Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Service and Parts

Susan Hansen

Mercedes sprinter service lacks competence Dear friends, This is a long and quite unbelievable story of San Diego service on my Winnebago View sprinter AC. The story starts with my family crossing the desert between Yuma and San Diego in August, 2020. Suddenly our dash air conditioning just stopped blowing cold air in 110 degree heat. We tried to find local service, unsuccessfully, so we suffered the heat and pushed on to San Diego. Immediately on arrival, we called a mobile RV mechanic who specialized in AC repair. The mechanic came to our campground and spent the better part of an entire day trying to figure out the problem. At the end of the day he said he would have to get back to me after some research. He called the next morning and said he was pretty sure it was the climate control control unit and that we should take it to the dealer since it was an expensive part that he could not return if he was wrong. We did that the next day. We checked in with Maribel at Sprinter Service of San Diego and told her what the mobile RV mechanic had said about the controller. We left the camper for the day and later in the day Maribel called to tell me the problem was the compressor (about a $2300 job). We retrieved the camper that evening and arranged to have a new compressor installed 2 days later, once we could arrange for other accommodations. We were charged $203 for the diagnosis. After retrieving the camper and paying the $2312 repair bill. The AC worked on the way back to the campground but quit on the way back to Tucson, again in the desert. On arriving in Tucson, we immediately called Jeff at Tucson Sprinter service and made an appointment to have the AC looked at as a warranty job. They recharged the AC and it was again working when I picked up the camper the next day. However it quit working on the way home. It became clear that it worked fine part of the time but quit working about half the time. I took it back to Jeff and after a few days of diagnostic work said it was indeed the climate control controller as the original RV mechanic had said. I contacted the service manager, Nick, at San Diego Sprinter service and told him the story, suggesting that the compressor did not need to be replaced since it worked fine about half the time and the real problem was the controller as I had told Maribel in the beginning. After a day of considering it, he agreed to pay the cost of the controller only, leaving me with what I considered to be an unnecessary charge of $2312 for the compressor. I was still charged $613 by Jeff at the Tucson dealer for discounted labor and replacing an actuator motor they suggested replacing as well. Throughout this entire ordeal which spanned several weeks, I thought that Jeff did all that he could to help me, and was very courteous and understanding of my situation. Even though he did not come right out and say it, I believe he thought that the compressor replacement was unnecessary as well. The mobile mechanic in San Diego did not charge me. I paid a total of $2515 to San Diego Sprinter service for a repair that was not needed and did not fix the problem. Tucson eventually fixed the problem, but San Diego showed a not only a lack of competence in diagnosis and repair, but a total disregard of the mobile mechanic’s assessment of the issue. I find this stunning for such a company as Mercedes.

Jeff Stump

I’ve been in the automotive service industry for over 12 years. So I know better than to trust my Sprinter with just anyone. And I’ve been bringing my vehicle into the dealership and dealing with Nick Batts and his highly qualified crew. I know there are probably cheaper pleases than the dealership but for my piece of mind to have knowledgeable people working on my vehicle there is not clearer choice. I love the quality of work, cleanliness of the facility and the personal touch they give every time I’m in there.

Catherine Collazo

Slow service.

Andrew Ellis

Took our Sprinter van in at ~70,000 miles for an emissions related issue, they replaced the SCR cat under warranty. ~20,000 miles and ~6 months later, the same symptoms reappear, and they say the SCR cat is bad again, but this time, we have to pay ~$2k to fix it. Clearly they didn't fix the problem correctly the first time, and they should offer some guarantee on their repair work, yet they don't appear to. You would think that a Mercedes dealer would be the best place to get Mercedes repair work done, but that doesn't appear to be the case.