Does anyone know the legal position regarding the following case. A friend of mine owns a Mercedes A Class which he bought second hand from a main dealer. He recently took it in for them to investigate a knocking in the steering. They told him that he needs a new steering column. The car had a replacement steering column only 18 months ago and so he thought that it would be covered by the Mercedes 2 year warranty on all their parts. However the dealer has stated that they will not replace the steering column under warranty because the steering column is in fact a warranty replacement and doesn't qualify! Surely the 2 year warranty should apply regardless of whether cash changed hands?
Anyone know anything?
Chris
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Sorry MB are perfectly within the terms of the warranty. A part replaced under warranty ONLY covers the period of the original warranty. So if you have a three year warranty, and a part fails after two the new part only carries you to the end of the original three year warranty.
If after the warranty period you have any work done and pay for it, it carries whatever warranty given under the terms of sale.
Sorry your mate has no comeback - apart from asking why is this thing eating steering columns
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When we first tested the A Class my co driver remarked on the column on RHD examples. Basically a stub column from the steering wheel attaches by UJ to a transverse shaft across the back of the engine that then attaches to the stub column of the LHD rack by means of another UJ. That's the reason why the steering on RHD A Class is so bad and why the UJs wear out.
HJ
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Your friend would do well to get rid of the A-class while he can and get a Honda Jazz instead....
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When we first tested the A Class my co driver remarked on the column on RHD examples. Basically a stub column from the steering wheel attaches by UJ to a transverse shaft across the back of the engine that then attaches to the stub column of the LHD rack by means of another UJ. That's the reason why the steering on RHD A Class is so bad and why the UJs wear out. HJ
I too have driven the A-Class and found the steering arrangement to be a shambles.
It totally heartbreaking for a long-time MB fan such as myself to see the company coming up with shoddy engineering solutions like this. What on Earth were they thinking of?
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I couldn't believe it either when I first drove one of these cars. The steering is as bad as the setup looks.
I wonder if it was the same designer who came up with the pedal handbrake on the bigger cars, and then allowed it to be fitted to a manual transmission vehicle? Having tried a hill start with a laden (to specification) trailer, I think these vehicles should fail construction and use requirements.
Shame on you, MB.
659.
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Bad news about the warranty. Considering what you say collectively about the convoluted column do any of you think he could therefore have a case on fit for purpose? Surely if the average lifetime of an A Class MB is markedly less than for comparatively priced vehicles then the design\manufacture is extremely dubious on fit for purpose. If it turns out, as I suspect, that this convoluted column requires EXTREMELY precise fitting or you get excessive wear then could he have a case on the quality of service for the fitting? Namely that they didn't take enough care fitting the column. All this work seems to have been carried out by MB main dealer.
Chris
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Satisfactory quality, Chris, rather than fit for purpose. A bucket with a hold in it is neither of satisfactory quality, nor fit for purpose, because it ceases substantively to be a bucket and becomes a funny shaped pipe, but broadly speaking, when an A Class has a working steering column, it does steer and so is fit for purpose when it's working.
He might have a claim on "satisfactory quality" under the Sale of Goods Act but I woudln't bet on it. You'd be even less likely to convince Mercedes' customer service people of it. Generally the courts take the view that a certain number of failures are inevitable and perpetual warranties would be an unfair burden on business and while a line has to be drawn, it's unlikely that the price of a steering column would justify the time, effort and risk in litigating on it.
RF is about the warranty replacement items being guaranteed only for the length of the warranty. If the original had failed outside the warranty, you wouldn't expect a replacement, and that level of protection is effectively all you've paid for.
Sorry to sound so pessimistic but it sounds to me as though the original poster's friend would be better off pushing for some kind of goodwill allowance, particularly if the car has FMBSH, rather than taking an all-or-nothing approach.
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What would happen if one ignored the knocking? Could the column fail? If so, its a recall matter, if a design fault, and DT vehicle inspectorate might take an interest. If the installation was at fault then the dealer is liable. If it continues to allow the vehicle to be steered, then perhaps its merely a cosmetic issue. What are the facts on this: e.g. has an engineer (not a mechanic!) pronounced on the cause?
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Very intresting to hear of the warranty issue, I had always thought if something was replaced under warranty then the "new bit" then had its own new warranty.
We had replaced the front brake discs on our volvo just before christmas, a few weeks later after carefully bedding them in correctly we began to get severe juddering when you applied the brakes, my other half took them off and we went back to volvo
with them, and we explained they had warped. After a small amount of arguing that volvo brakes never warp (!) they gave us a replacement set.
