroughly inspected numerous times. Well they failed to inpect the tire changing kit!!! :confuse:

oak_ca_disapp

So, Iagree How much did you end up spending on that repair? I forgot to mention that afterwards I presented this case to my car's insurance and they cover it as part of the comprehensive coverage. Which will play a role against my premium and in fact they raised it for this new year's renewal. :mad:
Are you going to take action to file a class action lawsuit? I will join you if you do. I think Oakland Mercedes dealer is responsible for these incidents and they should come forward and pay us back and compensate us for this inconvenience! :lemon:

iagree

Well, it only cost me $80. The spring broke, part of the emergency break on rear tire. And part of the emergency break disc broke off, but my mechanic did not change it because he said no big deal. He explained that if he did replace it that he would have to order the whole kit, and replace the other one too.
So, I was very happy only to pay $80. I decided not to pursue dealership for reimbursement due to the reception I had received already from them. I didn't feel like spinning my wheels for $80, no pun intended, to have them turn me down.
Btw, the tow truck driver found the lug nuts. He said, "Oh, sometimes they're somewhere else in the trunk." He found them in one of the side compartments of trunk. Still not where they should have been, in with the spare tire!
Alas, this is where I have left the situation thus far...

oak_ca_disapp

Thanks for keeping us all posted. You were really lucky that found a nice and honest mechanic. I hope all Mercedes owners realize by now how opportunistic the dealers are and most of the time dishonest.
I hope no one else have to go through this problem again.