Anyone here been turned away from a franchised Mercedes-Benz dealer service department because your car is too old? The dealership near me won't touch or even look at a car that is built before 2012.
"Sorry sir but your car is too old" WTF!
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That's crazy. Never heard of a dealer$hip that would turn down business. Even in cases where they don't have the skills to do the job, they'd broker a 3rd party to do it.
Is the dealership new and staffed with techs that only know to do what SDS tells them?
Is the dealership new and staffed with techs that only know to do what SDS tells them?
'03 SL500's Tanzanite Blue, Aegean Blue, Mars Red, Alabaster White '11 S550 Flint Gray
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I've heard of them adding time to flat rate or encouraging you to go to an independent, but not flatly refusing. They probably need to draw the line somewhere, but 2012 seems pretty recent.
Just happened to me yesterday - no cars 2008 or older. Mercedes Benz of Virginia Beach. I had inquired about getting some work done on the 2005 SL600. “We will only do state inspections, and tires, on your car, sir. No mechanical work or diagnosis.”
2004 SL500, 2004 SL55 AMG, Grand Cherokee Limited, Hyundai Sonata, Harley Deuce, Harley RoadKing
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This did happen with the three Jaguars which we owned, was very displeased with Jaguar.
The dealership here would not look at a Jaguar which was 10 years old or older.
Have not had this happen with either of our R230's, but to be honest, have only been to the dealership service department for service once to verify my clock spiral was bad.
They did not hesitate and provided the needed verification and did not charge me.
While waiting, two additional R230's (SL500's) showed up for work.
Eric
The dealership here would not look at a Jaguar which was 10 years old or older.
Have not had this happen with either of our R230's, but to be honest, have only been to the dealership service department for service once to verify my clock spiral was bad.
They did not hesitate and provided the needed verification and did not charge me.
While waiting, two additional R230's (SL500's) showed up for work.
Eric
I can’t say I blame them, working on old cars, especially mercedes and German cars is much more difficult than working on new cars. Plastic parts crumble, sometimes there’s lots of corrosion, and it’s just as easy if not easier to rack up a $5000 repair bill on a $10,000 18 year old car than it is to do the same dollar repair on a $45,000 8 year old car. There is very little winning with old car repair for the shop , or the owner that doesn’t really want to spend the money it cost to repair.
Old cars, especially Mercedes, require lots of time, money for parts,and patience. The Lexus dealer in Naples just serviced my mother in laws 2001 ls430 with 210,000 miles on it. She purchased it from a friend in the rust belt area and transported it to Florida. They replaced the hood latch and cable. It ended up running her $1200 and a list of problems she should fix totaling $3500. They did the hood repair, and now she is going to buy a new car and take her 2016 Lexus to Florida, because she now realizes how much an old car will cost. Good choice, , as it was a terrible choice to buy a 21 year old car of any make with 210,000 miles to rely on.
Old cars, especially Mercedes, require lots of time, money for parts,and patience. The Lexus dealer in Naples just serviced my mother in laws 2001 ls430 with 210,000 miles on it. She purchased it from a friend in the rust belt area and transported it to Florida. They replaced the hood latch and cable. It ended up running her $1200 and a list of problems she should fix totaling $3500. They did the hood repair, and now she is going to buy a new car and take her 2016 Lexus to Florida, because she now realizes how much an old car will cost. Good choice, , as it was a terrible choice to buy a 21 year old car of any make with 210,000 miles to rely on.
Why not speak with Mercedes USA and ask what the policy on older cars is.
This kind of policy can hurt the Mercedes name and reputation, especially if you were planning to buy a new Mercedes
This kind of policy can hurt the Mercedes name and reputation, especially if you were planning to buy a new Mercedes
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I would write a google review telling the world how you have this Mercedes and that this Benz dealership refuses to work on it, and add that you were planning to buy a few new Mercedes from them, but have now changed your mind because of this. Also, since they won't touch the car, I would make sure to never buy any parts from them as well, you could use them to look up parts for your car according to the VIN, in their computer for you, then buy them online or anywhere else you wish, just NOT from them. Mention that you plan to do things this way, in your google review too. Let them know they are losing business. They're probably doing you a favor for two reasons: First, they probably have newer younger techs who aren't versed or skilled on the R230's needs, and second, this forces you to find a good family owned indy shop that just might have some older MB techs as employees, and that shop would definitely charge you less money for almost any repair work.
Yes i read 15 years and thats your lot .
2004 SL500, 2004 SL55 AMG, Grand Cherokee Limited, Hyundai Sonata, Harley Deuce, Harley RoadKing
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Really, this does not makes sense, since MB has warranted the SBC out to 25 years.
So that alone states that they will work on cars more than 10 or 15 years old.
Eric
So that alone states that they will work on cars more than 10 or 15 years old.
Eric
Good point.
This! Had some alignment work done on my W210 and insisted to the service writer that only someone with gray hair touch this vehicle. Spoke with the tech afterwards and he told me these were the first cars he was trained on.
I have thought of this but the only indy in my area (Autohaus of Yorktown, VA) that I am aware of is almost just as expensive as the dealership. When I was having dificulty replacing the Pulsation damper, I looked into having them do it. They stated "labor is $175 an hour if we use your parts and $145 an hour if we use our parts", The wanted $621.50 (3.5 hours labor) to replace the damper using my supplied OEM part.WTF, I walked away. The Dealership stated that they charge $200 an hour labor rate. I wasn't going to let this repair kick my azz so I was bound a determined to do it myself.
What are symptoms that alerted you?
This is the most expensive car by far that I've ever owned. I still love it over 10 years later and assumed I could keep it forever if I maintained it properly.
I understand the reasons given for dealerships not working on older cars but my response is that they can get away with not working on older cars if they sell cars so great that they don't require maintenance. It doesn't say much for the longevity of what you sell if you refuse to service it later.
Guess I'll go back to driving boring cars that I want to get rid of after a few years or that are so simple that anyone can work on them.
I understand the reasons given for dealerships not working on older cars but my response is that they can get away with not working on older cars if they sell cars so great that they don't require maintenance. It doesn't say much for the longevity of what you sell if you refuse to service it later.
Guess I'll go back to driving boring cars that I want to get rid of after a few years or that are so simple that anyone can work on them.
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