Mercedes Doesn't Stand by Their Vehicle Quality

[barrel47]

I posted on this a few weeks ago. Here's the short story: five bolts between the transfer case / differential worked their way out and then the six sheared off resulting in a pretty significant drive train failure. Luckily, I was going <10 MPH when the failure occurred -- I can only imagine the carnage had this happened at highway speeds. The one-owner van has <40k miles and this part of the vehicle has never been worked on. Most service done with MB dealers. After this $2200 failure, I escalated to MB USA customer service. They "respectfully" declined to offset the cost of this repair. I found the first two bolts that came out, couldn't find where they came from, and even took it to MB Draper to source them. They couldn't. This was while the van was under warranty, and now it's not. Five drivetrain bolts shouldn't just fall out if properly installed in the beginning. After the NOX sensor debacle two years ago (four months with the van at the dealer waiting for a single part), I will never buy another MB vehicle.

 

[BrianW.]

Wow, that's terrible. From other posts it sounds like a not-uncommon issue that others have had, too. I'd be contacting a lawyer for a class-action suit. Or at least the threat of one.

 

[rallypanam]

if you documented that you brought issue to dealer prior to warranty expiration, then you have a case. If you just brought the bolts in and asked them and there is no paper trail.. it will be harder.

 

[1der]

if you documented that you brought issue to dealer prior to warranty expiration, then you have a case. If you just brought the bolts in and asked them and there is no paper trail.. it will be harder.

He types as he is under his Splinter checking the CV joints 1:

sorry - typo: Sprinter

 

[1der]

For reference in the future:

 

[Vailcomp]

I have a 2016 4x4 bought it new. I even had the extended warranty
You are not alone, I have had 2 cv joints go, MBZ no help every excuse. I paid.
Torque converter MBZ replaced.
Major rust at bottom of A Pilar passenger- when I saw it I took it to the dealer, they claim out of warranty, found total rust all the way to the roof line all concealed behind gasket so couldn’t see it. They quoted 4000 to pull windshield, cut out rust. I had it done out of pocket from a guy in Costa Mesa, Ca for $1200 did a great job.

Still love my van, but MBZ warranty sucks. FYI I have had 2 MBZ SUVs and no problem same dealer.

I must have the Friday version of the sprinter.

Go luck

 

[drdogfood]

I was told by a dealer that Mercedes sold off their US dealerships and service centers which may help explain some of these issues. My understanding is that there’s not any sort of direct line into the German tech support so things can take awhile to diagnose. It’s both frustrating and expensive.