Discussion
In October 2024, my company purchased an ex demonstrator GLC300e 4MATIC AMG Line Premium Plus.
The car is loaded with tech, in fact probably too much tech and from the outset displayed some odd behavior but never having owned/driven the latest incarnations from Mercedes I looked upon some of the initial issue as a little odd but perhaps normal.
The main issue centered around the parking sensors either not wanting to pick things up until I was almost about to hit an obstacle (this didn't happen as I could see things on camera) or being sat in traffic with no warnings being picked up, when the car in front moved away the sensors would sound as though I was about to hit the car or be hit, the head up display would illuminate red as though the car driving away from me was about to hit me and even car passing on the other side of the road would set them off.
Twice while parking in reverse the car performed an emergency stop that took me shutting the car down, getting out and locking it to reset things that then allowed me to complete the manoeuvre. At one point while sitting at home eating an evening meal the Mercedes Me app pinged me to say the car was involved in an accident yet the car was on my drive and hadn't moved for over two hours.
Constant tyre pressure warnings that when checked showed no issues with pressures. engine management lights illuminating and sometimes staying on for hours then mysteriously going out. Amber and red warnings about collision mitigation system failures, warnings about not using the car to tow with ( I never have towed with it).
In June the car was taken to my local Mercedes franchised service centre (not the one I bought it from) and they noted around 30-40 faults that they couldn't understand. This prompted them to wipe the cars software and reinstall it in the hope this would clear the issues.
A later business trip to Europe showed more issues and were witnessed by a colleague but the car never let me down.
The issues persisted and got worse, the parking sensor issue remained, but I saw more warning lights, a complete system shut down while driving (all screens went blank) and total illumination of warning lights in the driver screen. All of these happened at different times.
The car has been back with the same service centre since 29th August, Mercedes GmbH have been involved and a replacement of control unit for the sensors,cameras and safety systems was performed yesterday only to find this hasn't cured the problem. The next step I'm told is a complete interior strip down, dash out, carpet, roof lining etc. to try and manually trace a wiring break, lose connection of perhaps water ingress from ill fitted seal.
Two technicians have stated I might consider handing the car back to the supplying dealer under warranty, not fit for purpose, car cant be trusted etc.
Question: what would you do in this situation, has anyone handed a car back and what was the process and outcome?
The car is loaded with tech, in fact probably too much tech and from the outset displayed some odd behavior but never having owned/driven the latest incarnations from Mercedes I looked upon some of the initial issue as a little odd but perhaps normal.
The main issue centered around the parking sensors either not wanting to pick things up until I was almost about to hit an obstacle (this didn't happen as I could see things on camera) or being sat in traffic with no warnings being picked up, when the car in front moved away the sensors would sound as though I was about to hit the car or be hit, the head up display would illuminate red as though the car driving away from me was about to hit me and even car passing on the other side of the road would set them off.
Twice while parking in reverse the car performed an emergency stop that took me shutting the car down, getting out and locking it to reset things that then allowed me to complete the manoeuvre. At one point while sitting at home eating an evening meal the Mercedes Me app pinged me to say the car was involved in an accident yet the car was on my drive and hadn't moved for over two hours.
Constant tyre pressure warnings that when checked showed no issues with pressures. engine management lights illuminating and sometimes staying on for hours then mysteriously going out. Amber and red warnings about collision mitigation system failures, warnings about not using the car to tow with ( I never have towed with it).
In June the car was taken to my local Mercedes franchised service centre (not the one I bought it from) and they noted around 30-40 faults that they couldn't understand. This prompted them to wipe the cars software and reinstall it in the hope this would clear the issues.
A later business trip to Europe showed more issues and were witnessed by a colleague but the car never let me down.
The issues persisted and got worse, the parking sensor issue remained, but I saw more warning lights, a complete system shut down while driving (all screens went blank) and total illumination of warning lights in the driver screen. All of these happened at different times.
The car has been back with the same service centre since 29th August, Mercedes GmbH have been involved and a replacement of control unit for the sensors,cameras and safety systems was performed yesterday only to find this hasn't cured the problem. The next step I'm told is a complete interior strip down, dash out, carpet, roof lining etc. to try and manually trace a wiring break, lose connection of perhaps water ingress from ill fitted seal.
Two technicians have stated I might consider handing the car back to the supplying dealer under warranty, not fit for purpose, car cant be trusted etc.
Question: what would you do in this situation, has anyone handed a car back and what was the process and outcome?
Edited by BiggaJ on Thursday 11th September 11:20
My family and I have had a few Mercs over the years - something like 8 I think - and I've not heard of one exhibiting the number of issues you describe.
Most of our Mercs were older than your GLC (we've had 2 C-class, 2 E-class, ML, GL, EQC) however my ex-wife also had a GLC - it was 2nd hand but reasonably new (very low miles) and it was faultless.
