Hello,

I wanted to get feedback on what other's thought of this or if other's have experienced it:

I had my car serviced at the dealer for an alignment, brake fluid and coolant service. When I picked up the car the car wasn't washed and the front license plate was dangling by one screw. When I pointed out the license plate, a mechanic "fastened" the plate back on (I could tell he just kinda pushed the screw into place without really taking care to fasten it). When driving the car home it felt funny and I noticed the temperature around 90-95 which is higher than normal without AC. I opened the hood to find the radiator cap left off the car by the shop! Not only this but the license plate was dangling by one screw in the front.

I pointed out to the service manager, that this could have gotten much worse (i.e. overheat, etc) if I hadn't bother to check. They have offered to refund the coolant service only and "inspect" the car. I dropped it off for inspection. He told me that's why the car has gauges etc for coolant. They really didn't seem sorry or apologetic. NOthing else was offered.

Is this normal, is it just me...seems like this is a serious thing for a shop to leave the radiator cap off like that...

I was thinking about writing a letter to Mercedes Headquarters...not sure if worth the trouble...the foreman said that I could do that but the letter would just be forwarded to him anyway.?

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1) 84 300SD 285K+ Miles (Ver Calif)
2) 84 300SD 175K+ Miles (Ver Federal)

By all means. Yes. Write MB and cc a copy to the service manager of the dealership. There is no excuse for offering indifferent service to any customer. You could have taken your MB to a dozen other places for that work to be done. Instead you elected to pay a premium, and have it done at their MB dealership. They should never take that for granted. Complain.

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'78 300D 310K Maple Yellow / Bamboo
'87 300D 81K Barolo Red / Safron (RIP @ 113K)
2003 E320 34K Pewter/Charcoal
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What did the license plate have to do with the services you ordered?

Was it properly fastened when you dropped the car off? If so, why had they even touched it to begin with?

This kind of service, and attitude, is completely unacceptable from any repair facility! Or maybe their trying to get rid of you! Maybe they don't like you!

Do you think when they see you driving in, they say oh no, he's back!

The General Manager is the person to talk to about your poor service. The service manager works for him. One of their most important jobs is to keep waves from rocking the owner's boat. They both work for him. If you aren't satisfied with your chat with the GM, write the owner a letter and drop a cc to Mercedes.

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You can get farther with a smile and a gun than you can with just a smile.

1984 300D
1985 300CD
1980 300SD
1993 SL500

Unfortunately, its become quite the norm for most M/B dealers. They have their holier than thou attitude and they really don't care if you go somewhere else.

My answer: Fine, see you later (never).

Many of us simply refuse to patronize the local dealer for anything other than parts.

Why write a letter? It's not going to change anything in the M/B organization, that is for certain.

Talk with your feet. More people should do the same.

Thanks for the response guys...the plate WAS fastened when the car went in...not sure what caused it to fall off like that or if they jostled it while flushing the coolant...anyway that was just the icing on the cake...the radiator cap was the big issue.

I will write mercedes and probably cc the general manager as suggested. I'm not expecting to hear anything back, but I think we have to speak up...I get the feeling that the dealership has the attitude of "oh no, another older mercedes..." since everything else is newer than my 84.

The other problem in my area is that this IS the only MBZ dealer...so he probably knows that nothing can really touch him..I hate to bash them though as generally they have very good service in the past...but they're probably only as good as the people they hire, but a little consideration wouldn't have hurt. If it were me, I'd probably offer a free tuneup or soemthing to make up for the loss. I was sorta thinking I shouldn't have had to pay for any of the other services perfomred at that service such as athe alignment and brake fluid but the service manager disagreeed with that and said there's nothing wrong with the work done in those two areas.

I wonder what they woulda done if I'da just driven it like that in the hot So Cal sun during the summer. It would definitely cause the engine to blow or crack a head.

I do get the feeling that lexus and acura (have one of each) have much better service overall. THey are very nice. Honda too!

Do others notice that they are much nicer to newer car customers at any dealer. I guess its only business and you gotta keep the paying customer happy.

They really don't like older owners...as if we're sorta cheating the system by hanging on to an older car instead of $$ in out on a new one. Anyway.

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1) 84 300SD 285K+ Miles (Ver Calif)
2) 84 300SD 175K+ Miles (Ver Federal)

Oh I have had poor service at many dealers. The GM dealer around here is the worst, what a bunch of jerks. MB isn't the only one. Toyota always treated me like gold even though I only bought little stuff from them. When I asked if my airbag should be checked the manager wasn't sure and got the senior mechanic to explain to him and me why it wasn't needed. I was just in their to buy a $5 oil filter they were not making money off me.

Luckly I live in an area with many MB dealers, if one screws me I can move on. They know this and try not to screw you(some of them anyway )

By all means complain to MBUSA.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

One more time for those who missed it

Having a car serviced is like having sex. Once in a great while, if you trust the person you might put on a blindfold. However, you do not want to make it a general practice.

When you do right, I will let you and others in the chain know. When you screw up bad enough, I will ream the owner.

Independent, dealership, they are all the same. One person owns it. Don't know whaat the difference is other than the dealer has to have certain tools on hand, has to have an inventory of parts and has to have a certain number of techs that have gone to MB school and have update courses and they ahve to sell the cars. What else is the difference? I have been treated bad by dealerships (GM, Ford, Toyota, etc, etc). I find the owner and scream at him.

