j_belll

sucks to be him.

ucsdsig

Hope everything works out for you.

CynCarvin32

So you want them to pay for the trailer and the storage costs on a car you can drive? Hmmmm.....

You chose to do that with the car so isnt that your cost to front?

CLS55Lemon

Who said where that this car is driveable? It does not drive.
No, I do not choose to store it (the state forces that for a non-operable car on the street), the trailer, well, if I didn't have a Lemon, I wouldn't have anything to protest for, would I? The car exploded, it does not drive, at all and tires are blown out from the explosion (at 25 mph). Lawyers advice is to not touch it until the dealership and/or Mercdes-Benz USA have someone 'special' determine the Lemon issue, hence the protest.

Hammer Down

Is the car lowered?

sack5000

Drag the car down to the local TV station and I'm sure they will give you some footage on the local news at 6. Actually, drag it in to three stations. You will hear from the stealer the next day. "Let's settle".

The stealer will not be able to stand the publicity.

vb26

that's what I want to know. did you lower the car?

Big Carrot

My dealer makes sure to blame everything on me too. It bugs the living hell out of me that they do that too! Why can't they just accept the fact that the car is basically a pile of crap?

BryanW203

Its a shot in the dark, but check for a loose ground in the passegner front floor board!

Good luck on getting the car fixed!

blair_mbz

Is that ride height by design or did your airbag suspension take a dump as well?

Good luck with..sounds like you have a good case. Isn't this the part where after your place the car on the trailer and place it in front of the dealer, it somehow magically sets itself on fire??

CLS55Lemon

I'd say. You all have great eyes. The rear airbar suspension exploded doing about 25 mph, when you have a 5K pound car that hits the ground (the tires blew during this spontaneous explode), it hit the ground hard. There is a large sized grapefruit hole on the underside. I honestly don't want to fix the tires or have anyone touch anything on the car because they will then again blame it or all on someone elses doing or work. It is best to have an independent Mercedes-Benz expert look at it so they can state for a fact what went wrong? The Lemon Law here states they must do that, but the SPAM located in the San Fernando Valley now won't return my lawyer's phone calls, hmmmm? Seems I am a problem they want to go away, but again without them doing a single thing to help. Next is filing I guess and the media and we'll see where it goes from here. The car will stay in protest, but will be moved around the city in order to maximize the publicity and exercise my freedom of speech. A 'competitor' of the dealership, wants me to park it in front of their dealership, we'll see. Thanks a ton for the support.

MB_Forever

I'm sorry to hear about all this. I don't understand why they'd be willing to take the risk of bad publicity and loss of future business rather than just Lemon the car This is just terrible. Please don't let them get away with this . Have your lawyer chase them to the extremes. They should Lemon this car and give you a brand new one.

Good luck, and please keep us updated.

joeybenz106

wow thats crazy! did you try a differnt dealer??

Jim Brady

That's unfortunate that you've had this much trouble with the CLS55. You did mention that the car popped out of gear when it was new and you kept driving it! There's a SOS feature that can be used for mechancial issues and it creates a record of a problem. I would have activated that but that info after the fact.

Most of your trouble seems to have occured after a front end collison which in my mind is a red flag for future mechanical problems. You mentioned you went through your own company AAA for repairs, if that's the case, you have recourse under your policy if the repair isn't done right in spite of what Auto Steiger body shop manager says. I hope your attorney can help you out, but there is always another side of the story, and were not seeing it here. If MB is as bad as this story is playing, you'll be on the 6pm news

PerisanGodFatha

Good Luck dude... ....I just lemoned my G55K...

