Rants & Raves?

[dgs49]

I recall posting some years ago on a BBS that had a separate "area" for what it termed, "Rants & Raves." Self explanatory. I apologize in advance for posting a generic rant on a "Politics" board, but...

I've had another run-in with my Mercedes dealer. Shortly after purchasing this car (a 2006 C230 Sport), I bought a "beater" to meet most of my transportation needs, so I don't drive the Mercedes much. About 6k miles in three years. I also store it in the Winter, so that I can keep my Element indoors and not have to clean ice of the windshield every morning before heading off to work.

Last year, I took it in for something and authorized them to do one of their service packages (I think they call them an "A" service and a "B" service), and it ended up costing me something like $400, largely because they used synthetic oil and charged me $40/quart for that.

Now, less than 1000 miles later, one of my inaccessible bulbs has burned out, and for some unknown reason, one of my fog lights has become detached (it is just resting inside a housing that is there for that purpose) and I'm driving a one-eyed car. The light must have vibrated off, because I have not hit anything - which would have left a mark someplace, and the fog light itself is unblemished.

So I call to set up an appointment. The dealer has been sending me friendly reminders every other week or so, saying that I really have to get one service or another taken care of "soon." I tell the writeup person what I want done, and of course she says, "You will also need an oil change, sir." I explain to her that there is less than a thousand miles on the car since the last oil change, and of course she says, "We recommend all services be done on time, either because of reaching the mileage levels or if time has elapsed." I point out to her that I will be dead and totally decomposed before that synthetic oil (they installed last time) will have degraded enough to become a threat to the internal moving parts of my engine.

"So, shall I write you up for an 'A' service, or a 'B' service?"

"Neither. Just fix my fog light and the turn signal lamp."

So I show up this morning, and of course - being a Mercedes Benz dealership - my arrival has been planned for. The pre-printed write-up sheet very clearly says, fix the fog lamp, replace the turn signal bulb, and CHANGE THE OIL." I make the necassary correction.

The write-up person says, "You must have really knocked that fog lamp pretty good. It's held in there with five screws and two separate brackets." "Well," I say, "if I hit that fog lamp, it was a very precise blow, because none of the fiberglass is touched, and it must be made of indestructible German glass, because there is not a mark on it."

In true Mercedes fashion, they have given me a 2011 C300 4-Matic as a "free" loaner car.

People like me really should not own such cars*. And the dealership should have a can of Crisco on a table at the entrance of the Service Department.

I can't wait to see what they are going to charge me to re-attach the fog light.

___________________________________
* Believe it or not, I love the car (which is why I haven't gotten rid of it). It is everything I am not: It is fast, comfortable, good-looking, ,economical and it handles like a slot car.

[quaddriver]

Ke-rist ona stick. you take the same oil my TDI does and I get it imported via UPS at $10 per litre....

there are high prices and then there is rape.

Where is Marshall Lucky when you need him?

[Gob]

I recall posting some years ago on a BBS that had a separate "area" for what it termed, "Rants & Raves." Self explanatory. I apologize in advance for posting a generic rant on a "Politics" board, but...

Jesus Dave, open your eyes mate. We have a forum labelled;

Hardware
Cars, Bikes, Tools and Toys.

or if you prefer;

General stuff & Tabloids
All the shit that doesn't fit!
If it doesn't go into the other forums, stick it in here.
A general free for all

even;

Lifestyle
Food, recipes, fashion, sport, education, exercise, sexuality, travel.

[dales]

You purchased an expensive German luxury car.

Be prepared for a good reaming now and then.

-or

Take it to an MB indept service shop and get better and less expensive service.

addendumb: I am a Porsche fanatic and spend a fair amount of time cruising Porsche forums. Their service experinces are no less differnt and the overall quality of the marque has been on a downhill slide for the past 10-15 years.

[Jarlaxle]

Ke-rist ona stick. you take the same oil my TDI does and I get it imported via UPS at $10 per litre....

His Benz having a GAS engine, I suspect it does not use the same oil as your DIESEL Jetta. I recall most M-B dealers use Mobil 1. And, of course, they mark it up about 1000%.