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Did the shop make a mistake? Yes. Was any real harm done? It doesn't sound like it. In my opinion, their offer to refund the cost of the coolant service was fair and reasonable. And probably a better offer than one would get at most shops.

the point isnt whether it killed the car or not....you pay these people a zillion dollars(round figure)an hour to work on your car...theyre the best, theyve had as much education about working on cars as a lawyer has about law....theres not supposed to be anyone else that can work on this car but them, if you hear them tell it....yet, they leave your radiator cap off and let you drive home like that...if it hadnt been for YOU, the consumer, who spotted this youd have had a really hot engine and probably wouldve blown it....they shouldve thought about which was cheaper...refund the guy enough money to make him happy enough to come back and rip into the tech who made this stupid mistake...or they could think about having this guy come up there with a blown engine demanding they replace it because one of their idiot techs left his radiator cap off...not a hard choice to make, IMO

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1985 300SD 192,000miles...Astral silver/ Grey MbTex

1983 300D 194,000miles...White/Tan MbTex...my newest addiction

To reinforce this perception that, the Mercedes dealership personnel are indifferent when a 15 year old car rolls in......
I would say most definitely " YES THEY ARE."

I visited a large dealership often as a repair mechanic and saw the total lack of concern for older vehicle owners.
I was there recently and had to help explain to the parts guy what the customer ahead of me was trying to obtain
because of the total lack of interest to get the part he needed.

I know all the parts people there and the service writer too.
Always, calling the Parts Dept' and be put on hold......without them asking if it's okay....once for 26 minutes...I timed it !
I still got poor response from them for orders I put in, now I go through CALIBER Motors in California for my OE parts..

One customer of mine who had a 1992 300e was treated the same way back in 1995 when she sought help for overheating.
She came to me and it turned out to be the axillary fans, one was stalled and the remaining one couldn't cool enough in 106 degrees.

She was so pee'd off with MB dealer here, she sold me that car in 1999 for $7000.00 and bought a new V70 Volvo AWD wagon.
In 2001 she bought a new 2001 e320 4matic Wagon........ from an out of state dealer.

Don't give them your business if they treat you with indifference.
Write MB by all means, enough letters to them might do something.

You could also write to:www.complaints.com/

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[http://languageandgrammar.com/2008/01/14/youve-got-problems-not-issues/ ]

"A liberal is someone who feels they owe a great debt to their fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money."

I have to disagree with you about the radiator cap. Having the cap off is deffinately NOT going to overheat and wreck your engine.

The cap is there to retain coolant. If you loose through evaporation enough coolant, say over several days, yes, the engine will have less coolant to keep thing properly cooled.

I agree that you should not have to double check their work, (especially after they rape your wallet) and replace lost coolant (if you happen to catch it before too much is lost) but wanting them to NOT charge you for alignment, and brake fluid, (did you mean complete brake flush??) and arguing it, probably reinforces their opinion of owners of older benzs. They cator to the upper class, the big money people, and don't want to be bothered with you (most all of us here too!) loitering about in old and rusty benzs on their property, and if it was legal, they'd give you the bum's rush, right off the property front license plate, radiator cap, and all!!!

There are two threads ongoing right now about the same thing!

Um no, the cap on the coolant resevoir on these cars (126 Diesel) is a pressurized system -- leaving the cap off while prevent pressure from building - you are right in the sense that I probbaly didn't boil over driving home, but I can guarantee you it will boil at ~100 C (I was 95C by the time I reached home) - okay maybe not 100C since antifreeze will raise the boil point but still-- Here in So Cal you can get that temp up to a >100C easily with the AC in the spring/summer.

A defective pressure cap will cause the engine to boil to (it happened to my other car). That Cap is ESSENTIAL!! This is not simply a resevoir cap but the pressure cap for the entire system (not like american cars where the resovoir is not pressurized). To me it is a critical mistake, but probably not worth getting too worked up about.

If I hadn't checked that cap for several months....? That is what I am most concerned about . Also I have noticed that the coolant doesn't seem to circulate that well either with the cap off.

I'll pick the car up quietly tomorrow after they "inspect" it and write the letter to MBUSA and be done with it...

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1) 84 300SD 285K+ Miles (Ver Calif)
2) 84 300SD 175K+ Miles (Ver Federal)

Water boils at 100 C. Water mixed with coolant boils at a significantly higher temperature. If engines "blew" everytime a pressurized cooling system radiator cap leaked, the shoulders of the freeways would be littered with disabled vehicles.

Well all I can say is that I ran my 87 300D all last summer and with A/C on, with my radiator cap on loosly and with no pressure and it cooled perfectly.

I also run my Volvo 940 wagon without being pressurized because the heater core has a leak and I had poured radiator sealer in it to keep it from leaking but if I put the cap on tight, it will break the seal.

The 300D last summer had a leak somewhere and to prevent loosing coolant I loosened the cap. Other MB's I've owned I have at some point ran without system prssure as well and never in any did I see temperature rise above normal, not even one degree! Granted, you do live in a much warmer year round environment, but it's gets up into the hi 90's up here in the summer too.......?