CLS55Lemon

You say most of my trouble began 'after' the front end collusion'. NOT true if you read the web site www.amercedeslemon.com. The car had much trouble from day one if you would have taken the time to read my narrative of the problems at the web site www.AMercedesLemon.com. Although my fault and delay in that my web site (I am not a computer person) I am relying on someone else at the moment, is that I have had multiple/dozens of repairs and major problems on the car LONG before the "Swoop N' Stop' accident (which was witnessed by many, many people). Look, I purchased a 2006 CLS55 on 10/28/05, the car was in the shop more than 3 dozen times by 11/06 (in 11 months), the transmission was replaced once as well as two batteries, via warranty, then the accident happened. I work a tremendous amount of hours (no excuse, but I work hard to pay for a working car, a nice high-end one at that!), taking the car to and from the shop was an extreme burden (to say the least). Anyone on this web site could tell you the toll it takes.
You also misread my insurance company, it is USAA (NOT AAA), USAA is the very best insurance company in the world, ask any FI guy, it's the ONLY non-profit insurance company in the world, you actually get a refund-check from them at the end of the year, not just anyone can get this insurance company. I am just fortunate enough to have them. I am in contact with them always, and they are behind me in my plight against Keyes and Mercedes-Benz USA.
You seem to elude that you agree with Keyes that my problem arises from the accident (which it clearly does not) and/or with Auto Steigler (the repair shop). Auto Steigler looked at the car (they are an authorized Mercedes dealer and repair shop). If what you stated were true, honestly, I would have went that route a lonnnng time ago. But it would have resulted in me lying! I don't lie and I would not want to 'profit' from a dishonest deal. You seem to want me to go that route as well.
Do you work for Keyes Mercedes, by the way?
As far as there is "another side of the story here, and you all are not hearing it", strange as that sounds. Why is it so hard for you to hear that someone is really being treated horribly by Keyes Mercedes, as well as no one ever has tried to help me from Mercedes-Benz USA? Why is that so hard to believe? Did you not read the Fortune Magazine article about MB and their cars/service problems, have you not read all the other blogs about how horribly so many other Mercedes customers were treated? Including by Keyes Mercedes service?
You say I should be on the 6PM news if what I say is true. Actually, I have avoided their calls/emails for the last few days...in part because I hold out hope that Keyes (well they are stone-walling) or Mercedes-Benz USA would actually pick up the phone and call me.
See, I am a Court Mediator as a vocation, I look for a resolution in everything. There is a long story here, but Keyes and I were actually in a mediation (two of them) on the day I parked the trailer with the signs in front of their dealership. 100% truthful here, the mediation broke down over $150, I kid you NOT.
They promised they would have a Mercedes USA Regional Rep come out to their dealership, no promises from them, but (if I left the CLS with them) and allowed a reputable Mercedes Rep to evaluate the car, only 'if' I moved the bad publicity/trailer with the signs.
I said "ok", I would move the trailer immediately if they would take the car from the trailer (at their expense), they said NO.
You have to realize that it takes a lot to get a 5000 pound car, with flat tires onto a flatbed, let alone a trailer (I have learned this the hard way - No one wants to do this, and if they do they want a lot of money to do it), and it cost me an additional $200 to get it done. I was not about to give that up, or pay for (one more), another tow, a movement, garage invoice for what I believe has always been the dealer's/Keyes/Mercedes fault for a severely faulty Lemon car. I had shelled out far too much money at this point (on top of the purchase). If I was going to shell out any more money, it was to go to a purpose (the truthful and righteous purpose), to finally make Keyes Mercedes and Mercedes-Benz accountable for selling me a complete Lemon from day one! Hence the trailer and the signs and protest and publicity, which seems to be all over the Internet now. Thank Goodness!!!
I am not going to stop now.
I hope that clears up a lot of questions you have. and I have believed from the start that I have a compete lemon.
Why the dealership has treated me so badly (especially since I also purchased a G55 for $80K when they knew I was going through this horrible experience), by the way, they had always, always and continuously 'promised' me that they would 'make it right' with me.
Not so now I suppose. They're kind of angry at me, and very verbally and physically attacking. Nice Dealership Howard Keyes!
I have always answered and dealt with each and every question honestly. I only wish the dealership and Mercedes-Benz USA would do the same.

06CLK350

I do not see why you are having issues lemoning the car. If you had a professional lawyer, he should be able to take care of the problem without you getting involved. I have a very good lemon law attorney, if you are interested, send me a pm for the information. I have lemoned two cars in the past without having any issues and i feel that a large percentage of the cars we drive today are lemons.

