Newbie Question: Service Contracts

[msportmad]

Hi all,

1st Post moving over to MB ownership for the first time and looking for advice on Service Contracts.

I have just ordered my new E320Cdi which is due to arrive next week and have been looking at inclusive service contracts.

Any advice as to whether these offer good value for money?

I am looking at 'care' package at £42.50 per month and I expect to do around 10,000 miles per annum. (Seems awfully expensive).

BMW 'care' package for a 6 cylinder 5 series is £895 for 5 years/60k miles which compares with £2850 from Merc???????.

Any feed back on service costs in the 1st 3 years would be great. Have I made a BIG mistake with this E320 GULP!

 

[Alex M Grieve]

Any feed back on service costs in the 1st 3 years would be great. Have I made a BIG mistake with this E320 GULP!

The answer to your final question is an emphatic no! The E320CDI is an excellent car.

I would not fret over the care package - I just would not have it. Servicing should not cost that much and warranty should cover you comprehensively for the first 3 years (my own experrience is that I have never needed the warranty!).

You have bought a supercar. Relax and enjoy it.

 

[television]

I agree completely with alex, the car is covered by the sale of goods act. They are so nice though, but that package would not be for me either on that mileage that is on the low side

 

[jberks]

I'm with the guys above. You should be looking at 1 service per year with anything else done under warranty. 1st service should be around £250 (less a discount if you ask - I paid £200 for my last one) and a second one maybe £450 with the third around £250 again. Assume 1 set of pads at some point over the 3 years and you're looking at £200. I assume tyres aren't included.
So it's not very likely that you'll spend £540 on maintenance in the 1st year, possible in the second and unlikely again in yr3.
I'd not bother either. Doesn't sound like very good value. Just a shame they don't copy BMW as their maintenance deal is excellent value.

 

[Top Cat]

What I've done in the past is turned down the manufacturers service contract for all of the reasons stated above, but put the money it would have cost into my own seperate savings account. That way, when and if you have any costs, you have effectively 'self insured' against them - should no excessive costs arise (other than regular maintenance) you will still have the money sat in your account and not theirs.

 

[Rory]

BMW 'care' package for a 6 cylinder 5 series is £895 for 5 years/60k miles which compares with £2850 from Merc???????.

That's an utterly insane difference, and MB's Care package doesn't even cover the brake pads that jberks included - it's basic servicing only.

To me, this demonstrates that MB continue to exist in another universe on servicing costs. What are they thinking about asking people to pay £1530 for the first 3 years basic servicing, when even the dealer charge would only be (and lets go mad here) £260 (1st yr) + £560 (2nd yr + brake fluid ) + £320 (3rd yr + MOT) = £1140. In reality, unless you live in central London, you could probably knock at least a couple of hundred pounds off that total.

With most makes, the idea of included servicing is that it's supposed to be at a discount to the dealers menu pricing. MB just use it as another way of bending their customers over.