Always mistrust the dealer

[EmilysDad]

A neighbour of mine has a new S Class. It went in for its first 10000 mile service last week. Needless to say he got the phone call saying that the car needed 2 rear tyres & front discs & pads £700+ Shall we go ahead? they asked.
No .... was the reply. The car was taken elsewhere for their opinion .... nothing wrong with tyres or discs.
Obviously thought the owner of a new S Class could be used as a cash cow ....

 

[SJMaxwell]

A neighbour of mine has a new S Class. It went in for its first 10000 mile service last week. Needless to say he got the phone call saying that the car needed 2 rear tyres & front discs & pads £700+ Shall we go ahead? they asked.
No .... was the reply. The car was taken elsewhere for their opinion .... nothing wrong with tyres or discs.
Obviously thought the owner of a new S Class could be used as a cash cow ....

I hope he moo'ed at them! Which dealer was it?

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

 

[EmilysDad]

....! Which dealer was it?

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

I didn't ask

 

[peterws1957]

A neighbour of mine has a new S Class. It went in for its first 10000 mile service last week. Needless to say he got the phone call saying that the car needed 2 rear tyres & front discs & pads £700+ Shall we go ahead? they asked.
No .... was the reply. The car was taken elsewhere for their opinion .... nothing wrong with tyres or discs.
Obviously thought the owner of a new S Class could be used as a cash cow ....

It's really tedious this tyres/discs/pads thing. In fact bordering on fraud. Time these scams were called out and Trading Standards got hold of main dealerships. A few prosecutions would help concentrate minds a bit.

 

[Blobcat]

It's really tedious this tyres/discs/pads thing. In fact bordering on fraud. Time these scams were called out and Trading Standards got hold of main dealerships. A few prosecutions would help concentrate minds a bit.

Their argument (rightly or wrongly) is that the feel based on their knowledge, training and experience is that the tyres, discs and pads will require replacement before the next service. Thereby to avoid the unnecessary time and effort of the owner having to take time off and bring the car back in they can do it all in one go saving the owner much valuable time...

It also boosts their profits but that's not the intended benefit...

 

[peterws1957]

It also boosts their profits but that's not the intended benefit...

No, obviously...

 

[curious]

It is quite simply attempting to obtain money by deception. If, in their opinion, it won't make it to the next service, then tell the customer in those words. Don't lie and tell them it's, 'down to the metal'.

 

[Altamar]

A neighbour of mine has a new S Class. It went in for its first 10000 mile service last week. Needless to say he got the phone call saying that the car needed 2 rear tyres & front discs & pads £700+ Shall we go ahead? they asked.
No .... was the reply. The car was taken elsewhere for their opinion .... nothing wrong with tyres or discs.

Taking this post literally, are they seriously saying pads and discs only lasted 10000 miles? They seem to forget these things can be measured (see my thread last week about my recent experience).

As mentioned elsewhere, I would be fine with a comment along the lines of "bring the car back in x months and we will check again" but this is close to fraud by deception.

 

[umblecumbuz]

It also boosts their profits but that's not the intended benefit...

Of course not!
No MB dealer would want to boost his profits at the expense of a customer.

 

[Chrishazle]

I'm tempted to say this reminds me of my pet comment when wearing sandals, and I have to put my feet up on the table saying "'scuse me, no freeboard on shoes, BS level rising rapidly!!".

 

[sl500amgsport]

I was told new discs and pads required as down to 4mm, I average 7000 miles a year.

Am I correct in thinking only half worn? In fairness I was told the sensor wires were in place so I would receive a warning once completely gone.

Mercedes SL500 R231

 

[John Laidlaw]

I was told new discs and pads required as down to 4mm, I average 7000 miles a year.

Am I correct in thinking only half worn? In fairness I was told the sensor wires were in place so I would receive a warning once completely gone.

