Unethical Mercedes Authorized dealership

Fife · Feb 3, 2022

Hi Guys,

Long story short:

I recently decided to sell my car to buy a bike (even posted it on Carb!).

Getworth come to inspect the car and tell me there has been way to much body work for them to even make an offer. Like, wtf????

So I email the dealer, who responds with a "you signed for the car in this condition" and attached photos of the front bumper, rear bumper and drivers side door that were cosmetically "touched up".

We agree that I will get an assessment from an Authorized Merc panel beater and take it from there. The report is damning - almost every panel has had work done to it.

They didn't disclose any previous damage during the sale.

Dealer won't respond to me, so I've contacted Mercedes.

Anybody here got some contacts at Merc to help the process along?

If I lose out on 10s of thousands of rands because of their unethical practices, then I'll do my best to make sure this particular dealer loses their Authorized Mercedes Dealership status.

Anybody got some other advice?

peterc · Feb 3, 2022

Try Hello Peter. I have had a sudden change of attitude from bad retailers even after just threatening to go there.

Good luck, I hate car dealers......

Nemo415 · Feb 3, 2022

Fife said:
Authorized Mercedes ~~Dealership~~ Stealership

Fife · Feb 3, 2022

peterc said:
Try Hello Peter. I have had a sudden change of attitude from bad retailers even after just threatening to go there.

Yeah, I will.

So the plan is to first let Merc intervene, then go to MIOSA.

After that if nothing works, then summon an army on here and reddit and get their google rating from 4.2 down to 1, and go tag all the top MBSA Execs in a LinkedIn post letting them know about this shitty dealership screwed me (but all professional like).

EDIT: LinkedIn because if you tag someone in a post, it shows up on their followers feeds

Riaad · Feb 3, 2022

Unfortunately this has become common practice.

Almost every car at a dealership has had some paintwork done.

When the dealer mentions "no previous damage" that usually refers to accidents.

I dont think you will have much recourse from the dealer.

* would highly recommend getting a full dekra test done when purchasing any vehicle

yourang · Feb 3, 2022

Just dump it at we buy cars, they buy anything that moves

Fife · Feb 3, 2022

Riaad said:
I dont think you will have much recourse from the dealer.

Yeah I'm not expecting much, but I will ruin their reputation

Fife · Feb 3, 2022

yourang said:
Just dump it at we buy cars, they buy anything that moves

If I have to, I will. But I'm taking the dealership to the gutter

Some_Guy21 · Feb 3, 2022

Fife said:
Yeah I'm not expecting much, but I will ruin their reputation

Fife said:
If I have to, I will. But I'm taking the dealership to the gutter

Fife said:
After that if nothing works, then summon an army on here and reddit and get their google rating from 4.2 down to 1

Yes they screwed you over, but this seems a bit extreme and Karen-like behavior IMO. Just stick to a negative Hellopeter review, usually solves things.

Just my humble 2cents

Fife · Feb 3, 2022

Some_Guy21 said:
seems a bit extreme and Karen-like behavior IMO

You expect me to take 50k loss on the chin and not act like a Karen?

Some_Guy21 · Feb 3, 2022

Fife said:
You expect me to take 50k loss on the chin and not act like a Karen?

Never said that lol.
If it’s 50k take the legal route, you want it solved right?

I feel I’ve stepped on some toes

Edit: 50k is a lot and definitely worth getting mad over. But seems like the legal route is better if its suck a large sum.

tman · Feb 3, 2022

Fife said:
So I email the dealer, who responds with a "you signed for the car in this condition" and attached photos of the front bumper, rear bumper and drivers side door that were cosmetically "touched up".

They didn't disclose any previous damage during the sale.

If the pics were in the sales agreement and its possible to to see the touch ups you have no foot to stand on. then they did disclose it

Fife · Feb 3, 2022

Some_Guy21 said:
If it’s 50k take the legal route, you want it solved right?

Ofcourse I do

But I also know that unethical doesn't exactly translate into illegal, and they have a whole legal department so fighting them legally would probably cost me an arm before I even get to court.

So I'll fight them "unethically" by making sure the public knows where their ethics lie

I'm not trying to be a karen, I just want an amicable solution. They're not interested in that, so well...

Fife · Feb 3, 2022

tman said:
If the pics were in the sales agreement and its possible to to see the touch ups you have no foot to stand on. then they did disclos

Pics were not in the sale agreement, got the pics now after I complained.

Skalas · Feb 3, 2022

Fife said:
Ofcourse I do

But I also know that unethical doesn't exactly translate into illegal, and they have a whole legal department so fighting them legally would probably cost me an arm before I even get to court.

So I'll fight them "unethically" by making sure the public knows where their ethics lie

I'm not trying to be a karen, I just want an amicable solution. They're not interested in that, so well...

