He spent 104 days with a faulty $144k Mercedes - then was offered a refund, with a catch
Tuesday, 9 June 2026
Auckland man Tony Dsouza paid $144,588 for a late model Mercedes-Benz only to discover a fault.
The luxury car repeatedly went into 'limp mode', but the dealer couldn’t find or fix the problem.
Dsouza rejected the car claiming safety fears, but was told to keep driving it until it faulted.
A request for refund appeared to have stalled until after Stuff contacted the dealer.
Solving stuff is where we investigate reader complaints and push for answers. You can read more about the project here, and submit your story for consideration at the end of the article.
In this instalment: An Auckland man who paid $144k for a Mercedes-Benz, rejected it and asked for a refund after it kept losing power. But as Natalie Akoorie reports, the request appeared to have stalled until after Stuff made enquiries.
The problem
When Tony Dsouza paid $139,000 for a 2025 Mercedes-Benz SUV, he expected a luxury experience.
Instead, he spent the next 104 days with a suspected faulty car he repeatedly returned for repairs.
In the end, he rejected the car and requested a full refund, but he was still getting nowhere last week - until after Stuff became involved - and everything changed overnight.
The Auckland man’s woes began on February 20 when he purchased the black GLE450D model with tan leather interior and about 7000 kilometres on the clock, from Armstrong’s and Mercedes-Benz Botany.
As part of the deal he paid an extra $2384 for a year’s insurance, $1999 for a nano ceramic coating, and $304 for a custom registration plate, taking the total to $144,588.
Dsouza said he was unhappy with the car on collection because he claimed the wheels were unclean, a scratch on a side mirror had not been repaired, and the ceramic coating finish was in his opinion, not up to standard.
When he drove it off the lot he claimed there was a vibration present and the heads-up display was faulty.
The 41-year-old took the car back to Mercedes-Benz Botany on March 9 to have the ceramic coating reapplied, which he said took two days.
Soon after, while driving a colleague on Cavendish Dr, the car suddenly lost power and went into “limp mode”, unable to accelerate much more than 50kmh, Dsouza said.
He pulled the car over, parked and turned it off and on, and the problem resolved.
When it happened again on March 18 Dsouza reported it to Mercedes-Benz Botany, and provided video evidence of the loss of power.
What went wrong
Mercedes-Benz Botany couldn’t diagnose the fault.
Dsouza said no error code showed up on the dash which meant Mercedes-Benz Botany was unable to determine what was causing the fault and repair it.
On March 27 he lodged a formal complaint with the Botany principal dealer Jon Aldridge, which Stuff has seen.
Dsouza wrote that within a month of ownership the car began showing “serious issues”.
“The vehicle intermittently enters a ‘limp mode’ without any warning or error,” he wrote.
In his email he claimed there was a “noticeable and persistent vibration, entirely inconsistent with a premium vehicle”.
“Given my lack of confidence that these issues would be acknowledged without evidence, I had to go as far as recording videos while driving to demonstrate the faults,” he wrote.
“While I ensured this was done safely in low speed areas, the fact that I even had to take such measures is unacceptable.”
More alarming was the potential safety risk, he added.
“Experiencing sudden loss of performance on a motorway could lead to catastrophic consequences,” the email read.
“I trust you understand that I did not invest in this vehicle at the expense of my personal safety or that of my family.”
He wrote that by now he had returned the vehicle to the service centre three times, once having to work from the premises, “only to be repeatedly assured that the issues have been resolved”.
“Unfortunately, those assurances have proven to be short lived, as the same problems continue to recur and your diagnostic tools have even failed to identify the error codes,” he wrote.
“Frankly, this has been one of the most disappointing customer experiences I have ever encountered, particularly surprising given the premium positioning of your brand.
“When a customer spends $140,000 in what is marketed as a ‘premium’ product, (he) naturally expects a seamless, best-in-class product and experience.
“Instead, what I have received feels more like an unpaid role as a quality inspector or worse, a test subject in your product development phase.”
He asked for a permanent resolution. Aldridge wrote back the same day.
