Well, it didn't take long for the local MB dealer to show their true colors.
I purchased a used 2003 C230 in September and, as to be expected, there were
some minor problems.  I took the car to my local dealer and they were over
joyed to help me.  They took care of the issues at a reasonable cost and
even helped me with some of the bells and whistles that I didn't know
existed or how to work.  It has become apparent that they used this to suck
me in.
   3 weeks ago I took my son to school and by the time we got there, about
4 minutes, the car started running very roughly, bucking and lurching at
idle.  When the car was under acceleration or speed, it was smooth.  I got
the car home and connected my obdII reader and got multiple misfire codes on
all 4 cylinders.  I called the dealer, told service what was happening and
they told me that it was probably just damp coils or plugs because we had
had several days of drastic temp changes and high humidity and that they had
had a ton of calls with the same problem.  They said if it continued to
bring the poor baby in and they would diagnose it.  Needless to say, the
problem did not go away.  In fact, it sounded kind of fishy to begin with
because, if it did go away wouldn't I be faced with the same thing with
every change in season?  After a week of this b.s., I took the car in at 8am
on Friday morning and left it with them to diagnose.  I received a phone
call an hour and a half later telling me that my poor Benz had a leaking
lower hose to the supercharger.  Good news, the part cost approx. $40.  Bad
news, it was $750.00 to put it on.  I freaked, politely told them that it
wasn't going to happen and said I would pick up the car in a bit.  I made
immediate arrangements to take the car to a VERY reputable and well known
auto shop and went to get my car.
   When I arrived at the dealership, I was treated with extreme rudeness
and disrespect by a service rep.  She told me not to even think about
driving the car anywhere as I would definitely trash the converters on the
car incurring thousands more in damage.  I took the car anyway and babied it
to the repair shop.
   The shop re-diagnosed the car and found that it was not a lower hose but
two upper hoses.  They properly introduced smoke into the system and traced
the leaks. Something the MB dealer never did.  In fact I doubt that they
even hooked up the computer to the car at all.  There just wasn't enough
time elapsed between dropping it off at the dealer and when they called me,
to do a thorough job.  It took the shop the better part of Friday afternoon
and Monday morning to do the job.  I was told the two hoses together were
about $30.00.  Total cost of the repair, LESS THAN $400.00.  Of course my
poor baby has been fixed and runs perfectly now.
   I called the dealership after finding all this out and asked to speak
with the service manager. I told him what had transpired and that I was not
impressed or pleased with their service.  He said that he would look into it
and get back to me.  Surprise..he never did.  2 days later I called and
asked to speak with the General Manager and explained everything to him and
that, at this point, I felt they needed to refund the fee they charged me
for the diagnosis since it was incomplete, incorrect and shoddy.  He told me
he would investigate it and get back to me.  Surprise, he didn't call me
back, he had the "service manager" call me and tell me "we ain't refunding
nothing, go ahead and sue us and OH By The Way Don't Bring Your Car Back
Here, We Don't Want To Work On It".  Like I would ever take my car back to
them for anything.
   Nice way to handle it, huh? MBUSA has been notified about the whole
thing and they aren't too pleased with it.  BBB has been notified and I'm
disputing the charge with my bank (who are very nice and happy to
investigate the matter).  I have always been told horror stories about MB
dealers and their arrogance and incompetence.  After my first experience
with a dealer, I was beginning to think it was sour grapes.  Well, I guess I
got a full dose of it.  Of course my decision to go elsewhere goes
unquestioned but, you'd think that a dealer would want to build up a ton of
good will, confidence and customer satisfaction in order to sell me my next
car.  Guess this one doesn't care.  They'll bend over backwards to serve a
customer who brings in an abused Aston Martin ($190,000), something they
admittedly don't know how to work on, but they did it anyway (guess they
charged a ton of bucks) and they always has the extremely expensive models
in the shop being babied and pampered but, when it comes to the rest of us,
its hit or miss and they seem to miss more often than not.
   Just wanted to add my experience and, oh yes, the name of the dealer
involved.....Leiken Motors, MB, in Willoughby, Ohio.  Stay away from them
like the plague.

Kestrel