Consumer Complaint Detail

MERCEDES BENZ / C320 / 2001

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
No Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 001095185 Incident Date: Sep, 18 2001
Consumer's City: MENLO PARK Consumer's State: CA
Vehicle Transmission Type: AUTO Manufacturers Name: Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC
Model Name: C320 Model Year: 2001
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Electrical system
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: WDBRF64J61F Date added to File: May, 23 2021
Date Complaint Received: Feb, 12 2007 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: No Purchase Date: Dec, 19 2000
Was Original Owner: Yes Anti-lock Brakes: Yes
Number of Cylinders: 6 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: At 55,178 miles (only 5,000 over warranty) i had to have my faulty electronic ignition system replaced. during this repair at an authorized dealership, the technicians blew out the rear sam (computer controlling directional signals, hazard lights, etc), while the car was in their shop. they attempted to make me believe that the rear sam failure was an underlying failure that they were not able to detect with the first inspection. however, this rear sam failure was never disclosed to me until after they had installed the electronic ignition system, approximately one week later. in other words, the initial inspection was 100% about the faulty electronic ignition system. ironically, the ignition did turn on during the initial inspection and i was there to observe the service manager scroll through the display, find my mileage, etc. there was no indication of rear sam failure on 9/19/06, ie, visit workshop on display. no matter what the circumstances, having electronic issues of such a magnitude (both ignition and rear sam) on a car that had only 55,000 miles on it, indicates that mercedes benz has tremendous electronics problems. furthermore, while i was willing to pay for the electronic ignition problem that i came to the dealership to fix, i expected the dealership to take care of the rear sam failure they caused. they would not offer to take care of this problem. i have since learned that they could have availed themselves of m-b's good will replacement parts program for the part and they would have been out very little time and money. the dealership subsequently said they did offer to take care of the problem, which is a lie! i have been in contact with both the california department of consumer affairs and with my credit card customer service department to seek redress for the dealerships handling of this matter. the ca department of consumer affairs recommended that i file a complaint with the nhts. *nm