"A" Service, Indy or MB?

[rf065]

I phoned an Indy for an "A" service price for the CLK & I wanted the brake fluid changed. They want £160+vat for the service & £50+vat for the brake fluid, I make that £252 all in.

I also phoned MB, and said I'd been told they offered a discount for cars over 5 years old. And they do, 50% off labour & 10% off parts. The "A" service is £184 including vat & £48 including vat for the brake fluid, total price £232, plus Mobilo is reinstated and a courtesy car is available.

To cap it all, put your registration number in here, http://www.mercedes-benz.motortrak.com/usedcaroffer.php and you get a complimentary £50 off your service price, a gift from MB. Which brings it down to £182, amazing!

Russ

 

[Alex M Grieve]

I phoned an Indy for an "A" service price for the CLK & I wanted the brake fluid changed. They want £160+vat for the service & £50+vat for the brake fluid, I make that £252 all in.

I also phoned MB, and said I'd been told they offered a discount for cars over 5 years old. And they do, 50% off labour & 10% off parts. The "A" service is £184 including vat & £48 including vat for the brake fluid, total price £232, plus Mobilo is reinstated and a courtesy car is available.

To cap it all, put your registration number in here, http://www.mercedes-benz.motortrak.com/usedcaroffer.php and you get a complimentary £50 off your service price, a gift from MB. Which brings it down to £182, amazing!

Russ

A sensible man might infer that MB actions in this case would appear to be an acknowledgment that the "Indy effect" is having a real influence on them?

Market forces do work, and the impact of Indies on the MB aftermarket must have been significant (and painful for them). MB probably only multiplied this effect x 2 when they altered the servicing schedule (by time) from 2 yearly to yearly.

It will be interesting to see how durable this process is, but certainly an important step in the right direction for them Russ (and us).

 

[Chrishazle]

Reflected by the aircon service/regas I had yesterday at MB Ashford. Got the email offer in early June, phoned at 10.30 yesterday morning, yes, offer still valid. Booked car in for noon, job done by 1pm - for £49 including VAT!

 

[BIGCJL]

A sensible man might infer that MB actions in this case would appear to be an acknowledgment that the "Indy effect" is having a real influence on them?

Market forces do work, and the impact of Indies on the MB aftermarket must have been significant (and painful for them). MB probably only multiplied this effect x 2 when they altered the servicing schedule (by time) from 2 yearly to yearly.

It will be interesting to see how durable this process is, but certainly an important step in the right direction for them Russ (and us).

I'd offer good odds there is still a sting in the tail. Scrupulous dealers would get your car, carry out a service or health check, then say, right, here is a list of what "extras" need doing.
Making your "good offer" turn you rather :evil:

I'd say the story is not quiet over yet.
Hope it ends up OK with a clean bill of health though.

 

[television]

I'd offer good odds there is still a sting in the tail. Scrupulous dealers would get your car, carry out a service or health check, then say, right, here is a list of what "extras" need doing.
Making your "good offer" turn you rather :evil:

I'd say the story is not quiet over yet.
Hope it ends up OK with a clean bill of health though.

We still have this major problem where MB dealers tell the customer that the brake disc and or pads require to be changed when they are only 1/3rd of the way through their useful life. MB say they change them to save the customer from having to come back between services, yet most of us can clock up another 40k miles before they are at minimum thickness.
At say costing at MB some £700 on average to change them all that sure is some inconvenience.

I feel very sorry for those that do trust the dealer and just pay up, for they do not know better.

 

[MarkF]

Mine will be stopping with the Indi that I both know and trust.
I get free use of a E class if I need it, or they collect and return the car.
As for mobilo I have very good cover for less than £50.00 that also covers the trailer.
The dealers have been hit hard and are trying to get us back, once they have then watch out for the big bills. They will never change.

 

[television]

Mine will be stopping with the Indi that I both know and trust.
I get free use of a E class if I need it, or they collect and return the car.
As for mobilo I have very good cover for less than £50.00 that also covers the trailer.
The dealers have been hit hard and are trying to get us back, once they have then watch out for the big bills. They will never change.

This is the joy of a good indie, you can have a conversation about an item that could cause problems and go on from there.

I would hate not having the chance or possibility to talk to the one doing the service on my car, not always big things,,just knowing that someone cares

 

[Alex M Grieve]

This is the joy of a good indie, you can have a conversation about an item that could cause problems and go on from there.

I would hate not having the chance or possibility to talk to the one doing the service on my car, not always big things,,just knowing that someone cares

quite so Malcolm, and of course having faith when the expert says that your perceived problem is not significant, or that the brake pads do not need to be changed yet.

There is nothing quite so pleasing when an advisory from an authoritative source is discounted by a more thoughtful opinion, where there is no "conflict of interest".