We used the guy for a new receipt and he said they were only covered under the old warranty, i wasnt particually happy with this, what happens if they fail again?? surely its not fair that we would have to buy a new set??
Anyway he finally agreed to post us a new receipt and suprisingly we received it within a couple of days!!
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we asked him for a receipt actually. sorry its early
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Yes, despite everything the consumer is a lowly second in the protection arena. However there is another element now in play. My friend has been told that Mercedes are now on their fourth A Class steering column design and that this one seems to be more effective. As a layman I would hazard a guess that should it come to it my friend could convince a small claims court that by redesigning the steering column, post production version release, that Mercedes were in fact admitting that the design of the original (and subsequent two) steering columns were unacceptable. Anyway he has left it with the Head Office of his main dealer and will resort to the Small Claims Court only if they refuse to be reasonable.
Thanks
Chris
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Very interesting David - can see the argument re. perpetual claims and their effect of businesses but surely that wouldn't be an issue if the same components didn't keep failing. So, if it was just a one-off failure the new component should be expected to last 3 years from the date it was fitted i.e. the same as was originally warranted. If, however, a design fault or something like that was to blame the new component might well fail before that (but after the original warranty expired) and I can't see how it is in any way fair that the customer should have to pay for it.
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This is absolutely genuine...I am at this moment pursuing a compensation claim against DaimlerChrysler..can't say much except that it is going to court?I was misled by their published marketing fluff about ?quality? and ?perfection? and ?high standards? when the new car I bought was a dog, and was clearly substandard.
Methinks I will be having to sign a non-disclosure agreement since it is potentially very damaging to the Mercedes-Benz brand image. They will settle out of court (or so my solicitor says).
But I really, really, really regret not having bought a Toyota Avensis instead.
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This is absolutely genuine...I am at this moment pursuing a compensation claim against DaimlerChrysler..can't say much except that it is going to court?I was misled by their published marketing fluff about ?quality? and ?perfection? and ?high standards? when the new car I bought was a dog, and was clearly substandard.
Not happy with your new C-Class then I take it.....?
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Hello Aprilia:
No I am not. But that is nothing compared to the 'service'; everything takes two visits @ 5 weeks a pop; the dealer staff are so aloof it is like walking into Jack Barclays of Green Park. And the car 'quality' is low-rent.
HJ should add this to the car-by-car breakdown:
'Auto transmission liable to 'bunny-hop' (engine management seems to get confused..car will lurch intermittently..only when doing ~2mph $%^?!) on multi-storey car park slopes to the amusement (and horror) of others'.
and..
'Excessive wind noise caused by door and window seals'. Dealer unable to fix..has 'seen it before'.
Both are known M-B issues. Funny, they never told me that before I bought the car...
I will provide a shopping list when the legal stuff is done..but before I sign the non-disclosure agreement. Haha!
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HJ should add this to the car-by-car breakdown: 'Auto transmission liable to 'bunny-hop' (engine management seems to get confused..car will lurch intermittently..only when doing ~2mph $%^?!) on multi-storey car park slopes to the amusement (and horror) of others'. and.. 'Excessive wind noise caused by door and window seals'. Dealer unable to fix..has 'seen it before'. Both are known M-B issues. Funny, they never told me that before I bought the car...
Have you had a look at:
www.ihatemymercedes.co.uk/ ???
To be fair to the dealer I think the wind noise problem is at least partly due to the design. I have driven quite a number of C-class and they all made a fair bit of wind noise.
Not heard of the transmission problem though.
Mercs of old (the W123, 124, 124, 201) were basically very simple cars, but very thoroughly engineered almost to the point of perfection. Nowadays when you get a Merc with an electronic fault it seems that the dealers find it almost impossible to rectify.
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Having owned several manual E-class models with the foot operated parking brake, I can honestly say I have never had a problem with performing hill starts......
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Having owned several manual E-class models with the foot operated parking brake, I can honestly say I have never had a problem with performing hill starts......
May be not, but crawling up an incline in heavy rush hour traffic is a right pain in the wot not with a manual gearbox and foot operated parking brake. Brings back horrible memories of the worst car I have driven in recent years (we're talking 1997). A colleague's Merc C180. Slow, cumbersome, noisy, and with that dreadful parking brake!
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Rather than paying for a new steering column for an unreliable, overpriced, poor quality like an A-Class, I would trade it in to an unsuspecting dealer for something reliable. Like a Honda Jazz. :)
mike
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