MB GLA250 dealer shenangians

[Rick Lee]

Mrs. Lee's car had a major, engine out warranty repair recently for a leaky rear main seal. The repair worksheet was ridiculous, $290/hr labor and tons of parts. She didn't pay a dime for it and we enjoyed putting 1000 miles on the loaner they gave us.

Then, a few weeks ago, she got a CEL. My scanner said it was a mixture issue in cyl. #1. Stealer said they could fit us in a week or so later, gave us another nice loaner for 10 days and this repair was just beyond.

Cylinders 2, 3 and 4 way out of spec, bad valve seats, leaking at 80, 50 and 75%. WTF? Worksheet said, "Customer complains of rough idle at startup," which we never experienced or claimed. Wouldn't valve seats that out of spec be pretty noticeable? Car drove and sounded fine. Anyway, they replaced the whole head and tons of other stuff. Biggest BS was that they said she needed the Service A for $650. But every single item of that service was already included in the warranty repair except for changing the brake fluid. I can handle that. I asked to speak with one of the techs. He said there was a manufacturing or QC issue with the third party who built those engines and they had issued a warranty for 110k miles or until 2035 for those engines. I still don't think that was the issue, but again, we didn't pay a dime. Doesn't MB corporate police this stuff? I can't believe the stuff I read on this repair worksheet.

[jhynesrockmtn]

I don't really know how dealerships work or get away with stuff, but back in the 90's I had a brand new Ford Explorer, 2nd gen I believe. It had a thump/thump in smooth pavement. I took it in, the service manager went with me on a drive, sure, I hear that too. The thing had maybe 1,500 miles on it. They brought it in twice for "repairs" and basically changed out the whole front end. He showed me the receipts. A few thousand in shop labor charged to Ford. It didn't fix a thing. I called the other Ford dealership in town. The service manager said, "does it have Firestone's on it". I said yes. He said bring it in. There's a TSB on those tires. A bunch of them have flat spotted. They put new rubber on it and it was fixed.

[GH85Carrera]

It is sad that Mercedes and all the other brands seem to have those types of issues.

Back in about 1975 My father in law had a Mercedes 240D that he noticed a rear end whine. He took it to the dealership, and they said the rear ends never whine. He took the hard mechanic out and he agreed, the rear end was whining. They contacted Mercedes in Germany and they said the rear ends don't ever wine. The dealership this one does.

Mercedes flew in the parts and a factory mechanic, to Enid, OK to inspect the rear end. He agreed after a short drive it was faulty. The German took apart the rear end, and carefully inspected each part. He rebuilt it the entire rear end with the new parts, and reinstalled it. He said the factory would inspect each part to find the failure point, and make sure it did not happen in future cars. 100% warranty covered.

When my FIL was ready to trade it several years later it was in such good shape from my FIL's care they put it on the showroom floor with 200,000 miles on it, and paid him more that they paid for it new. They ended up with a great deal on a new Turbo diesel.

Back in the good ol days when Mercedes meant quality cars.

[Rick Lee]

Today Mrs. Lee's car kept getting a battery warning, one even said "stop vehicle, leave running." WTF? I looked over the battery and it looked ridiculously overcomplicated to R&R. We called the local Walmart and they said they'd do the install for an extra $15, battery was $175. Mrs. Lee spent three hours there and they finally said they couldn't do it because they didn't have an E10 (female torx socket). Really? They couldn't grab one off the shelf in the tool dept? I told Mrs. Lee to buy the battery and bring it home. I found a Youtube video for the R&R and it was spot on. Super overcomplicated, but I was all done in 40 min, including the time to watch the YT video. $200 out the door.

[sc_rufctr]

Almost 30 years ago I was a car salesman for a short period of time (GM cars).

The dealership workshop loved warranty claims because the cost would be charged back to GM.

That whole system encourages fraud IMO but how else could they do it?

[porsche tech]

Most mechanics hate warranty work as it pays far less than COD. PCNA would do periodic warranty audits. They send the auditor to the dealer, ask for 20 or so random warranty repair orders and go over them with a fine tooth comb. No alignment print out attached to file hard copy, no pay. No shop foreman sign off on added repairs, no pay, etc. etc. Auditors had to find stuff to justify their jobs.

