Mopar Muscle Association UK

Can any of our resident Auto Gearbox or Motor Trade experts offer an opinion on this ?

I have a 18-month old Automatic Sprinter currently being repaired at a Merc dealer in France. The van is still under guarantee (3 years)

The info I am being given by the dealer is that the gearbox has failed due to metal in the fluid, and needs complete replacement. Mercedes are saying that this is my cost, as the fluid was not changed at 43K miles. The van was last serviced by Mercedes at 34K miles. It has been serviced independently since. The van currently has 80K miles on it.

So even if the fluid was not changed at 43K, can this be expected to be the cause of total gearbox failure at 80K ??

Opinions anyone?



The dealer is asking for a 9000+ VAT (yes that's NINE THOUSAND) Euro deposit from me, to continue work. My thoughts at the moment are to recover the vehicle to the UK and arrange an independent assessment.

I would be inclined to take your lorry there and haul it back to UK

Sounds like a scam

Trousers down time....Relay / Cover???

sorry to say Matt , main dealers will try to wriggle out of any warranty work , even if the servicing has been carried out by appropriate main dealer & all the additional work been done at recommended times ( milage ) , eg coolent . brake , transmission fluid etc & service book all stamped up as proof , if not !
once you give them a lever to argue !! of non main dealer servicing been done !! they will come out with stuff like , where genuine oils & parts used during servicing , were the people who done the servicing trained merc or what ever make you have got !! we don't know to what standard the work was done to blar blar blar all our staff are trained to a high standard , set out by merc , or what ever dealer & make your car is ! any excuse ,

be very surprised if they will pay up ,

Hi Pete , my business RAC European policy allows only for transport to local dealer for repair.
The cost of fetching the van back to the UK is not my main concern - I have to bring it back anyway whether it's broken or fixed.

Was the Van sent to France or did it break down there?

If they have sent it to France (can't see why), then they should return it, to you unfixed at no cost.

If it has broken down in France, then i would seek advice from your recovery service, to see if they can get it back to its uk residence!

Steveo is correct on all counts. The fact it has not got full Merc dealership stamps means they have an out and will point it out in the small print somewhere. Your best hope is that if you can prove the oil was changed at a certain milage with the correct fluid, that they will offer a goodwill gesture (as its 18 months old and under 100k on the clock).

The most they will offer will be 50% from all the similar issues like this i have seen.

If the fluid has never been changer or changed not in accordance with the maintenance schedule you'll more than likely get 0, or if they are very very generous (doubt it) 10-20%!

Try chasing independants for recon boxes or boxes taken from broken vans.......(sad to say which ever way you go i think your in for a 4 figure bill)!

Matt wrote:Can any of our resident Auto Gearbox or Motor Trade experts offer an opinion on this ?

I have a 18-month old Automatic Sprinter currently being repaired at a Merc dealer in France. The van is still under guarantee (3 years)

The info I am being given by the dealer is that the gearbox has failed due to metal in the fluid, and needs complete replacement. Mercedes are saying that this is my cost, as the fluid was not changed at 43K miles. The van was last serviced by Mercedes at 34K miles. It has been serviced independently since. The van currently has 80K miles on it.

So even if the fluid was not changed at 43K, can this be expected to be the cause of total gearbox failure at 80K ??

Opinions anyone?



The dealer is asking for a 9000+ VAT (yes that's NINE THOUSAND) Euro deposit from me, to continue work. My thoughts at the moment are to recover the vehicle to the UK and arrange an independent assessment.

look at it logicaly the fluid up to it needing changing at your 43k or what ever should not have any metal in it period unless something is failing the only thing they can say is if they had the opportunity to have changed the fluid at 43k then they may have spotted it had a problem in its early stages and could off sorted it but i doubt that they would the metal in the fluid is not the failure its whatever is causing the metal particals that are in the oil thats the failure get it back matt do your homework and find either a damaged van to get the trans or someone willing to do your trans at more sensible money, at least if its back here you can be the govorner ove5r what is going down,,,,,,,

Matt if you do decide to bring it back to the uk, give me a phone on 07773767481 & I will get it brought cheaper than you would expect

Matt, I work with Mercedes-Benz and Steveo is absolutely right, unless you have a book stamped up to date by an approved and authorised Mercedes-Benz dealer, they can wriggle out of it.

Definitely drag it straight back to Blighty and get it fixed for a fraction of the price.