Mercedes Servicing

[miss kitty]

Hi All

I just wondered what everyone's opinions were on servicing. Do you think it is better to have your car serviced by a mercedes independent or a typical local garage that has a good reputation. I have an SLK230K which I bought in April. When I took it to my local independent merc garage they said because of the mileage (109k) I was due for an 'enhanced' service. This cost £480. Now I would have preferred to spend the money on shoes and bags and stuff but if it was worth it then its not so bad. The car doesn't have a service history to date and I thought that if I have it done regularly now then at least it would help when i resell in the future. When I showed the bill to lads at work I had all the typical comments (which I won't put here) and they all said a local garage could have done exaclty the same for half the price. Now i'm unhappy....................

 

[television]

If you do a search on this subject, you will find many threads on this subject, we have had many discussions on the matter.

malcolm

 

[MercAl]

£480 is probably about half what your local stealer would have charged! There are people on this forum who are far more knowledgeable to pass comment on this, but personally...I don't think that's to bad. I'm not sure I know what an 'enhanced' service is, but I'm assuming it was a biggie! I think you're better off sticking with a good indie. I've got a local garage next door to me, but I tried them once, and they called to ask me if I knew what colour of anti-freeze the car took! Needles to say, I told them not to bother! A good indie...any day of the week! He's worth his weight in gold.

 

[marnix]

All the Merc Indies I know are ex MB trained technicians. They mostly deal with MB's that are just out of warranty and some older ones, because people like us still want their cars seen by specialists in the brand
If you ask your local garage how many Mercs he has dealed with in the last 12 months, you are probably the first one.
Guess who I would trust with my £15-£20K car

 

[Templar Al]

Apart from the work needed to keep the service book up-to-date, I do all the work myself. When I left school, I served an apprenticeship on Rolls Royce, Bentley and Triumph (that shows my age, doesn't it!) so I know the sort of short-cuts that the main dealers take.

I work in I.T now, but I would never let anyone else touch brakes, steering or suspension on any car that I drive my two young daughters around in - a bit strong, I know, but I have seen too many mistakes in the past.

I appreciate that not everyone here is willing or able to do all of the work themselves, so in my opinion, I would prefer to trust a small-time local self-employed mechanic, who lives and works amongst his customers, who's livelyhood depends on maintaining his reputation - rather than a group of anonymous uniformed people of unknown personal ability, who have the safety of a corporate image to hide their mistakes behind!

On my rare visits to my local MB dealership, I don't think I have seen the same faces twice!

Alan.
_______________________
1997 S280 (W140) 67k miles

 

[television]

I have to go along with what AL Templar says, I too no longer take out engines and gearboxes, its all gone beyond the home engineer.
Like al, I will always do my own brakes and steering, when it comes to worn bushes and pads and disc on complicated things like sensonic etc I will inject the car with disolved sleeping tablets so that it can be worked on...
OK al does not trust, same goes with many others, for some it is the cost, but so what if I get dirty for a couple of hours,at £100 + an hour saving I am not proud.

Malcolm

 

[Templar Al]

Incidentally, I have just worked out (from the GSF and Stax Catalogues) that I could change the engine oil (fully Synthetic), gearbox oil and filter, axle oil, plus the oil, air, pollen and fuel filters, timing chain and tensioner, fan belt and tensioner, spark plugs, front and rear brake pads and shoes, wiper blades, etc. and still have £220 change out of $480!

I never reallised how much I have been saving all these years!

It seems that garages charge almost as much as I.T. consultants!

Alan.

 

[television]

I think that the thread should be kept to answering miss Kitty's problem, rather than how good we are, as I cant see her laying under the car on a Sat morning, with hot dirty oil running down her arm.

malcolm

 

[PINBALL]

The problem with local garages is that in most cases cheaper inferior quick fix filters & spark plugs will be used resulting in a lower bill at the end of the day, but long term reliability will be compramised by the cheaper parts fitted.

