[Angloman]

I'm curious if anyone else has run into this with a Mercedes before. I have the GLA 45 AMG which I got about 2 months ago. I've put about 3000 km's on it since getting it.

I came from a 2011 C250 4Matic that was fantastic. Sure it was a little sluggish but compared to my new car it was amazing. In the 4 years I had it, it never went in for anything more than regular maintenance.

My GLA 45 is nothing but headaches. There are a bunch of little annoyances with it that are really starting to bother me. Everything in the car rattles. Before taking possession of the car I mentioned to the sales rep (in writing) that they need to fix the rattles before I take it. He said they would look at it during the PDI. After I got the car it still had a bunch of rattles so I brought it in. They fixed some and seemed to have made others. I drove it on a road trip and I swear it sounded like the windows were going to rattle out of the doors at some points. After getting back from the trip, I called Mercedes Canada and asked if this was normal. They told me no and that the dealership will be calling me to look at the car again. They have the car now and I'm really doubtful that they'll be able to fix everything. Both loaners I've had were great. I had a CLA 250 and now I have a B250. They sound solid even when driving over rough surfaces. When I road tested my car with the service foreman this morning on a rough street, he said that they can't get rid of all the noises because the 45 has a stiff suspension. I also have trouble with the bluetooth at highway speeds where people can't really hear me. Again, when I asked them about that they said that my 45 has a performance exhaust and there's nothing they can do about it.

I know these are little things but they drive me crazy. I didn't dish out a boatload of cash to have these annoyances. I would understand if a sport model of a cheap car brand had these issues... but frankly I'm surprised that MB would be like this. These issues should have been addressed at the factory when they were engineering this car. I can't believe that on a Mercedes Benz I have to accept such B/S excuses. Personally I think that my particular car just wasn't manufactured well. Needless to say, I'm not happy.

Has anyone had any luck getting a dealer to exchange a car after driving it for a few months? I don't think I'd get the same car again though. Maybe a C400 or a GLK. Seems like they made those a little better.

 

[nightscar]

Sorry to hear you aren't happy with the GLA45.


First I would ask the dealership if it is possible to just put you in a new MB though, I am sure they'd be be more willing to take the car back if they were going to make some money from you again than if you were just going to a different brand or different dealership. I'm sure they'd rather retain you as a customer than lose you. It might help if the car you're going to get cost the same if not more than the GLA45 but definitely ask your salesman for advice and tell him the foreman told you himself that the rattles can't be fixed even though you were promised prior to purchase that your concerns were going to be addressed.

If there is nothing the dealership can do and aren't being too helpful, then keep MB Canada up to date and tell them that the dealership themselves told you it can't be fixed then maybe ask MB Canada to buy it back? I think the guy who had suspension problem with the steering wheel shaking at 80mph got his car bought back by MB USA because they couldn't solve the problem. I know your problem is less severe but you as a customer has to be happy especially if you're going to live with it for years and you were promised those rattles would be gone.

Best of luck and let us know how it works out.

 

[Angloman]

Oh yea I'd totally stay with Benz if they'd be willing to switch the car. And I'd try for a C400 or GLK of equal or similar value.

Might help that my mom wants to buy an E coupe in a few months when her lease is up. She won't get a Benz if they don't treat me well.

 

[crabman]

This is just an aside but its normal for the hands free voice calls via bluetooth to go south with greater ambient interior volume levels. Having owned a lot of loud(er) cars my experience says you can expect this from every one of them. Doesn't matter if its tire, wind, exhaust, or any combination, your hands free calling will suffer due to some rather difficult to circumvent physics. You can raise the bar a little, perhaps enough by using a jawbone or similar device but I have a feeling that you have learned you are in a car you never really wanted anyways.

At any rate this happens because the noise rejection cant tell what is the desired voice and what is ambient sound when those two get too close to one another and both get reduced causing your callers to stop clearly hearing your voice and it can be expected when driving a performance car on the freeway or rough roads. Or at least one of this type because this car is designed to be a little loud, boisterous, it is this quality which draws some of us to it. Of course without the noise rejection the caller wouldn't be able to hear you either since the road noise would overcome your voice. Unless of course you increase the sound volume of your voice enough to overcome the background noise but neither you or the caller would be having fun because no one likes to have to yell and no one likes to be yelled at. The noise rejection ends up being the lesser of two evils since at lower ambient volumes it works well to make your voice clearer to callers and it has been an industry standard for a while now.

 

[AMGz]

Oh yea I'd totally stay with Benz if they'd be willing to switch the car. And I'd try for a C400 or GLK of equal or similar value.

Might help that my mom wants to buy an E coupe in a few months when her lease is up. She won't get a Benz if they don't treat me well.

C Class might be a good option, with a lot of them out on the road, there should be a lot of solid feedback from owners.

 

[Angloman]

I guess the bigger problem for me are the rattles in the cabin. It drives me nuts to have paid so much for a car that sounds like an old beater inside.

Anyways we'll see what the dealer says. They've already had the car for 3 days and I haven't heard anything from them. With luck they're actually working on it and maybe they'll make a difference.