Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see May lease deals!
Options
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Sedans
This discussion has been closed.
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
Definitely write a letter. GM's do want to know what's going on, so they can correct problems they are usually not aware of. I guarantee, if you voice your displeasure with them, you will be treated like a King when you come back for servicing or any other needs.
Also,let Mercedes know what happened. As they keep a sharp watch over dealerships, to make sure they are following guidelines in customer relations, support and servicing. And,they have been known to yank dealerships from folks who misrepresent their product.
The kicker is that when I got home there was a letter from my salesman in the mail. It's about the survey and it's extremely insulting. "If for any reason you cannot answer "Completely Satisfied" to any of the questions, please call me immediately and let me know what I can do to correct the problem. I am enclosing a sample questionnaire with the appropriate answers highlighted for your convenience." THE APPROPRIATE ANSWERS! For my CONVENIENCE! Gag! How patronizing is that? How insulting to my intelligence is that?
I think I will stop by the dealership tomorrow and have a little talk with him. I'll talk about how his failure to communicate has caused me frustration. And I will indicate to him how insulted I am by this letter. He already stressed all of this when I picked up the car. Did he think I would forget? The way they're telling me what to say and do really makes me mad.
Growing up, one always heard five hundred miles,before you can open her up. Ofcourse, now with the new engines being so efficient and smooth. I wonder if that rule still applies? Especially to a high-end car like a Mercedes.
Drew
Host
Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket and Accessories message boards
I bought a C320 in Nov last year. The power steering stoped working suddently last week. According to my service advicer, a pump needs to be replaced. Also I have them fix the tele-aid malfunction problem.
It's been 6 days since the dealership took my car in for service and their excuse is the tele-aid problem is hard to fix. My question is are those common problems to C320? Is it normal to take a week to fix those problems?
Thanks,
Michelle
Apparently,according to him, Mercedes had a problem with the satellite network involving Motorola. Have since corrected the problem,but only applies to newer cars. He did not mention if their will be any correction to earlier cars.
I cannot justify the charge that the dealers are charging for a CD changer (950 dollars in Oakland CA)plus I want to put in an indash CD not a changer. The dealer is telling me that there is no way I can put in an after market CD player since the system is all wired in a fiber optical wires, etc.
Did anyone tried putting one in?
CD changers, I haven't done this, but I'd imagine you could put one of those cheap, $150, FM modulator changers in the trunk. They're operated by remote and apparently broadcast an FM signal to your radio. Anybody know more about this?
I am in a "state of shock"....
Breezeway Delivery:
Charcoal Interior:
Glacier White:
What a Day !!!
See you at Friday Freeway !!! Ian
plate holder, is what mine looks like.) Enjoy!
Sherrill
Bubba
Plate fee, document fee, advertisement fee, etc?
Thank you.
http://www.edmunds.com/chat/freewaychat.htm
Drew
Host
Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket and Accessories message boards
Chat starts at 5pm Pacific, for those of you who are newbies. I'm sure Ian (diwc240) and Bill (dennett) will show up :-)
If N.J. think we will organize a MB C Rallye get together in June / July, Liberty State Park.
Ian
Even with this, no regrets on the purchase.
I won't take delivery at night, either. I want to go over the finish during the day.
C240, C1-4, K2, Bose, Brilliant Silver met/Ash. Should look awesome.
At this stage I'm just PRAYING they have all these glitches out by March 1. I again thank those out here who have posted their problems and joys, as I will be ready to do a close inspection upon delivery.
The EXT button on the radio is also not on the showroom C240. Can people let me know if they have it on their C240 with regular radio. This can be referenced on page 174 of your handbook.
Before the 'advocates' in the forum start screaming, my kids are in their 20s and I don't transport any babies (unless you count BMW owners in this catagory <:) ).
Thanks!
All that said, I might agree that it could have been crappy transportation to Chicago, but the odd thing is that the cracks were all roughly in the same area.
Anyway, time to go order some zaino.
I sent my letter off to the dealership's GM today. It was 2.5 pages long! I included pretty much all of my dealings with them good and bad in chronological order. I also sent a copy of it to MB USA along with a cover letter and a copy of the salesman's letter to me re: the survey.
For legal reasons, it is highly unlikely that MB will disable the front passenger airbag for you. Why worry though? Unless your wife is sitting only about 11 inches or under from the passenger airbag, this is really not a problem. It's only if she is sitting really close to the driver's airbag (under 11 inches) that it could be cause for some concern. Also remember that the C-class has dual stage/dual threshold airbags. At lower speed impacts, they may not deploy at all, or at a reduced level.
WRT how the MB Babysmart child seats work, there is a transponder inside the child seat. When it is placed within a certain proximity of the centre console, passenger seat, the sensors detect this and hence disables the airbag (a warning light "Airbag off" will be illuminated to show you this). Note that only the front passenger airbag is disabled, not the side airbag. Side airbags are not a problem for child seats.
Hope this helps!
Drew
Host
Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket and Accessories message boards
I upgraded the stereo to Bose AudioPilot and I have the EXT button after pressing AUD. Factory delivery had whatever mode "OFF" at EXT. I pressed it and it displayed "AMBIENTE" and the stereo changed to a phenomenal Concert Hall / Surround Sound, absolutely amazing !!!
