I posted last week saying how my E320 CDI W211 at only 5 months old had sprung a diesel leak and an oil leak and that the oil was dripping onto a coolant pipe and was damaging it.
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=4&t=12...3
They have lent me an old shape E-Class and rung today to say the new pipe was on back order and to expect a wait of a further 10 days.
Can it be possible that in this day and age that they cannot find a replacement pipe any quicker. I presume that all production of the E-Class has stopped!
Do you guys think it unfair that I have got the raging hump with Mercedes or am I being silly considering they have got me into a hire car and are paying silly amounts of money per day for it.
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No, you are right to be a bit disappointed.
If you are keen to get your car back and the pipe is not too expensive you could consider phoning a dealer in Germany and asking them to send it over. The German dealers are great and parts are generally priced 30-60% of UK prices. I have been quoted 14 days wait on a part in the UK, then ordered the part from Germany and had it in my hand two days later, and at a lower cost!.
Incidentally, someone will have to pay for that hire car. Three guesses......
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I have just been told by M.B. UK that the part required is out of stock across europe and the manufacturers of the hoses are working flat out to manufacture.
What a load of pony. If this was the case then production of the E-Class would have been stopped.
I think tommorrow I will ring Stuttgart and find out if this is the case and if not someone at customer services will regret going into work.
Just out of interest Aprilia who WILL pay for my hire car?
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This seems very fishy. Is there a mass recall to replace this hose or what? I'd be interested to know what the real story is.
As to your hire car - well the only source of income that MBUK have is their customers, so all MB customers pay for it in the end through higher 'labour' charges. Wouldn't it be a whole lot cheaper for everyone if they just had the hose in stock?
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Can it be possible that in this day and age that they cannot find a replacement pipe any quicker.
It may be a generic fault in which case there will be a queue of other Mercs before you waiting for their part.
Another possibility is that due to the use of "justin-time" ordering of manufacturing parts, not many spares are built. If MB take a part off the production line, they lose a car from their production schedule - which then reflects on the Manager of the plant as "loss of efficeincy, poor productivity, etc.". They are likely to have many other customers waanting all kinds of different parts at different times. If they pull part off the assembly line for these everytime a customer calls for a part, then the asssembly line would be SNAFU. (look it up in the dictionary if this is a new word to you).
raging hump with Mercedes or am I being silly considering they have got me into a hire car and are paying silly amounts of money per day for it.
They are saving money by giving you an older E class. You are entitled to ask for a car to match yours. Just think how much it would cost to hire your car!
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You think that they are saving money giving me an older E-Class. My freinds Porsche 1yr old 911 lost oil on a fast run and siezed and they gave him a 3yr old corsa to run about in.
How peeved was he!
Maybe they are looking after me after all.
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Another proven case to add to the file of ROB - Rip Off Britain.
You and your Posh friend have been well and truly fleeced. According to many previous posts in this forum, anyone who does not complain and meekly walks away from such top class dealers is badly treated. These dealers will sell you an expensive new car and stop you from getting the driving pleasure you have paid for. As HJ always tells people who write to his DT column, you have a right to be put in the position you were in before the shoddy goods that you were sold failed to fulfil the purpose for which you had bought them. Unless of course they were fit for their purpose and free of manufacturing defects, in which case it is OK to give you an older model or a Corsa for that matter while you wait 10+ days for parts. (How much are you losing in depreciation in those 10+ days? ).
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According to many previous posts in this forum, anyone who does not complain and meekly walks away from such top class dealers is badly treated. These dealers will sell you an expensive new car and stop you from getting the driving pleasure you have paid for.
So you think that a car going quite seriously wrong after 5 months and a two week wait for a hose is acceptable?
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So you think that a car going quite seriously wrong after 5 months and a two week wait for a hose is acceptable?
???? How on earth did you get that idea? ???
Quite the oppposite - as I said, nothing less should be accepted than an equivalent (or better) car in lieu of you original car while your car is in for repairs. You have paid good money for a good car and good service. Be polite, be firm, be assertive, but demand and don't let them get away with bad service. If we all play our part, we can stop ROB.
