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Lou, details regarding my HBL service experience inside.

819 views 5 replies 0 participants last post by  LN 32 
G
#1 ·
I brought my car to HBL in for basically three things: to have the "A" service performed, to have the driver's side windshield wiper jet fixed and to have a "clunking" noise investigated.<br>
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The "A" service was performed as described in the service manual and the windshield wiper jet was also fixed under warranty. Unfortunately, HBL was not able to replicate the noise that I've been experiencing. For those that read this forum regularly, my 320 has what sounds to be the rather common "vapor cannister" noise that emanates from the rear passenger-side. While I find the noise annoying and wonder what it will do to my re-sale if a potential buyer hears it, I'm not really overly concerned about it.<br>
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Now that leads me into what I didn't like about my HBL service experience.<br>
1) The service advisor never heard of the vapor cannister problem before. That surprised me considering the number of people that have complained about the problem on this forum.<br>
2) After showing the service advisor about 10 pages of information and feedback downloaded mainly from this forum, he acted as if it was a design problem and thus not a warranty issue. He went on to say it was normal for the car to make that noise. Huh?<br>
3) The service advisor, in more or less words, said that I was being overly finicky because I was a Mercedes owner. That's what really annoys me. Quite honestly, this car rattles a lot, but I cut it a lot of slack because of the vario-roof and the sheer joy I get from driving it. In fact, in a Honda or Toyota, I believe the rattling would be down-right unacceptable.<br>
4) During pick-up, no one told me what was done to the car in the way of service. Every other dealership that I've ever been to, someone went over a point-by-point list of things that had been worked on.<br>
5) During pickup I was waiting to talk to my service advisor, but he was busy jaw-boning on his cell phone. I wouldn't have minded waiting if he had been helping another customer, but he was fielding a personal call.<br>
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All in all, I'm probably making the experience a lot worse than it actually was. The "A" service was done, the windshield wiper jet was fixed and I got a loaner for the day (even if it was a Pontiac Sunfire). I just didn't like the service advisor.<br>
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I'll probably give them one more chance. If not, I'll try another dealership that's closer to home.
 
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G
#2 ·
We've had good luck with Herb Gordon . . .

in Silver Spring, off Route 29. We've been dealing<br>
with them for about 10 years now and no <br>
complaints. Does seem like the service dept. is<br>
busier now, not sure if it's from the lousy Qc/QA<br>
or because they're selling more MB's these days.<br>
But they've added additional service bays to help<br>
meet the demand.
 
G
#4 ·
HBL has a horrible reputation for a reason. They recently were bought by Penske ....

so the hope is that things will improve eventually. However, I've not seen any positive changes occurring yet. There are rumors of them moving part of the business (probably Mercedes) to another facility, but don't seem to be making a lot of progress in that regard. I have heard of them damaging cars brought in for service, keeping cars for days due to unavailability of parts, and providing just plain old crappy service. They have such a poor reputation among Audi owners that I have been taking my TT to Curry's for regular maintenance and paying for it rather than subjecting my car (and me) to HBL's 'free' scheduled service. At least with my Mercedes, I have another very good option in American Service Center. I've dealt with them for years and have been very happy with the service and support. HBL is overwhelmed by the demand in the area, there is high turnover due to the sale/purchase of the dealership and the resulting reorg, and they are being pushed beyond their capabilities.
 
G
#5 ·
Do you guys think I should bother forwarding these comments to the service manager? (m)

...or should I just note the less than positive experience on the Service Experience Survey from MBUSA?
 
G
#6 ·
It probably can't hurt, but I doubt it's anything they haven't heard before ...

They have the worst reputation of any Audi dealership in the area. I have a friend who took his A4 in for service since he was losing boost from the turbo. They kept his car for a week and returned it after some minor adjustment telling him it was fixed. It was not, as should have been quite evident from even a short test drive. When he took his car back in a second time, they kept it for a month and replaced the turbo! Unfortunately, this too turned out to not be the source of the problem, although the car was returned to him as 'fixed.' He brought the car to our place for my husband to take a look at, and he was able to - within 10 seconds - find a split hose that was the source of the boost loss. At that point, our friend ordered the part, picked it up, brought the hose and the car back to our place for my husband to install. Problem fixed. Makes you wonder ...... a lot.<br>
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I've been told by someone who works for the dealership (on the service side) that they are overwhelmed with the demand and can't keep up. With Audi, Mercedes, etc. offering the 'free' scheduled maintenance and expanded warranties, they just cannot keep up with the demand. With extended working hours, mistakes happen. (This is their view, not mine. I still find it difficult to find any rationalization for shoddy/sloppy/faulty work.)<br>
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