My own 14yo GL does come up with electrical issues from time to time including the parking sensors going-off when there's nothing in the way. I think in this case it's a faulty individual sensor and it has been slowly getting worse from when I bought it at 38K miles (it's now at 138K miles). It has recently had all 4 ABS wheel sensors replaced over a period of 15 months as I kept getting warnings from the dash. Odd that they all failed within a similar timeframe but they weren't that expensive to replace.
Given the number of faults yours seems to have, I would reject it. My concern about modern cars is that they're so reliant upon the complexity of the tech, that it will only get worse. I love my old GL but I do pay out quite a lot annually to keep it running. It's a consistent annual cost but for a 2nd car, it cannot be justified by any rational means. In your case, it's a recent acquisition - get rid and buy another.
Most of our Mercs were older than your GLC (we've had 2 C-class, 2 E-class, ML, GL, EQC) however my ex-wife also had a GLC - it was 2nd hand but reasonably new (very low miles) and it was faultless.
My own 14yo GL does come up with electrical issues from time to time including the parking sensors going-off when there's nothing in the way. I think in this case it's a faulty individual sensor and it has been slowly getting worse from when I bought it at 38K miles (it's now at 138K miles). It has recently had all 4 ABS wheel sensors replaced over a period of 15 months as I kept getting warnings from the dash. Odd that they all failed within a similar timeframe but they weren't that expensive to replace.
Given the number of faults yours seems to have, I would reject it. My concern about modern cars is that they're so reliant upon the complexity of the tech, that it will only get worse. I love my old GL but I do pay out quite a lot annually to keep it running. It's a consistent annual cost but for a 2nd car, it cannot be justified by any rational means. In your case, it's a recent acquisition - get rid and buy another.
Mars said:
My family and I have had a few Mercs over the years - something like 8 I think - and I've not heard of one exhibiting the number of issues you describe.
Most of our Mercs were older than your GLC (we've had 2 C-class, 2 E-class, ML, GL, EQC) however my ex-wife also had a GLC - it was 2nd hand but reasonably new (very low miles) and it was faultless.
My own 14yo GL does come up with electrical issues from time to time including the parking sensors going-off when there's nothing in the way. I think in this case it's a faulty individual sensor and it has been slowly getting worse from when I bought it at 38K miles (it's now at 138K miles). It has recently had all 4 ABS wheel sensors replaced over a period of 15 months as I kept getting warnings from the dash. Odd that they all failed within a similar timeframe but they weren't that expensive to replace.
Given the number of faults yours seems to have, I would reject it. My concern about modern cars is that they're so reliant upon the complexity of the tech, that it will only get worse. I love my old GL but I do pay out quite a lot annually to keep it running. It's a consistent annual cost but for a 2nd car, it cannot be justified by any rational means. In your case, it's a recent acquisition - get rid and buy another.
Thanks, I did have use of an E class back in 2015/16 for about 6 weeks when my car at the time (Lexus) was shunted on the M6 southbound by an idiot that wasn't watching the road ahead. I have to say, I and my wife found the E class to be very uncomfortable, both getting constant back ache from it. We are completely different builds/height etc. but neither could get comfortable in it and I swore at the time I wouldn't have a Merc full time. The reason for picking the GLC 300e was purely down to it low emissions as a company car hence lower BIK rating. It's not as bad as the old E class in terms of comfort but its far from the most comfortable car I've owned.Most of our Mercs were older than your GLC (we've had 2 C-class, 2 E-class, ML, GL, EQC) however my ex-wife also had a GLC - it was 2nd hand but reasonably new (very low miles) and it was faultless.
My own 14yo GL does come up with electrical issues from time to time including the parking sensors going-off when there's nothing in the way. I think in this case it's a faulty individual sensor and it has been slowly getting worse from when I bought it at 38K miles (it's now at 138K miles). It has recently had all 4 ABS wheel sensors replaced over a period of 15 months as I kept getting warnings from the dash. Odd that they all failed within a similar timeframe but they weren't that expensive to replace.
Given the number of faults yours seems to have, I would reject it. My concern about modern cars is that they're so reliant upon the complexity of the tech, that it will only get worse. I love my old GL but I do pay out quite a lot annually to keep it running. It's a consistent annual cost but for a 2nd car, it cannot be justified by any rational means. In your case, it's a recent acquisition - get rid and buy another.
There is however, way too much tech on board.
My worry with modern cars is that the "hardware" - engine, gearbox, diffs, etc - are all massively over engineered and would last 500K miles easily but what will kill the car are the "systems" which are sometimes flaky when new and not up to the job, and despite costing a fraction of the hardware to manufacture, will end-up costing many times an engine to replace in the car.
Your note on seats... the most comfy one we've had was the ML. I was OK in the two E-classes. The C-class seats were too narrow across the shoulders, and my GL has that multi-way adjustable mechanism with massaging features none of which has worked since I bought it. It's comfy enough for me to do very long road trips so I haven't been minded to try and fix it in the last 100K miles... but there's time yet.
Your note on seats... the most comfy one we've had was the ML. I was OK in the two E-classes. The C-class seats were too narrow across the shoulders, and my GL has that multi-way adjustable mechanism with massaging features none of which has worked since I bought it. It's comfy enough for me to do very long road trips so I haven't been minded to try and fix it in the last 100K miles... but there's time yet.