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Sorry, I thought you were being sarcastic.
That post clears everything up.
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Hi,
I need some advice from you clever chaps out there.
I posted a note last week about my 5 month old E320 CDI. Basically it developed a slight oil and diesel leak and the oil was dripping onto a coolant pipe and has damaged the pipe. The dealer has given me a loan car and told me it would be afew days for the new hose to come in.
He then rang on tuesday to tell me the part was on back order and that it should arrive within 10 days. I was not very happy with this so yesterday I rang Mercedes customer care and got some phone numbers for various garages within europe to try and source the part myself as advised by members of this forum.
I rang a few and was told they don't stock the part so I spoke to customer services again and they have told me sometimes it can take 3 months for a part to come in.
I am obviously furious and the local dealer is frantically ringing round to try to source the part from elsewhere but to no avail.
How do I stand. Should I just put up with it and wait and dive around in a lower spec old shape E-Class or should I kick up a stink and demand something like a new car or compensation.
Bear in mind the car cost me £38,000 and I do not expect this from a car that cost £1,000.
Any help would be greatly appreciated
Marcos
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Bad news Marcos - I wonder if the same situation applies in Europe but wouldn't be surprised if it's just another example of the UK public being fleeced and treated as second class citizens by the manufacturers at the same time !
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You will buy these expensive motors Marcos.
If push comes to shove and if you can get the dealer to give you the old hose you could get this made up by any hydraulic hose supplier from the pattern. Some of these factors will do it while you wait. Only downside to this route is it may affect your warranty.
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This is very very strange.
I have been dealing with MB on and off for many years and I've managed to obtain even quite obscure parts within a few days (if not from the UK, then from Germany). I even managed to get an aircon compressor mounting bracket for a US-spec. car that was 20 years old and never sold outside the US (I got that from Jacksons of Bournemouth, well-known amongst MB enthusiasts). It arrived within about 4 days.
I have never heard of modern MB parts taking 3 months.
I think there must be a 'story' behind this. I wonder if there is some kind of design fault and they are still attempting to resolve it so the part is out of production awaiting modification? The other possibility is that it is a RHD-only part and there is a particular problem with it.
Can you describe the hose, Marcos? If it is a heater hose then MB use 19mm ID and you could get a length from a local factor to keep you going. If it were the rad top/bottom hose then I would be totally staggered at a potential 3-month delay and I would suspect that there is lot more to your problem than meets the eye.
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NB: keep us posted on this problem, its very interesting.
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Apparently the problem has arisen beacause the model is so new and M.B. do not expect a part like this to need changing yet. They obviously dont have mishaps in Germany.
I have just been informed that the part should be in the begining of next week but I am a little sceptical.
I have spoken to some distributors and they have not even heard of the part No. so I don't think M.B. are lying to me but I still think the policy of not stocking parts until they think they will be needed is a bit stupid.
Incidentally Bosch work in exactly the same way with their drills and stuff so it must be a German way of thinking, i.e. are products are so good they can't possibly need spares for at least a year.
The part No. is MA2118323594
Thanks for the help and I will let you know the outcome.
Marcos
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That's a change of policy then.
I was involved with MB when the previous E-Class (W210) was launched. They ran a full training course for the parts and service people before the car was launched and complete parts kits were held in the UK. The dealers had stock of some of the potentially faster moving parts before the launch date.
The have to keep even obscure and slow moving parts from day 1, because even brand new vehicles get involved in accidents....
As I said, must be in such a rush to get the car out that they've changed their policy on such things. Not at all satisfactory though, is it?
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Aprilia,
Just to let you and others know I severely lost my rag with them today and all of a sudden the part turned up today and i'll get my baby back tommorrow.
Makes me wonder if something a bit fishy was going as you mentioned.
I'll be keeping a close eye on the car for a while but it will be so nice to have some power back in my driving.
Thanks for all the concern lads
Marcos
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