To MB service or not - that is the question

[paulr1]

Hi - Im new here so apologies if this is going over old ground.

As my C-Class diesel approaches 3 years old (and the warranty expires), and is need of a B service, the Midlands dealers seem to have an average of £450 for the cost . A few questions....

1) Is now the time to look for an independent servicer and save a few quid ?

2) Will using an independent servicer has a negative impact on re-sale value ?

3) Are there other things to consider other than cost ?

4) If using an independent servicer is OK, - does anyone know of a good one in the Brum, Leicester, Nottingham, Derby area ??

Thanks in advance,

Paul

 

[SLinKyjoe]

An idependant, providing they are merc specialist, shouldn't alter re-sale value. only a lacking service histroy will.

It mite affect the mobilolife programme by not having franchised dealer doing it but if it saves you some money why not.

one day the franchised dealers will undercut the independants (i live in hope!)

 

[Aletank]

The main 2 items which I value from the Mobilo package is 30 year rust warranty(which I have used) and breakdown cover - gotta be worth £70 per year.

 

[Chazchuzzlewitt]

I just got a quote of 120 + vat for a basic oil + filter change for my E300D from the stealership, and that's with the 'older car' discount. Needless to say i'll be taking it to a specialist instead.

 

[rooster]

take your vehicle to an approved mercedes dealership is my advice ,what is exactly a mercedes benz specialist ,everyone seems to call themselves a specialist if they worked on mercs once ten years ago.the dealers know the product and will often dscount to get your trade

 

[tom7035]

Rooster, Better Chazchuzzlewitt takes it to his independent with Merc experience that than the Merc 'specialist' who changed garages from Ford last week! (No disrespect intended to you Ford lads!)

 

[paulr1]

If I do go for a service to a non-MB dealership does it affect anyhting re Mobilo ?? - must say that Ive not read through the T&Cs of that !!

 

[Geoff_Slade]

If you are looking for an independent in the Midlands then Andy Gayle in Smethwick is your man. Very knowledgeable, uses MB parts and labour rates are lower than the dealers. Give him a call and see waht you think. Details are

Phone 0121 558 48 48
Fax 0121 558 19 00
Mobile 07973 253724
Email info@andygayle.co.uk
Web www.AndyGayle.com
Address 1 Tramway
Smethwick
West Midlands
B66 1NR

I've used him since buying my Merc last year (1993 W124300D) and find it well worth while travelling from Nottingham.

 

[paulr1]

I've used him since buying my Merc last year (1993 W124300D) and find it well worth while travelling from Nottingham.

I can believe that Geoff - the MB dealer in Nottingham is the highest quote Ive had for a B service...... followed by Loughborough (my nearest dealer) :-(

 

[alancolvin]

MB dealer or Independent for servicing?

In my experience an important issue is 'Do you want to trade in your car at Dealership in part exchange for another Merc.?'

If you do, they would only place your old car on their forecourt if it is low mileage, in nice 'showroom' condition and has a full MB Dealership service history.

So, if your car is above average mileage, the bodywork and paint is not in prime condition or you don't want to part exchange via a Dealership, a full MB service history is not important.

From memory, MobiloLife is only prejudiced if you haven't had the car serviced by a MB Dealership in the previous 2 years (but please check the T's and C's yourself).

If any of this bothers you, you could go for the compromise of having only basic services carried out by a dealership, which gets your service book MB stamped, and take all other work (e.g. brake pads, discs, coolant changes, plug changes, tyres etc) to an Independent.

Personally I always prefer to use an independent who uses MB parts, has a labour rate 30% that of my local dealerships, works faster than they do and with far more knowledge and care.

 

[andymack]

Just had 2 cars serviced, one a C200 & the other a CLK 200. Quotes for the A service from the main dealer were the same (@c£210).

I left one for the independent specialist to deal with and one for the main dealer to deal with.

I was pinning my hopes on the independent but was sorely disappointed. Final bills were main dealer £210 and independent £170. But you must bear in mind a few other factors:

- the main dealer provided me with a courtesy car being a brand new c class (cost would normally be c£36 per day).
- main dealer gave my car a mini valet.
- main dealer provided an additional 1l bottle of mobil 1. (cost c£10)
- main dealer provided a spare bottle of screenwash (cost c£5)

Furthermore there is no way the independent specialist has anywhere near the amount of specialist equipment or knowledge that the main dealer clearly has at their diposal.

In conclusion I felt quite ripped off by the independent, and would only use one if I were making a real saving in future.

I am based in the West of Scotland.

 

[jberks]

My understanding is that the mobilio and corrosion warranties are dodgy if the car has been serviced by a specialist and has not been worked on by the dealer in the last 12 months. The 2 warranties are to tie you to the dealer so it makes sense that they are not going to honour them if you don't use them.

Most areas have a reputable specialist so there is no loss in quality going away from the dealer, and many would say, actually an increase.

As far as FMBSH and trade in are concerned, I learned my lesson on that one. At the end of the day, the dealer will only ever offer you bottom book. They may make it look better by reducing the available discount on the next one and increasing their 'offer', but when the figures are completed, you got bottom book. They offered me 7.5k for a mint low mileage fmbsh C220, still under MB warranty with a dealer sticker price of 14k (and those weren't in as good nick as mine). Another dealer actually offered me £13k, but he was asking silly money for the new one. I laughed and sold it to my dad for 8! (saving him 4.5k!) and screwed the dealer for a decent discount on the new one. So lack of FMBSH will give him an excuse for offering you bugger all, but he'd have offered it anyway.

