New engine for 2018 C43
Discussion
Morning Chaps,
I'd like your thoughts please:
Mrs Booyakajon purchased a lovely 9 month old C43 convertible in January 2019 as an approved used from a Mercedes dealership with 8000 miles on the clock. After the manufacturer's 3 year warranty ran out, we were not offered to extend. The car has always been serviced at Mercedes and looked after. The most recent service was March 2022. It was a really good drive!
At the end of May we were going away for the half term holiday. The car was filled with petrol earlier in the day. We set off from home on a shortish journey to our destination which was around 50 mins away.
Unfortunately about a quarter of a mile from setting off, whilst approaching the motorway roundabout, there was a big bang, lots of smoke and no power. So we pulled over to the side of the roundabout. Had a look under the bonnet - couldn't see anything, just a load of smoke! Mercedes emergency recovery were called from the car and they eventually came and recovered us back to home as no dealerships were open. We swapped cars and headed off back on holiday.
The following week, Mercedes picked up the car and took it to the dealership where it was bought and serviced and we were given a courtesy car.
They had to dismantle the engine to see what had happened. They said that the piston had gone through the engine block
and that a new engine would be £23k. The dealership were very good and felt that clearly this should not have happened on a 3.5 yr old car with 32k miles on the clock and approached Mercedes who did further investigations to ascertain the cause of the engine failure.
After 2 months of investigation, there is no specific answer. Mercedes have agreed to cover 57% of the engine and the dealership have offered to contribute £2k, meaning that Mrs Booyakajon has to pay £9k. This is Mercedes final offer and they suggested contacting the ombudsman which Mrs Booyakajon has done this week. They are looking at the case as I type.
Obviously we do not want to be £9k out of pocket for a clearly faulty engine that has been serviced appropriately and recently but is sadly 1 year out of the manufacturer's warranty. With the retrospectivescope, an extended warranty should have been purchased, but with the busyness of life this was forgotten about and also not offered. No one would expect this to happen on a low mileage 4 year old car, particularly a Mercedes that supposedly prides itself on quality products and reliability.
Advice please..........
I'd like your thoughts please:
Mrs Booyakajon purchased a lovely 9 month old C43 convertible in January 2019 as an approved used from a Mercedes dealership with 8000 miles on the clock. After the manufacturer's 3 year warranty ran out, we were not offered to extend. The car has always been serviced at Mercedes and looked after. The most recent service was March 2022. It was a really good drive!
At the end of May we were going away for the half term holiday. The car was filled with petrol earlier in the day. We set off from home on a shortish journey to our destination which was around 50 mins away.
Unfortunately about a quarter of a mile from setting off, whilst approaching the motorway roundabout, there was a big bang, lots of smoke and no power. So we pulled over to the side of the roundabout. Had a look under the bonnet - couldn't see anything, just a load of smoke! Mercedes emergency recovery were called from the car and they eventually came and recovered us back to home as no dealerships were open. We swapped cars and headed off back on holiday.
The following week, Mercedes picked up the car and took it to the dealership where it was bought and serviced and we were given a courtesy car.
They had to dismantle the engine to see what had happened. They said that the piston had gone through the engine block
and that a new engine would be £23k. The dealership were very good and felt that clearly this should not have happened on a 3.5 yr old car with 32k miles on the clock and approached Mercedes who did further investigations to ascertain the cause of the engine failure. After 2 months of investigation, there is no specific answer. Mercedes have agreed to cover 57% of the engine and the dealership have offered to contribute £2k, meaning that Mrs Booyakajon has to pay £9k. This is Mercedes final offer and they suggested contacting the ombudsman which Mrs Booyakajon has done this week. They are looking at the case as I type.
Obviously we do not want to be £9k out of pocket for a clearly faulty engine that has been serviced appropriately and recently but is sadly 1 year out of the manufacturer's warranty. With the retrospectivescope, an extended warranty should have been purchased, but with the busyness of life this was forgotten about and also not offered. No one would expect this to happen on a low mileage 4 year old car, particularly a Mercedes that supposedly prides itself on quality products and reliability.
Advice please..........
Firstly sorry to hear that.
Absolutely no point in saying you should have asked for the warranty to be renewed as clearly they didn’t offer but I would certainly have pushed this point with MB or perhaps more so the dealer as would I guess form part of the ombudsman’s view perhaps.
I doubt the latter will be very quick to even start looking at your case and therefore you might need to factor that in although you have other cars.
If MB have stated that is their final offer it doesn’t necessarily mean it is as at this stage it’s not a legal battle per se.
Don’t know of the relationship between you and the dealer / MB ie your first / only purchase ?
In isolation I don’t think their offer is ridiculous and realistically you ( in light of the facts ) were never going to get 100% probably.
