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1000Ninjas

"broken Cabrio Roof" Eventually "fixed"

24 posts in this topic

The other day my mom, being the kind soul she is, decided to move my car from the driveway into the garage because of the snow. Long story short she opened the roof 100% into the full back posistion (but not locked into place). Well when I eventually got around to checking on my car (which found its way into the garage) I could not lock the roof open or shut! it was stuck between being locked down for 100% convertableness and locked up into no roof mode.Again long story short I take my car to the mercedes dealership in Oakville and they call me back in a few hours and explain that they can't just "fix" the roof due to them not being able to order "parts" to fixed a "broken peice" in the roof. The mechanic explained that they would have to order a new roof for $5,800!That's more than half of what I paid for my car! After losing mind (without yelling) I told the mechanic that I couldn't afford that price and they would have to try another method to fix my problem. A call a few hours later state that they found a used roof in a wrecking yard that could be used in replace of my current roof but they wern't sure if it was even going to work 100% even though it would cost me $1,800 to get that roof (not including paying the mechanic). I of course decline thier offer because I don't have that sort of money to hope for a fix. Hours later the mechanic calls back again and says that the replacement roof has a huge 3'' gash in the roof that will also need to be repaired if I wanted to go with that route. After declining that offer he then suggested that I sell the car to them for appoximately $2000 and just buy a new 2010 smart fortwo! Outraged I told the mechanic I would have to think about it and then call him back.after a few hours of talking with friends and family I was convinced we could take it somewhere else and they could at least look at it. I called the mechanic back and told them that I was no longer interested in thier services and would be dropping by to pick up my vehicle. not 20 min into the drive the mechanic calls me back and states that they have fixed the roof by unceasing a clamp with a calibration tool and lubing it up which leaves it 100% operational. total cost $100.00 for labour!!!So only when I threaten to pick up my car and give them no cash at all my problem is fixed?I expect this sort of bull from Tony the mechanic who owns a shady auto shop in a bad part of town. (no offence tony!)....They also told me that I have an oil leak and a transmission leak.. which i should get fixed right away... I never see ANY fluid on my driveway or in my garage when its parked there... so I'm not sure it even suffers from thoes problems...Has anyone else ever had a problem like this?I recommend never going to oakville mercedes! I guess I'm not thier regular kind of client.. the kind of client that just throws money at thier problems..Thanks for reading! :Palso I'm afraid to even use my roof anymore...

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All's well that ends well. Necessity is the mother of invention. And other clichés!

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I found MB in vagun to be very good. And the Forman of to main Downtown shop is awesome. I real good guy.

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That said I don't think MBC is used to dealing with folks like us that want to keep our cars. 85%.of cars there are leased and still on warentee. With that mentality eventhing is disposable. Someone else will pay for it. Do you carE if theY replace your tranny under warentee and it's more than the cars worth? Not really. But, if you had to pay for it you'd freak. Most of there customers are not the ladder. So they set the prices high for insurance and inter dealer stuff. The minute we show up, we mess their system. That's why he went from replace to fix rather than the other way. Try and get to know an MB smart tech. Once you have a guy that knows where your coming from. Things get better.

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I'm not clear on a few things. Is your car a 451? Why would this not be a warranty claim?

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That is hard to hear. I drive out of my way to go to Oakville to avoid any shady dealers. Hopefully it was just a case of they should've taken longer to investigate your problem before telling you it couldn't be fixed. (really hoping here)

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I have a 2005 cabrio.just be careful kimberly. I always ask to see the repairs done and parts that were replaced and if I can I ask to see the exact problem.. I want to see the leak :)

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To: 1000NinjasMy name is Binny Onqa and I am the service manager at M-B Oakville. As I cannot confirm from your profile, I can only assume that you are the gentleman that I spoke with about 2 or 3 weeks ago with regards to this convertible top issue.As I explained to you that afternoon, our initial diagnosis was the complete roof assembly as we saw no method of repairing it at the time; this was the reason we quoted you a complete convertible top assembly. At this point, the technician opened a service ticket with smart Canada & Germany to see if there was any alternative solution to the problem.In the meantime, our service advisor called you and gave you our diagnosis and solution to the problem which you (understandably) were not happy about. You asked your service advisor if there was any other options and he said that he would call on your behalf to a few wrecking yards to see if they had a used one. He located one and provided you a price but later received a phone call back from the yard saying that they checked it over and it had a gash in it and so he updated you accordingly; you said that you would call him back with a decision.You called back and left a message saying that you were simply going to pick up your vehicle; this was now later in the afternoon and it was by this time that we had received a response from our technical support line to attempt a repair solution that they have had some success with. We attempted the repair and it was successful and your service advisor called you back to let you know of this.Given the series of events, you were not fully convinced (and I understand why), so you asked the service receptionist to page me so that you could speak with me regarding this. I explained that our preliminary diagnosis did not reveal that a repair was possible and this is part of the reason that we have a technical support line; they are a valuable resource and they share technical information across global markets. I also empathized with your uneasy feeling but reassured you that it is in no interest to us to create an experience like this for our customers. I explained that we were glad to hear that there was a repair and that it worked. I apologized and explained that it would have been a much worse experience if we had maintained our position that you needed a convertible top and then you went to another dealer and they sent in a ticket and fixed the problem. You said that you believed me and that you could tell that I was not lying.I have to say that I was disappointed to hear from another customer that our dealership was being given a bad reputation because of this post especially after we spoke and you shook my hand saying that you accepted my explaination. The sequence of events that you have portrayed seem slightly misconstrued, but I can understand how emotions and perceptions can cause this. So I want to reassure you that our intentions at M-B Oakville have always been to provide our customers with valued service and this is why we have the lowest labour rates in the GTA and have the most affordable maintenance pricing in the GTA. We have held clinics for our customers in the past to establish and develop our relationships because we know the importance that trust and loyalty have.Again, I apologize that this was not a completely positive experience for you as it left room for doubt, but I assure you that it was not a case of us trying to be "shady". We are glad that we were able to repair the problem with your roof and if you choose to return for service, we look forward to the opportunity to take away any further doubt by standing behind our service.Best regards,Binny OnqaService ManagerM-B Oakvillesmart Centre Oakville