 

[SLinKyjoe]

if you are after peace of mind and really want to get a MB dealer service. you could try emailing them and see if any of them are willing to do the work cheaper. at least if something goes wrong with MB dealer servie you can ligitimatley complain to mb.

the official MB website has a contacts page for all franchised service places. some dont sell MB cars and therefore offer cheaper rates but are recognised MB service agents.

they may even pick up your car for you. At the end of the day it cost nothing to email 30 people to find out you need to make a choice of driving a distance to save a substantial amount or go to an independant. You could rope in the trip to a few days away. I am happy to have my car sorted at the dealers in Southend (235miles away) as my nephews and so forth live there. Give me an excuse to visit.

the problem merc owners have is the dealers think it's okay to charge a fortune as they are on the belief that if you pay that much for a merc in the first place then you can pay over the odds for a service. And a lot of us are our own worst enemies coz we go and pay it under the belief they know what they are doing. A franchised service agent is an independant who has the full MB support and tech back up but are generaly found in an area where the MB dealers havent a great presence. Like HL Gorners (wigan).

You do find the indpendants near MB dealers have fresh MB mech's tho. They offer them better money than the mb dealers and better conditions and in some cases, get work passed to them by over burdended mb dealers. so if they trust them, then no reason for you not to.

Check you mobilo agrrement and base your descion on that-verses price.

oh and let us know what you decided. mite help us to boycott the prices the mb dealers service departments.They seem to forget were are a discerning bunch. if we weren't we would all be running around in BMW's wouldnt we. Or imagine if you went to buy a Jag!!

I mean if MB's were so reliable they can offer 30 year cover, then there is no reason to need to keep to mb dealer service. the car aint gonna break down and when it gets old all the bits they wont cover will wear out anyway.

 

[SLinKyjoe]

My understanding is that the mobilio and corrosion warranties are dodgy if the car has been serviced by a specialist and has not been worked on by the dealer in the last 12 months. The 2 warranties are to tie you to the dealer so it makes sense that they are not going to honour them if you don't use them.

Most areas have a reputable specialist so there is no loss in quality going away from the dealer, and many would say, actually an increase.

As far as FMBSH and trade in are concerned, I learned my lesson on that one. At the end of the day, the dealer will only ever offer you bottom book. They may make it look better by reducing the available discount on the next one and increasing their 'offer', but when the figures are completed, you got bottom book. They offered me 7.5k for a mint low mileage fmbsh C220, still under MB warranty with a dealer sticker price of 14k (and those weren't in as good nick as mine). Another dealer actually offered me £13k, but he was asking silly money for the new one. I laughed and sold it to my dad for 8! (saving him 4.5k!) and screwed the dealer for a decent discount on the new one. So lack of FMBSH will give him an excuse for offering you bugger all, but he'd have offered it anyway.

yes i forgot. I once part-exd my SEAT LEAON 20VT for the Sliver SLK. Well it had a full service history. so they actually wanted to increase the offer of part-ex value to get me to take out the SLK. the salesguy and me spent 4 hours going over old ground until he finally admitted defeat and agreed to let me have what i asked for. so we all were happy until they foundn out it wasnt a factory service history. bummer eh? well they didnt ask to see it. SEAT wanted £290 for first service. Got it done at Lex in leeds for £85.

oh they were not happy. too late tho. it was the car underwriters whom they had off loaded it to, that rang them. hahahahha. i wonder if they found the turbo fault it had.

On the down side they didnt make the mistake when the Scoobie headed to them for this R171. I CAVED IN!!!!. had to have it. It will not be going to Derwent BD for service tho. not unless they are the cheapest

 

[paulr1]

the official MB website has a contacts page for all franchised service places. some dont sell MB cars and therefore offer cheaper rates but are recognised MB service agents.

I must live in the wrong area - only 2 franchise service areas within a 100 mile radius and the nearest one just quoted £420 for a B service !!

 

[johnmc]

Hi,
It comes down to how long you want to keep the car. Merc's depreciate heavily, though maybe a little more slowly than other cars. If you are going to keep it until it's 6 or 7 years old then it won't make a tangible difference to your trade in value. Lost 15grand on my E-class in 3.5 years, the percentage depreciation might be attractive but the number of Pounds vanishing is very scarey!

In Scotland I found that for a B-Service on the E-class that the dealers varied from 340-500Quid, and the independent was about 260pounds. The cheapest main dealer looks like a good bet, especially if the extra 80quid buys breakdown cover, Mobilo and lots of goodwill rust repairs!!

John

 

[merclk]

Same planet?!

All,

Is it me?! or do I live in a different planet to you all...

The cheapest B service so far has been over £1,000 and close to £1,500 for an A service...

Is it time to change dealership?

MerCLK

 

[SLinKyjoe]

All,

Is it me?! or do I live in a different planet to you all...

The cheapest B service so far has been over £1,000 and close to £1,500 for an A service...

Is it time to change dealership?

MerCLK

yep its you.......i am shouting as i am laid on the floor with shock.

if i was quoted that you would have heard me reply on the Moon.

 

[190]

Sue how much are the services on your car.

 

[Geoff_Slade]

Paul

I've never tried Nottingham MB even though they are just down the road but I'll steer clear following your comments. I've rung round a few of the independents in Nottingham (HAC etc) they are more expensive than Andy Gayle so even with the diesel for going to Brum its still worthwhile. Plus he's got a good reputation on this site. Another possibility is Burton-on-Trent; there was a posting on the forum some time ago about a good independent out that way (don't know any other details)

If you want to compare franchise prices locally then there's an MB dealer in Derby (Mertrux?) and one in Leicester (Evans?).