The saga of the headlamp - My 1st Rant

Monday 7th January - during evening dinner Andy says that he has time to look at the headlight to see if it can be adjusted so that even when it's pointing down, it would be correctly aligned. So after the table has been cleared I get the toolbox out and we pop the bonnet (the hood, for my American based readers) and check out the adjusters. They require a 13mm socket to adjust and it takes just a few seconds to raise the level of the beam, and we close the bonnet. Then we have to move the car so than Andy can go out to see his girlfriend, and, damn it, the headlight works just fine, but, because we adjusted it we now have to adjust it back.

What really pisses me off is that the garage, Mercedes main franchised dealer claimed that they had tried to adjust the beam and said that it couldn't be done. They didn't even try! Had they tried then they would have solved the problem when they had the car in the workshop and I'd happily paid the bill. But, when you think that they are charging £100 per hour for this "service" and that they wanted me to part with £1187 to supply and fit a new headlamp! They quoted £852 + VAT (in the USA that's called tax) for the headlight unit and the rest was the fitting charge and the VAT on the labour.

To make matters even worse (in my eyes) a local car parts supplier said they could supply the light unit for £183 + VAT, so I guess that the rest ( some £669 ) is to pay for Mercedes Benz Formula 1 racing. Either way I am not happy with the costs associated with running a Mercedes and I will be changing the car at the earliest opportunity for something less costly - probably a Vauxhall Astra as I've had loads of them in the past and they are so easy to live with.

I wouldn't usually name a firm on a public site, but, in this case I am making an exception because others need to know that they are very likely to get ripped off by these people. So the name in shame is Inchcape, Mercedes Benz franchised dealer on Pride Park in Derby, England, UK. Inchcape are very big in the region, controlling a number of major franchises including Toyota, Lexus & Land Rover. So that's some other car manufacturer who won't be getting my custom.