1 PGH 1

A non-p story, a little long but thought I would share given the crappy attitude we sometimes hear about from dealers.

My DD is an '03 CLK 500. Some of you will have seen it the odd time I sneak it into a p-event when the Targa is wrapped in its bankey, Phil I know you had one just like it.

I bought it nearly new from a MB dealer and have had it religiously serviced by Downtown Mercedes since then. While an '03 and out of warranty it only has 51,000 km. My previous DD was an ML430, again serviced at Downtown.

Couple of months ago I took it in because I heard a rumbling type of sound coming from the drivetrain at certain rpms; they couldn't find anything. It got worse and I took it back a couple of weeks ago. With the help of their "electronic ears" and the service manager they found the problem. I was out so they left me a v.mail ... "one of the transmission coolant lines running through the rad has a leak (at this point in the message I'm thinking this is not good!). The coolant has mixed with the transmission fluid and gummed up the torque converter and the transmission, which is causing them not to release properly and thus the vibration. So, to repair the problem we have to replace the radiator, torque conververter and transmission." If this is all beginning to sound breathtakingly expensive, wait for it .... almost $9,000 to repair. What the h*ell do you say to that? Ahhh, ok go ahead and fix it?

After a couple of days back and forth, Downtown Mercedes really came to the table ... they recognized it was a non-serviceable item, car only has 51k and has been serviced to manufacturer specs & more at their shop, long-time customer, etc. They agreed to absorb a significant amount of the repair to the point that they left me with a very reasonable portion to pay. I dropped the car Wednesday and it was ready to go, washed, on Friday.

Needless to say I am delighted that they stepped up like this and wanted to share the story.

pongobaz

I'm glad they helped you out. MB downtown is a class operation. The GM and I go back 10 years (sold me my 2 CLK's back in the day) and he's done a lot to shape up the place since he's been in that position. Go upstairs and you will see a beautiful restored 300SL roadster next to his office...ask him to tell you the story of how he acquired it for MB.

Mark Lue

Good for you Peter, Downtown Mercedes really stood by you... I wonder if any of the P-car dealers go to that extend?

Imo000

Wow, they did all that work in one day?

Turbodan

what was your end?
aren't they negligent for not finding the problem couple months ago?
is it necessary to "replace the transmission" because coolant got in there? were the gears gummed up? can't these be replaced without the whole transmission? who gets the old trani?
glad that you are happy...guess it is better than 9k.
one more question does the radiator cool coolant and transmission fluid in one unit? must have been designed by Chrysler.

Mark Lue

The rad cools both the engine and the tranny in most cars.

Most likely, they replaced the rad and flushed the lines to get rid of the contaminated tranny fluid, then replaced the tranny with a rebuilt one from Toronto Automatic Tansmissions, they do the rebuilds for alot of the Mercedes and BMW dealers, so they take the old tranny as a core... the whole thing is probably still worth at least $2k dealer costs.

1 PGH 1

^ ^ ... what Mark said.

They replaced the tranny with a rebuild ... still has a 2-year warranty though.

In the clk, and many other cars, the transmission is cooled via the "engine" radiator to save the weight, and I suspect cost, of a separate radiator.

In our conversations, I did suggest that had they found the problem when I first brought it in the repairs might have been less, which may have also factored into their decision. I'm thinking that the repair at that point would not have been much different cost-wise than the $3,300 tax-in that I contributed to this repair (I paid the labour and a portion of the parts cost).

I dropped the car Wednesday early a.m. and it was ready Friday afternoon ... so 2.5 days ... I guess they got on it straight away.

Turbodan

I guess that seems fair. and now you get a 2 year warranty. glad to hear you got it sorted and back on track.