Used Mercedes-Benz rejected spare key from the factory

October 14, 2013 by Alastair Sloane

A doctor who bought a used import S55 Mercedes-Benz took it into Auckland dealership Coutts to get a spare key, an electronic remote.

Coutts sent the car’s identifying details to Benz in Germany and back came the spare … but it didn’t work.

Try as they might, it couldn’t unlock the doors, start the car, or open the boot.

So Coutts sent to Germany the actual key that came with the car.

Benz HQ technicians decoded it … and found that it didn’t belong to the doctor’s S55 at all.

The key’s code matched a car with a totally different Vehicle Indentification Number. How come?

Technicians say both the computer control unit and the key to the doctor’s car had to have come from another S55 altogether.

“This reeks of crooks stealing cars, swapping bits and pieces, or building one car out of two and then dumping the finished car in New Zealand,” said a Mercedes-Benz technician who didn’t want to be named.

“Then they bugger off and the unsuspecting buyer is left out of pocket and with a mess to clean up.

“The people who deal in this area have no allegiance to the motoring industry – no service schemes, no warranties, nothing. They are just out to make a quick buck.”

A sales executive at Coutts said the doctor gave himself an uppercut – and bought a NZ-new Mercedes-Benz.

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