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Norwich, OH Car Consumer Discussions

Mercedes Benz SLK ….THE REAL TRUTH

by hewettwspa on Sun Aug 31 09:08:53 PDT 2008

1. Quality of Mercedes Benz Build We purchased a MB SLK 350 last October ,2007 from Mercedes Benz, Lincoln . A very serious defect on the quality of the build of the car itself was encountered. The creaks and rattles of the car that cost in excess of £44,000 is utterly abysmal. According to the General Manager of Mercedes Benz Lincoln, Andy Worsley, all SLKs and Mercedes convertibles have rattles and creaks especially those with sports suspension and the 18 inch wheels. My wife has been in tears in the showrooms, which the staff thought was highly amusing, due to the problems being ignored. The car was in the workshop over three weeks shortly after being purchased being investigated and supposedly repaired for the noises but to no avail . After numerous complaints and the staff of Lincoln garage taking the car out on investigative drives they recently tried to repair and suppress the noise by placing gaffer tape around the struts of the car boot tray and stated this was the best they can do.  Contacting Mercedes Benz, Gary Morris a senior Customer Support Technical Manager within the Directors Office visited us and upon a ride in the car he agreed it was defective and indeed stated that the noise would drive him potty. WE had had 6 months of this. The car has been at a garage at Peterborough for initially a week followed by three weeks in order to try and rectify the faults. The tape was removed and the rattles have been improved however, the car still creaks when driving and the rattle is slowly returning after little use on the Lincolnshire roads. We were informed early August that our problems were over in respect that Mercedes would assist in an exchange and we were told that arrangements would be made for us to test drive the Mercedes range. When we called the garage to sort out a date the garage had not been informed of the visit and due to their involvement in the repairs suggested we returned to Lincoln as they did not want the ‘Friday Afternoon‘ car. Mercedes management have returned from holiday but are ignoring us …how long do we have to wait to get fair treatment from Mercedes but we WARN YOU NOW. Watch this space.. 2. Salesman ‘Get out Clauses‘ to awkward questions. At the time of the purchase on three occasions during the transaction we specifically asked the sales executive, James Murphy, if there was any changes, updates to the car expected in the near future. The salesman told us that he had no knowledge of a new model. This was a complete and utter lie as we have been informed by Senior Manager of Mercedes Benz that they were taking orders for the new model at the time in question. We were also told that with this direct question sales staff should be truth full and inform clients of imminent changes. Obviously, this is being ignored by sales staff at Lincoln and encouraged by their managers. 3. Mercedes Benz Insurance At the time we purchased the car we were encouraged to take Mercedes Benz insurance as we were told by the sales staff that if we were involved in a serious car crash we would get a new replacement car,as printed in the MB Insurance summary schedule. Despite being more expensive, by some £100 we thought this car replacement scheme was worth the extra premium. In January 2008, we were hit from behind whilst stationary by a car doing 60 mph. When we asked if we would get a new car as per the policy summary as the car was only months old, had only done 2000 miles and the repairs involved the car being put on a jig we were told that to be eligible for the new car the repairs had to be more than 60% of the value of the car i.e. as with any other car insurance. We argued with MB Insurance over this due to the fact that whilst being sold the insurance their staff emphasised the new car replacement policy but no time was the 60 % damage limit mentioned. (As verified in the tape of the car insurance sales) . We lost this argument and were treated as any other standard insurance by Norwich Union with numerous calls from their Indian call centre, an example of their standard is that they wrote to us stating they understood the repair had been carried out when the car was still to be inspected by the assessor. (It appears you are buying a Norwich Union Insurance policy at Mercedes Benz prices). Ivor Woods, Retail Customer Service Manager , Mercedes Benz Insurance has offered to help us with our claims , they have spoken at length to the solicitor but state they can not assist us with the claim amounts however unjust the offers by the other parties insurance company. He stated that Insurance companies have an understanding they can not barter on costs encountered by insurance companies but can do what they like on Clients personal claims. We had an independent engineers report stating the diminished value of the car was approximately £4600 , the insurance company has stated on their response to the claim they normally pay 10% of cost of the car (in our case £4400) but in our case despite their client admitting total guilt they would only pay us £2000. As stated by Ivor Woods, 19 June 2007, Mercedes Benz can not comment on this as they have no qualified staff to provide them with such information. Indeed , they can not take any action on behalf of their paying customer . They have suggested if we are not happy with the solicitors Kayes who are pressing for settlement so that they can be paid we should take the matter up with the Law Society. (pass the buck time by MB) Speaking to Ivor Woods, Mercedes Benz Insurance he informed Mr Hewett that insurance companies only pay out what they want to pay out and they never pay out amounts asked for . When Ivor Woods was questioned on this Insurance stance and whether insurance companies take offers on their renewal policies he stated they would listen to any offers on insurance premiums. DOES THIS ALL SOUND LIKE BOYCE’S GARAGE ON ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES!!!!!! 4. Customer Surveys Team The galling part of the whole fiasco is that the Lincoln garage has been awarded Customer Satisfaction Team of the Year award for the Group by Mercedes Benz…. indeed a whole MB brochure Summer 2008 is devoted to it.. In the news article it quotes Lincoln garage saying ‘Customer Satisfaction is something we take very seriously as a Company.’ Ivor Woods, MB Insurance was informed in February 2008 that the Lincoln garage was cheating with respect of customer care as the garage offered a full tank of fuel for providing a signed blank customer care/survey form . A fact confirmed by other customers. So despite being told of cheating and underhand tactics Mercedes Benz have awarded this garage finical incentives and bonuses . Mercedes Benz Lincoln offered to exchange the car in May but at a loss of £16,000. Thus…. being a Mercedes Benz owner must be one of the most expensive in the car industry. !!! If you wish any further details

