Boycott: Lone Star Mercedes Benz

[benyl]

Originally posted by GTS4tw


Specifically what work that is on the list was not completed? Do you have a new transmission filter? New brake fluid? Was the pad width listed on the receipt? Way way too little info to be able to judge and boycott someone. You sound like a customer who does not understand what they are purchasing and has a knee jerk reaction to accuse someone of doing (or not doing) something, but have no proof.

Please state exactly what you are accusing the dealership of if you want people to blindly follow you in your vendetta.

I would hope someone spending over $90K on a car would know what they are buying.

Originally posted by GTS4tw


You are complaining, on the internet, and havent even looked to see if you have a new oil filter!! You are not very sharp eh, I bet they are glad to be rid of you.

The oil filter in a Merc isn't a screw on type that goes on the bottom of the motor. It's just a filter like an air filter. It is easy to check, but you do need tools to do so.

Originally posted by GTS4tw


You are assuming that the OP is telling the exact truth about it being 45 mins. I find that when people relay this kind of info, even in person, the stated times tend to reflect the point they are trying to make. "I was on hold for like an hour!!!" is actually 10 minutes.

Seems like this kind of stuff is just too easy to determine before posting about it on the internet. Did they measure the brakes? Pretty easy to figure out that one....

You keep harping on the brake measurement. Well, I have records for my C63 that say that my rear brakes are only 30% remaining from 10,000 to the last service I did at 44,000. In fact, they increased to 45% at the 20,000 km interval.

I never trust the "brake" check the techs do at the dealer. They are always SUPER pessimistic to entice you into a brake job while they have the car.

That said, I'll probably still take my car to Lonestar as I have heard worse stuff about Hyatt. haha.

[W212E550]

How does my issue reflect that I don't know what I am buying???
I know its naturally aspirated 5.5l V8 Sedan that puts a smile on my face. what else is required for me to know before I buy my next car??

[GTS4tw]

Originally posted by benyl


I would hope someone spending over $90K on a car would know what they are buying.

I meant the service that he was purchasing, seems like something you would take up with them at the time, even more so when he says that he watched them do the entire service! He says that he was "brushed to the side", which seems like it would be hard to do when he still hadn't paid them at this point.

It should be simple to point out the things that they say are done, that havent been done, thats all Im saying, post a specific example.

Originally posted by benyl


The oil filter in a Merc isn't a screw on type that goes on the bottom of the motor. It's just a filter like an air filter. It is easy to check, but you do need tools to do so.

Wow, this made me feel stupid, especially since I have a car with this type of filter, and bought one within the last week.

Originally posted by benyl


You keep harping on the brake measurement. Well, I have records for my C63 that say that my rear brakes are only 30% remaining from 10,000 to the last service I did at 44,000. In fact, they increased to 45% at the 20,000 km interval.

I never trust the "brake" check the techs do at the dealer. They are always SUPER pessimistic to entice you into a brake job while they have the car.

That said, I'll probably still take my car to Lonestar as I have heard worse stuff about Hyatt. haha.

This is a good reason to ask to have a look while the wheels are off, but this is also a good example of how the paperwork will prove things, it would be a legitimate complaint for you to go in with that paperwork and complain. This is why I was asking for specifics about what was done and not done, and what was written down.

Both the local shops I go to check the brakes in mm remaining, not %, and I am inexperienced in dealing with dealerships, so I assumed that that was just how it was done.

[Waldi]

Originally posted by W212E550
I recently brought my Mercedes E550 in for its 40,000km which includes the list below, my car was on the lift for no more than 45 min when it was washed and given back to me. I have a hard time believing a service that is charged out as a 3hr job and costs $ 795.09 could be completed so quickly. I addressed my concerns to the service department of Lone Star, where I was told the mechanic is good at what he does and brushed to the side. I will never be buying a vehicle from Lone Star again and I hope enough people read this so it doesn’t happen to them. I feel like I am paying to maintain my warranty and not my car. Hyatt Mercedes is clearly the better choice.

I had quiet opposite experience with Lone Star and Hyatt, despite the fact that it is closer for me to go to Hyatt, i go to Lone Star as buying from Lone Star was so much better experience than Hyatt and never complained about service, alwayz got cost of any work to be done upfront so no surprises.

[blitz]

Mercedes B services are a huge ripoff normally, doing it in 47 minutes is just adding insult to injury.

$795 for $100 worth of materials and an hour of labor? Come on....

[W212E550]

I hope this post in no way deters some from buying a Mercedes car.
I would be lying if I said it wasn't the best car I've ever owned and I find the costs of maintenance reasonable considering the 20,000km intervals. my only issue is if I got the service I was charged for.

