MB of San Francisco tried to rip me off, MBUSA doesn't care

Git

Active member
Took our 2020 Sprinter to get A-service done to MB of San Francisco. Advisor called in the middle of the day telling me that technician found rear brakes to be at 2mm (metal on metal) and need to be replaced right away due to safety concerns. I politely declined since I had an upcoming appointment to get VC suspension installed at nearby shop that came highly recommended. During suspension installation independent shop found brakes to be well above acceptable range (over 5mm in the back) and refused to replace them. Front brakes are also good.

Called MBUSA and filed a complaint, service advisor called not 5 minutes later and asked if I can bring the van back to have their master tech inspect brakes again. Master tech confirmed that brakes are fine and don't need to be replaced and are far from 2mm/metal on metal contact. Advisor said sorry.

Called MBUSA today, my complaint got closed when information got passed to the dealer.
 

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maint

Member
That is not just MB. GM dealers tried to rip my son off when he took my truck in for warranty / recall work. I called GM Canada they asked "how old does your son look' as if that makes it OK to charge him for problems they caused by not following the recall procedure correctly. The charge was $100 to diagnose a problem due to blown fuse that the procedure warned in the first line would blow if not removed. I told him to tell dealer to F off and bring it home.
Stealership is an earned name
 
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Kajtek1

2015 3500 X long limo RV
Get used to it.
When I don't take my MB to dealer for paid repairs, each time I had to take them there, they do "courtesy safety inspection" without ever asking.
None of recommendations come lower than $5000, when I concluded that those inspections are done from comfort of office chair and don't show actual situation.
Only on last visit at MB Sprinter shop I've got "green light" report without $$$$$ quote attached.
 

ECU

2006 T1n 118 Sprinter
And once they have the list of "Problems," they will follow your van forever.
If you'd replace the brakes somewhere else, your next visit to the dealer will recommend another brake job. If you point out your outside repair, the reply will be, "they did it wrong and it needs correction."
All the shady repairmen moved to working at the dealer.
 

vreihen

2014 NCV3 170" cargo with OM651
I don't know about Sprinters, but the rear brakes on any other vehicle that I've ever owned were the *last* wear item to fail! The rear brakes only perform 15-20% of the braking, and that's why engineers use smaller brake pads and un-vented rotors on the rear. In my mind, there's no f in weigh that both rear brakes are metal-on-metal on a 2-year-old vehicle.....
 

tommygii

Active member
I don't know about Sprinters, but the rear brakes on any other vehicle that I've ever owned were the *last* wear item to fail! The rear brakes only perform 15-20% of the braking, and that's why engineers use smaller brake pads and un-vented rotors on the rear. In my mind, there's no f in weigh that both rear brakes are metal-on-metal on a 2-year-old vehicle.....
I don't know about sprinters, or bigger vehicles in general, but starting in the mid 2000's on my honda civic and accords my rear brakes needed replaced 3-4 times before replacing the fronts. They had biased the braking force to the rear to prevent the front end diving while stopping. If you're easy on the brakes it would barely engage the front at all. Rears lasted 30-40k and fronts 100k+.
 

Happy29

2020 2500 OM642 4x2 170HR
I think they've biased the system to use the rears more given the typical weight carried in the rear. The rear brakes also help 'set' or settle the vehicle while under hard braking.
 

Tom Tint

Well-known member
Its typical dealer Add On ...We have a Porsche that's dealer serviced.. Every single time it goes in for oil changes.. They call us with a shopping list of crap that they deem urgent... Typically, the "" adds up to a couple thousand dollars ... We politely tell them to F.O
 

Git

Active member
Its typical dealer Add On ...We have a Porsche that's dealer serviced.. Every single time it goes in for oil changes.. They call us with a shopping list of crap that they deem urgent... Typically, the "" adds up to a couple thousand dollars ... We politely tell them to F.O
So just industry practice to lie to customers to increase revenue?
 

