I Do Love this Car.
Well, needless to say, I took it to the Mercedes Service Center in Santa Monica immediately (this was in September.) I was told that the YAW sensor had malfunctioned. This is the part that controls the "electronic braking system" on the wheel. Apparently it "thought" the car was in a roll over accident and was trying to stabilize itself. Why only the right front wheel would think this autonomously of the other wheels, I have no idea. (I've named it HAL after Space Odyssey.) Price to have this repaired today: about $1500... Uh... what?
Here's why I refused to pay for this. I maintain my car impeccably and it wasn't a wear & tear issue. It's a frightening malfunction that's a major safety concern.
So I emailed Mercedes-Benz USA where I was politely told that my car was out of warranty and to go screw myself. Understandable, but I drive Mercedes for a reason- the service and quality. So I kept emailing and calling until late October when I was finally told to take it back to the service center at WI Simonson in SM for inspection.
Then the glorious day came in November when the Service Manager called to tell me that they would repair the YAW sensor free of charge because it is a safety concern and not foreseeable.
I was so elated to hear this. The company that I've always trusted, did actually pull through for me, as I had known it would. I love Mercedes.
The Service Advisor, who is so nice, called to let me know that he personally test drove it and approved of the work. And I will say as I always do to people who think buying a Mercedes is a waste of money- It's about the service and quality. I will never drive anything else. (Except maybe my Spyker C8 Laviolette, but that's another post.)
Thank you to everyone at WI Simonson service center and SLK World.
http://www.wisimonson.com/portal/site/DWS05154/
http://tiny.cc/SLKWorld
Good on ya for sticking with it. Very few peeps would have. I like a consumer who sticks to their guns. . . and makes the big company do the right thing. It's to Mercedes credit that they did so. I think they are the second best cars in the world. . . after Volkswagens, of course.
ReplyDeleteVolkswagen?! I cannot believe you could compare it! I'll tell you about the time my brother bought a new Volkswagen and discovered in the first few days that it had stripped motor mounts. Volkswagen wouldn't even confirm or deny the existence of the car or where it came from! However, in turn he smartly traded it in for a Mercedes.
ReplyDeleteyour site is very nice,very useful for me, i bookmarked your blog
ReplyDeleteYou're lucky you didn't get caught in an accident when the YAW sensor malfunctioned. And it's a good thing that they fixed it for you free of charge. Nice one, Evie! So yeah, just stick to the guys who give good service to you. That's what I do, you know. There's only one automotive shop that I go to because they always get good reviews. And they send me regular maintenance schedule reminders!
ReplyDeleteI'm not having the same experience at all... matter of a fact they're telling me, what you read on the computer you can't trust and they have no malfunctioning reports... so he tells me good news there is no recall on your vehicle! I said that's only good news for you because that means I have to pay! I lost control yesterday on the highway and just about missed the retaining wall almost to the car on the left my rear tires locked up.... the mechanic just change the brake switch light and said it was fixed.... I'm terrified to drive! I called the national Traffic Safety Administration hotline 188832 74236 and filed a report... they will be putting investigator on this and trying to decide if a recall is needed, we all know it absolutely is as stated above it is a fault email function and it's a safety issue... but I wish everybody that reads this would do the same so we would have more power in numbers!
ReplyDeleteSorry meant faulty malfunction.....
ReplyDelete