Anyone work in a Mercedes Dealership Service Department?

[SpeedBash]

Car needs a new rear sub-frame - Mercedes UK have agreed to replace FOC - parts are on back order from Mercedes DE - my local dealer states Mercedes DE are unable to give any indication whatsoever, even estimated, as to when the parts will come in to them therefore they can't give me any idea of when they will receive the parts.

However, the way the service agent at the dealer has handled subsequent questions from myself is making me doubt what I am being told.

I'm just looking for some sort of time frame to enable me to make appropriate alternative vehicle plans, rather than winging it at the moment, but am not getting the information to allow me to do so.

Anyone work in a Mercedes dealership service department who can confirm if what I'm being told sounds plausible or if I'm just being paranoid?

Cheers.

[fozzymandeus]

SpeedBash said:

Car needs a new rear sub-frame - Mercedes UK have agreed to replace FOC - parts are on back order from Mercedes DE - my local dealer states Mercedes DE are unable to give any indication whatsoever, even estimated, as to when the parts will come in to them therefore they can't give me any idea of when they will receive the parts.

However, the way the service agent at the dealer has handled subsequent questions from myself is making me doubt what I am being told.

I'm just looking for some sort of time frame to enable me to make appropriate alternative vehicle plans, rather than winging it at the moment, but am not getting the information to allow me to do so.

Anyone work in a Mercedes dealership service department who can confirm if what I'm being told sounds plausible or if I'm just being paranoid?

Cheers.

Funnily enough an independent mechanic told me that Merc C Class subframes are on back order only yesterday.

[SpeedBash]

fozzymandeus said:

Funnily enough an independent mechanic told me that Merc C Class subframes are on back order only yesterday.

To be fair, I was warned when the car went in for inspection there was several weeks delay for replacement parts so was working on a 6wk lead time based on what the service agent said but within a day of the car being inspected this has now become an open-ended time frame.

[Dark85]

Don't work for Mercedes but work close enough to the industry to know that major delays with parts are quite common across the industry at the moment so I would not be surprised at all.

Poor form to let you bring it in before making it clear though.

[Bobupndown]

What's wrong that it needs a new subframe, accident damage?

[HTP99]

Dark85 said:

Don't work for Mercedes but work close enough to the industry to know that major delays with parts are quite common across the industry at the moment so I would not be surprised at all.

Poor form to let you bring it in before making it clear though.

Work within the industry, not Mercedes but in a dealership, I have a close working relationship with the service department, there are many items on back order with no time frame.

[scorcher]

Mercedes Commercials are advising of back order on some parts until May/ June next year. Sometimes they advise of these long delays and then suddenly they turn up out of the blue in half the advised time.But yes there are long lead times on some parts, even common ones like brake pads back along.

[SpeedBash]

Bobupndown said:

What's wrong that it needs a new subframe, accident damage?

Ignore the part of the article where it states the car needs to have a complete franchised dealership service history - some dealers are using this as an excuse to deter customers from submitting claims - my dealer tried this tact when I booked the car in and I swiftly told him I would not accept this as I had examples of MBUK authorising claims for cars which had been serviced outside the dealer network.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/advice/ask-expert...


|https://thumbsnap.com/qjEbcqSY[/url]

Edited by SpeedBash on Tuesday 27th September 18:48

[stevemcs]

We ordered one a couple of months ago for an E Class, that went on back order with no delivery date but arrived in less than a week. Its also a good time to get the brake pipes replaced too.

[SpeedBash]

stevemcs said:

We ordered one a couple of months ago for an E Class, that went on back order with no delivery date but arrived in less than a week. Its also a good time to get the brake pipes replaced too.

Any idea how much it would cost for the brake pipes to be replaced at the same time?

[stevemcs]

We would normally charge per metre and about 30 mins labour .... Mercedes on the other hand ....... the same applies to any of the suspension, it should normally be just parts no labour, but again a merc dealership .....

[crowfield]

Mine was replaced under warranty last March. Was told they were on back order at the time, but within 3 weeks it was in stock and the car booked in for fitting. They even loaned me a C class saloon for the 4 days they had mine in their workshop. Excellent service

[oldagepensioner]

I may be a bit out of touch as i was made redundant from a Mercedes commercial dealership in 2020 but if the procedure is the same for cars there is an escalation process carried out by the parts department.They first have to submit an ETA request.This has to be given 24 hours and after that it moves to the actual escalation.On a good day the dealer can skip the ETA request although MB UK don,t like the dealers doing this.In extreme cases MB will search other European distribution centres and dealers and i believe UK dealers can if need be deal direct with the European dealer.This all assumes that the dealer has already done a UK dealer search with no success and as a previous poster has already stated lots of parts go on backorder even run of the mill service items.Like i say i may be a bit out of touch but parts on backorder is nothing new.

[Krikkit]

stevemcs said:

We would normally charge per metre and about 30 mins labour .... Mercedes on the other hand ....... the same applies to any of the suspension, it should normally be just parts no labour, but again a merc dealership .....

I can't imagine them making up their own pipes, they'll just order and fit them from the catalogue.

[oldagepensioner]

Krikkit said:

stevemcs said:

We would normally charge per metre and about 30 mins labour .... Mercedes on the other hand ....... the same applies to any of the suspension, it should normally be just parts no labour, but again a merc dealership .....

I can't imagine them making up their own pipes, they'll just order and fit them from the catalogue.

yes Mercedes do supply their brake pipes ready made but normally straight so they have to be bent to shape.Maybe for some older stuff for which ready made pipes may not be available but as a rule i have not heard of dealers having to make their own pipes since the 70s.

[Ste372]

Pretty sure it's supply issues throughout Europe. It's taken mercedes 6 weeks to get a aero spec front bumper for my a45. Goes in on Tuesday last piece of the puzzle

[W201_190e]

Hello, yes I can confirm is absolutely true. I used to work for MB and now work for an independent specialist and have sold a few subframes. MB are replacing around 50% of them under warranty. Can take up to 2/3 months. Same with Nox sensors. There is no escalation that’s worth attempting. Loads of customers are waiting.

The 212 E Class, 204 C Class and SLK of the era all suffer with rotting subframes. Really common issue. Newest car we’ve done was a late 2014.

Edited by W201_190e on Saturday 1st October 17:13

Edited by W201_190e on Saturday 1st October 17:14

Edited by W201_190e on Saturday 1st October 17:15

[W201_190e]

SpeedBash said:

stevemcs said:

We ordered one a couple of months ago for an E Class, that went on back order with no delivery date but arrived in less than a week. Its also a good time to get the brake pipes replaced too.

Any idea how much it would cost for the brake pipes to be replaced at the same time?

Typically we suggest replacing the pipes regardless- you may as well (about £50 worth of consumables). We charge no extra labour. Whole job can be anything from £1800-£2200 depending on how much of a pain it is. We’ve had some that have literally come apart coming off.

[anonymous-user]

Does this affect all W204's?

Just purchased a 2013 C63 Saloon.

[W201_190e]

MuddyK said:

Does this affect all W204's?

Just purchased a 2013 C63 Saloon.

Yes it does.