buying from City Dealer

[sean sherry]

Styria was on the right track not buying a new A Class. Dealing with the arrogance and lack of product knowledge from any City Dealer makes me wonder how Mercedes sell any cars at all. Not to mention the inflated prices here in Aus. I have always bought Mercedes from the Country Dealers. Probably a dozen or so over the past 40 years. Flash showrooms Coffee machines and Dolly Birds impress some people it seems. Maybe these City sales people are all the same, BMW, Audi etc. , and as with the pricing ,the general public accept it.

Having said all that , my experience with the Service Dept. of the Factory owned Main Dealership is at the other end of the spectrum. They are unfailing helpful , knowledgeable and Professional. All with Warranty issues for a car bought elsewhere. The Service Manager is a trained Auto Electrician and the previous one came from the Workshop........ There by hangs a tale..........Sean

 

[SEL_69L]

I depends on WHICH member of the family is really buying the car, and what their budget is.

I have a a Getz as well as my 6.9
You might say
'from the "cor blimey" to the ridiculous.'

I bought the Getz for it's reliability and convenience.
The 6.9 is NOT a good shopping trolley.

In 2010 in the 'States, Hyundai topped the list in the least number of new car warranty claims. Mercedes came in at the 20th position, about halfway down the list.

 

[260ebenz]

Relevant to this topic.

http://www.news.com.au/breaking-new...-on-social-media/story-e6frfkp9-1226612114761

 

[sean sherry]

My take on all this regarding Service rip offs is that Dealerships make little money from new car sales so they get into your pockets by any other means they can. It's a familiar tale across the trade. I'm taking a neighbour with a late model Volvo to a trusted specialist I know. last year she was charged over $2000 for a routine service , but it included front brake pads!!. I also recall, 10 years ago , being quoted an exorbitant amount for a B service ( first 20K ) on a new 280E.
I asked what it entailed at such a low mileage, the glib answer was " It's our big Service " She had not a clue . I'm reliably informed Mercedes are now charging $200 an hour for service done by an Apprentice. As with new car prices "what the market will bear "

 

[Styria]

Hi Sean, interesting what you're saying about servicing and costs. You do refer to the Main Dealer, and your favourable experience with their Service Department - are we talking Zetland ? If it is, I believe BenzBoy speaks highly of them. I believe they are really tryng to build up an 'after-marker' clientele. It's probably the old story - 60% of something has got to be more than 100% of nothing.

I have had dealings with Helmet, and my experience was a happy one and satisfied one. Maybe some of us could consider extending our support - there are some knowledgeable tradies on his staff. Regards Styria

N.B. Just as a matter of interest, prior to buying the Honda Jazz, we had a brief flirtation with a 2010 Ford XR5 Turbo, with six speed manual box. It showed about 100K. and there was a Dealer warranty up to 175K. The car was beautifully appointed, looked great, but in the end (apart from the 6 speed manual box) there was that nagging doubt about warranty, servicing costs, cost of spare parts etc. I do believe that overseas sourced Ford Spares can really hit you. I also thought about the 1995 (?) Fiat Coupe that features as a PDF in the Road Test Section of TK - that car with a similar five cylinder Turbo engine, replacement of timing belt (!) is an engine out job, as is replacement of the clutch. Dollar signs were jumping about all over the place. Hence, the 'little battleship' - the Honda - lovely little car.

 

[sean sherry]

Yes Styria, I'm referring to Zetland. But only for Warranty work. there has been quite a few visits with our Turbo C 200. Electrical and oil leaks. When it was a private Dealership they were just like the rest of them. The Factory are very much aware of Dealer problems world wide. On a visit to Stuttgart in 1982 endeavouring to get an Auto Trans problem sorted on my 380 SL, having been told by the then Zetland Dealer that all 380s leak ! Also that there was nothing wrong with the Auto which had a 3-4 flare. A local Dealer in Stuttgart called the Transmission division of the Factory on my behalf , first advice was
" Your Transmission will be fixed sir ". Go back to the Dealer and tell them to fit a modification to the Transmission and fix the oil leak. Any further problems call these two people in Melbourne. Vince at the Dealer sprang back to life and three days later the car was fixed !

A further comment from Mercedes was that .....
" A lot of people around the world hide behind our name."

I know that there are many good people in the trade here endeavouring to do the right thing but are tarnished by the less than honest in Sales departments , not to mention pricing at "what the market will bear " I have often thought that Australia being a small market that nobody cared much , but I know for a fact that the large U. K. Market is even worse. I live in hope that the world wide internet buying will eventually level the playing field...........Sean

 

[BenzBoy]

I can't complain about sales from MBS. I deal only with people I know and maybe that makes all the difference.
I have had only excellent service from them.
I am not keen to criticise dealers on a public forum as it often leads to all sorts of complaints which may or may not be warranted. If I have a complaint I will certainly make it but direct to the person involved.
Regards,
Brian

 

[Oversize]

We're headed to a Melbourne MB dealer today.

After one major electrical issue on the CLC200 which caused the car to shut down and a more recent one where the stereo fails to work, the reliabilty of this rather expensive product is under scrutiny. Unfortunately the confidence that my partner once had has deminished to the point that she didn't want to drive by herself to Echuca to see her girlfriends.

In addition, we have found service standards are dropping despite the high prices.

