[oulsteen]

Dealer screwing me over? (Resolved)

Just had a service B on my slk200 2004 mod last week and last night the check engine light flashes up.
The car starts shaking and making strange noises so i left it at the dealer.

Got a call this morning with them saying it was a ignition coil that was water damaged from an engine wash (never done one in 2 years owning the car). And that there was a rotten intake pipe. To repair this they wanted 2250nok which is about 300$, ok i think but later in the day they call me again.

Now they are saying the mechanic thinks the engine is running strange. So they want to swap the timing chain if i understood them correctly, costing me 8000nok about 1000$. I think this is extremely strange since i just had my car in for service last week, any thoughts?

EDIT: Good news guys, they contacted me and I called them out on their bad work so the chief mechanic called me and told me they will repair everything free of charge plus they got me a loaner while its in the shop. Seems like they knew they screwed up and just didn't want to acknowledge it. Thanks for all the help! :grin:

 

[Delucas]

Maybe the coil pack through up a code so they changed it and the hose was visibly perished so changed it and thought all was good until start up and further fault was found as in timing chain causing the issue ?

 

[oulsteen]

I have no idea, Just think it is really wierd they didnt notice anything under the service last week..

 

[jbanks15]

Have you done business with this dealer before?

 

[oulsteen]

Yes i bought the car from them, had some rust which i discovered after buying the car which they had to fix

 

[Delucas]

Has the engine management light gone out after the parts have been changed ?

 

[oulsteen]

Its still at the dealer, they were going to check if there was a problem with the engine in the morning. The mechanic Just noticed it at the end of the day

 

[raymond.harper]

2005 slk 200 Timing Chain - MBClub UK - Bringing together Mercedes Enthusiasts
seems to be a common problem on the 200. Perhaps you can persuade the dealer it is a fault with the engine and you should not have to pay.

 

[Beekster]

How many miles are on the car? Timing chains should last for at least 150,000 miles. I understand the the M271 engine has issues with the chain, but I'd be pretty hard-nosed with the dealer on this. If the coil pack was damaged by an engine wash, that's their problem if they did that...an engine wash is not part of any routine service. I would say it is only necessary if there has been a major oil leak. A worn-out hose or intake pipe should have been caught at the B service. My dealer gives me a multi-page report with everything the technician saw referenced by line item and repair (or not) recommendations made.

 

[oulsteen]

I bought the car with 95 000km its now on 110 000, owned the car for 2 years. They Said they changed timing chain and other parts before i bought it aswell..

 

[Delucas]

If the car runs ??
Take it away and say you will have a think about it and take somewhere else for a second opinion ?

 

[oulsteen]

Yeah, already called an independent shop and they also thought it was weird since they should have noticed something like this in the service they did last week.. Im going up there tomorrow and will have a talk with them, hopefully its just the ignition coil and the hose. Any tips on what i should tell them?

 

[raymond.harper]

Tell them you are not happy with the car or with their service. You expect a higher level of service at a main dealer and you will not accept the car back until it is fixed to your satifaction or you will complain to their head office.

 

[Pam C]

Yeah, already called an independent shop and they also thought it was weird since they should have noticed something like this in the service they did last week.. Im going up there tomorrow and will have a talk with them, hopefully its just the ignition coil and the hose. Any tips on what i should tell them?

My two cents is ask who did the shampoo and why? You owned it two years now and bought it from them. Listen carefully to their answer and don't take anything but a straight forward answer and a solution to the problem. Suggest maybe it was shampooed by them by accident thinking it was some other car? Pay attention to their reaction you want to give them an honourable way to say they screwed up without saying they were just plain negligent. Get them to pay all of the costs of the repair or as much as possible anyway.

If the car drives, drive it away to someone independent telling the dealer that you will have a think about it if you are not satisfied with the resolution they offer but before you leave get a print out of the service detailing all of what was done at the initial service and what they did after then to now.

If you have anything in writing from them back when you bought the car outlining what was changed before you bought it you should dig it out because if it is related to the timing chain something doesn't sound right. The dealer may not have been straight forward with you and for that alone you may be able to get it paid by them.

