On the recommendation of a friend, I took my 2014 Mercedes C350 to Robert Loehr for rear tires. I had already purchased the front tires from eBay, and brought them along to have mounted and balanced. My car has staggered tires and optional factory 18" AMG rims.
My assigned service advisor, I am told, is the best the dealership has to offer. His name is Josh and he is not communicative (offered no updates during my 3+ hour wait), though when he does communicate he is both abrupt and abrasive. If you absolutely must use this dealership (and you should seriously reconsider), request a different service advisor. The others at least seem to have a better disposition, though what goes on in the shop behind the scenes is where the real problem lies.
As noted above, the mounting and "balancing" of 4 tires took 3 hours. When my car was pulled back around for me, I walked around it to take a look at the new tires and make sure that the correct sizes were on the front and back. The first thing I noticed was missing valve stem caps on the driver side of the car. When I leaned in to see if the caps were missing or just silver in color, I noticed that the rims were chewed up along the edges. Not on just one, or even two - but all 4. I pointed this out to the service people and they agreed to have the rims repaired at their expense, as they should. I made an appointment for the following week to bring it back for the rim repair and left. I made it about 10 miles before the TPMS displayed the individual tire pressures. On the fuel filler door the car states that the fronts should be at 36psi and the rears at 39psi. On the driver's door jamb, there were pressures listed for the smaller 17" rims that came standard on the car. To make sure the technician knew which was correct, I asked that he be told 36 front and 39 rear was correct. At the point the tire pressures finally displayed, the front left wheel was at 46psi, the front right at 40psi, the rear left at 40psi, and the rear right at 47psi. I turned around and went back to have this corrected.
I was off work the next few days and did not drive the car much. The first day back to work after the tires were put on was a Saturday, and I made it about 10 miles down the highway before the car popped a warning that the front left tire was losing pressure - and fast. I called roadside assistance to get the tire changed. The roadside tech arrived, lifted the car, and attempted to put the spare on but the lug bolts were on so tight he could not get them off no matter how much he tried. Finally he said he couldn't keep trying without risking damage and there was nothing we could do but tow it to a tire shop.
The car was towed 20 miles to a tire shop open on Saturdays. They used their air tools to get the lug bolts off, but not without stripping one completely and damaging the 4 others on that rim. We had to order 5 new lug bolts ($66.42) from the closest Mercedes dealer to get the car back in service and not have it be down until Monday. Once the tire was off it was clear that the dealership was at fault for the flat, the bead of the tire on the inside was chewed up just like the rim.
Through this point the dealership was agreeable in trying to fix the issue. They agreed to replace the damaged tire at the same time they repaired the damaged rims and to reimburse the cost of the new lug bolts. I was really not happy with the idea that I would have to again let them do any work on it, but I left it the following Tuesday to have the rims repaired and the new tire mounted.
Once this was done, I again was off and did not drive the car for a few days. When I did get the car back out on the highway, I discovered that there is a tire balance issue (vibration between 70-80mph, smooths out afterwards). I was charged for balancing, and I even asked to clarify that the new tire was balanced when it was mounted. I did let the dealership know that the tires are not balanced correctly, but I will be eating the cost of a proper balance. I will never let them touch any vehicle I own again.
The issue with this dealership can be summarized in one word - incompetence. That they repaired the rims and replaced the damaged tire and bolts does not redeem them - that was owed. You should avoid this dealership because the quality of the work depends on the skill of the technicians, and in this case it is severely lacking. Whatever they damage may get replaced, but it should not be damaged to begin with. I realize that mistakes happen everywhere - but this was not a single mistake. This was not a single damaged rim, a single tire set at the wrong pressure, or a single over torqued lug bolt. This was poor quality work from beginning to end and poor customer service. Do not make this same mistake. Go elsewhere from the start. read more