[rage2]

I wish they're that fast with my cars lol. I have a dashcam and as part of the oil change they have to idle it up to operating temp of 80C, that alone takes like 20 mins in my car. Then there's the test drive after each service, dashcam usually has 30+ mins of footage.

[benyl]

Originally posted by GTS4tw

Wow, this made me feel stupid, especially since I have a car with this type of filter, and bought one within the last week.

If that is how you feel. haha. It sounded like you were asking him to go underneath and check to see if there was a dirty or clean filter. How do I know what you drive. You user id is toyota related and so is your "what I drive."

Originally posted by GTS4tw


This is a good reason to ask to have a look while the wheels are off, but this is also a good example of how the paperwork will prove things, it would be a legitimate complaint for you to go in with that paperwork and complain. This is why I was asking for specifics about what was done and not done, and what was written down.

Both the local shops I go to check the brakes in mm remaining, not %, and I am inexperienced in dealing with dealerships, so I assumed that that was just how it was done.

Lonestar states it in mm and percentage. I just can't remember what the mm value was.

[benyl]

Originally posted by rage2
I wish they're that fast with my cars lol. I have a dashcam and as part of the oil change they have to idle it up to operating temp of 80C, that alone takes like 20 mins in my car. Then there's the test drive after each service, dashcam usually has 30+ mins of footage.

My oil temp hit 80 when I pulled into the parking lot this morning. I think this car is overcooled... haha

[GTS4tw]

Originally posted by benyl


If that is how you feel. haha. It sounded like you were asking him to go underneath and check to see if there was a dirty or clean filter. How do I know what you drive. You user id is toyota related and so is your "what I drive."

I just had never even seen that type of oil filter on a car until very recently, as I have always stuck to the old beaters. I still have a couple Toyota, but I should update that. I understand that a lot of these things are very tough to check, I just think that he should have a better complaint than "it was too fast".

On another note, my user name is actually Nissan related.

[guessboi]

Mercedes actually launched a new prepaid maintenance program for 2013 and newer models.

My salesman at Lone Star emailed the pdf to me last week.

36 months - 3 Services - $1,499.00 special or
48 months - 4 Services - $1,999.00 special for my W251.

[Sentry]

Originally posted by spikers


For 2 people to bleed the brakes enough to completely change the brake fluid is probably close to 45 mins on its own.

If I have a machine I can hook up in 5 minutes that will do it on its own, I imagine a Mercedes dealer would.

Hook it up to the reservoir and it pressurizes it, put hoses on all the bleeders and crack them open, then go do something else for 10 minutes. Brake flush, done.

[locust]

Just wanted to add my experience with lonestar recently.

A couple of weeks ago I brought in my c300 for my annual oil change.
I get them to service it every year even though I only put on about 4k per year on this car. It's a 2009 car and it has very low millage.

Anyways I took the car home and I parked the car on my driveway I noticed there was a trail of oil and a ton of oil all over my driveway. I quickly opened my hood and to my lovely surprise there was oil all over the engine bay. I quickly checked my oil to see if I could drive back and get this fixed but there was basically no oil remaining.

I'm glad the car didn't completely seize, as it was about a 45 min drive from lonestar to my house. I had it towed and brought back to lonestar where they re-did the oil change and washed the engine bay. There was no compensation for this and when I asked what happened and if there was any compensation for my time, they just said it wasn't their fault it was a faulty oil filter. While driving home I noticed extremely loud noises coming from the engine after they washed the engine bay and redid the oil change. It's been a tiresome battle to get them to address this issue. I will be needing to bring this in once again to see if they can get this issue resolved but based on my past experience it will be an extremely long up hill battle to get them to correct their work.

This isn't the first encounter that I have had an awful experience with their service department. Previously I had asked them to take a look at my car as my ac wasn't working. This was when the car had only about 15k on it. After diagnostics they found that the ac hose had a leak in it. At the time the car was under warranty so they repaired the hose without any cost however without warning when I went to pick up my car they charged me for a full ac recharge without any notification. It was almost 900 dollars to re charge. When I questioned them on this they said it had to be done by them other wise warranty would be void. I was quite peeved that they did not consult with me first before they proceeded to recharge the ac.

[sneek]

Originally posted by locust
Just wanted to add my experience with lonestar recently.

A couple of weeks ago I brought in my c300 for my annual oil change.
I get them to service it every year even though I only put on about 4k per year on this car. It's a 2009 car and it has very low millage.

Anyways I took the car home and I parked the car on my driveway I noticed there was a trail of oil and a ton of oil all over my driveway. I quickly opened my hood and to my lovely surprise there was oil all over the engine bay. I quickly checked my oil to see if I could drive back and get this fixed but there was basically no oil remaining.