 

[Delucas]

I remember a few years back on a CL 600 V12 it came back from an authorised dealer .
And upon driving the car i noticed a severe missfire .

Upon diagnosing found the engine bay had been jet washed by the dealer .
Hence the twin coil packs had been flooded and caused missfires .

The insurance cheque was stopped instantly to them ( paint repairs another story)

And i billed them to sort out the engine fault .

So engine wash can be a costly thing .

Or if its done dry it out completely .

 

[nguyenphananh]

talking about crooked stealer.... yesterday I went out with a female friend. She has a e430 that bought new and serviced regularly at the local MB Fletcher Jones. Recently the key fob became very weak, and she needed to be very close to the car in order for the key fob to work. Took it to the dealer, and the technician said that the key is on the way out, and she needed to buy a new key fob for $256. Well, I bought for her a set of watch battery, and 2 minutes later, the old key fob worked like brand new!!! how could they try to cheat people on simple thing like that!!!

 

[Delucas]

Sometimes a second opinion is worth the hassle or taken it to a specialist or a good friend . :grin:

 

[i860]

If is the chain just do it. Is to much risk involved if the chain jumps. My wife C class same engine like your in a garage for a rebuild due to the chain jumping.
My car throw a misfire on cylinder 2 and a p0010 and that was the end of that engine.
http://imgur.com/a/06Pcj

 

[mchild]

The OP stated in post #10 that the dealer replaced the timing chain before selling the car to him. The engine/car has only 15K KM on it since then. Timing chains do not wear out in 15K KM in a properly functioning engine. If they are now saying the timing chain needs to be replaced again, then they MUST find out why it has worn out so fast and fix that too since it is apparent that the new chain has had a substantially shortened life. ALL of the cost of this work (just the timing chain work not the coil packs and such) should be at the expense of the dealer since the prior timing chain work was not done competently in the recent past.

There does seem to be a bit of consistency on the issues this dealer seems to have missed on your recent service visit. If the intake tube was 99% deteriorated and therefore still functioning, you would have to face the replacement of that part eventually. But it does look very poor on the quality of the recent service work. Same with the timing chain issue. If, in fact, the engine does need a new chain then they missed something significant when they did the replacement 15K KM ago.

As for the bad coil pack. They do go bad. And they typically don't give much warning. But shame on them trying to blame it on an engine wash. That just makes them look stupid. Should have just said it needs to replaced because it was bad.

In conclusion - you may want to find another service facility to maintain your car. These guys have proven their incompetency.

 

[oulsteen]

The OP stated in post #10 that the dealer replaced the timing chain before selling the car to him. The engine/car has only 15K KM on it since then. Timing chains do not wear out in 15K KM in a properly functioning engine. If they are now saying the timing chain needs to be replaced again, then they MUST find out why it has worn out so fast and fix that too since it is apparent that the new chain has had a substantially shortened life. ALL of the cost of this work (just the timing chain work not the coil packs and such) should be at the expense of the dealer since the prior timing chain work was not done competently in the recent past.

There does seem to be a bit of consistency on the issues this dealer seems to have missed on your recent service visit. If the intake tube was 99% deteriorated and therefore still functioning, you would have to face the replacement of that part eventually. But it does look very poor on the quality of the recent service work. Same with the timing chain issue. If, in fact, the engine does need a new chain then they missed something significant when they did the replacement 15K KM ago.

As for the bad coil pack. They do go bad. And they typically don't give much warning. But shame on them trying to blame it on an engine wash. That just makes them look stupid. Should have just said it needs to replaced because it was bad.

In conclusion - you may want to find another service facility to maintain your car. These guys have proven their incompetency.

I just came back from them they keep saying the same stuff, the intake hose was cracked and the ignition coil was water damaged from a motorwash that has to be over 2 years ago most likely from when i bought the car.

He was going to call me regarding the timing chain as they were not sure yet, he just said sometimes they hear something sometimes they don't...