Mercedes-Benz service costs
Discussion
That's so coincidental, I'm looking to lease a pool car for work and there's some good deals on E200's at the moment.
I had 10 mins free yesterday so I thought I'd cost the term of ownership, one thing to factor in is the service cost.
Oh my god, after getting into an argument with the receptionist I finally got put through to services but they need a reg no to quote.
It's a new car I said and not yet purchased, so that was it complete stalemate. Can't quote without a reg, what a strange situation
I had 10 mins free yesterday so I thought I'd cost the term of ownership, one thing to factor in is the service cost.
Oh my god, after getting into an argument with the receptionist I finally got put through to services but they need a reg no to quote.
It's a new car I said and not yet purchased, so that was it complete stalemate. Can't quote without a reg, what a strange situation
It's not easy.
Using mymercedes for a price is quite interesting as the price on my next service (CLS55 B Service) ranges from £280 to £640 depending on the mileage I put in. No change in work done - I printed both off to compare.
Also varies in price between dealers - I can save £65 driving an extra 10 miles to a different dealer.
The dealer group's call centre is even worse. They have literally no idea. "What does the dash display say?". She then had to speak to a manager for some reason. I got a price from them eventually at well over £800 but that included 16 spark plugs. Final straw was they said I would have to provide written proof the plugs had already been done on arrival at the dealer to avoid them changing them again. W.T.F?
Indie (all ex-MB techs anyway) is getting the business after that I think, stuff the MB stamp.
Using mymercedes for a price is quite interesting as the price on my next service (CLS55 B Service) ranges from £280 to £640 depending on the mileage I put in. No change in work done - I printed both off to compare.
Also varies in price between dealers - I can save £65 driving an extra 10 miles to a different dealer.
The dealer group's call centre is even worse. They have literally no idea. "What does the dash display say?". She then had to speak to a manager for some reason. I got a price from them eventually at well over £800 but that included 16 spark plugs. Final straw was they said I would have to provide written proof the plugs had already been done on arrival at the dealer to avoid them changing them again. W.T.F?
Indie (all ex-MB techs anyway) is getting the business after that I think, stuff the MB stamp.
jfdi said:
I've already tried that but it doesn't work for my vehicle and says to contact a dealer.andy43 said:
It's not easy.
Using mymercedes for a price is quite interesting as the price on my next service (CLS55 B Service) ranges from £280 to £640 depending on the mileage I put in. No change in work done - I printed both off to compare.
That doesn't make any sense - did you look at "additional items" or whatever it's called?Using mymercedes for a price is quite interesting as the price on my next service (CLS55 B Service) ranges from £280 to £640 depending on the mileage I put in. No change in work done - I printed both off to compare.
Different dealers will be different prices - even in the same dealer group they can vary. If they were all the same people would say it was a cartel.
The system does get messed up though, especially if the car does a lot more or less than typical annual mileage as it may assume some additional work needs doing even if it was done recently, or it'll miss it out if it thinks it's been done already.
Merc wants everyone on ServiceCare - much as I hate it, it does take all the hassle away. And the MB pricing has been jacke dup to make ServiceCare look attractive. You do (if you're bothered) need to keep you witts about you though as the dealer will only do what the Electronic Service System (which is where MyService gets its worksheet from) tells them to.
Don’t phone the dealership. Go in and sit down with the service manager discuss what you want. Then negotiate a price for the service.
We have two Mercs on Service Care (for historical reasons), the other two we pay for when the service is due. Service Care is more expensive... but even then you can do a deal around the extras (for instance we’ve had parts charged at cost).
Strange that it has to be so convoluted but if you build a good relationship with them then you can end up paying less than an indie would cost, get the stamp and keep Mobilo going.
We have two Mercs on Service Care (for historical reasons), the other two we pay for when the service is due. Service Care is more expensive... but even then you can do a deal around the extras (for instance we’ve had parts charged at cost).
