MBUSA MercedesMe Auto Registration

[crossword]

Several years ago I registered as an owner at mbusa.com and followed the link to "Add a Vehicle." Of course, the geniuses who created the website will not allow a VIN in the 113 format (i.e., I get the error "Please enter 17 alphanumeric characters."). At that time I contacted MBUSA and was told that they were aware of the problem and were working on it. I just tried again today and got the same results. Has anyone else had any success with registering their 113's with MBUSA? It's a minor irritant, but it does seem like having owned my 113 for 38 years Mercedes might want to "welcome me into the fold," so to speak.   

[MikeSimon]

I am not familiar wit the site, but if they insist on a 17-digit VIN, why don't you just add 230,250 or 280 -whatever your 113 is, in front of the VIN?
Will the system kick it out for not being a "true" MB VIN?   

[neelyrc]

Mike, I tried this with three zeros and 280 in front of my VIN and got the following error message.

The Vehicle Identification Number you entered 28011304410007749 is unfortunately unknown to us.
Please reenter the VIN paying attention to capital/small letters.

I think they are only interested in owners of relatively new car who are more likely to spend some money with them.

[Mike Hughes]

I am not familiar wit the site, but if they insist on a 17-digit VIN, why don't you just add 230,250 or 280 -whatever your 113 is, in front of the VIN?
Will the system kick it out for not being a "true" MB VIN?   

PROBABLY YES.

All VINs since the 1980 model year are 17 digits long and consist of letters and numbers ONLY.  Each of the first 11 digits have a specific meaning (some set by international convention, and others assigned by the individual manufacturer) and one of them is a "check" digit that invalidates the entire 17 digit string if it is incorrect (so you can't just make up a VIN on the fly, it actually has to be correct right down to the "check "digit!).  The one thing that is the same when comparing our 14 digit and two dashes Pagoda VINs with the current 17 digit VINs is that last six digits are the actual unique serial number of the car.

That said, here's an idea:  You might try entering "WDB" followed by the 14 numbers ONLY (no dashes) from your Pagoda's VIN to create a 17 digit VIN.  ("W" means it was manufactured in Germany and "DB" identifies the manufacturer as Daimler Benz.)  -->  WDB11304410007749  <--  You might also try:  W113044-10-007749

It might not work but it is worth a try...

[neelyrc]

I tried it just now Mike, doesn't work!  They kick out anything that is not a valid 17 digit VIN.

[Mike Hughes]

Well, it was worth a try...

It would be interesting to find out how the M-B dealer parts guys enter our older VINS into their system when they look up parts for our cars...

[rumb]

After over a year trying to register my wife's 2014 CLS500 I finally called MB.  The MercedesMe site and app is only for those that have the push this button in car and get connected to MB, whatever it is called. TelAid?? for any car without it the entire site and app is completely useless. Seems like they could have mentioned that on main page or something?

[Bonnyboy]

My experience is that the Canadian MB dealers I tried cannot enter our VINs into their computer - they have to search through the menu much like we search on the internet for parts that fit our cars - then the schematic comes up and they choose the part and then see if that number is in the database.

[zak]

Tom Hanson can solve the problem I'll bet.

jz