Pickleball

2022 2500 144 High roof 4 cyl diesel
I had a Dodge Omni I purchased a lifetime strut replacement warranty for. I don’t recall if it actually needed struts or if I got talked into it or if it was ‘on sale’. Every so often I would go back to Sears and ask them to inspect the struts. I didn’t mention the warranty. They would stall around a bit, push the front end up and down and eventually of course say yeah they should be replaced. I’d let them write up a work order and then pull out my copy of the warranty. I never knew if they then actually did change them or not…
 

Git

Active member
Mostly dissapointed with MBUSA of closing their eyes to this. The best or nothing...
 

98Firebird

Well-known member
So just industry practice to lie to customers to increase revenue?
That's pretty much been my experience at dealers for 3 different manufacturers and everybody I know. They basically want more sold on every ticket indefinitely until the end of time. Doesn't matter if upsold items are up 300% from the year before, they'll be having meetings on how to get to 500%. It makes me sick and I often get in trouble for not upselling unnecessary work and not doing multipoints I don't get paid for. Of course I always do a check of safety related things which is just part of the job as far as I'm concerned. I always tell them I have to sleep at night let me know when I need to roll my tools out if I'm not selling enough, they haven't taken me up on it yet though :LOL:
 

erik.wahlstrom

Well-known member
That's pretty much been my experience at dealers for 3 different manufacturers and everybody I know. They basically want more sold on every ticket indefinitely until the end of time. Doesn't matter if upsold items are up 300% from the year before, they'll be having meetings on how to get to 500%. It makes me sick and I often get in trouble for not upselling unnecessary work and not doing multipoints I don't get paid for. Of course I always do a check of safety related things which is just part of the job as far as I'm concerned. I always tell them I have to sleep at night let me know when I need to roll my tools out if I'm not selling enough, they haven't taken me up on it yet though :LOL:
Yup. And it’s going to get worse as low maintenance EVs become the norm.
 

lindenengineering

Well-known member
Guys
This is the good ol American upsell.
Its capitalism at its best .
Once upon a time it was called building value within a percentage above MSRP and doing the same with repairs post warranty capture.
Once upon a time I worked for a South Florida multi brand franchise and if we could boost a $150 to $500 increase in the job ticket then there were management cash spiffs handed out to the top earners.
Really you get it in restaurants and other similar service type businesses.

Would you folks like an appetizer , drinks from the happy hour tariff, can we get you a postre with coffee .
Dennis
 

lindenengineering

Well-known member
Actually the BEST upsell I ever saw at this dealership was a new car sales guy who sold a young Latina who spoke very little English a Pontiac Grand Am with a 4 cylinder engine but actually charged her for the 6 cylinder version she really wanted!
Putting the two extra cylinders on order from GM ,--for delivery in 90 days.. :devilish:
Dennis
 
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Tom Tint

Well-known member
So just industry practice to lie to customers to increase revenue?
Many years ago..1985/86.. i worked at a regional chain tire/exhaust type store. When a car came in for a set of tires, It was standard practice and mandated that we do a walk around and suggest shocks, struts, alignment, Black bla bla.. Its called after sell. Standard operating procedure
 

Kajtek1

2015 3500 X long limo RV
Many years ago..1985/86.. i worked at a regional chain tire/exhaust type store. When a car came in for a set of tires, It was standard practice and mandated that we do a walk around and suggest shocks, struts, alignment, Black bla bla.. Its called after sell. Standard operating procedure
But you walked and check the stuff.
Lot of MB USA "safety recommendations" are done from comfort of office chair. I think they pull Master Inquiry, checking what jobs were done in the past and base on mileage do recommendation. But that is not showing new parts owner DIY or used indy for.
I had my local dealer recommending brake job on my sedan 3 years ago. Car is used for city driving and makes about 5k miles a year.
So 3 years later I am still on the same pads and brake light still did not come on.
 

Tom Tint

Well-known member
But you walked and check the stuff.
Lot of MB USA "safety recommendations" are done from comfort of office chair. I think they pull Master Inquiry, checking what jobs were done in the past and base on mileage do recommendation. But that is not showing new parts owner DIY or used indy for.
I had my local dealer recommending brake job on my sedan 3 years ago. Car is used for city driving and makes about 5k miles a year.
So 3 years later I am still on the same pads and brake light still did not come on.
We looked for things to create a sense of urgency.. Same as the MB dealer is doing.
 

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