I took the car in today, and after about 2 hours they came back and told me to fix it they would have to put an entire new front clip on it. Im not stupid, i know you can buy just the appron the perch mounts to, and cut it and put the new metal in, but i guess these guys thought i was real dumb. Either way they quoted me 19680 dollars. like 3 times what i paid for the car. Guess since i cant seem to find anywhere to fix it, and MB corperate wont talk to me about a claim. They said it would have to be made by an authorized benz service center. I guess it going to be parted out, i dont know what to do with it. Im not putting the 6 grand the body shop wanted to do into a car thats not worth a whole lot more then that. And i sure the hell am not paying 20 grand for the moron dealers to do it. Any suggestions?
I took the car in today, and after about 2 hours they came back and told me to fix it they would have to put an entire new front clip on it. Im not stupid, i know you can buy just the appron the perch mounts to, and cut it and put the new metal in, but i guess these guys thought i was real dumb. Either way they quoted me 19680 dollars. like 3 times what i paid for the car. Guess since i cant seem to find anywhere to fix it, and MB corperate wont talk to me about a claim. They said it would have to be made by an authorized benz service center. I guess it going to be parted out, i dont know what to do with it. Im not putting the 6 grand the body shop wanted to do into a car thats not worth a whole lot more then that. And i sure the hell am not paying 20 grand for the moron dealers to do it. Any suggestions?
$19680 ??? are you sure you heard them right? it just doesn;t make sense, it has to be miscommunication or something like that. call mbusa, and tell them your spring perches have rusted. most likely they will tell you to go to the nearest dealer. be nice on the phone and most likely mb will cover a big chunk of the bill. in my case all i paid from my pocket is $150 for the side that had rusted, the other side was ok. i have read that others have paid close to $500. from what i have seen mb covers a big chunk of the bill in these cases. hopefully you get it all figured out with a minimal cost. good luck
By any chance, do you have pics of the rust that you could post? I have an appointment this Friday with the local dealer, as I discovered rust around the driver's side spring perch last evening. I was replacing the front disc pads. Did your car get the new sealer that was called for, by MB, as a fix? It was done free of charge and I believe that owner's got a letter about it. Mine would have been done before I owned the car. That is the first thing that I am going to check on when I see the dealer.
There has to be a way to help you.
Peter
ohlord,
I didn't peel mastic off or anything because I want the dealer to see it as it is. Friday, when I go, I will be armed with pics from this forum and info so that they know, that I know, what I'm talking about. If the mastic recall was done, it should be noted in the vin service history (we are only the second owners). I know the service manager. I hope that that helps. He was the one that I called to set up the appointment. My son, who helped me do the brakes, did push his finger at the rusty area and he said it felt spongy. If the mastic recall has been done, then this will show that, that quick fix didn't work. I'll let you know how it turns out.
i heard the price right, and yeah i was pissed to say the least. Basicly, yeah i can get pictures again, but i dont know what to do about the problem. I will try to talk to MB again tomarrow. But give me a break 20 grand. It still just pisses me off thinking about it. I hate this dealership. Ill see about getting some pictures tomarrow. The passenger side is just rediculous. I mean its like rusted like an 1962 ford pickup truck thats never seen the inside of a garage. But the drivers side isnt nearly as bad. All i know is that i know this is a problem with a car, theres no rust anywhere else on the car except spring mount areas.
Could we have them put into writing the ridiculous amount they are suggesting ? By then most probably they will take a deep breathe and say, ok, this is what we are going to do, Forget that amount. . . . .
Sometimes, if you have a hard copy of their arrogance, they tend to step back and look at the big picture.
Good luck.
Location: West Bloomfield, Michigan (just north of Detroit)
Posts: 96
I have a 1998 e-320 with 103,000 miles on it. Rides ok, but I have yet to check into the spring perchs (through MB dealers). I did look at them (taking off the wheels) and on the surface, thay appear fine. Car is level (no sag). But I didn't peel back the mastic either, so I don't know what is underneath.
As the weather breaks, I'm going to inquire at the three near-by MB dealers in my area. I live in Michigan, just 15 miles north west of Detroit (in West Bloomfield).
The three dealers are located in Rochester Hills, Novi, and in Bloomfield Hills (the one closest to me).
I will let you all know my experience on this forum.
Something like the spring perches should be one of the last things standing on the car (on it's way to the scrap yard). Sort of like the fireplace standing when the whole house burns down.
It may not be pretty.
Linear Mode
