Mercedes C 180 > Reviews (13)

Hello,

Please see attached a letter I have just sent to Mercedes - does anyone
else have similar experiences ?

______________________________________

Customer Services,
Mercedes Benz,
DaimlerChrysler UK Ltd
Tongwell,
Milton Keynes,
Buckinghamshire
MK15 8BA

9 August, 2000

Dear Sir,

RE: C180 Elegance - registration S393EGC

I am writing to express my concern and disappointment with my Mercedes
C180 Elegance that I purchased from Geyfords (Tooting, London) in
November 1998. I purchased my car for £26,521 in good faith based on
the quality, reliability and residual value offered by Mercedes.

I am afraid that I must write to you to detail the unmitigated failure
of your company to meet my expectations on all counts:

1. Week 1: Front grill misplaced and required refitting.
2. Rear passenger window jammed open and required new electric
motor. This entailed a call to Mercedes Emergency Assistance.
3. Sunroof jammed open. This was dealt with by a visit to the
dealership.
4. Woking motors whilst valuing our car comment on Geyford's
dealership "they have reputation for misleading clients" and showed us
a list containing names purporting to be other disgruntled customers.
5. Whilst on route to Geyfords to contemplate changing the C180,
the car breaks down with an electrical failure. My wife and two babies
are left stranded on a very busy road for 3 hours only 1 mile from the
dealership. When the car is finally attended to the battery is
replaced. This takes place on Tuesday 25.7.2000.
6. We visit Geyfords on the 29.7.2000 to discuss the problems the
C180 has had and to see if an upgrade to an E280 would help. Geyfords
offered us approximately £13,000 for the car. A depreciation of 50% in
20 months. The Geyfords sales manager did not seem surprised that I was
not willing to commit a further £23,000 to Mercedes Benz. In fact, one
of the "off the cuff" remarks he made was that he'd think twice about
buying another new one too.
7. On the 1.8.2000, whilst on route to a very important business
meeting the C180 experiences a complete electrical failure. One and
half hours after calling in the fault I am given a replacement hire car
and the C180 is taken in to "Tony Purslow Ltd" for the alternator to be
replaced.
8. Finally, on the 5.8.2000 we have to call the Mercedes Emergency
Assistance line again. Now the rear passenger window on the other side
has jammed open with a complete motor failure. I am writing this letter
as I await the emergency technician.

- Quality ? Numerous minor electrical and fitting problems. Your
dealerships continually bad mouth each other.this is just "tacky".

- Reliability ? I have lost count of the number of phone calls
made to Mercedes Emergency Assistance.

- Residual value ? It has depreciated more than any other car I
have ever owned.

In short, I feel that you must agree that Mercedes has failed me as a
customer thus far. PLEASE persuade me otherwise if you disagree.
As you might guess, I would quite like to terminate my relationship
with your company, can I suggest the following ways you might do this
in an amicable fashion:

a) Buy back my car at a morally correct price.
b) Suggest some compensatory action.

I look forward to reading your response.

Sincerely,
Dominic Dinardo