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Drew
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Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket and Accessories message boards
First of all I would like to welcome you to sunny California, not today anyway....because we been having a lot a rain lately. You did mention three places in CA. which is a little bit far apart., But I can give you some dealerships in those three places you've mention. If you are going to Newport Beach,there is Fletcher Jones Mercedes Benz in Newport Beach and in about 10-15 miles south there is Mercedes-Benz of Laguna Niguel where I got mine. If you move to Del Mar there is Hoenh Mercedez,at Carlsbad, Mercedes Benz of Escondido northeast of Del Mar and in going south there is Mercedes Benz of San Diego,which is the dealer I use to service my ML. I never try the dealer where I bought my ML because it is to far where I live. I bought mine thru internet.. about 80 miles north where I live. Let me know when are you coming and the exact place you are moving in to. If its close to my place I'll try to give you a tour.
I've found a few dealerships to be quite adequate (including Fletcher Jones and House of Imports in Buena Park), but the most satisfying service experience I have recieved happens to be from the dealer where I purchased my ML. Caliber Motors of Anaheim Hills has one HUGE plus which is the use of MB loaner cars (right now 01 E320s and ML320s). They also seem to care a bit more about my servicing needs especially when it came to the interior issues I was experiencing. Thankfully it has all been taken care of without hassle.
It isn't very close to Newport Beach, but if you have a problem that other dealers didn't want to bother with definately try Caliber. For all other problems Fletcher should take care of you just fine.
-Chris
I have another question for the board. I have been reading your posts for quite a while and have not seen much mention of the Mercedes navigation system. I have one in my current car and have found it to be of immense help. I did read in the past that the ML nav was cd driven instead of dvd and therefore limited to regional exploration. To use this nav system in another area would require a cd change. Is this still true? Did anyone order this option?
Hoehn is very good for service, and usually I get MB loaners (sometimes Hondas).
The waiting room is dull and there is no free food. The magazine selection is limited to leave behinds of previous customers and a few car mags. There is no kids play area or work space.
The service advisors change fairly frequently so building a relationship has been tough - with all that in mind when we ordered our soon to be delivered 4matic wagon we shopped around between RBM, Atlanta Classic and Carriage House. Like Maristella I found Carriage House to be the most flexible and eager. They gave us the best price on the wagon and they have agreed to service our M and the wagon and also my sisters new C class (which she purchased at Atlanta Classic) and provide us all with loaners.
I took a different approach. I bought a Garmin GPS, Microsoft Streets CD(North America), and hooked it to my Fujitsu laptop. I didn't have to purchase two systems for both cars, and I can take the GPS unit off when I go out of the cars into the wild. Hope this helps.
So, what in the world causes such a disparity? Does Mercedes sell a much greater volume of cars than Lexus and therefore tends to be under more pressure in the service department? Would this not be something Mercedes considers important? Is the company doing anything to improve the level of service in their dealerships?
Thanks for letting me know about Atlanta Classic. I actually was over there a few weeks ago looking at cars. I will definitely purchase from Carriage House or just wait until we go to Newport Beach.
I really appreciate all of the help this board has given me. You have each gone out of your way to help me answer these questions. Even if the service is a little lacking, the quality of the line is certainly represented well by its owners.
Unfortunately, it's always been this way. On the M-Class Mailing List, we usually have a gripe session once a year on how MB dealers usually give out Enterprise loaner cars. Lexus gives freebie loaner cars to dealerships. MB just gives a fixed payment per service day per customer to the dealer. Some MB dealers will go the extra mile and give out MB loaners, but it's a rarity more than common practice. Why MB doesn't do what Lexus does is puzzling to me...especially after all these years.
To top this off, the ML was a lot more popular than they expected and the initial release had lots of little problems. As a result, most service departments got overloaded (they were never used to such a large #customers), service appts got pushed out, customers got ticked off, etc. They provided the perfect example of why it costs orders of magnitude more to fix a problem once it gets in the field. Luckily, they seem to have learned w/ the new C; it's very popular, but has very few problems (trunk latch, TeleAid unlock).
amg@exconde.com
The other one was getting too much spam, so I had to shut it down. I think is some idiot from school that is subscribing me or something.
This address is specific to MB
Robert
how does once remove the cover and what will i see when i do ?
dt77
http://fullspeed.to/ml
Very curious, as to why one locking system would be better over another.
Jamie
I was just taken aback to hear that Mercedes does not seem to have a consistently superior reputation in the service area. Good grief, this line has the S series that can easily shoot up past $100,000.00. In any event, it was just a musing and actually has given me another area to investigate when purchasing which can be easily done. You know, sometimes we all become so concerned with the price of a vehicle without stopping to think that the service experience can be a much longer and more important relationship.