I think the dealer should offer a bit more ( as perhaps should MB ) - if you could get your contribution down to say £5k in all , I’d feel I had achieved a fair settlement and then a car to last you.
Absolutely no point in saying you should have asked for the warranty to be renewed as clearly they didn’t offer but I would certainly have pushed this point with MB or perhaps more so the dealer as would I guess form part of the ombudsman’s view perhaps.
I doubt the latter will be very quick to even start looking at your case and therefore you might need to factor that in although you have other cars.
If MB have stated that is their final offer it doesn’t necessarily mean it is as at this stage it’s not a legal battle per se.
Don’t know of the relationship between you and the dealer / MB ie your first / only purchase ?
In isolation I don’t think their offer is ridiculous and realistically you ( in light of the facts ) were never going to get 100% probably.
I think the dealer should offer a bit more ( as perhaps should MB ) - if you could get your contribution down to say £5k in all , I’d feel I had achieved a fair settlement and then a car to last you.
Sounds a crazy situation, i'm not familiar with these engines but I assume it's not a common thing to happen?
As Mercedes have made what they say is their final offer you are following the right path going to the ombudsman to say if they can take any action, you will have to wait for their response before taking any other action.
If no joy there you would have to look at taking legal action, someone will know better than me on the limits of claims for routes but I suspect if you take the legal route you would have to be looking at claiming for the full 23k which (I believe) puts you over the small claims threshold which could mean court costs get expensive.
As Mercedes have made what they say is their final offer you are following the right path going to the ombudsman to say if they can take any action, you will have to wait for their response before taking any other action.
If no joy there you would have to look at taking legal action, someone will know better than me on the limits of claims for routes but I suspect if you take the legal route you would have to be looking at claiming for the full 23k which (I believe) puts you over the small claims threshold which could mean court costs get expensive.
Thanks for the advice.
I do have a good relationship with the dealer. I bought a C63 507 new from them in 2013 and have it serviced with them. In fact we purchased the C43 when the 63 was in for a service and we saw the 43 for sale.
It does seem to be a one off event. There has been no confirmation from Mercedes of exactly what happened or failed. Do you think an independent engineer's report would be helpful?
Thanks
I do have a good relationship with the dealer. I bought a C63 507 new from them in 2013 and have it serviced with them. In fact we purchased the C43 when the 63 was in for a service and we saw the 43 for sale.
It does seem to be a one off event. There has been no confirmation from Mercedes of exactly what happened or failed. Do you think an independent engineer's report would be helpful?
Thanks
The fact the engine has popped is totally crap and shouldn’t have happened.
The 23k for a new engine is about right albeit a lot of money.
The main issue I can see is that the car was purchased secondhand and has not been solely used by one owner. By this I mean that the first owner could have ragged it about for the first few thousand miles of its life which could have contributed to issues later in the vehicles life.
The fact the car is out of warranty means that Mercedes is under no obligation to fix the car or even offer any goodwill gestures.
Ok they never offered an extension of the warranty but as I have done the first MOT is the time to look at extending any warranties. I say this as that is when the vehicle should be checked over just prior to the warranty expiring.
The fact there are no known issues based on your current issue works in their favour as they can say that it is not a well known issue and something else has clearly caused the engine failure. To prove what caused it could be impossible to prove as the outside factor is the first owner.
The goodwill gesture from both Mercedes and the supplying dealer equates to two thirds of the total cost which to be fair isn’t a bad offer.
The vehicle has done 32,000 miles presumably without issue so this issue now is a one off albeit an expensive one.
If you do pursue a claim against Mercedes you could well end up spending more money than you expect as you would need to reject their offer and then if you lose your case you could end up with more financial costs.
As bad as it is I would ask them once more for a larger contribution as you have nothing to lose with that but be prepared to accept the situation and the costs involved.
The 23k for a new engine is about right albeit a lot of money.
The main issue I can see is that the car was purchased secondhand and has not been solely used by one owner. By this I mean that the first owner could have ragged it about for the first few thousand miles of its life which could have contributed to issues later in the vehicles life.
The fact the car is out of warranty means that Mercedes is under no obligation to fix the car or even offer any goodwill gestures.
Ok they never offered an extension of the warranty but as I have done the first MOT is the time to look at extending any warranties. I say this as that is when the vehicle should be checked over just prior to the warranty expiring.
The fact there are no known issues based on your current issue works in their favour as they can say that it is not a well known issue and something else has clearly caused the engine failure. To prove what caused it could be impossible to prove as the outside factor is the first owner.
The goodwill gesture from both Mercedes and the supplying dealer equates to two thirds of the total cost which to be fair isn’t a bad offer.
The vehicle has done 32,000 miles presumably without issue so this issue now is a one off albeit an expensive one.
If you do pursue a claim against Mercedes you could well end up spending more money than you expect as you would need to reject their offer and then if you lose your case you could end up with more financial costs.