[Rick Lee]

These work orders showed $290/hr.

But what I want to know is how the car drove just fine with three cylinders so out of spec. That sounds like total hogwash.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

It is sad that Mercedes and all the other brands seem to have those types of issues.

I remember when Chrysler's 5 year/50,000 mile warranty was a big deal. Before that, after 30 days or 10,000 miles everything was on you. The fact that you can get a car fixed for free after 100k miles is still mind-blowing to me.

[tdw28210]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

I remember when Chrysler's 5 year/50,000 mile warranty was a big deal. Before that, after 30 days or 10,000 miles everything was on you. The fact that you can get a car fixed for free after 100k miles is still mind-blowing to me.

The powertrain, emissions and all exhaust elements on my 2016 Cayenne diesel are covered for 120k miles or until December 2026. All the result of deiselgate settlement.

[wdfifteen]

I took my '84 C-280 in for service back in about 1986 and they said it needed a new head gasket. I was about to blow a gasket myself until the tech said it was a Mercedes corporate decision and would be done at no cost to me. That was my first and only experience with a pro-active warranty repair.

[Rick Lee]

Mrs. Lee is sitting next to me looking online for her next car. She has a while until this one's warranty expires, but she's pretty sour on MB now.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Try to find one of the models made in Germany. My daughter’s GLK350 and my wife’s old E63 were absolutely flawless, even over 100k miles. I had a C300 that was made in South Africa and it was awful. I think there’s a real difference in quality, and have heard the same from other Mercedes enthusiasts.

[HobieMarty]

Originally Posted by jhynesrockmtn

I don't really know how dealerships work or get away with stuff, but back in the 90's I had a brand new Ford Explorer, 2nd gen I believe. It had a thump/thump in smooth pavement. I took it in, the service manager went with me on a drive, sure, I hear that too. The thing had maybe 1,500 miles on it. They brought it in twice for "repairs" and basically changed out the whole front end. He showed me the receipts. A few thousand in shop labor charged to Ford. It didn't fix a thing. I called the other Ford dealership in town. The service manager said, "does it have Firestone's on it". I said yes. He said bring it in. There's a TSB on those tires. A bunch of them have flat spotted. They put new rubber on it and it was fixed.

I remember that. Ford Explorers were sold with Firestone Wilderness tires on them, and there was a problem with the tires. Ford blamed Firestone, Firestone blamed the issue on Ford telling people to air down the tires when going offroad or something like that. I worked for BF Goodrich/Uniroyal back then, and we were selling tons of the BF Goodrich Long Trail T/A tires at the time as people bought our tires to replace the Firestones. Firestone has bounced back since then, but at the time, it looked as if that "incident" was going kill the company.

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[ToySnakePMC]

Yeah.., not the most awesome car we’ve owned. Wifey had a ‘23 GLA for about 10k miles, but she never really liked it. Had a noisy engine- especially at idle. I’m thinking that MB purchases these engines from other supplier, but I can’t find it with a 5 min DuckDuck search. Hope your experience gets better. Good looking little SUV though.

[Rick Lee]

You know, I always thought Mrs. Lee's car sounded kind of loud when she pulls out of the garage. She doesn't complain about it, but when I'm seeing her off to work, I think it sounds noisy. No matter, this car is leaving our possession before the warranty expires, no question about it. She likes the car, but having it at the stealer for so much time, even though we always get a nice loaner, is a bit of a buzzkill for her.

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

....

Mercedes flew in the parts and a factory mechanic, to Enid, OK to inspect the rear end. He agreed after a short drive it was faulty. The German took apart the rear end, and carefully inspected each part. He rebuilt it the entire rear end with the new parts, and reinstalled it. He said the factory would inspect each part to find the failure point, and make sure it did not happen in future cars. 100% warranty covered.

.....

I've also heard of a similar story from Toyota in Australia (Lexus with a failed rear differential).