Dealer charges (misdiagnosis?)

pangster

Just looking for some advice. I very rarely use main dealers to fix my cars - but unfortunately on this occasion I've had no other choice as the faults/codes were not being picked up with generic scanners.

My car is a Merc C-Class C200K (W203 model with M271 engine) and the problems I was having is that it was difficult to start (long cranking) and then when it started and you were driving, it felt as though it was holding back/hesitating. My usual mechanic couldn't diagnose the fault - but did some rudimentary checks i.e. spark plugs, coils etc. This lead me to book it into the dealers (as they can hook it up to their specialist diagnostic computer STAR and access all components to hopefully root cause the problem and resolve it) or at least thats what my expectations were at £113 an hour! :mad:

Anyway - long story short. I dropped it off this morning and got a call back a short while later saying that they had scanned the ECU and the only faults that were showing were in relation to incorrect airflow readings which they had identified as split boost pipes. They asked for my consent to carry out the repairs (4 hours labour plus parts) but were confident that this was the issue (total at this point was £505).

I then received a call later on today to advise that they had carried out the work and "it was slightly better" although now they've reset the faults and scanned more codes and it's indicating that there is an issue with the fuelling which they've diagnosed as a faulty fuel pump and fuel filter. And again they're confident that this is the issue - the running total so far is c£1100....

Can anyone advise me on what my rights are in relation to paying the full repair bill because I can't help but feel that I'm paying for someones on the job training!! I'm also not convinced that I won't receive another call tomorrow advising me that they've replaced the fuel pump and filter and it's still not been resolved!! :mad:

any advice or comments welcome!

forgotmyname

No Merc specilists near you?

The fact the boost pipes made it slighlty better will be on their side if you complain.

This is the problem with fault codes and computers. It still needs a mechanic to see what its saying then do the work to find out if the code given is the cause or the symptom.

Air flow fault, Change the MAF. Or then investigate if the MAF is reading correctly or if the flow is correct before they start swapping bits.

pangster

forgotmyname wrote: »

No Merc specilists near you?

The fact the boost pipes made it slighlty better will be on their side if you complain.

This is the problem with fault codes and computers. It still needs a mechanic to see what its saying then do the work to find out if the code given is the cause or the symptom.

Air flow fault, Change the MAF. Or then investigate if the MAF is reading correctly or if the flow is correct before they start swapping bits.

they figured that the split pipes were causing messed up readings with the MAF.. after they changed the pipes they then swapped in another MAF apparently and it made no difference.. so put the old one back.. I've not received the car back yet and only have their word that the boost pipes made a slight difference..

I just wondered if there was any kind of precedent for this as I rarely use main dealers (for obvious reasons!).. but didn't really have an option in this case - I guess I'm just frustrated that I seem to be paying hand over fist for what appears to be guess work and my expectations of what I'd get for shelling out £113 an hour aren't exactly being met. I figured that at least if it was at the dealers then they would/should be able to diagnose the issue properly and then at fix it... I could have just taken it to my local mechanic and got him to start guessing and replacing random bits on it and chances are it would have worked out cheaper with a higher chance/degree of success!!! :rotfl::rotfl:

Strider590

OP bought a Merc, expecting it to be cheap to run?

The fact is they're only reliable for the first few years of life, the folk who buy them new, generally don't keep them more than a couple of years (or until they do a facelift, thus making the private plate pointless).
My mate had a C320, at 6 years old it needed over £4000 worth of repairs, without even taking into consideration the rust problem.
He sold it......

pangster

Strider590 wrote: »

OP bought a Merc, expecting it to be cheap to run?

The fact is they're only reliable for the first few years of life, the folk who buy them new, generally don't keep them more than a couple of years (or until they do a facelift, thus making the private plate pointless).
My mate had a C320, at 6 years old it needed over £4000 worth of repairs, without even taking into consideration the rust problem.
He sold it......

I never expected it to be cheap to run to be fair.. but given it's current problems and the fact that last month I shelled out £700 for an EIS replacement for it - has made my mind up that once it's sorted it's time to move it on!! - regardless of any loss I'll make..

I reckon I could have run a classic Ferrari cheaper than this Merc over the last 2 months!.. My previous 2 cars were BMW's and were cheap(ish) to run and reliable!! - I also have an Audi A3 1.8T Sport at the minute and it's wanted for nothing other than regular servicing and wear and tear parts!!.. lesson (expensive!!) learnt and this will get chalked down to experience and I doubt I'll ever get a Merc again.. very frustrated with it all to be honest!

No doubt I'll get another call tomorrow advising it needs something else as their 'guess' this time wasn't correct either.. computer says no! LOL!!! :rotfl: