My eqe 500, 2024, leased a month ago displayed a software malfunction on the 405N. More Precisely, It said “Vehicle not Ready to Drive” and after speaking to Mercedes Benz roadside assistance, I told them the vehicle simply said, “not ready to tow, please use a transporter or a trailer.” After 2 hours of waiting, the customer service representative who had no knowledge of what a trailer or transporter was she told me they were sending a flatbed, which was actually a transporter or trailer. On the call with the towing company I simply asked if they were sending a transporter or trailer reading off the screen of the vehicle. They just used the words flatbed. I said what it said on the screen and eventually the company sent another service provider who lifted the vehicle and assured me he uses this system to tow Lamborghinis and Ferraris. On the last call with the Mercedes rep, I confirmed if I was taking the right steps and she affirmed that yes this guy seems like he knows what he’s doing. I didn’t know the difference and simply told them the wheels can’t move and this is what is says on the screen. I accompanied the towing service to the dealership and while pulling the vehicle down, the towing driver who was high on pot pulled the front claws out which turned the entire left wheel to the left and damaged the front alignment of the vehicle. Now Mercedes Benz is blaming me for this and saying they will file the damage claim, but it is on me as I ordered the wrong equipment. I simply read off the screen and they said they’re investigating the case further and going back to the audio recordings. The towing guy didn’t share his insurance information with me and just left from there. However, the cars software history shows the damage was incurred at the time of towing and not prior to that. I also took pictures of the car as the damage was happening. I’m confused as to what I should do.
You mean MB roadside assistance is filing a claim for the damage?
I am sure you’ve already done this, but note down the name of the towing company, get their address and phone number. I am not sure if you also wrote down the tow truck’s license plate number, or got the driver’s first name. Roadside assistance should have most of this info.
That’s good on your part for taking pictures of the damage. Note the date and time of the incident.
Did MB roadside give you a timeline of when they plan to follow up with you? If not, I would call them tomorrow to make sure there is case filed on their end for this incident.
Yes Mercedes Benz USA is but they’re blaming me and not the towing company. I have their information. I can file a claim through my insurance, but I’m not sure if I should because I don’t know if Mercedes Benz is taking care of the situation or not. I have all the information. Yes they have filed a claim, however it seems like Mercedes was blaming me, but they have gone back supposedly and reassessed the video calls… In in the interim, if I should reach out to my insurance or not is what I could do.
because this isn’t the towing company’s fault its actually Mercedes Benz who is at fault for not ensuring the right towing facility was sent. What do you think is the possible outcome to the situation.
- I would do this today.
I have never dealt with MB roadside assistance, so I am not even going to speculate on this.
Had similar situation with towing my eqs. Towing companies don’t know how to handle it. MB roadside changed towing company for 4-5 times and only got someone who know how to handle this after 15 hours.
In the future, it’s probably easier to just let them know car can’t be shifted into neutral, most towing companies will know what this implies.
Ahhhh…the seemingly never-ending joys of driving an MBEQ.
You called roadside, they sent a contracted tow driver, that person damaged your car. It’s their problem.
I would NOT call your insurance even to ask a question about this, this should never end up on your CLUE report, even if it’s handled through subrogation.
Sheesh what a nightmare. This does seem like an issue that MB should be taking up with the contracted tow company. I’d be escalating and ensuring you have a case manager assigned to this at MB, and pressure them to get it fixed quickly. They should be covering your payments. Not sure whether it’s reasonable to expect them to coordinate a loaner vehicle with a dealership, but I’d definitely push hard for it so you have something to drive.
Obviously not the same manufacturer but I recall when my F-Type died in my second month of ownership, JLR towed it to the nearest dealer where I was given a loaner and reimbursement for the month it was being repaired. Had to push hard for the reimbursement.