Addicted2Speed

I think most members here would agree that you're not being aggressive enough in dealing with this situation and the dealer is taking advantage of that. Like everyone said, you have a more than solid lemon case and this issue would've be taken care of long time ago if you'd take them to court. You can only be nice and reasonable for so long...

P.S. The dealer's claim that you can damage your car by launching it hard is what I find the most ridiculous. This is a performance car and is meant to be driven hard, it shouldn't break down just because you launch it hard!

Mathmik

Well Put!

Jim Brady

CLS55,
I did give your post a cursory read so I may have missed some of the points. I'm not affiliated with MB in any way, I should be as I've bought enough cars, but then again so have a lot of others on these boards. To be honest, the problem list sounds like something you'd expect to read on a Corvette board after a boched repair at an authorized Chevy dealer. What I don't understand is how this suffering has gone on so long without some kind of resolution.

I don't think there's a "best" insurance company, USAA is reputed to be very good but I've seen them do bone head things just like every other company. They are a good client and I'll leave it at that.

So your saying that none of the problems you complain of are related to the accident. Usually, MB doesn't put a hold on warrantee work unless they have "facts". Yet they are giving you the run around at every juncture. Are they withholding information? Nevertheless, I've had many years dealing with problems much like yours. What amazes me is that this has gone on as long as it has. If you work in the mediation business, then you know there are two sides to a story. You also know that perception is different than fact. My question was what does the other side say. Maybe you should take this to mediation.

iguess

I think that putting your car outside the dealership really sends a message. However, I think if you involved the local news it might sway the situation in your favor. You are only one man. I'm sure it would suck alot more if people saw your "car ad" and heard your story on the news. I'm pretty sure if I saw your CLS parked in front of a dealership, I would think twice about buying a car from them (though technically they didnt manufacture the car, but they are not taking responsibility for selling you lemon). I'm not 100% sure how the lemon law works in your area, but it does seem like the goverment doesn't like car companies ripping people off. I think you need to follow the advice, and get a good lemon lawyer. I would definitely do that and CERTAINLY involve the local news.

BMWEATR

OMG! I just read web site! I would be in jail from fire bombing that place.

The reason for the failure was a bad launch!!!! OMG! B.S.! I have thrashed my 55 more than anyone! i've launched w/ blown shocks on it before! never had one problem!

The Air ride suspension has failed on this car and its not the only one i've heard about over the yrs. the only leg they have to stand on is stone walling you. they know they are screwed so they are draggin it out to the max. I do think however you must be a "stealership" novice. as soon as you started haveing multible problems i would of been pulling a freaky freak on the service guy and got the regional rep involved way back before the suspension failure.

this suks! guess you'll be buying a honda from now on!

ndabunka

Isn't there some type of "disclaimer" that you have to sign as part of a Lemon law buy back? Something like "MB does not admit to any fault"... and that you are not allowed to continue to publish anything else bad about this incident ... type of verbiage? If so, once you do get this thing "bought back", you may also end up having to "give up the fight" in order to get the settlement. I can understand your plight but if your time truly is valuable, it is also far more valuable than the $150 difference you had gotten too. In the end you may well get all the $'s you have invested back in the end but has it really been worth it (time wise)? As a moderator, you probably realize that neither side gets 1000% of what they want, that's not a moderation. Within $150 of target would have been enough for me (so that I could have moved on with life and not had the burden of this whole episode). Hope you do get what you want and I also hope that you don't have to have any type of gag order associated with it.

One thing I still don't see any clarification about is "was this car lowered PRIOR to the accident"? Any aftermarket 3rd-party lowering devices used that could have contributed to the failure. If not, then they have NO VALID claim not to perform warranty repairs. I personally would never have removed it from their lot. Leave it there and let them incur their own storage fees.

Midcont

Would be a great victory to get this story circulating in the news media and cause a PR fiasco for MBUSA. Maybe then they (and other german car comps) will start taking customer service seriously.

Shake

Wow that really sucks!