Warren,

Pretty much the same story here for one of the MB dealers I've used in the Cleveland area.

Besides the 2 MBs, I have a RX300. The Lexus dealer still treats me like gold, even though the car is a 2000 and I don't have routing service done there. However, I had a few instances of very lengthy times to receive parts (2-3 months) for bolts that secure the rear door struts to the body. Also general confusion about the parts order. In case you're wondering, these simple bolts and brackets were severely oxidizing. Unfortunately, the replacement parts seem to be doing the same thing.

Lexus does have their dealership customer service act together. They're the best. My MB dealership is getting a little better, but they're a a long way from Lexus. My prior experience with Toyota and Honda dealerships were also excellent.

When you call for service at my MB dealership, you rarely can speak with anyone. All you get is voice mail asking you to leave a message. For a service department this is totally unacceptable. If you leave a message you may get a return phone call 1-2 days later. If you return to the operator and insist on speaking with a service person, you may actually reach someone. However, most of the time you'll still get put back in voice mail. I spoke with three other customers one day while waiting for their cars and they were very frustrated by the service department. There were no happy customers waiting for their cars. Their attempt to book a service appointment was worse than mine.

Anyway, that along with dealership service prices is why I only use the dealership for warranty work.

__________________
Dave

1998 E320
2001 SLK320
2000 Lexus RX300