I've heard the number of warranty claims are higher with MB than Hyundai, but the figures may not be a good indicator of quality as MB customers tend to whinge more while Hyundai customers may tolerate niggles. But Hyundai warranties seem to be far longer and you get lots of bells and whistles for your dollar.

I find it interesting that MB pride themselves on resale value, yet the poor salesperson must be in a very difficult position when it comes to trade-in time!

Despite all this I still believe they're engineered like no other, but the others are catching up fast so they need to take all aspects of ownership to another level. And with all the electricals incoporated into modern cars, I wonder if any of them are truly reliable?

 

[sean sherry]

Yes Brain, I can't disagree about open public forums. My concern is that there seems to a culture of distain from the Euro Car Importers to their potential Customers. I used to think that this attitude was confined to the up market products from the UK. Maybe it stems from my reaction to people who attempt to take the moral high ground, ie., a superior attitude. Who do they think pays their wages on Friday night ? I had a successful Service Business for 40 years , no secret rely,.. just,
" Good Morning Sir , may I help you," and then on completion "Thank You Sir for your Business."
..Fourteen Century Philosopher... Erasmus......
"Without curtsy there can be no useful discussion "
Tell that to the Politicians.
........ Sean

 

[BenzBoy]

I took a lady friend shopping recently for a small hatch and that same disdain was at a variety of places - much to my surprise.
I think it is a case of "Look at me - I'm very important because I sell cars...." - the new cool that doesn't work with people of our generation.
Oh - it also helps keep certain dealers keen when I arrive in an R-R and park right at the front entrance.....(naughty but fun).
Regards,
Briian

 

[Oversize]

Went into the big smoke today, intending to test drive an A or C Class. We also considered test-driving VW, Audi, Volvo, and Lexus later in the day. After 4 hrs at the MB dealer we ended up with.....







After a shaky start, the experience was excellent and we take delivery of her in a week or so, after getting a reasonable trade-in on the CLC200. She's a C250 in a rare metallic brown (526-Dolomite) with the vision and lane-keeping packages. Very happy

 

[260ebenz]

Mark congrats on the new Mercedes looks superb I like the colour!

Many years of happy motoring.

Cheers.

 

[Oversize]

Thanks Tim. I never thought we'd be buying a brown car, but it's a lot better than the ho-hum grey, silver, or white. And way easier to keep clean than black. I think she'll look even better in natural light after pre-delivery (fully detailed). And next time I'll use a decent camera instead of my iPhone! I suppose it's better than no camera....

 

[260ebenz]

Thanks Tim. I never thought we'd be buying a brown car, but it's a lot better than the ho-hum grey, silver, or white. And way easier to keep clean than black. I think she'll look even better in natural light after pre-delivery (fully detailed). And next time I'll use a decent camera instead of my iPhone! I suppose it's better than no camera....

More brown Silver Stars on the road the better!

After having a blue 230E, astral silver 260E and sun yellow 300TD and a beige 240D the impala brown 300SE is a nice change.

Mark is the C250 the 2.5ltr 6cyl auto?

 

[Oversize]

No it's a 4cyl twin-turbo 1.8 with 150kW and 310Nm. A 7 speed trans and 6.8L/100km (combined). 0-100kmh bw 7.2sec (brochure) and 7.4sec (display sign).

 

[260ebenz]

Okay twin turbo.

What colour is the interior Mark?

 

[Michel]

Did you go for a test-drive?

You'll luuuuurve the C250.

An you got the right package (vison and lane-keeping) and it should have distronic also...

CONGRATULATIONS

 

[Styria]

They're a mighty car - certainly whilst they are new/newish. Perhaps you realize, Mark, that Matthew bought exactly the very same model a few months ago and he has written about it on TK. I personally find the colour very attractive and classy looking - I can be almost 100% certain that bright sunlight will bring the best out of the exterior. Whatsmore, it won't show every spec of dust.

I've driven this model courtesy of Michel - very, very impressive. Acceleration is nothing short of remarkable. You will love the car. BTW, it is so easy to get trapped into buying when you visit the dealers' showroom. Conditions to buy are ideal with so many beautiful examples on the showroom floor, and it is just so easy to get taken in. It's funny, but I had sort of given some fleeting thoughts of purchasing a used CLC200, as well as a 'B' Class, but I never got around to effectively pursue the idea. I guess warranty and cost issues were a consideration, and in the end buying new (Honda Jazz) became the preferred option. Let us know in due course what the new 'baby' is like - TK DOES give you the opportunity to talk about it ! Regards Styria.......even if it was a Rolls Royce or Lagonda Rapide or.....

 

[BenzBoy]

Very smart!
Regards,
Brian

 

[Oversize]

Yes we did drive it and it was very nice. It was hard to take in all the new innovations at once. Acceleration was brisk and the speed sensitive steering was exceptional at low speeds. Braking heavily will put your passengers through the screen if they're not belted up and prepared!

We've been told this one doesn't have Distronic, but we'll wait n see if that's correct when it arrives....

There's a huge demand for the A Class and we didn't even get out of the dealer in one before we were called back, as it was pre-booked and they tried to squeeze us in! Even in that short distance we could tell it wouldn't be a good highway car for us, so we didn't bother waiting to drive another one. BTW if you want one, you won't see it for 6 months due to its popularity!!