When I bought my E280 18 months ago, I estimated for a MAJOR OVERHAUL SERVICE to be around £500 with my local specialist who knows these Mercs inside out and has approved Merc parts on the shelf / in stock.

My 'Enhanced' service at 190k miles has paid off with a car that has run like a swiss watch ever since.
I can always go back to him with any problems that the local dealer would find hard to answer as their normal everyday work is restricted to small to medium cars that are mostly French or Japanese.

Pay for the 'enhanced' service & feel confident that you have made the right choice for long term reliability and if you ever trade car in it will show that youv'e taken the trouble to have the car looked after by a specialist for that model, even if its not the main dealer.
Having the cheaper version by local won't give anyone any confidence that you have looked after the cars welfare half so well.

Showing the bill to 'lads' at work is useless unless they run Mercs themselves.

Or as one famous super salesman once said: if you want to improve on anything in life, ask someone who's been there & done it themselves, Don't expect any encouragement from anyone who hasn't!

Youv'e taken the first correct step by asking advice from this excellent site, before rushing headlong for the cheapest option open to you.

Good Luck & Happy Motoring,
Keith.

 

[miss kitty]

I think that the thread should be kept to answering miss Kitty's problem, rather than how good we are, as I cant see her laying under the car on a Sat morning, with hot dirty oil running down her arm.

malcolm

lol.
if it meant saving money to spend shopping instead, i'll give it a go

 

[miss kitty]

well, thanks for all your comments. i don't feel so unhappy now as you have pointed out when I do resell in the future, prospective buyers can see i will have taken good care of it

 

[jon_harley]

It seems that garages charge almost as much as I.T. consultants!

I'm an IT consultant, and main dealer garages charge more for labour per hour than me. Seems unfair considering that it took me 7 years to get my PhD in Computing Science, and I don't believe it takes that long to learn how to change engine oil and filters.

 

[tom7035]

I appreciate that not everyone here is willing or able to do all of the work themselves, so in my opinion, I would prefer to trust a small-time local self-employed mechanic, who lives and works amongst his customers, who's livelyhood depends on maintaining his reputation
Alan.
_______________________
1997 S280 (W140) 67k miles

My sentiments also. There are many good guys out there doing just this.

 

[television]

My sentiments also. There are many good guys out there doing just this.

And I know for one that if Miss kitty lived a bit closer to TOM, he would do it for her and make a very good job of it.

Malcolm

 

[g-class merv]

What ho Miss Kitty!
If your car has vague service history, it doesnt relly matter who puts the spanner time on it. if you have a local guy you trust you might as well use him. there may however be issues with resetting service lights but appart from that carry on!
Kindest regards,
Merv!

 

[m6dtt]

MB independent specialists

E320 coupe 1994 W124: (Viscous Coupling change)

I think you should check a few places first incl the MB dealers. That is what I did and still ended up getting stung.

I recently received 4 quotes from Independent Mercedes Specialists all of whom were roughly £160 less than the MB dealer in the Bedfordshire/Hertfordshire area. I went with the MD Independent Specialist who ultimately ripped me off!

Here's a warning to you out there looking to use R M Fensome Mercedes Specialist ... don't trust these fellas as they are cowboys! They have no respect, no class, no professionalism. I will never use their services ever again! They advertise in the MB Club magazine as having factory trained technicians. Factory trained technicians work by the book and every job has a time!!

I have had nasty experiences with these guys twice now. I thought the first time was unlucky but twice in a row for a straightforward job is too much.

I had been quoted £120 for a viscous coupling change in my E320 coupe 1994 W124. After the job they complained about how huge and complicated a job it is to change the coupling as it sits in the fan behind the radiator. That it was a nightmare to undo the bolt that holds the coupling. I am sure it is but I don't expect the MB Specialist to find the job tough and certainly don't want to hear them whinging about it. They said the nut was stuck with loctite by MB factory and so it was really hard to remove and therefore they charged me £73 more for their struggle.