As bad as it is I would ask them once more for a larger contribution as you have nothing to lose with that but be prepared to accept the situation and the costs involved.
Dark Star said:
The fact the engine has popped is totally crap and shouldn’t have happened.
The 23k for a new engine is about right albeit a lot of money.
The main issue I can see is that the car was purchased secondhand and has not been solely used by one owner. By this I mean that the first owner could have ragged it about for the first few thousand miles of its life which could have contributed to issues later in the vehicles life.
The fact the car is out of warranty means that Mercedes is under no obligation to fix the car or even offer any goodwill gestures.
Ok they never offered an extension of the warranty but as I have done the first MOT is the time to look at extending any warranties. I say this as that is when the vehicle should be checked over just prior to the warranty expiring.
The fact there are no known issues based on your current issue works in their favour as they can say that it is not a well known issue and something else has clearly caused the engine failure. To prove what caused it could be impossible to prove as the outside factor is the first owner.
The goodwill gesture from both Mercedes and the supplying dealer equates to two thirds of the total cost which to be fair isn’t a bad offer.
The vehicle has done 32,000 miles presumably without issue so this issue now is a one off albeit an expensive one.
If you do pursue a claim against Mercedes you could well end up spending more money than you expect as you would need to reject their offer and then if you lose your case you could end up with more financial costs.
As bad as it is I would ask them once more for a larger contribution as you have nothing to lose with that but be prepared to accept the situation and the costs involved.
I think this sums it up nicely. The 23k for a new engine is about right albeit a lot of money.
The main issue I can see is that the car was purchased secondhand and has not been solely used by one owner. By this I mean that the first owner could have ragged it about for the first few thousand miles of its life which could have contributed to issues later in the vehicles life.
The fact the car is out of warranty means that Mercedes is under no obligation to fix the car or even offer any goodwill gestures.
Ok they never offered an extension of the warranty but as I have done the first MOT is the time to look at extending any warranties. I say this as that is when the vehicle should be checked over just prior to the warranty expiring.
The fact there are no known issues based on your current issue works in their favour as they can say that it is not a well known issue and something else has clearly caused the engine failure. To prove what caused it could be impossible to prove as the outside factor is the first owner.
The goodwill gesture from both Mercedes and the supplying dealer equates to two thirds of the total cost which to be fair isn’t a bad offer.
The vehicle has done 32,000 miles presumably without issue so this issue now is a one off albeit an expensive one.
If you do pursue a claim against Mercedes you could well end up spending more money than you expect as you would need to reject their offer and then if you lose your case you could end up with more financial costs.
As bad as it is I would ask them once more for a larger contribution as you have nothing to lose with that but be prepared to accept the situation and the costs involved.
Several people have suggested getting a lawyer and going legal. I have no idea who they plan on suing, or for what.
I agree the engine should have lasted longer and I do genuinely feel for the OP.
However in this case I think it is unfortunately just one of those things and is part of the cost of motoring.
OP do you have any general legal cover included with any of your insurance policies, house contents for example?
Before you get any solicitors you have to pay for involved you might want to get an independent expert witness report on what caused the engine to fail. This will be required as an absolute minimum if you do decide to pursue this through the courts.
Before you get any solicitors you have to pay for involved you might want to get an independent expert witness report on what caused the engine to fail. This will be required as an absolute minimum if you do decide to pursue this through the courts.
So fully Merc history gets you Merc Assist but no warranty extension, can't see that MERC UK will have to cover the remaining 9k as the car is out of warranty.
What's the route you are going down, surely if you bought the car from the dealer second hand your contract is with them and not Merc UK? No doubt the dealer have offered 2k because they know that.
Therefore its post 2015 and consumer rights act applies :
The quality of goods includes their state and condition; and the following aspects (among others) are in appropriate cases aspects of the quality of goods—
(a)fitness for all the purposes for which goods of that kind are usually supplied;
(b)appearance and finish;
(c)freedom from minor defects;
(d)safety;
(e)durability.
What's the route you are going down, surely if you bought the car from the dealer second hand your contract is with them and not Merc UK? No doubt the dealer have offered 2k because they know that.
Therefore its post 2015 and consumer rights act applies :
The quality of goods includes their state and condition; and the following aspects (among others) are in appropriate cases aspects of the quality of goods—
(a)fitness for all the purposes for which goods of that kind are usually supplied;
(b)appearance and finish;
(c)freedom from minor defects;
(d)safety;
(e)durability.
Thanks all.
Mercedes UK suggested contacting the motor ombudsman, which we have and they are gathering information. They have said this process may take 6 months!
They also suggested the sale of goods act would be the route to go down and will be looking towards the dealer.
In the meantime, the dealership is asking us to pay the £9k so they can fix the car asap as its taking up one of their ramps!