For 50K you have permission to be the biggest Karen on earth mate.

tman · Feb 3, 2022

Fife said:
Pics were not in the sale agreement, got the pics now after I complained.

lol, no they taking a chance

How obvious are the touch ups?

they will probably say the repairs were done in accordance with an authorised repair shop and there was no frame damage and thats why its not required to disclose.

disipher · Feb 3, 2022

Fife said:
Yeah, I will.

So the plan is to first let Merc intervene, then go to MIOSA.

After that if nothing works, then summon an army on here and reddit and get their google rating from 4.2 down to 1, and go tag all the top MBSA Execs in a LinkedIn post letting them know about this shitty dealership screwed me (but all professional like).

EDIT: LinkedIn because if you tag someone in a post, it shows up on their followers feeds

MIOSA is fucking useless ombudsmen
Short story - Audi East Rand fucks up my screen with deep scratches, didn't take liability. MIOSA does jack shit to assist me. Audi East Rand still selling cars like theirs no tomorrow.

LINDA12345 · Feb 3, 2022

peterc said:
Try Hello Peter. I have had a sudden change of attitude from bad retailers even after just threatening to go there.

Good luck, I hate car dealers......

Thank you for the info so many companies take us for a ride knowing we cant afford big laywers like them a good platform is needed to expose them i remember the story of a man who put a billboard on the M1 and nailed them

Fife · Feb 3, 2022

LINDA12345 said:
i remember the story of a man who put a billboard on the M1 and nailed them

Ah yes, thanks for the suggestion!

AndyPants · Feb 3, 2022

Riaad said:
Unfortunately this has become common practice.

Almost every car at a dealership has had some paintwork done.

When the dealer mentions "no previous damage" that usually refers to accidents.

I dont think you will have much recourse from the dealer.

* would highly recommend getting a full dekra test done when purchasing any vehicle

Dekra test documented some scratch marks on my car but nothing about two panels that are clearly a different shade to the rest of the car - - I also spoke to the dealership the car was serviced at and they too assured me that there's no bodywork done that they know of.
The problem is - at the time of purchase I could only go look at the car at night and never noticed the colour difference till a week or so later.
Now one of those panels' clearcoat is blistering and I'm fuming but original seller left the country.

Fife · Feb 3, 2022

AndyPants said:
Dekra test documented some scratch marks on my car but nothing about two panels that are clearly a different shade to the rest of the car - - I also spoke to the dealership the car was serviced at and they too assured me that there's no bodywork done that they know of.
The problem is - at the time of purchase I could only go look at the car at night and never noticed the colour difference till a week or so later.
Now one of those panels' clearcoat is blistering and I'm fuming but original seller left the country.

That's a kak one - did you buy it "voetstoots"?

Literally every panel on my car has been sprayed, none of it disclosed at the time of sale.

Considering I found the vehicle via Mercedes' own website, you would think they keep their Authorized dealerships to a certain standard, but clearly not.

I like the billboard idea, I guess if I'm going to lose 50k+ on the vehicle by selling it, I might as well keep it and use the 50k to spread awareness. There's even a billboard less than 2km on a busy road near the dealership

What a win!

TheJudge · Feb 3, 2022

How long ago was the car purchased from them?

Fife · Feb 3, 2022

TheJudge said:
How long ago was the car purchased from them?

Unfortunately 1 year 1 month ago so CPA doesn't assist here

TheJudge · Feb 3, 2022

I think either way it boils down to whether the repair work represents a defect and whether that defect was latent or patent. But that's more about whether you have grounds to sue them.

Fife · Feb 3, 2022

TheJudge said:
I think either way it boils down to whether the repair work represents a defect and whether that defect was latent or patent. But that's more about whether you have grounds to sue them.

😁I'll have to do some research on what that means.

I do have a lawyer ready to assist, but at the end of the day I really just want a reasonable solution, where I don't have to lose out on so much cash, and don't have to go the legal route, because that's also going to be a PITA for everyone.

And if there's no reasonable solution and I have no legal grounds then I'll finally go the route of social pressure...

johnny_h · Feb 3, 2022

Be petty. Comment on every social media post that they (if the dealership has any social media), and Mercedes Benz SA make, about how they screwed you over.
For 50k I'd be doing that as part of my morning routine before I start work

Fife · Feb 3, 2022

johnny_h said:
Be petty. Comment on every social media post that they (if the dealership has any social media), and Mercedes Benz SA make, about how they screwed you over.
For 50k I'd be doing that as part of my morning routine before I start work

I will if I have to but I'm really giving them every opportunity to make this right

NI∀ƆOƆ‾⊥ᴚ∩ʞ · Feb 3, 2022

For interest sake, what merc is this?

AndyPants · Feb 3, 2022

Wasn't there a dude in Cpt that branded his entire car with signage about how crap Mahindra treated him? (I may be remembering the details incorrectly)

Will be much cheaper than renting a billboard.

Fife · Feb 3, 2022

KURT_DERMS said:
For interest sake, what merc is this?

C180

AndyPants said:
Will be much cheaper than renting a billboard.

How about both!

Unethical Mercedes Authorized dealership

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