Whats the minimum work to get the service book stamped by MB dealer

[PINBALL]

On having just had my high mileage E280 fully serviced, It has been revealed by the specialist who did it, that he found non-Merc factors parts like filters & plugs fitted even though service book has been kept up to date with the last MB stamp on book!

But how can that be ... I asked,
He said it wasn't uncommon for high mileage Merc customers to have the minimum work done like just the oil & filter (or intermediate service) for around £95 + vat.
And when he was working for dealer 12 years ago it was fairly a common practise for owners with over 100k to have this done in order to get dealer to stamp book every time, (and get rest of work carried out by non-franchise dealer) even though the full service wasn't carried out.

So, my question is ..

If this is so,
Whats the minimum work + cost required to get the dealer to rubber stamp book?

can the dealer refuse to do the work in order to just pay for the rubber stamp minimum work?

AS ALWAYS GRATEFULL FOR ANY REPLIES .. Regards, Keith.

 

[Ramius]

Hi there.

Im an Ex MBUK employee and I cant say I was ever witness to that however:

I know that the dealership I was in wouldnt stamp a book unless ALL componants and works were completed inline with MB guidlines on that service interval.

If you know how or where to grab a cheap MB stamp......would make my old girl a touch more desirable wouldnt it.....How much do you think these cost to replicate?????? Scary.

Only sure check is to call MB before a purchase and ask them to verify and list the works carried out on that car. Ive done it, took them a while and a bottle of scotch to thank them after but hey. I drive a Merc and like that service, dont you?

 

[mlc]

I would suggest that the service book is supposed to be a record to show that the car has been "serviced" to MB standards.

That is all time and mileage sensitive items have been done in accordance with MB's recommendation. That means the dealer has to do everything on the list, not a couple of items, to stamp the book.

I would be amazed if a dealer was prepared to compromise this situation, because why would should they, they want to charge for the service.

The fact the pinball is asking the question really proves my life time belief that the service book is of little value, the only real proof of maintnenance is paid bills.

Mark.

 

[blassberg]

mobilo life continues with MB servicing. Intersting if anyone not had a free recovery etc due to non MB parts.

 

[DITTRICH]

Service Stamps

A stamp is just a stamp. They ARE easy to get made up. However, isn't it better to telephone the dealers in the service book and ask when they last serviced the car and what they did. Most organisations including MB keep an obscene amount of data about their customer's cars. When I investigated a car I was buying, I telephoned the original supplying dealer and was able to compare their service records with what the seller told me. Of course the older the car, the more difficult this is as computer systems change and data is not always transferrred to the new systems. Also, due to the restructuring of the dealer network by MBUK, some dealerships are there anymore. My personal view is that you can't really depend on the documents unless you can "test" them by reference to third parties. Anything the seller says, or documents he has, can be taken with a pinch of salt, unless they can be corroborated by other sources of information - making them more likely to be true.
\les

 

[PINBALL]

Thanks Pascal & others - good advice.

Good idea about records being kept on car by dealers, problem is that 2 rather large bills in 2004 carried out by Italian Merc dealer - and I can't read Italian.

Oh well, just have to go on interpreter site & try to understand exactly whats been done.

Thanks again, Keith.

 

[Rory]

This is strange - I've read elsewhere that it's 'standard' practice to just use the dealer for the basic A & B services in order to get the stamp but then to get any additional work (ie new pads & disks) done by your friendly independant.

 

[mlc]

Rory - I think what you suggest will happen all the time, car serviced as per MB spec by MB dealer, all "extras" done elsewhere.

Blassbergs comment about the breakdown cover could be interesting though, what happens if you need recovery because the Kwik Fit exhaust falls off for instance?

 

[Ramius]

""""Good idea about records being kept on car by dealers, problem is that 2 rather large bills in 2004 carried out by Italian Merc dealer - and I can't read Italian.

Oh well, just have to go on interpreter site & try to understand exactly whats been done.

Thanks again, Keith.""""

Send me a scan of the bills and I will get them translated for you. I work in a multilingual company and Italian is easy. Email ok.??

andrew.cope@blueyonder.co.uk

Lemme know if your sending them

Rgds

 

[PINBALL]

Ramius - what a nice offer!

Many Thanks Ramius.

Have got 8 pages to send you, which I can do by scanning in to M'sft Publisher files & attach them to email.

Will you be able to open them up, or have you got Publisher to open them?

1 x 4 page bill from Italian dealer comes to 2,164.22 Euro's!

Would be happier to send photo-copies with a pre-paid envelope to return in, if you don't mind me getting your address which you can send to my email:
www.sales@pinballexpress.co.uk

Very gratefull for your offer, & quite understand if you only want to help with emails only.

Keith.

 

[DITTRICH]

Just a thought about the Italian Invoices. If these were from a proper mercedes dealer, wouldn't all the codes against the parts and labour be THE SAME, regardless of the language? Maybe a trip to a stealership and a chat with the invoicing sales people would produce the english equivalents. The trouble with this type of translation is that its technical - not just bog standard italian.
Les