Service Contract Plus

[bmcadie]

I was lucky enough to become the owner of a brand new CLK 200K Coupe (57 plate) just before Christmas 2007. I did however buy it on a 3-year Personal Contract Purchase plan, which effectively means I will be changing it after three years, with an agreed mileage of 10,000 miles per annum for the contract.

My MB dealer has now offered me a choice of 'SERVICE' @ £30/month or 'SERVICE PLUS' @ £57/month. Although I have read plenty of other posts on this subject, most seem to weigh up the pros and cons relating to vehicles that are approaching, or over three years old. i.e. where the need to replace pads, disks etc. may be imminent or likely.

Given that the vehicle has a full 3 year warranty and that I will return it at 3 years old, with only 30,000 on the clock, does anyone think the extra for the SERVICE PLUS is justified in this case. I know its not a huge amount of money, but I can't decide which option to take up.

Any advice or comments would be much appreciated.

 

[jberks]

All I could see that plus will give you is wear and tear items (warranty covers everything else) and as such I can only think of brake pads as being possible (you will need tyres but these aren't covered). Over 30k you should need 1 set (F+R) at approx £400 if the dealer does it and less if you get an indie to do it (why not?).

So, £27*36= £972 - £400
I reckon a £572 loss on the deal.

 

[David Nock]

Neither plan seems very good value to me (and I love Service Contract Plus for 3 year old cars).
You'll need an A service and a B service, maybe nothing else service wise. Thats about £650/£700. Your service plan payments will be £360x3 ie over £1000. The warranty is there for peace of mind so I would say go with the minimum service plan you can - even pay it yourself directly to the dealer each service, that is what I would try to do.
PS in my opinion good build quality on W 209 CLK's

 

[Rory]

To be honest you just need to do the bare minimum servicing in order to maintain the warranty and keep the finance company happy.

Whereabouts are you? If the car is on variable servicing then it might only need one A and one B service in that time, and my local dealer will do those for £199 and £299. It'll also need brake fluid at 2yrs and you may be required to MOT the car before it goes back. If the car is on fixed interval servicing then it'll need servicing every year.

Whether it will need tyres and/or pads rather depends on how you use it. Tyres can be included in ServicePlus but it adds a lot. Of course (I'm ever a cynic) it's amazing that when the car is on ServicePlus, suddenly brake pads that "need replacing soon" become "fine". ATF that "must be changed" now "doesn't apply to your model".

 

[bmcadie]

Thanks for the comments and advice. I'm based in East Yorkshire and the car is on fixed service intervals, so it will have three services during the contract period. I think the MOT which will be due after 3 years is also included (although not any repairs needed to pass it)

My gut feeling is that in this case SERVICE PLUS is not worth it, so I will probably opt for the standard SERVICE contract, as I'm not sure how A and B services are applied at fixed intervals. £360 per annum doesn't sound unreasonable compared to other main dealer services and if my driving style means that I need a set of pads towards the end of the contract, then I guess I'll just pay up on the day !

 

[Rory]

if my driving style means that I need a set of pads towards the end of the contract, then I guess I'll just pay up on the day !

If they say you need pads, then say no thanks - you'll bring the car in when the pad wear indicator comes on. If it does actually come on, then you'll have to get them done.

 

[carabind]

To be honest you just need to do the bare minimum servicing in order to maintain the warranty and keep the finance company happy.

Whereabouts are you? If the car is on variable servicing then it might only need one A and one B service in that time, and my local dealer will do those for £199 and £299. It'll also need brake fluid at 2yrs and you may be required to MOT the car before it goes back. If the car is on fixed interval servicing then it'll need servicing every year.

QUOTE]

can you tell us who the dealer is ? looks god value and I'm not that far away from cheshire

 

[Rory]

can you tell us who the dealer is ? looks god value and I'm not that far away from cheshire

Sure, it's MB Chester.

They're part of the Inchcape group and I would assume that any Inchcape dealer would support those prices - some of the mailings do come from Inchcape centrally, but MB Chester do also advertise those prices in our local paper quite frequently. They've certainly run the ad in last week or two. Maybe you could use Southport?

Inchcape: http://www.inchcaperetail.co.uk/DealerLocator/Franchise.aspx?Franchise=Mercedes-Benz

Perhaps if you register with them (on their contact form) they'll start sending you offers too.