I had a good experience with Phil Smart at the time i bought the car. It was a Mercedes SL 500 just a couple months after the car came out. Barrier was charging $35K over the MSRP. Phil Smart found a car for me, in the color i wanted and sold it to me at MSRP. I was ecstatic.
Then the problems began. The electronics kept failing left and right. First the seat memory system stopped working. The sound system stopped unexpectedly (e.g. no music, no voice directions in the nav system) 4 times over a 6 months period. Later the cruise control stopped working. I had to bring the car for service many times.
They would call me and tell me the car is ready but when i got there, i had to wait 30 minutes and sometimes more for them to print the invoice and get the car out. I worked on the eastside and had to cross the lake to go get the car. I ended up being late for work meetings twice because of them.
Finally one day, the glove compartment would not open. This was the last straw. Less than a year after having bought the car, i sold it, disgusted, and bought an Infiniti. I asked Phil Smart if they would take it back and they give me a ridiculous offer, $20K under what i paid. I should have thought of the lemon law.
I have had the Infiniti for 2 years. Nothing broke down and when i bring it to Infiniti (Kirkland), they give it back to me on time without making me wait.
I was not surprised to read that Mercedes Benz was rated amongst the least reliable brand in Consumer Reports.
See report at http://money.cnn.com/2004/11/08/pf/autos/cr_auto_reliability/
Buy a Japanese car or even a Hyundai and you'll be much better off.
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