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Although the $2000 offer on the OP's car on a 2010 was not addressed and is very shady.

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It was good to hear from Binny regarding this issue. Far too often posts on this forum leave a foul taste as they are simply a "Shoot the Messenger", without any rebutal or expanation from the messenger, i.e. the dealership or M.B.If I resided 2500 miles closer to Oakville I wouldn't hesitate dealing with Binny and his crew and would hope that other owners would do likewise. Sounds like a First Class dealership that truly have the customer's best interests at heart. Keep up good work attitude Binny.

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Thanks for popping in and addressing this issue, Binny. You can rest assured that the Service operation at MB Oakville remains among the most respected in the country.

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Although the $2000 offer on the OP's car on a 2010 was not addressed and is very shady.

It's a sad fact that 450 prices on the used market have taken a nose-dive (no offense, Iain! :D). 2005 coupes and cabs in average condition with very low kilometres now hover around $6000 at ADESA auctions in eastern Canada. Given that the original diagnosis indicated a new top was required at $5800 for what is apparently an off-warranty (so, older than four years or more than 80000 Km) cabrio, $2000 is a fairly reasonable off-the-top-of-the-head estimate.

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Great to see a response. I'm probably buying out my lease in a month and if it wasn't for the decent service pricing at Oakville I would not be so inclined. Thanks!

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Glad to see the response from Binny, I have found the service in Oakville to be exceptional. Like Kimberly, I drive way out of my way to have my car serviced in Oakville as I find everyone there to be friendly, proffessional and trustworthy.

Shakey

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1000ninjas, I'm sorry to hear about your experiences at M-B Oakville. I assure you that is not the norm for them. I have heard much more good than bad about them and have to say that my experiences have been nothing but positive. I would like to see loaners if the service takes longer than a day, but I can't ask for everything :)It is also great to see Binny on the forum. I hope that he continues to drop by and add insightful information for us all :)

Edited by twinkletowz

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Thank you all for your positive support; it is always uplifting to know that our efforts are noticed by our customers and that we are able to make a difference in their experiences with us.>>twinkletowz, with regards to your request for a loaner, we do have 1 smart loaner available to all our customers but we typically need a 1-2 weeks notice in order to reserve it. This typically works out well for routine maintenance and non-emergency repairs, but in cases of emergency break-down there is no opportunity for notice so we do our best to accomodate with alternate transportation whenever possible.I will continue to pop on here from time to time, but if anyone has questions, email is the fastest way to reach me.Take care all,Binny

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Would a moderator consider a little "edit" of this topic? At the risk of offending the Ann Coulter's of the world with the right to free speech and all, it is a little unfair to M-B Oakville.They didn't put the roof down in the first place. The person who did, shouldn't have, and in the end, it turned out to be a somewhat sticky mechanism rather than a huge mechanical catastrophe. It has happened to me, but it wasn't raining and I realized that I shouldn't have been blaming the tool, but the fool.

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Thank you all for your positive support; it is always uplifting to know that our efforts are noticed by our customers and that we are able to make a difference in their experiences with us.>>twinkletowz, with regards to your request for a loaner, we do have 1 smart loaner available to all our customers but we typically need a 1-2 weeks notice in order to reserve it. This typically works out well for routine maintenance and non-emergency repairs, but in cases of emergency break-down there is no opportunity for notice so we do our best to accommodate with alternate transportation whenever possible.I will continue to pop on here from time to time, but if anyone has questions, email is the fastest way to reach me.Take care all,Binny

Not to worry sir... The excellent shuttle service works fine most of the time, as things can usually be taken care of while I'm at work :)

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I've had similar issues with MB in my area, I was rear ended at 70kph, and amongst other things, my roof no longer worked, but they said the reason was 'probably' nothing to do with the accident! Interesting, as they didn't even know how the roof worked! I'm still trying to fix it myself 18mths later. The week after the car was 'fixed', the ABS light came on and was told nothing to do with the accident. I paid $300 to have the sender replaced. The ABS light was still on when i collected it and was told it was the $1000 receiver unit that needed replacing, again nothing to do with the accident! great cars, but never use MB if you have an issue, they'll rip you off like crazy.

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yeah...mb is basically an expensive car wash

 

anytime i was there to pick up parts the mechanics were washing cars lol

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