I guess we could say that the sale is similar to the wedding, all the excitement and expectation, while the service is more akin to the marriage, which can only thrive well if each partner feels that he/she is respected and valued.
ps. My front driver's seat broke...the plastic under the set where you move the seat forward and back the large back plate plastic piece there is loose and I found a piece on the floor that obviously broke off and my sunroof keeps humming and letting air in...so I have to make appt with dealer to bring the baby in for a diaper change...haha.. fix up.....let bygones be bygones and lets just have fun....love bon
Bon, if you reread your post and those I'm refering to, I think you'll see what I mean. I couldn't agree with your point more, about sharing different viewpoints and respecting other's opinions! Peace!! Good luck getting your ML straightened out! Car problems really are depressing aren't they!!!!
Thanks for the welcome. I will make it over the the owner's club eventually.
kingscreek,
As you can see from the prior posts, Fletcher Jones is the MB dealership in the Newport Beach area. I just recently moved into to the area too, and I only have been there twice. FJ is a very large dealership with a fairly good service dept. The prices they charged me for some services are reasonable. Check out their website. You can find out about service specials and make appointments on line. I would say give them a try first if you are in the area.
jamie_dennis,
I didn't see your email address, and if you can post it, I will be happy to share more detailed information and thoughts with you. The deal was $500 below dealer's invoice (which was $400 above Edmunds' invoice due to ad. fee) plus TTL. The out of the door price with everything was just under $44K.
FWIW, I do a fair amount of in town driving as well, though I try to time the lights and be gentle on the brakes, in addition to a fair bit of driving up and downhills. At service A recently, which under 15K kilometres, my front pads had 60% left, and 65% for the rears. Keeping the current rate of wear in mind, I'll most probably need new pads at about 25-30K kilometres on the odometer.
Keeping in mind that the rear bumper has to be removed for the trailer hitch installation, I wonder if they will provide this option since many people do the trailer hitch installation themselves.
Drew
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Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket and Accessories message boards
Jim
I know that all dealers have been cutting back due to expense, both the highly regarded MB dealers out here loan out Chryslers (makes sense now)- at times they'll get an MB, but you need to be in line by 5:00 in the morning
I have read quite often about troubles with the '98 and '99 ML, but these problems have seemed to be greatly reduced in the '01 models, don't you think?
As far as the ML reliability issue ,it seems that they may have improved but not to a par with Lexus (or Toyota). They never did fix all the problems despite numerous attempts. Since it is not my main vehicle I've decide to just keep it until the warranty is up and then go with a Lexus (470) unless the published reliabilty data and info obtained on this board proves that the ML is truly improved.
MB would take you anywhere and pick you back up, or pick up the car and bring it back, and all that although I live 30 miles from the dealer. Well, let alone the fact that I don't like others to drive my car, being without wheels for one whole day isn't exactly convenient for everybody.
My Lexus dealer provides new loaners for scheduled service and warranty repairs. No questions asked, no Enterprise deals. When our RX was in, we had an LS, RXs and Camrys - the dealership keeps a fleet of 27 loaners, may be that is what makes their service so expensive...
Tarik
any links for the 02ml320?
Drew
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Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket and Accessories message boards
Hey, I just remembered a feature that I liked when I was originally looking at the MLs. Did anyone purchase the ML with the sunroof that opened over the front and back seats? It may have worked better in theory than in actuality, but it looked like fun.
Though I don't own a MB, Drew pushed me in the direction and I ended up shopping them about a month ago. I visited two MB dealers in my area (NY/NJ) and both facilities were immaculate and the sales and service folks answered any questions I had. One dealer had many ML320s on the lot for loaners.
I ended up going with a Lexus for other reasons. The dealer I ended up buying from owns MB, Jag, Porsche stores and TWO Lexus stores (one in NY one in NJ). All of the service areas for this dealer I have visited are unreal, almost perfect. There is a FLEET of Lexus loaners on the lot that are kept immaculate.
Recently, my wife took our vehicle to a Lexus service place closer to home. While they were helpful, my wife commented on how run down and disgusting the place was.
The conclusion: both MB and Lexus are capable of a great service experience, but it really depends on the particular dealer. Shop wisely.
But don't get me started about Acura... I can't believe some of the Acura places I visited. This is a high-end dealership?
I have just gotten a 2001 ML and the brake dust drives me crazy!!! Any Suggestions?
Quite simply. I haven't washed the ML in like 3 weeks. Been raining and raining here in LA.
Apparently, we had the most rain this season than any other city in the West. This includes Seattle.
I also have a wheel brush I got from Pepboys. quite nice. If the stains are stubborn, like the ones I had yesterday, I sprayed the stuff on and also used the brush.
dt77
dt77