Mercedes SL500 R231

About that, and yes even when the sensor flags up a brake pad warning you’ve still c500 miles left so plenty time to get them replaced with no drama

 

[goldy]

I had similar with Mercedes Preston. Passed MOT there with no advisories. 1000 miles later when they serviced it I was told discs and pads needed as 100% worn.
Pulled aftersales managed and asked how 1000 miles did it and he said the technician noted they were 50% worn which in their eyes means they need replacing. When asked how can that be and how can you justify bssically theft the pads were changed for free.
Discs were fine they then decided as has been confirmed elsewhere.

 

[Blobcat]

You could always tell them it's on a service plan and see if they still need doing...

 

[coxyhog]

You could always tell them it's on a service plan and see if they still need doing...

Service plan does not cover consumables.

 

[Hustler]

Their argument (rightly or wrongly) is that the feel based on their knowledge, training and experience is that the tyres, discs and pads will require replacement before the next service. Thereby to avoid the unnecessary time and effort of the owner having to take time off and bring the car back in they can do it all in one go saving the owner much valuable time...

It also boosts their profits but that's not the intended benefit...

Sounds like a load of tosh. Why would you want to intentionally waste tyres, discs and pads that still have x'000 miles of life left on them?

Equally, it's wasting unnecessary time now on replacing something that doesn't need replacing. Also, it isn't really good on the environment - something all these companies claim to care about . These guys take their customers as being total planks!

 

[Jim2]

The point is,not everyone has the knowledge to query whatever the dealership is telling them...so I'm pretty sure that this is a common occurrence....Dealer says ,"your brake pad's-Disc's-Tyre's-wipers" etc will need replacement soon, better to do it now while we have the car here. So what have they to lose? maybe 1 in 10 will call them out on it, but the 9 will go with what the dealership recommend's..so it goes on.

 

[Tony Dyson]

It’s a sign of the times and as I can recall it started in Banking in the 1980’s when everyone had a Bank Manager you could talk to and negotiate things with, Derek Owen was mine, “Owen by name and Owing by nature” was his strapline, then suddenly he was replaced with an unspecified number of spotty faced clerks ‘Specialising’ in the suddenly expanding range of ‘new banking services, (read revenue streams) next it was the insurance broker, the original comparison.com service and the man from the Pru, who used to call on you to discuss your insurance requirements, priced out of business by the insurance companies themselves who then insisted you went to them to discuss your insurance requirements and the theme goes on with utilities, communications etc,etc. Mercedes are just the latest in a long line of suppliers doing exactly the same as everyone else, the title of the thread is not only true for Mercedes but every other main dealership I’m sure and never has it been more important to question absolutely everything and everyone, never has it been more important to research your subject to deeper levels than you have ever done before and treasure the working relationships you build with trusted independent suppliers, they are sadly a dying breed.

 

[sl500amgsport]

It’s a sign of the times and as I can recall it started in Banking in the 1980’s when everyone had a Bank Manager you could talk to and negotiate things with, Derek Owen was mine, “Owen by name and Owing by nature” was his strapline, then suddenly he was replaced with an unspecified number of spotty faced clerks ‘Specialising’ in the suddenly expanding range of ‘new banking services, (read revenue streams) next it was the insurance broker, the original comparison.com service and the man from the Pru, who used to call on you to discuss your insurance requirements, priced out of business by the insurance companies themselves who then insisted you went to them to discuss your insurance requirements and the theme goes on with utilities, communications etc,etc. Mercedes are just the latest in a long line of suppliers doing exactly the same as everyone else, the title of the thread is not only true for Mercedes but every other main dealership I’m sure and never has it been more important to question absolutely everything and everyone, never has it been more important to research your subject to deeper levels than you have ever done before and treasure the working relationships you build with trusted independent suppliers, they are sadly a dying breed.

So true.

Mercedes SL500 R231

 

[ajlsl600]

customer service, press 1,5 listen to rubbish. then. have you got yr debit card ..clunk... on the rare occasion i get customer service i remember it and when poss stick with that supplier/business.