Service shock!

[RoyDavis]

So i bought my C320 in march thinking it had fsh and a guy at mb told me it needed to be serviced every 2 years as its a 2001 model. So that meant it was due november, having called a merc specialist for a price im then informed its missed a major service which should of been done at 51k and its now at 72k. So i guess the previous owner just decided to sell it rather than foot the bill for a major service. anyway the specialist quoted me £800 and MB quoted about £1k, bit of a shock for this time of year!!

 

[roofless]

i think some good will from the dealer who sold you the car would be a good place to start

 

[RoyDavis]

Yeah apart from i bought it privately

 

[Cole@MBS]

go back to the dealer and ask if it was done, lot of time the owner dont put the book in the car, hence, no stamp!!

 

[Xtractorfan]

72k and you reckon it needs £800 to £1k spent on it, someone is trying very hard to relieve you of mega bucks simply cos u drive a merc.. it will need a good service and maybe discs and pads, find a good indy or speak to some of the guys on here who work at mercs..

 

[television]

Thats crazy money for any service,,say what you like

 

[100%Bitch]

72k and you reckon it needs £800 to £1k spent on it, someone is trying very hard to relieve you of mega bucks simply cos u drive a merc.. it will need a good service and maybe discs and pads, find a good indy or speak to some of the guys on here who work at mercs..

How about spark plugs if it missed the 50K service?

 

[jberks]

Just what are they saying needs doing?
It might be right if you do everything thats on the schedule but then again there may be things you can put off till later.
Plugs £200 ish
Gbox oil and filters £250 ish
coolant and brake fluid £100
Basic B service £300-£400
pads, disks £200 .. the list goes on so you can run £800-£1k without too much effort.
So,
What does the list say?

 

[rf065]

Mercedes, BMW, Audi, are all perceived to have high servicing costs. Now that car sales are down and we are in recession, I think those high costs are going to come back to haunt them, in the form of empty workshops.

Russ

 

[RoyDavis]

Well i dont have a full list but im going to see them tomorrow so will ask but on the phone they said basically everything needs changing if its missed this major service! I should add that the price is to include K&N filters rather than normal filters, not sure how much difference that makes!

 

[truthfindergeneral]

I take it the OP is driving around in it and it is getting him from A to B and that he has had no problems to date. . How will spending £1,000 improve things then ? I wish some body would hurry up and write a book ' The Phycology of the Service Stamp "

 

[carlsson20]

I seem to remember a 50k service costing me over £1300 on my 2001 clk a good few years ago and that was covered with a MB warrenty.

 

[Xtractorfan]

How about spark plugs if it missed the 50K service?

My absolute apologies here ..my mindset was stuck on diesel when I put my tuppence worth in.. women !!!!!!

 

[jberks]

I seem to remember a 50k service costing me over £1300 on my 2001 clk a good few years ago and that was covered with a MB warrenty.

It's odd but the biggest bill I ever had from the dealer was just shy of £600, and that included brake fluid and a gearbox oil change. Most are less than £400. Ok, I have spent another few hundred or so between services from time to time, for brake pads, MAS etc (That's what indies are for!) but I've never come close to such figures for a service.

Some stuff can be delayed - The dealer suggested that the pads wouldn't last until the next service and should be changed. I asked if they would last 5k (or were they shot), they said there was a bit left so I replied I'd bring it back when the light comes on. 6 months later the light did come on and I popped it into the indie. Delaers have no record of such things and in any case, it has no effect on service history. The indie serviced the 240 at 60k and said that officially the plugs should be changed, but in reality if she's running ok, I'd be fine leaving it. That was another £200 saved.
Get a list and start crossing things off. I tend to be strict on lubrication and safety but everything else is flexible and doesn't affect the dealer stamp.

 

[mercglas]

I seem to remember a 50k service costing me over £1300 on my 2001 clk a good few years ago and that was covered with a MB warrenty.

It is not uncommon for a service to throw up work like "four new tyres" and/or Brake pads and discs all round which get added to the service bill in the customers memory - hence so many tales of the "over a £1,000 for a service"

The point is that MB dealers can be very free and easy with your money as a lot of customers are ultimately paying the bill via a company so they perhaps don't care as much about the costs as people who are paying from their own pockets. Of course the dealers tend to bias their attitudes and tactics towards the first group!

Bills CAN be reasonable, but you have to be prepared to challenge them and discuss - which is what many customers don't like doing and don't expect to have to do.

More worrying is the "adding on" of work and materials that goes on where it is not necessary, and using times which are higher than those that should be charged - after all how do you know what time should be charged for a particular job?

 

[television]

Should not the price be based on what needs really doing.

Some drivers get 40k from the discs, another driver for the same car might only get 15k. We had a load of post last year where disc were being replaced when they did not need to be.

No allowance on service is possible for guys like me who do 95% of the work themselves. I can fit new sparking plugs as easy as the next guy,, so should I be penalized and not get my service book stamped.

Surely tyres are another thing that should not come into this equation, they are things for the driver to monitor, or should be, anything missed is picked up by the MOT man

 

[gre1591]

Mercedes, BMW, Audi, are all perceived to have high servicing costs. Now that car sales are down and we are in recession, I think those high costs are going to come back to haunt them, in the form of empty workshops.

Russ

And empty showrooms too!

 

[television]

And empty showrooms too!

So true,,how things have changed now,,my local was full of commercials the last time I dropped in

 

[merc7]

I just had my B service done by Indy friend @ cost £150,that is include oil,filter,air filter,brake fluid( genuine part from MB dealer) ,on top of that was 28.75 for breakdown service covers a relay in UK
total cost £178.75
MB quoted me £430-£450
the warranty is valid genuine MB parts+oil

 

[MSG2004]

Thats crazy money for any service,,say what you like

Yes, but I've had quotes similar to that - and that is why I sold my old/53 plate w03 last year & got a 2007 version. If i still have the car and it is ou of warranty, I wouldnot bother with MB