 

[hawk20]

We still have this major problem where MB dealers tell the customer that the brake disc and or pads require to be changed when they are only 1/3rd of the way through their useful life. MB say they change them to save the customer from having to come back between services, yet most of us can clock up another 40k miles before they are at minimum thickness.
At say costing at MB some £700 on average to change them all that sure is some inconvenience.

I feel very sorry for those that do trust the dealer and just pay up, for they do not know better.

Of all the MB dealers I have been to over many years none have ever done that to me. What MB dealers do is tell you that the pads are X% worn and because they legally have a duty of care they may well tell you whether or not the pads are likely to do another 15,500 miles to reach the next service. Busy people who use their cars for work may prefer to have the pads done to save having to come in between services. But nobody has to have them done unless they want to. Personally I have never needed pads in under 35k miles.

Police tests in our area have shown over a quarter of cars with at least one tyre below the legal minimum. Lots of people hardly check their cars at all. I know several who never even check the oil between services. For many people going to the garage once a year is about the only time their cars get looked at. Sad but true.

 

[television]

Of all the MB dealers I have been to over many years none have ever done that to me. What MB dealers do is tell you that the pads are X% worn and because they legally have a duty of care they may well tell you whether or not the pads are likely to do another 15,500 miles to reach the next service. Busy people who use their cars for work may prefer to have the pads done to save having to come in between services. But nobody has to have them done unless they want to. Personally I have never needed pads in under 35k miles.

Police tests in our area have shown over a quarter of cars with at least one tyre below the legal minimum. Lots of people hardly check their cars at all. I know several who never even check the oil between services. For many people going to the garage once a year is about the only time their cars get looked at. Sad but true.

How do you know that they never did this to you,,how do you check them.
You say you get 35k and more out of your pads that must be getting on for a record

When your pads are worn out the fronts will put on a warning light giving you another 1000 miles of average motoring.

Cars that are MOT are advised if any of the pads are coming up for replacement.

My gripe is not with the pads as much as the disc where in WIS it is said that the disc should be replaced when only 1/3rd of the way through their life. This is where the cost sores to over £600 for even a small car. You would have to be very busy to just pay that when not needed in the first place

Your remarks about people not checking the oil, most of us do not have dipsticks and the cluster will tell when and what if needed and the cars get a better check when MOT'd than when serviced on average

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

The MB service experience for me is not something that works well. I catergorise MB owners into two groups:

Group A - Buy new and appear to be quite happy to hand their keys over to the service desk without a care unless there is a serious fault or warranty claim. Why should they bother, the car is under warranty and unless a fault has occured that is difficult to diagnose they can carry on with minimum concern for high service costs - they have paid for this upfront in the new price of the car.

Group B - The majority of owners on this forum who would like their point of contact with the dealer to be a technician who they feel that they can trust to give best and impartial advice.

Independants are now springing up across the country taking advantage of the gaping hole in customer care tha MB have left by not addressing this issue.

In my opinion MB should split their resources, warrant their cars for six years and then offer post warranty care by using the principles in category B. When they do this things might improve, till then I'll vote with my feet.

 

[MarkF]

The MB service experience for me is not something that works well. I catergorise MB owners into two groups:

Group A - Buy new and appear to be quite happy to hand their keys over to the service desk without a care unless there is a serious fault or warranty claim. Why should they bother, the car is under warranty and unless a fault has occured that is difficult to diagnose they can carry on with minimum concern for high service costs - they have paid for this upfront in the new price of the car.

Group B - The majority of owners on this forum who would like their point of contact with the dealer to be a technician who they feel that they can trust to give best and impartial advice.

Independants are now springing up across the country taking advantage of the gaping hole in customer care tha MB have left by not addressing this issue.

In my opinion MB should split their resources, warrant their cars for six years and then offer post warranty care by using the principles in category B. When they do this things might improve, till then I'll vote with my feet.

Just how I feel. We spend a lot of money on these car's and I like knowing the fact that if I feel that something is not quite right I can just pop along to my indi, pull up outside the workshop pop my head in and Robin or Lyn will pop out and put my mind at rest. It's like being part of a family and this is more important to me that any official looking MB stamp. That in my book means nothing. My car is always cared for as if it's their own car, nothing is to much trouble for them and this is worth every penny to me.
I plan on purchasing a nearly new ML or R class next year and it will be looked after by my indi. WHY? because I trust them 100%. Dealers lost this trust years ago when they put faceless wonders on the desk and started to rip us off. Sorry but it will take a miracle to get my car back in a dealer.

 

[BIGCJL]

The MB service experience for me is not something that works well. I catergorise MB owners into two groups:

Group A - Buy new and appear to be quite happy to hand their keys over to the service desk without a care unless there is a serious fault or warranty claim. Why should they bother, the car is under warranty and unless a fault has occured that is difficult to diagnose they can carry on with minimum concern for high service costs - they have paid for this upfront in the new price of the car.

