Mercedes-Benz of McKinney

To Whom It May Concern, We have owned 4 Mercedes in the last several years, two CLS 550’s and currently lease a 2018 E300 and own a 2014 CLS63 AMG. With that said, we made the conscious decision to lease the E300 at Mercedes of McKinney due to a relationship we’d established there. We will never choose Mercedes of McKinney again. Had we not had fantastic experiences at other Mercedes dealerships in the past, more than likely we would not return to the Mercedes family at all. Plainly put, the service department at the Mercedes of McKinney borders on unethical. We have included a timeline of the most recent events for your reference, but at a high level: • The McKinney Mercedes Service Department is quick to diagnose non-warranty items, without full diagnostics to determine the cause, and over-states needed repairs: o The CLS63 was brought in as steam was coming from the engine compartment. We were told it was the radiator overfill cap which was not covered under warranty. We were charged $100 for the repair, only to drive about 20 miles away to have the same problem. Upon our own inspection, we noticed a stream of water coming from the radiator overflow tank which was spraying onto the manifold. We took it back to McKinney who said that they would replace the tank which was under warranty. Since it was obvious that was the original problem, we asked our $100 to be refunded, we were told that the cap does not come with the tank but the tank is covered, therefore we were not entitled to a refund. We requested to have our old cap put on since it was repaired on the same day and were told they threw it out. We never received a refund. o Two months later, the CLS63 was due for its 50k service. The oil was changed. At that time the service department also informed us 1) that we needed all new brake pads (“they were metal on metal”) and new rotors ($4000), and 2) the we also needed new plugs ($680). We asked that they only complete the regular service at that time. o The E300’s cameras and heads-up display stopped working. When the car was dropped off for the standard ‘A’ service and to fix a recall, they were to also diagnose the camera/heads-up display issue. During check-in and immediately after checking the mileage the Service Advisor stated that since there was a radar detector installed, if its determined THAT was the reason the cameras weren’t working, the repair would not be covered under warranty. We have attached the timeline of events for this service, because, of course, the camera issue was blamed on the radar detector. • Our Service Advisor, Gabe Harris, was ill-equipped to manage our issue or to ‘translate’ their service technicians results to us: o The information we received from Gabe related to the E300’s camera issue was illogical. As we continued to question his statements, his explanation continued to evolve and change. o As we continued to press Gabe for a better explanation, the “diagnosis” continued to change, he eventually just told us that he would have the service technician “re-story” the work order. The result was a new explanation on the work order, that was made to fit their original conclusion, which was that the installation of the radar detector (11 months prior) was the cause, was not covered under warranty, and to get it fixed would cost $1385. o Gabe continued remind us how angry the service technician already was, since we were at the dealership during his lunch time, and since Gabe had to keep calling him for further explanations, it was making him angry. The service technician was also angry because he “wasted 4 hours of his time on the car”. As a service provider, we should have never been told any of this information. o Gabe’s follow up was extremely poor. At one point he told us that he was too busy to read his email. o Our radar detector was completely disconnected by the service technician even though we had asked that they not touch it. o As we were leaving, and still discussing the issue, Gabe divulged that when the service department receives a car to diagnose, and they detect a non-Mercedes after-market part, the service technician will stop their diagnosis since more than likely that is the “cause of the problem”. Its no wonder that our work-order had to be “re-storied”, since there probably wasn’t a formal diagnosis done, because they knew from the very beginning there was a a non-Mercedes after-market part in the car. o We escalated this issue to the Service Director, Brian Cunningham at McKinney with 3 phone messages, and two emails. We have yet to hear from him. o We took possession of the E300 having only had the general service & recall issue fixed. We made the conscious decision to take the E300 to the Mercedes of Plano in hopes that they could perform a complete diagnostic on the camera/heads-up display issue. If in fact, they came back with a similar diagnosis to McKinney, we would have paid for the repair. The level of detail on the work order from Mercedes of Plano was extremely specific and it was quite obvious the steps the service technician took to diagnose the problem. Their diagnosis was that there was an internal electronic part within the camera module that failed, which was replaced under warranty (McKinney’s “diagnosis” was that the radar detector was feeding back into the camera). Throughout the process, we received text updates and were provided with a detailed description of the steps the technician took to diagnose the issue. Since the E300 was resolved with expediency and professionalism, we also asked they look at the CLS63. After their review, we received a detailed list: 3mm left on the front pads, 1mm left on the rear. The rotors have at least 10k miles left. They recommended only a change to the rear pads. Also, we were informed that the plugs were fine for at least another 7500 miles. If you recall, McKinney stated that we needed new pads (“metal on metal” they said), rotors and plugs. We have also connected with Mercedes Corporate Customer Advocacy and filed a formal complaint against Mercedes of McKinney. We have had our Mercedes vehicles serviced at 6 different dealerships in 4 different states (Michigan, Pittsburgh, PA, Louisville, KY, Park Mercedes, Mercedes of Plano & Mercedes of McKinney in Texas). Aside from McKinney, all of these dealerships were exceptional. Mercedes of McKinney falls far below the Mercedes brand and the level of service customers have come to expect from Mercedes. It is hard to determine (nor is it really up to us) if it’s a level of experience and training issue, incompetence, or if they are taking advantage of their customers purposely. Either way, we will never return there.