Re: . [Mr_Shiftright]

by magnette on Tue Jul 29 05:36:14 PDT 2008

The body panels are difficult, but not impossible - there is a specialist in Norwich, who has a substantial catalogue, and they re-manufacture bits that are unique to that model, from time to time. I just got a repair section for the nearside rear door, which is basically a 6inch strip of the bottom of the door skin, as mine has rusted out. This arrived yesterday, and will in due course be welded on the car, but it cost about £ 99 including tax.... Most of the bits needed to get it running are pretty standard, though,, as MG and the rest of BMC ( Austin/Morris etc) used the same engines and so on in loads of cars. I can even get a wiring loom for about £300, which I think will be needed, as the mice appear to have had a few bits of the old wires. I'm lucky that I've actually got loads of bits of trim like spare dash instruments, steering wheel, etc, and various lights, but inevitably there are some bits which will be a problem. I am initially concentrating on getting it mobile, then structurally sound enoufgh to pass our MOT test, basically the government roadworthiness test, and then phase three will be to get it reliable (!) and finally I will then deal with what it looks like - I suspect it will be like a piebald pony for a bit, with various bits in primer, and different colours on some odd panels... My main problem is that I can't tackle big jobs like taking the engine out, and the car is 200 miles from where I live, as it has been in my mother's garage in Wales.. Just to make it worse, I don't have a garage at all in London - and no off-road parking on a fairly busy main road... I will have to rent a garage, but that won't be that near where I live either, unless I am very lucky. This isn't remotely going to be a project that would make economic sense, but I'm trying not to think about that - instead I'm concentrating on the dream that next year I will somehow get the old girl to a few car shows in my local area....

Re: How the Salesguy is really able to get perfect surveys [greanpea68]

by fezo on Mon May 19 11:17:33 PDT 2008

Tsk tsk... Lowell in high A. Portland is AA for the Sox. We go right through Lowell (and I think Dracut) on the way up. I forgot - there's a AA team in Norwich, CT as well.

Re: Been Lurking - Now Buying [vrm]

by times2 on Tue Apr 17 05:45:28 PDT 2007

The dealer is in Norwich, NY (which isn't really near anything). Here is the URL for the dealer and the URL for their pre-owned vehicles. http://www.sfllc.com/ http://www.sfllc.com/preowned_cars/ Good Luck!

6.6L V8 gets 70 MPG on diesel + 0-60 in 3.9 seconds

by gagrice on Sat Apr 14 22:10:28 PDT 2007

This might get me to give up my PU truck. Heard the one about the 6.6 V8 that’ll do 70mpg? One Norfolk car maker doesn’t reckon it’s a joke. In case the massive V8 was not a big enough giveaway, we should point out that this is not a Lotus. This car comes from Norfolk’s other car maker, Trident Performance Vehicles, based at Beeston. Trident is launching its new two-seater Iceni sports car, and it’s doing so by attempting to drive from Norwich to Monaco – around 1000 miles - on a single tank of fuel. It’s not quite as mad as it seems: the Trident has 100-litre fuel tank, and its 6.6-litre V8 is a diesel. At 56mph, they reckon the Iceni can manage 70mpg. What’s more, the Iceni will be running biodiesel. The car will be driven by Trident’s sales director, Kelly Bevan, and journalist Suzannah Sorrell. It leaves Norwich on 17 April, and aims to get to Monaco for the Top Marques motor show on the 19th. Even if they use some of the car’s performance – it is claimed to do 0-60mph in 3.9sec and 170mph flat out – we reckon there will be plenty of fuel: at 70mpg,

2.5i Wagon Numbers

by brb729 on Sat Dec 30 17:25:56 PST 2006

Just got back from Norwich VT with our 2007 Outback 2.5i 5 speed regular not basic no other options but floor mats and hood protector which I didn't ask for but were on the car for no extra $. $21,181 delivered +Tax,title and reg. I did an email blitz to all dealers within 100 miles using fitzmalls price as a base. Didn't do too much back and forth once I got a good price as it was snowing here in VT and didn't want to drive too far today. Feel pretty good about the deal, however I hadn't done any research on the extended certification warranty and ended up paying $900 for the 5yr 60,000 gold. It kind of caught me off guard and the only reason I did it was because I have 90 days to cancel with no fees. Anyone have any advice on whether this is worth keeping? Thanks Sam