I love being able to change my oil for <$15...hit Wal-Mart for a 5-quart jug of 5W-30 (Caprice) or 15W-40 (Caddy) and a $4 filter. Done.

[quaddriver]

Ke-rist ona stick. you take the same oil my TDI does and I get it imported via UPS at $10 per litre....

His Benz having a GAS engine, I suspect it does not use the same oil as your DIESEL Jetta. I recall most M-B dealers use Mobil 1. And, of course, they mark it up about 1000%.

I love being able to change my oil for <$15...hit Wal-Mart for a 5-quart jug of 5W-30 (Caprice) or 15W-40 (Caddy) and a $4 filter. Done.

the new tdi spec isfor a 5w30 and has the same mb cert - generally 228.something to 229.something (as well as maker, we both take elf, pentosynth, motul etc) in fact, I gave away my last 5L bottle of oil from my J5 because it fit the MB and the newer j5.5 I have now took something MB had not caught up to yet....

fact remains, it costs $10/L to mail it to the US. where they find the stones to charge $40......

[dgs49]

Final cost: about $150. I suppose I can't complain. They had to "airfreight" a replacement for the broken bracket to get it here today, but how can I possibly complain - I've had the use of a lovely C300 for two days?

I probably should have just gone to my regular mechanic, but I thought the fog lamp should be done by a dealer who knows the car. It's the AMG fascia.

[Econoline]

Ke-rist ona stick. you take the same oil my TDI does and I get it imported via UPS at $10 per litre....

His Benz having a GAS engine, I suspect it does not use the same oil as your DIESEL Jetta. I recall most M-B dealers use Mobil 1. And, of course, they mark it up about 1000%.

I love being able to change my oil for <$15...hit Wal-Mart for a 5-quart jug of 5W-30 (Caprice) or 15W-40 (Caddy) and a $4 filter. Done.

the new tdi spec isfor a 5w30 and has the same mb cert - generally 228.something to 229.something (as well as maker, we both take elf, pentosynth, motul etc) in fact, I gave away my last 5L bottle of oil from my J5 because it fit the MB and the newer j5.5 I have now took something MB had not caught up to yet....

fact remains, it costs $10/L to mail it to the US. where they find the stones to charge $40......

quaddriver - The difference between your VW oil and Dave's M-B oil is that yours comes over via air freight, whereas Dave's is flown over on a Daimler-Benz corporate jet.

(Since my Mercedes Freightliner Dodge Mercedes Sprinter van was sold to me by a Dodge dealer, I can (and do) use plain old Mobil 1 synthetic in its Mercedes-Benz CDI engine.)

[quaddriver]

(Since my Mercedes Freightliner Dodge Mercedes Sprinter van was sold to me by a Dodge dealer, I can (and do) use plain old Mobil 1 synthetic in its Mercedes-Benz CDI engine.)

Arent those great? My stepdad has a Winnie View hung off the 3500 chassis with the 2.7L? 5 cyl. he is the one who took my old J5 oil. 18-21mpg consistently

[Econoline]

Yeah, I love it. Mine's a plain old medium-wheelbase high-roof 2500 (with around 227,000 miles on the clock) and I've gotten as low as 17-18mpg during the winter, with the aux.heater going, idling almost all day long...and as high as 25.3mpg, recently, mostly highway driving. And I can stand up inside when I'm loading and save my poor old back.

[Jarlaxle]

(Since my Mercedes Freightliner Dodge Mercedes Sprinter van was sold to me by a Dodge dealer, I can (and do) use plain old Mobil 1 synthetic in its Mercedes-Benz CDI engine.)

Arent those great? My stepdad has a Winnie View hung off the 3500 chassis with the 2.7L? 5 cyl. he is the one who took my old J5 oil. 18-21mpg consistently

Yeah, wonderful...well, except that you pay gargantuan money for a damned conversion van. For what a Sprinter-chassis "RV" costs, you can get a nice E-450 class C or even a smaller class A.