Sorry to hear about your issues, these are sadly common problems with modern cars...
I personally have not handed back a car but I have seen it done a few times. My father handed back 2 faulty A6 Avant "ultra" and a Passat estate back in 2012-2014. These were due to faulty electrics, burning oil, rubbish MPG etc etc. At the time it was a bit of a fight until the second A6 had the exact same issues and he got all his money back (about 3 years of payments) and sunk that cash into a Merc CLS.
After about 10 years of happy mercedes ownership he also went through electrical issues with his latest GLE (2023 model) this was mostly regarding the drivers assistance programs not working, the steering assist randomly steering and the distance cruise choosing random speeds to set at.
This was a lot more of a fight, mostly due to the Agency model merc has switched over to. The technicians working on the car had replaces half the electric system, the windscreen, the radars, the softwear 3 times and written handbooks on what was the matters. He did eventually manage to hand back the faulty car for a partial refund.
During my time working for Merc I didnt come accross it often, maybe only twice in 7 years. One being my fathers car, the other being a 2.0 C43 that simply didnt work. The thing that made the biggest difference to all these cases was the car being away for more then/almost more than they were with you. If you are in a courtesy car, thats not what you are paying your PCP for. Therefore you are overpaying and you can claim for that money back. This is where a PCP does protect you a little!
Let me know if you need a hand, my father would be better placed to discuss his issues and the solutions. I remember it being stressful but in your case, if the techs are saying hand it back then they will support your side and write the statements confirming it.
Not a brilliant situation, but hopefully the outcome will be fair.
BB
I personally have not handed back a car but I have seen it done a few times. My father handed back 2 faulty A6 Avant "ultra" and a Passat estate back in 2012-2014. These were due to faulty electrics, burning oil, rubbish MPG etc etc. At the time it was a bit of a fight until the second A6 had the exact same issues and he got all his money back (about 3 years of payments) and sunk that cash into a Merc CLS.
After about 10 years of happy mercedes ownership he also went through electrical issues with his latest GLE (2023 model) this was mostly regarding the drivers assistance programs not working, the steering assist randomly steering and the distance cruise choosing random speeds to set at.
This was a lot more of a fight, mostly due to the Agency model merc has switched over to. The technicians working on the car had replaces half the electric system, the windscreen, the radars, the softwear 3 times and written handbooks on what was the matters. He did eventually manage to hand back the faulty car for a partial refund.
During my time working for Merc I didnt come accross it often, maybe only twice in 7 years. One being my fathers car, the other being a 2.0 C43 that simply didnt work. The thing that made the biggest difference to all these cases was the car being away for more then/almost more than they were with you. If you are in a courtesy car, thats not what you are paying your PCP for. Therefore you are overpaying and you can claim for that money back. This is where a PCP does protect you a little!
Let me know if you need a hand, my father would be better placed to discuss his issues and the solutions. I remember it being stressful but in your case, if the techs are saying hand it back then they will support your side and write the statements confirming it.
Not a brilliant situation, but hopefully the outcome will be fair.
BB
Thanks for the replies so far guys.
The car is wholly owned by the company, we paid cash with a trade in of another car. I don't dislike the car at all. The tech when working is great. I have the full massage seats but my Aston is more comfortable and the previous Lexus mentioned was infinitely more comfortable o long journeys but it's no deal breaker like the E class was. I have a new E class as a courtesy car but had to wait a week until one became available. Had I not had the use of another car I think I may be feeling less charitable but given I do and now have the courtesy car then I'm in no rush to get the GLC back.
The problem for me is the constant unknown with the car should I get it back after the next fix, assuming they can fix it ... the fact I am and have grown accustomed to ignoring warning lights, engine management lights etc. the fear is, one day that warning light might be real and I just brush it off as another foible thus rendering the car broken and me stranded, my only defense being it's always thrown warning lights and none have been real ... a boy who cried wolf scenario.
While it's under warranty and that others (in Mercedes) have stated I should hand it back, I think this is the time to do it.
The car is wholly owned by the company, we paid cash with a trade in of another car. I don't dislike the car at all. The tech when working is great. I have the full massage seats but my Aston is more comfortable and the previous Lexus mentioned was infinitely more comfortable o long journeys but it's no deal breaker like the E class was. I have a new E class as a courtesy car but had to wait a week until one became available. Had I not had the use of another car I think I may be feeling less charitable but given I do and now have the courtesy car then I'm in no rush to get the GLC back.
The problem for me is the constant unknown with the car should I get it back after the next fix, assuming they can fix it ... the fact I am and have grown accustomed to ignoring warning lights, engine management lights etc. the fear is, one day that warning light might be real and I just brush it off as another foible thus rendering the car broken and me stranded, my only defense being it's always thrown warning lights and none have been real ... a boy who cried wolf scenario.
While it's under warranty and that others (in Mercedes) have stated I should hand it back, I think this is the time to do it.
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