Kempthorn Mercedes-Benz

During a contracted repair I believe that the technician routed my fuel lines backwards resulting in the failure of my Electric Starting Motor when the technician tried to start the car and continued to tur routed my fuel lines backwards resulting in the failure of my Electric Starting Motor when the technician tried to start the car and continued to turn it over excessively in his attempt to get fuel to the injector nozzles. I have received contradictory stories from three people at the company that further convince me that they are covering for a mistake on the part of their mechanic causing me both financial and other injuries. Once I lost confidence in the repair shop, I took my car from their service center and had it towed at my expense to another shop capable of servicing Diesel vehicles. At this shop it was confirmed that the starter motor was indeed bad and the wiring harness for the starter (that had been stated as damaged by the starter failure according the Kempthorn Technicians) was in serviceable condition contradicting Kempthorn’s claim. The car would still not start and it was discovered at the second shop that the fuel lines at the fuel tank had been reversed meaning that air instead of fuel was being drawn in to the system and preventing it from starting. I contacted Kempthorn with the findings in order to try to seek resolution to the problem of their error damaging my car resulting in additional repairs and expenses. In my discussion with Rich Peterson the Service Manager he told me a different story than I had gotten from the service writer (Joe). This further convinces me that there is now an active attempt to deceive and misrepresent the events that have occurred to my detriment. It is my wish to be financially compensated for the replacement of my Electric Starter motor with an OEM equivalent part, the labor for said installation, labor for diagnosis of reversed fuel lines, and expenses incurred for towing to the second shop. This is what I was attempting to negotiate when Rich Peterson became defensive and I felt he never dealt with me in good faith. Nor did the Service Department deal with me in good faith at the time I expressed my belief that there technician had made a mistake. I based my belief of this error on their part based upon my personal experience as a long term owner of this Diesel car, my own mechanical skill and my experience as a Repair Options Coordinator for Ohio CAT (Caterpillar Dealer for Ohio). I build the parts lists and repair procedures for Caterpillar Diesel Equipment and have access to numerous resources including professional technical training personnel. This is not the case of an uneducated person being confused. I fully believe this is a situation where a highly educated and experienced person has been the victim of a cover up of a mistake made by a professional mechanic in the employ of Kempthorn VW. As soon as I mentioned that I was unsatisfied with Rich Peterson’s explanation of events that contradicted earlier stories from the Service Writer and mentioned that I may need to seek legal counsel I was immediately told to have my lawyer contact them. At this point no further discussion was had and no attempt from Rich Peterson to avoid a legal battle was made. I believe this is a tactic to dissuade me from perusing justice and proper, measured compensation. Due to the difficulty of negotiating the legal system and costs associate with retaining legal counsel far outweigh the expected compensation, unless I can win additional punitive compensation, which is and was not my intent. Final contact was made by me to the operations manager where I got a third variation of the story regarding my Electric Starter motor and its failure. With no satisfactory explanation for the discovery of reversed fuel lines and their claim that my wiring harness was damaged and in need of replacement was I summarily told that they did nothing wrong. Thru the entire process I felt that I was not treated honestly by the Technicians and that their errors were being covered by their supervisory staff all the way to the Operations Manager. I am aware that there is no way to for me to “Prove” that the starter motor, that was less than 15 months, old was not faulty upon delivery nor can they “Prove” that it was. However, the fact that the fuel lines were reversed according to the second repair shop and that the wiring harness was not in need of replacement lead me to believe that I am the victim of Fraud and Negligence at the hands of the Technicians who were tasked with repair of my contaminated fuel system. More

I have purchased V.W>'s from Kempthorn for 20 years. Always very satisfied.Sales person very knowledgeable about the product, service is great, always have a loaner waiting when in for service. Always very satisfied.Sales person very knowledgeable about the product, service is great, always have a loaner waiting when in for service. More

We've purchased several VWs from Kempthorn in the past and were always treated good. The last couple of times we went for service were absolutely poor. Basic oil change took forever. Minor repairs had and were always treated good. The last couple of times we went for service were absolutely poor. Basic oil change took forever. Minor repairs had to be fixed again several months later. The last time the mechanical couldn't even shut the hood (the latch was set and just needed released). We watched as the mechanic repeatedly slammed the hood shut and was surprised the hood wasn't damaged. They wanted us to buy a new latch even after we figured out what the problem was. The last VW we purchased we ended up going to another dealer because their payment was much higher. I would have hoped after our family purchased several cars from them in the past that they would give us a break. More

Dealt with Rick, Had vehicle towed, had trouble Dealt with Rick, Had vehicle towed, had trouble diagnosing, I went on internet found that this problem was common in this vehicle. Charged me an ri Dealt with Rick, Had vehicle towed, had trouble diagnosing, I went on internet found that this problem was common in this vehicle. Charged me an ridiculous price for the part (2.5 x as what I found on internet). Just not happy with overall experience. More