2006 Mercedes Benz CLK350

THE '06 CLK 350 I AM ABOUT TO PURCHASE WAS TAKEN IN FOR INSPECTION AND DIAGNOSTICS FOR THE CEL. THE DEALERSHIP TOLD ME THAT THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THE BALANCE SHAFT, WHICH WOULD EVENTUALLY LEAD TO MISFIRING AND OTHER ENGINE PROBLEMS. I DO NOT KNOW THE HISTORY OF THE VEHICLE PRIOR TO THIS, OR EVEN WHEN THE CEL FIRST CAME ON. I AM BEING TOLD THAT THE ENGINE MUST BE REMOVED AND TORN DOWN TO REPAIR THIS PROBLEM, AND THE COST WILL BE UPWARDS OF $4000. IT HAS LESS THAN 54000 MILES ON IT. *TR

2006 MERCEDES CLK350 CONVERTIBLE- ABOUT 45, 000 MILES ON IT, BOUGHT AS A USED CAR IN SEPT 2009. THE HEADLIGHTS WERE LEFT ON ALL DAY AND DRAINED THE BATTERY. THE BATTERY WAS RECHARGED. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND STAYED ON. I WOULD DRIVE ABOUT A BLOCK OR TWO AND THE SECOND TIME I PUT ON BRAKES, THE EPS DASH LIGHT WOULD COME ON AND THE ENGINE WOULD DIE. THE ENGINE COULD BE RESTARTED AND THE CAR DRIVEN (INCLUDING THE FREEWAY), BUT THE EPS LIGHT WOULD COME BACK ON AND KILL THE ENGINE, AFTER MORE BRAKING. THE CAR DIED, ON THE WAY TO THE STOCKTON, CALIF. DEALER, AS I BRAKED ON THE OFF RAMP AS I BRAKED AND ALMOST CAUSED A SERIOUS REAR END ACCIDENT BY THE CAR FOLLOWING ME. ADDITIONAL, THE SIDE DRIVER WINDOW THAT AUTOMATICALLY DROPS DOWN WHEN THE DOOR IS OPEN, WOULD NOT AUTOMATICALLY GO ALL THE WAY BACK UP WHEN THE DOOR WAS CLOSED. I TOOK TO THE DEALER FOR REPAIR. I WAS TOLD THE WINDOWS NEEDED RE-SYNCRONIZING. THAT THERE WAS A MISCODING IN THE COMPUTER, WHICH NEEDED A SOFTWARE UPGRADING. I ASKED WHY OTHER MERCEDES OWNERS WERE NOT INFORMED, BUT GOT NO ANSWER. I ALSO ASKED TO HAVE THE MANUFACTURER REPRESENTATIVE CONTACTED, SINCE THE WARRANTY EXPIRED ONLY TWO WEEKS PRIOR. I WAS TOLD THEY WOULD NOT, SINCE THE MANUFACTURER WOULD NOT PAY FOR ANY COMPUTER UPGRADES. I WAS NOT TOLD OF ANY RECALLS, YET THERE APPEARS TO BE A POSSIBLE RELATED COMPUTER RECALL BULLETIN FOR IMPROPER CODING. THE DEALER DID THE RESYNC AND COMPUTER UPGRADE AND THE CAR IS BACK TO DRIVING NORMAL. *TR

DRIVING HOME ON FREEWAY AT NIGHT, CAR SHIFTED UNEXPECTEDLY AT HIGH SPEED. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IMMEDIATELY CAME ON. CAME TO STOP EXITING OFF FREEWAY AND CAR WOULD NOT MOVE, TURNED OFF AND TURNED BACK ON ENGINE WAS ABLE TO LIMP HOME WITH CHECK ENGINE LIGHT STILL ON. TOWED TO MERCEDES AND WAS TOLD IT WAS A "DEFECTIVE" SPEED SENSOR ALSO WAS TOLD THIS MALFUNCTIONING SENSOR COULD NOT BE REPLACED IN AND OF ITSELF AND THAT THE WHOLE VALVE BODY WOULD HAVE TO BE REPLACED AT A COST OF $2200 FOR A 2006 CAR WITH 58,000 MILES ON IT. BY VIRTUE OF THE FACT THE SENSOR WAS DEFECTIVE SHOULDN'T MERCEDES HAVE REPLACED THIS AT THEIR COST? "TRANSMISSION ELECTROHYDRAULIC UNIT REPLACED AT A COST OF $2200 WITH 58,000 MILES" *TR

