The nightmare continues. I sent my 2001 CLK instrument cluster to BBA Remanufacturing earlier this month to have the failing pixels on the readouts for the temperature and clock LCD’s repaired. The cluster was shipped 2nd day air and UPS lost the cluster on the return shipment in Dallas, TX. I live in Tulsa. The good news is BBA insured the cluster, but UPS has took two weeks to declare the package lost and after almost a month, still hasn’t paid to have the cluster replaced.

Now the rest of the story, last Friday, I finally decided to pay for a new cluster from the local MB Dealership and have it installed. I wasn’t driving the car with the missing cluster and all it’s gages. When I dropped the car off to have the cluster installed, the service manager informed me that since MB does not have the original cluster to get the original mileage from, MB will have to declare my 2001 CLK as a “total mileage unknown car or TMU” My CLK with 66,000ish miles will leave the dealership with 0 miles. He also told me that since the car is now designated as a “total mileage unknown” and my RESALE value dropped in half – meaning my $20,000 car last week is only worth $10,000 now due to the TMU issue.

I was told by UPS they are not responsible for “incidental” loss or damages resulting from the loss of a package. Geeze… lets see, I’ve been without my car for almost a month, and I’ve lost and estimated $10,000 in resale, and I’m have to pay out of my pocket over $1,000 for a new cluster and installation (waiting for UPS to pay the claim so I can drive my car now.)

Does anyone have any contacts or suggestions on how I can get my 2001 CLK to NOT be declared a “total mileage unknown” MB? So much for trying to save money and have a working instrument cluster.

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Russell McMahon
Tulsa, OK
2001 CLK 320
1992 400se
1993 400e
2000 320ML

Are there any records at the dealer when the vehicle was last serviced & what the mileage was at that time?
I feel your pain.
FedEx lost my 4 shocks a couple of years ago, and it took me about 2 months of total aggravation, before I received the replacements.

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2007 C 230 Sport.

Service Manager stated, any "unknown" mileage will create “total mileage unknown” destination that is reported to MB records department. Yeah, I thought they could use other sources to verify mileage. I do my own oil changes so they don’t have any recent documentation. I’ve owned the car for less than a year too. I called BBA (the one who performed the repair” and asked if they could verify the mileage to MB and they don’t keep mileage records for clusters either.

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Russell McMahon
Tulsa, OK
2001 CLK 320
1992 400se
1993 400e
2000 320ML

Because of the way UPS works, it's almost impossible for them to "lose" a package. Temporarily misplace, mishandle, fall off of a dock and not be immediately found, etc, yes. I wouldn't give up on the original cluster showing up. I would wait if at all possible, because once done, I don't think that sort of a record can really be reversed.

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86 560SL
With homebrew first gear start!
85 380SL
Daily Driver Project

http://juliepalooza.8m.com/sl/mercedes.htm

I called UPS again this morning pleading for them to locate my missing instrument cluster. The dealership however has installed a new cluster at 0 miles. I'm hoping if the original/lost cluster is located, the dealer can add the mileage from the old cluster to the new cluster. I’m not sure what is involved in reading the mileage from the old cluster or if Mercedes will allow this type of change. As you can imagine, operating without a car for almost a month has gone beyond bearable.

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Russell McMahon
Tulsa, OK
2001 CLK 320
1992 400se
1993 400e
2000 320ML

Sad event, if you had just got a used cluster and reset the odometer to the 66k all would have been well. This ideal of the cars resale dropping to half is insane. If you must install the new cluster with zero showing at least have a legal document prepared describing the whole event and have it notorized with all pertinate documentation attached. In reality the milage is known. A phone call to the mercedes zone office just might get your problem resolved as well. Nothing ventured nothing gained type of thing. If and when your old cluster shows up make absolutly certain all this is corrected.