I'm glad the car didn't completely seize, as it was about a 45 min drive from lonestar to my house. I had it towed and brought back to lonestar where they re-did the oil change and washed the engine bay. There was no compensation for this and when I asked what happened and if there was any compensation for my time, they just said it wasn't their fault it was a faulty oil filter. While driving home I noticed extremely loud noises coming from the engine after they washed the engine bay and redid the oil change. It's been a tiresome battle to get them to address this issue. I will be needing to bring this in once again to see if they can get this issue resolved but based on my past experience it will be an extremely long up hill battle to get them to correct their work.

This isn't the first encounter that I have had an awful experience with their service department. Previously I had asked them to take a look at my car as my ac wasn't working. This was when the car had only about 15k on it. After diagnostics they found that the ac hose had a leak in it. At the time the car was under warranty so they repaired the hose without any cost however without warning when I went to pick up my car they charged me for a full ac recharge without any notification. It was almost 900 dollars to re charge. When I questioned them on this they said it had to be done by them other wise warranty would be void. I was quite peeved that they did not consult with me first before they proceeded to recharge the ac.

That sounds a bit fishy to me. I haven't heard of a faulty cartridge oil filter causing oil to leak everywhere before. Wouldn't the plastic housing prevent oil from getting everywhere? I have also never come across a faulty oil filter.

[locust]

In my life i've never seen that either.

One thing I have seen though is when a tech forget's to tighten the oil plug.

[Phuqu]

Took them 5 weeks to fix a no start condition on our 2011 C300 4Matic with 26000 km.

It only took them 3 weeks to get us a loaner.

They also charged us $35 for 2 batteries for the key fobs. Couldn't diagnose a problem unless they had new batteries in them. I guess my new batteries weren't good enough for them.

At least I can take the brake light recall on the C300 to Hyatt.

[cancer man]

Originally posted by Phuqu
Took them 5 weeks to fix a no start condition on our 2011 C300 4Matic with 26000 km.

It only took them 3 weeks to get us a loaner.

They also charged us $35 for 2 batteries for the key fobs. Couldn't diagnose a problem unless they had new batteries in them. I guess my new batteries weren't good enough for them.

At least I can take the brake light recall on the C300 to Hyatt.

No start condition, If it's in the steering column it's about
a 2-3 week waiting period for the part.3 weeks to get a loaner is about rite.Most MB owners have another car.(Unlike BMW owners that have to borrow their mothers and 7 credit cards to pay the bill)I've had cars up to 8 weeks waiting for upgraded parts.Under warranty you are eligible to get a loaner and submit the bill to warranty if the wait period exceeds 1 week.But then again you drive a shit car from a rental company.

[speedog]

W212E550 - joins Beyond, bumps old thread on same day as joining, makes exactly 9 posts in said thread on same day as joining and then buggers off. Kind of odd.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by cancer man


No start condition, If it's in the steering column it's about
a 2-3 week waiting period for the part.3 weeks to get a loaner is about rite.Most MB owners have another car.(Unlike BMW owners that have to borrow their mothers and 7 credit cards to pay the bill)I've had cars up to 8 weeks waiting for upgraded parts.Under warranty you are eligible to get a loaner and submit the bill to warranty if the wait period exceeds 1 week.But then again you drive a shit car from a rental company.

I understand the parts wait for 3 week for a loaner? WTF? When BMW is short on loaners, they just grab a rental from Enterprise.

[euro_racer]

Originally posted by locust
Just wanted to add my experience with lonestar recently.

A couple of weeks ago I brought in my c300 for my annual oil change.
I get them to service it every year even though I only put on about 4k per year on this car. It's a 2009 car and it has very low millage.

Anyways I took the car home and I parked the car on my driveway I noticed there was a trail of oil and a ton of oil all over my driveway. I quickly opened my hood and to my lovely surprise there was oil all over the engine bay. I quickly checked my oil to see if I could drive back and get this fixed but there was basically no oil remaining.

I'm glad the car didn't completely seize, as it was about a 45 min drive from lonestar to my house. I had it towed and brought back to lonestar where they re-did the oil change and washed the engine bay. There was no compensation for this and when I asked what happened and if there was any compensation for my time, they just said it wasn't their fault it was a faulty oil filter. While driving home I noticed extremely loud noises coming from the engine after they washed the engine bay and redid the oil change. It's been a tiresome battle to get them to address this issue. I will be needing to bring this in once again to see if they can get this issue resolved but based on my past experience it will be an extremely long up hill battle to get them to correct their work.

BS on the faulty oil filter.

This same thing happened to me a long time ago on my old w202.

Rookie mistake. I forgot to lube the oil filter housing O-ring after replacing the oil filter. After a ~10 min drive there was oil everywhere all over the engine bay and coming trough the grille etc.