1) CHECK ENGINE OIL LEVEL MESSAGE DISPLAYED 2) STOP VEHICLE 3) ENGINE OIL CONSUMPTION TEST / CYLINDER TEST / SENSOR TEST OUTCOME: MERCEDES IS WORKING HARD TO DESIGN A NEW SENSOR FOR THIS CAR. A FEW HUNDRED OTHER PEOPLE HAVE HAD THIS EXPERIENCE AND THERE HAS NOT BEEN AN OFFICIAL RECALL. (PER FLETCHER JONES MOTOR CARS, NEWPORT BEACH, CA). *TR

2006 CLK 350 COUPE / CHECK ENGINE OIL LEVELS (MESSAGE). I'VE OWNED MY CAR SINCE MARCH 18, 2007. I'M WRITING TO INFORM YOU THAT I HAVE RECEIVED A MESSAGE THREE TIMES STATING "CHECK ENGINE OIL LEVELS" THE MESSAGE CAME ON FOR THE FIRST TIME IN JULY 2007. I DROVE THE CAR BACK TO THE DEALERSHIP WHERE I BOUGHT THE CAR FROM AND I ARRIVED AT THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT 15 MINUTES BEFORE THEY CLOSED AND THEY DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO LOOK AT MY VEHICLE, SO THEY PLACED OIL IN MY CAR AND TURNED ME AWAY. THANKFULLY A VERY PROFESSIONAL YOUNG MAN FROM THAT SAME DEALERSHIP RECTIFIED THIS EXPERIENCE FOR ME AND HAD A TALKING TO THE MAN THAT TURNED ME AWAY. MY CAR WAS MISDIAGNOSED. A WEEK LATER THE SAME LIGHT CAME ON. CHECK ENGINE OIL LEVEL. AT THIS MOMENT IN TIME, I CALL MERCEDES BENZ ROAD SIDE ASSISTANCE. I PULLED THE CAR OVER AND EXPLAINED THE SITUATION. THEY ASKED ME NOT TO ADD ANY OIL AND TO TAKE IT TO THE NEAREST DEALERSHIP. I TOOK IT TO MD SAN DIEGO. THEY CONDUCTED AND OIL CONSUMPTION TEST TO FIND WHAT WAS WRONG AND THEY ASKED ME TO COME BACK IN 1,000 TO 1,200 MILES OR IF THE LIGHT CAME ON. AUGUST 7, 2007 - I WAS NEAR NEWPORT BEACH, AND THE LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN. SO I TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP WHERE I BOUGHT IT FROM AND THEY HAD TO RE-DO THE OIL CONSUMPTION TEST BECAUSE THE TEST NEEDS TO BE CONDUCTED AT THE SAME DEALERSHIP EACH TIME. (I QUESTIONED THE VALIDITY OF THIS STATEMENT). THEY INSTRUCTED ME TO COME BACK IN 1,000 - 1,200 MILES OR WHEN THE LIGHT CAME ON. I BROUGHT THE CAR BACK IN 1,000 MILES (AUGUST 2007) TO THE NEWPORT BEACH DEALERSHIP AND THEY COULDN'T FIND WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THE CAR AND MERCEDES BENZ WOULDN'T AUTHORIZE THE (WARRANTY) WORK FOR THE ENGINE TO BE TAKEN APART TO FIND OUT WHERE THE OIL IS GOING TO. IT IS NOW NOVEMBER 19, 2007 AND THE SAME LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN. I HAVE SCHEDULED AN APPOINTMENT TO BRING MY CAR BACK IN. HOPEFULLY THEY CAN SOLVE THE PROBLEM THIS TIME, OR IT MIGHT BE THAT I HAVE BEEN SOLD A LEMON. *TR