Squealing Brakes - just a little when they are cold and only when I apply the brakes lightly.
No noise if I apply firm brake pressure.
Stickers just peeled off, no residue.
6MT is incredibly SMOOTH ! The clutch is so easy to press (vs. the Outback very hard). Stick shift is a Dream - I love it. Only revved to 4500 - 5000 RPM so far.
First chance to read thru the Manual tonight.
I am impressed to the Max.!! Dealer (Ed Carlock at Millennium was EXCELLENT) and the rest of the Staff also, financing, reception, other salespeople - just a real pleasure, I cannot say enough...
Ordered Nov. 8th,
Built Jan. 19th (2nd decade of Jan.)
Shipped Jan. 25th
Arrive Baltimore Feb. 7th
Took Delivery Feb. 15th
Can't wait till tomorrow !!! Ian
http://www.edmunds.com/roadtests/roadtest/2001/mercedesbenz/c320/44348/page004.html
it's one of the best cars in the world for 60-0 braking. This test car had the sport package, so I would guess the normal car has a bit longer distance. But in any case, even in the low 120s, this is stellar performance. I'd be interested to see posts from owners who have driven sports cars, and know what it means to have a car that stops 60-0 in the 110ft range, and could compare that to their new C. This is one of the major reasons I'd like to dump my B5 Passat for the C, the Passat brakes aren't that great.
I wish the C320 came in w/ MT. Would the C32 have one?
Has anybody seen a C with Mud Flaps? How do they look? It rained Friday and it just makes such a mess on white finish I love the rain sensor feature.
Got a letter from MB yesterday. On the envelope it said "Important Information concerning your Mercedes-Benz Tele Aid system." Since I'm one of the lucky owners of a pre 59000 VIN model, I thought at long last here's notification/admission of the problem from MB, & maybe even an offer of a solution. Instead, it was telling me that expriation date on my credit card on file was about to expire and to contact them right away to update! Thought that was adding insult to injury, so I took advantage of this opportunity to call the number and inquire re: the tele aid remote unlocking problem.
Was transferred to Carol at the Client Assistance center (& I use the term loosely) who said yes there is a problem on early C classes and even SL models as well, it's a hardware not a software problem, and the engineers were "looking into" it but she couldn't promise they would have a fix, and they might never have a fix. I explained that it seems to me that whatever solution they came up with for later models needed to be retrofitted; however the problem was solved now needs to be applied to earlier models. She waffled in her response saying that if I wanted to call back during the week and speak with a technician I could as she wasn't familiar with all the "technical stuff involved." I'll do that, but doubt I'll get any satisfactory answers. She did admit that she herself was an owner of an early VIN model C240 and that my dealer should have notified me of this problem. Have any of the rest of you been notified by anyone? I haven't. I've gotten all my info from this board--and I'm thankful for it.
In the absence of any info from MB, I'm forced to speculate--& MB invites this speculation by their silence--that most likely the cost to retrofit the fix is prohibitive so they're hoping this problem will just go away and be forgotten. And that annoys me. I know the world won't have much sympathy for a new Mercedes owner whining about some high-tech feature that doesn't work & won't be used that often. To me, that isn't the point--or the principle. The point is they advertised it, I bought it, and I ain't got it.
What if it were the abs that didn't work? One might counter--well, you still have all the other features and regular braking. True, but it wouldn't be a braking system that's as technologically advanced. And that's why I bought this manufacturer's model. Another quick example. What if one of the rear windows didn't work on all of your cars? Would you use it all the time? No. Would you be annoyed it didn't work when you wanted it to? I bet the answer is yes.
And finally, for those of you still with me on this long diatribe. . . if Mercedes can do this to us, a relatively small set of customers, the unfortunate beta-testers of this car, what happens the next time? What if down the road we find out there's some other problem that affects all 2001 C class cars but doesn't appear until a certain amount of time/mileage has passed? Do you think it's possible Mercedes will once again adopt a corporate policy of stonewalling, not communicating, recognizing, or admitting a problem, owning up to it and solving it to everyone's satisfaction? They will if we all--and that's *all* of us--don't communicate our dissatisfaction to Mercedes at every opportunity available to us--surveys, letters, phone calls, one-on-one interactions, whatever. Even if you're not affected by this problem, you should be sorely troubled by Mercedes lack of response to it and constantly communicate that dissatisfaction to them.
As for me, I'm going to the Autoweek site to email them. . . hopefully in their upcoming report on the C320 they'll report this problem--and other media will pick up on it as well. Perhaps the threat of bad publicity will prompt some action. . . though it didn't do much to prompt Ford or Firestone to be proactive in that recent debacle, did it? You might say that's an extreme analogy. I'd say only in degree, not principle.
Everytime you see or talk to another C owner tell them about it and tell them to call/write/e-mail MB and to talk to their dealers about it!
I remember a guy posted the same problem as you several days ago and got it fixed at the dealership. Instead of 11:55, his is 12:10.
Both of you are C240.
Good luck.
If so talk to your dealer about the remote unlock feature not working on your car. If you have a newer one, ask them about it anyways, if you just ask about it, it'll make the service guys realize that owners are concerned and want this feature in their cars! Thanks!!
Best of luck!
Drew
Host
Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket and Accessories message boards