“Firstly, sincere apologies for your experience so far,” he said in the email.
“We have clearly not met the level of service expected, especially regarding the handover of the vehicle. The job we have done is simply not good enough.”
Aldridge said he completely understood Dsouza’s frustration with the “technical aspects”.
However, he wrote that the dealership did not want to return the vehicle only for further issues to arise.
“… for now we must follow the repair processes provided to us and then be confident of returning the vehicle to you.”
He offered to redetail the car once the technical problems had been resolved stating, “This is the least we can do for you”.
“Again, I’m sorry for your experience so far. We will do our upmost to restore your confidence in us and the vehicle (sic).”
However, Dsouza told Stuff the software update repair left the heads-up display pixelated, and the loss of acceleration continued. A cup holder was also not working.
On April 22, Dsouza returned the car to Mercedes-Benz Botany for repair again and on April 28 Aldridge confirmed the three issues in an email, noting the customer had provided videos demonstrating the acceleration loss.
He said since meeting with Dsouza personally, staff had carried out further road testing, “which up to this point has not reproduced the acceleration issue”.
“We will continue to road test and scan the vehicle for faults.”
Dsouza wrote back on May 4, noting the vehicle had been with Mercedes-Benz Botany for 12 days and in less than three months of ownership it had spent 30% of that time in the workshop.
“I have therefore lost all confidence in this vehicle and am formally requesting a full refund or replacement,” he wrote.
“I did not purchase this vehicle to spend my time managing an endless chain of faults from a brand that advertises safety and trust.”
On May 15, an aftersales manager wrote to Dsouza outlining that the cup holder had been replaced and the heads-up display software updated.
But they said they had driven the vehicle on a dozen occasions and never experienced the loss of power.
Dsouza expressed alarm in his response on May 17.
“What concerns me most is that, despite issue involving a serious safety concern, current approach still appears to be to ‘continue driving the vehicle and return it again if the fault reoccurs’ (sic).”
The aftersales manager responded a day later: “We need you to drive the vehicle until it faults, at this stage, we cannot determine if it is a vehicle fault or operator fault”.
Dsouza took offence at the suggestion it might be his fault, and wrote back on May 20 officially rejecting the vehicle and demanding a replacement or a full refund.
Aldridge acknowledged the rejection on May 21 saying the matter would be referred to Mercedes-Benz New Zealand.
When Dsouza heard nothing and asked for an update on May 25, Aldridge replied: “We must wait for Mercedes-Benz NZ to respond; it is their decision and one they will not rush”.
Dsouza later told Stuff: “I feel like these guys just don’t care”.
What we did
When Dsouza approached Stuff for help on June 2, he hadn’t heard any more.
He said he came to Stuff instead of the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal because it only dealt with disputes of amounts up to $100,000.
On June 4 Stuff put Dsouza’s allegations to Aldridge, whose dealership was the Mercedes-Benz New Zealand Retailer of the Year for four consecutive years from 2022 to 2025.
We also asked why Mercedes-Benz Botany did not send the car to an expert auto-electrician.
Within hours Dsouza, who was using a Mercedes-Benz Botany loan car, said he received a phone call from Aldridge offering him a full refund.
But as part of the settlement agreement there was a confidentiality clause preventing him from speaking to media.
Did we solve it
On June 5, Dsouza rang Stuff in the presence of Aldridge and explained the clause and confirmed that he was signing the settlement agreement and would not speak to Stuff further.
Stuff pointed out that its earlier interview with him and receipt of emails and videos outlining the situation was done on the record.
This meant it did not prohibit Stuff from publishing an article.
Aldridge then emailed a statement to Stuff.
“This matter has now been resolved directly with the customer, and an agreed outcome has been reached,” it said.
“The customer has confirmed this, and we consider the issue closed.
“As this has been settled between the parties, we won’t be commenting further.”
The statement said Armstrong’s and Mercedes‑Benz Botany remained “committed to delivering a high standard of customer care and addressing issues promptly when they arise”.
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