Tail gate rattles - TSB - have you done it?

[bjmkelly]

Greetings all
I brought my 01 ML320 in today for a few things, feeling pretty smug with my brand new $3,000 extended warranty.
Pride before the fall...here is what I was told:
1. my warranty was not yet registered so the car will be in for another day. I bought the warranty 6 weeks ago.
2. Broken glovebox lid hinge - cost $250, not covered by warranty.
3. Rattling tailgate - requires latch to be removed and mofied per TSB. Would have been free 200 miles ago (under 50k), not covered by warranty and MB will not foot the bill. Cost $200+
4. Power steering leak - probably covered by warranty, once they register it. Cost $175.
So, I am not feeling so smart now. In fact I have asked them to cancel the entire warranty.
I am very disappointed with MB on item 3. If the TSB requires modifying the latch then I feel that is a known defect. $250 to fix a glovebox hinge is also unpleasant.
Starting to feel like I should have listened when people said to avoid used ML's. I mean this is just trim and simple stuff and it is going to cost around $600 in a car that I have owned for 2 months.

A> Any thoughts on what I should do??
B> Have all you <50k mile people had that TSB carried out for tailgate rattles? Do it soon!
Brian

[JimB]

60K plus miles and no tail gate rattle so far[:)]

You may cure the problem to avoid paying the dealer, try to udjust the rubber bumper touching the tail gate,by unscrewing them a little at a time then test drive it if the rattle still there. hope this help[:)]

[bjmkelly]

I did play with the stops as you describe but could not find a point where the rattles stopped without roadnoise getting noticeably louder :(

[redeye]

Wish you posted this 2 days ago - today was the last day on my factory warranty. I have managed (a long time ago) to fix my tailgate rattle with a combination of adjusting the tailgate rubber stops (not too far though as it pushes the middle of the door outward) and sticking some thick felt (the stiff Home Depot kind) on either side of the catch. I guess I should have had Mercedes fix it properly instead....

[bjmkelly]

[sosh]

Was this extended warranty an MB warranty purchased from the dealer, or an aftermarket one??? You are learning a lesson, do not procrastinate about repairs and that the cost of maintaining a vehicle is in direct proportion to its cost new. Perhaps you would have been happier with an economy vehicle

[bjmkelly]

The low price of a pre-owned ML does indeed appear reflect the fairly high maintenance cost. So buying used is not as economical as first meets the eye.
My other car is a Porsche, purchased new. Before that I had another Porsche purchased used and before the ML I had a succession of three Audi's. None cheesed me off like this.
There are two things that cheese me off more than ususal in this case.
1) This is the first time (to my knowledge at least) where the manufacturer has had a TSB that involves removing and modifying a part to fix a known problem, but they won't pay for doing it.
2) I feel that the glove box hinge should be a discreet replaceable item.

Two weeks ago I heard a Daimler Chrysler exec on teh radio explaining that the front wheel of a Durango would make a lot of noise before falling off so people shouldn't be worried... I grew up with M-B always in the family but I think something has changed...

Vent over :) off to get my car soon, anyway it is still one of the best driving cars I have ever had...
Brian

[bjmkelly]

Sold to me as 'covering everything a new car warranty covers'. Not true.

[harder]

Hi Brian,

I have found out just like you that extended warranties are for the foolish. They only benefit the seller of the warranty. I purchased an extended warranty once and discovered that there are so many Catch 22s in an extended warranty that I would be surprised if an extended warranty actually covered any part of the car.

My recommendation to you is to find yourself a good independent MB mechanic and stay away from the Dealers. The Dealer sole purpose is to screw the customer.

In My area I have 3 dealers all with in 12 miles of where I live and work. I have visited all 3 looking for good service. All I have found was incompetence tied to gouging. So I won’t even take my ML in for any service including warranty work. I will either do the repair myself or have my independent mechanic do the repair.

I like my ML but the ownership experience is the pits.

Good Luck,

Steven [V]

[bjmkelly]