Thanks
Mercedes UK suggested contacting the motor ombudsman, which we have and they are gathering information. They have said this process may take 6 months!
They also suggested the sale of goods act would be the route to go down and will be looking towards the dealer.
In the meantime, the dealership is asking us to pay the £9k so they can fix the car asap as its taking up one of their ramps!
Thanks
Booyakajon said:
Thanks all.
Mercedes UK suggested contacting the motor ombudsman, which we have and they are gathering information. They have said this process may take 6 months!
They also suggested the sale of goods act would be the route to go down and will be looking towards the dealer.
In the meantime, the dealership is asking us to pay the £9k so they can fix the car asap as its taking up one of their ramps!
Thanks
Their ramp being out of commission is not your problem - Especially as you're in dispute about a major failure on a 3.5 year old car, through no fault of your own.Mercedes UK suggested contacting the motor ombudsman, which we have and they are gathering information. They have said this process may take 6 months!
They also suggested the sale of goods act would be the route to go down and will be looking towards the dealer.
In the meantime, the dealership is asking us to pay the £9k so they can fix the car asap as its taking up one of their ramps!
Thanks
Besides that, they're a garage facility - They should have the ability to move a car with a non operational engine if they want to free up their ramp!
Dark Star said:
The fact the engine has popped is totally crap and shouldn’t have happened.
The 23k for a new engine is about right albeit a lot of money.
The main issue I can see is that the car was purchased secondhand and has not been solely used by one owner. By this I mean that the first owner could have ragged it about for the first few thousand miles of its life which could have contributed to issues later in the vehicles life.
The fact the car is out of warranty means that Mercedes is under no obligation to fix the car or even offer any goodwill gestures.
Ok they never offered an extension of the warranty but as I have done the first MOT is the time to look at extending any warranties. I say this as that is when the vehicle should be checked over just prior to the warranty expiring.
The fact there are no known issues based on your current issue works in their favour as they can say that it is not a well known issue and something else has clearly caused the engine failure. To prove what caused it could be impossible to prove as the outside factor is the first owner.
The goodwill gesture from both Mercedes and the supplying dealer equates to two thirds of the total cost which to be fair isn’t a bad offer.
The vehicle has done 32,000 miles presumably without issue so this issue now is a one off albeit an expensive one.
If you do pursue a claim against Mercedes you could well end up spending more money than you expect as you would need to reject their offer and then if you lose your case you could end up with more financial costs.
As bad as it is I would ask them once more for a larger contribution as you have nothing to lose with that but be prepared to accept the situation and the costs involved.
This reply is spot on.The 23k for a new engine is about right albeit a lot of money.
The main issue I can see is that the car was purchased secondhand and has not been solely used by one owner. By this I mean that the first owner could have ragged it about for the first few thousand miles of its life which could have contributed to issues later in the vehicles life.
The fact the car is out of warranty means that Mercedes is under no obligation to fix the car or even offer any goodwill gestures.
Ok they never offered an extension of the warranty but as I have done the first MOT is the time to look at extending any warranties. I say this as that is when the vehicle should be checked over just prior to the warranty expiring.
The fact there are no known issues based on your current issue works in their favour as they can say that it is not a well known issue and something else has clearly caused the engine failure. To prove what caused it could be impossible to prove as the outside factor is the first owner.
The goodwill gesture from both Mercedes and the supplying dealer equates to two thirds of the total cost which to be fair isn’t a bad offer.
The vehicle has done 32,000 miles presumably without issue so this issue now is a one off albeit an expensive one.
If you do pursue a claim against Mercedes you could well end up spending more money than you expect as you would need to reject their offer and then if you lose your case you could end up with more financial costs.
As bad as it is I would ask them once more for a larger contribution as you have nothing to lose with that but be prepared to accept the situation and the costs involved.
Very unfortunate that you're left with a £9k contribution , I wouldn't want that either but...Merc has offered 57% plus the dealer themselves another £2k.
Neither are obligated to offer anything as the car is well outside of warranty. The dealer is actually suggesting the ombudsman knowing full well the offer is a very fair one and legally they're not obliged to offer anything at all.
As above, ask for more but if its not forthcoming I'd accept. Involving a solicitor could possibly end with any offer being withdrawn and a big legal bill to pay..
andburg said:
Perhaps suggest they fit a reconditioned or used engine and meet the full cost?
£5000 seems to be the going rate on ebay
Wouldn't touch a 5k second hand engine with a barge pole, when it's likely come out of a written off car, any rebuild/recondition is of unknown quality, and you can't see it running. Then factor in it'll cost you another grand or two on top for labour to get the engines switched over. Then you have to hope there aren't any coding/ECU/wiring/model year differences that might throw more spanners in the works £5000 seems to be the going rate on ebay
Just no, I'd rather shell out 9k on a new engine.
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