I called MB dealer who said they would do the job in the quoted price and if the nut was too tight they would still charge me the same!! MB dealer even said the job is straight forward and not an enormously difficult task as R M Fensome complained it was.

I paid R M Fensome under protest but be warned this outfits is incompetent!

I would have paid £400 if that is what I was quoted but a standard job on a bog standard car ... I expect the price to be what was quoted.

R M FENSOME of Luton ... stay away they are cowboy merchants!!

 

[angus falconer]

I recommend going down the independant route. As others have pointed out they are generally staffed by Merc trained mechanics. You end up paying half the cost of a main dealer but the staff are far more knowledgeable about YOUR car than the average back street outfit. I now use BSG and they have got all the knowledge plus the latest Mercedes STAR diagoistics.

 

[television]

M6ddt, that's a good posting and very relervant, As you say a job is a job. Main dealer work is all priced. the nut you are refering too is tigh,t it says that in the service sheet, and MB have a special tool for removing it, and it not a difficult job.

Why does the motor industry and TV outlets along with plumbers and builders rip people off all of the time, I get bad jobs, for sure, but I get more good ones that make up for it, all of the proceeds of a rip off merchant down here,all end up in the casino in Torquay.

Malcolm

 

[tom7035]

E320 coupe 1994 W124: (Viscous Coupling change)

I think you should check a few places first incl the MB dealers. That is what I did and still ended up getting stung.

I recently received 4 quotes from Independent Mercedes Specialists all of whom were roughly £160 less than the MB dealer in the Bedfordshire/Hertfordshire area. I went with the MD Independent Specialist who ultimately ripped me off!

Here's a warning to you out there looking to use R M Fensome Mercedes Specialist ... don't trust these fellas as they are cowboys! They have no respect, no class, no professionalism. I will never use their services ever again! They advertise in the MB Club magazine as having factory trained technicians. Factory trained technicians work by the book and every job has a time!!

I have had nasty experiences with these guys twice now. I thought the first time was unlucky but twice in a row for a straightforward job is too much.

I had been quoted £120 for a viscous coupling change in my E320 coupe 1994 W124. After the job they complained about how huge and complicated a job it is to change the coupling as it sits in the fan behind the radiator. That it was a nightmare to undo the bolt that holds the coupling. I am sure it is but I don't expect the MB Specialist to find the job tough and certainly don't want to hear them whinging about it. They said the nut was stuck with loctite by MB factory and so it was really hard to remove and therefore they charged me £73 more for their struggle.

I called MB dealer who said they would do the job in the quoted price and if the nut was too tight they would still charge me the same!! MB dealer even said the job is straight forward and not an enormously difficult task as R M Fensome complained it was.

I paid R M Fensome under protest but be warned this outfits is incompetent!

I would have paid £400 if that is what I was quoted but a standard job on a bog standard car ... I expect the price to be what was quoted.

R M FENSOME of Luton ... stay away they are cowboy merchants!!

If it was a 'quote' you got, then this is binding and you could have held them to it. Otherwise it was an 'estimate'.

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

It seems that garages charge almost as much as I.T. consultants!

£95 p/h seems to be the going rate for MB oily-rags. I'm an IT consultant too and my rates start at about that and go up to £1200 per day depending on what the client will pay but the difference is I haven't done a 9-5 day in years! Still, my boss seems to be getting rich.

I wouldn't ever touch enything other than bulbs on my Merc. Hell, I would call a press conference if I managed to put a shelf up that stayed up for more than five minutes. The fact that I have a 6 year old son is precisely why I don't attempt to fix my own car. The difference between the local garage and an MB main dealer is that MB would probably pay out more in a law suit.

I have moved away from Indie's and gone with MB service Plus so I know exactly what my servicing costs are i.e. exactly the same every month irrespective of what needs doing.