Group B - The majority of owners on this forum who would like their point of contact with the dealer to be a technician who they feel that they can trust to give best and impartial advice.

Independants are now springing up across the country taking advantage of the gaping hole in customer care tha MB have left by not addressing this issue.

In my opinion MB should split their resources, warrant their cars for six years and then offer post warranty care by using the principles in category B. When they do this things might improve, till then I'll vote with my feet.

Malcolm, you forget, a 3rd category. Company car owners, who think, as its not their money, when it gets serviced, what ever is recommended, and at whatever cost, "yeah, go ahead". I was once in that category. Loved it. LOL.

 

[Alex M Grieve]

Malcolm, you forget, a 3rd category. Company car owners, who think, as its not their money, when it gets serviced, what ever is recommended, and at whatever cost, "yeah, go ahead". I was once in that category. Loved it. LOL.

very true, and I suppose I either could or should have been in that group. But as a career Aberdonian I have always treated company money as I would my own money - so I don't waste it and I want to see value for it.

So when the dealer said, "its a bit technical sir and you wouldn't understand", I would invariably invite him to humour me and explain in simple terms what had to be done, or what had been done. It is surprising how quickly the smirk fades, and how few questions can be answered, with evidence.

I always seem to qualify for the service manager's personal attention. I wonder why?

 

[fozzymandeus]

to MarkF: we happen to have a very very good local indy near us. I was reading this thread thinking that the OP's price difference was very small between dealer and indy.

Lyn quoted me £160 for an A service last time I spoke to him, against £260 at Benz.

(Shame he won't accept my reportage that

a) R230 rear window seals need additional adhesive to remain watertight

b) R230s develop a rattly roof. )

 

[MarkF]

to MarkF: we happen to have a very very good local indy near us. I was reading this thread thinking that the OP's price difference was very small between dealer and indy.

Lyn quoted me £160 for an A service last time I spoke to him, against £260 at Benz.

(Shame he won't accept my reportage that

a) R230 rear window seals need additional adhesive to remain watertight

b) R230s develop a rattly roof. )

Hi Fozzy,

The very same indi I use then, http://www.trefnantgarage.com/.

They have looked after the ML for the past 5 years and have been nothing but first class in that time.

 

[moosehead]

How do you know that they never did this to you,,how do you check them.
You say you get 35k and more out of your pads that must be getting on for a record

When your pads are worn out the fronts will put on a warning light giving you another 1000 miles of average motoring.

Cars that are MOT are advised if any of the pads are coming up for replacement.

My gripe is not with the pads as much as the disc where in WIS it is said that the disc should be replaced when only 1/3rd of the way through their life. This is where the cost sores to over £600 for even a small car. You would have to be very busy to just pay that when not needed in the first place

Your remarks about people not checking the oil, most of us do not have dipsticks and the cluster will tell when and what if needed and the cars get a better check when MOT'd than when serviced on average

I just had my W203 MOT'd by the dealer. No probs except I was advised that the rear pads were 60% worn. Rather strange when you consider my indie replaced both the original rear discs and pads at 80K - it's now done 86K so by my reckoning they can only be 10% worn?

 

[Alex M Grieve]

I just had my W203 MOT'd by the dealer. No probs except I was advised that the rear pads were 60% worn. Rather strange when you consider my indie replaced both the original rear discs and pads at 80K - it's now done 86K so by my reckoning they can only be 10% worn?

no surprises there then.

It is the sort of occasion when it can be fun to reply "Show me".

 

[carloss]

This thread appears to have desended into a (Dealers are an unscrupulous bunch)However i am sure their underhand sales tactics are rife through out the indi route also

 

[television]

This thread appears to have desended into a (Dealers are an unscrupulous bunch)However i am sure their underhand sales tactics are rife through out the indi route also

This is a strange post Alfie, we are expressing our views on the way we feel when having repairs done. Most of do not like the big glass window that customers can look through to see the work being done. We do not like some person sitting at a service desk who has not got a clue about cars.

We do like the point made by Mark F that with an indie you can pop in and get assurance on anything, they are the ones that are doing the job so they know.

I have been buying a SAM unit for my car when one of the MB fitters said " you will need a new box to go with that" I asked why and he said they let water in,,, I quizzed him on it and asked him to show me a water mark on my old SAM, and he could not for it was a condensation thing. So had my car gone there I would have had anew box that I did not need adding a few more hundred £££ to the cost.

I have been an independent service engineer working in my own right. I have always been there when all of the others have come along and gone again, if you do a good job you will always be busy,,, do a few bad ones and you can start to struggle and maybe give up