Strange that it has to be so convoluted but if you build a good relationship with them then you can end up paying less than an indie would cost, get the stamp and keep Mobilo going.
AREA said:
Don’t phone the dealership. Go in and sit down with the service manager discuss what you want. Then negotiate a price for the service.
I used the same dealer for 10yrs and I only ever once met the service manager (more grandly titled After Sales Director). Every time I asked his name I'd get a different one. Finding someone in the dealership who was interested enough to negotiate was the tricky bit. If I rang, I got put through to a call-centre. I did have a service admin contact who wasn't bad, but towards then end she was just referring me to MyService.I moved to an indie a couple of years ago. I think it says something when around my local dealer there are 5 Merc indies.
Buy a Lexus. You'll know exactly where you stand. Every dealer charges the same, and all details are on the website. Then, for further peace of mind look at the warranty and extended warranty cost. However, the extended warranty is invalid if you opt for the essential services.
Won't buy any other brand now.
Won't buy any other brand now.
Sheepshanks said:
I moved to an indie a couple of years ago. I think it says something when around my local dealer there are 5 Merc indies.
Indeed! To be fair to MB (something that I’m not usually predisposed to do; I’ve had some real run ins with them over the years) they do seem to be getting their act together on the servicing front. In the past three months they’ve quoted cheaper for B services on an A Class and SL than two of our local, well respected independents — perhaps it’s an indication that they are starting to sort themselves out. They even managed to service all four of our Mercs this year without a single problem: no admin cock ups, no maintenance actions that weren’t agreed.But they generally have a poor reputation that will take some time to come back from.
If only their marketing and sales teams could now get a grip and go back to the good old days of allowing you to spec a car with the options you want. And the design/product teams get back to decent build quality..... grrrrrr......
AREA said:
In the past three months they’ve quoted cheaper for B services on an A Class and SL than two of our local, well respected independents — perhaps it’s an indication that they are starting to sort themselves out. ..
Indies have moved their prices up as MB has increased 'rack rate' service pricing. However for the dealer to be cheaper I'd expect there to be a mis-match in the work - basic B service is only an oil change, pollen filter and key battery, plus some checks. Indies tend to do fuller services - I know mine always takes the wheels off, MB dealers haven't done that for years.That said, the dealer I used to go to discounts older cars automatically on MyService, and last B service I had came up at £249 - which is cheap for a dealer B service but it's only an oil change with pollen filter and some checks.
V10 SPM said:
Is it really so hard to get a price for a Mercedes-Benz service? I have now approached 4 different dealers in the east of England and so far not one has been able (or maybe just cannnot be bothered) to give me a price. Is this really too much to ask?
I had exactly the same issue in September. Phoned up my local MB main dealer who I bought the car from. Nice chap on the help desk, but he didn't even realise there was anything else other than an A and B service. My 55 was asking, I think it was, for an E service. Anyway - he could not give me a quote for a service. After about 8 minutes or so I managed to get something like "could be between 300 and 900. Now seeing as it had a full MB service and not very much miles (38k) I found that odd. So I called an independent dealer that was recommended to me by the sales guy who sold me the car at the maindealers. They gave me a rough idea on the phone. Checked out what happend on the last MB service - which was a large service, and all they had done was change the oil and filter. Anyway, I was given a good list of what needed doing to bring it up to date for this year.. something like air filters, pollen filter, oil and filter change and some other bits which I forget right now, and it came pretty much the quote, which was just over £300 and all officially updated with MB. So my personal view would be to search out a really good independent dealer.Sheepshanks said:
andy43 said:
It's not easy.
Using mymercedes for a price is quite interesting as the price on my next service (CLS55 B Service) ranges from £280 to £640 depending on the mileage I put in. No change in work done - I printed both off to compare.
That doesn't make any sense - did you look at "additional items" or whatever it's called?Using mymercedes for a price is quite interesting as the price on my next service (CLS55 B Service) ranges from £280 to £640 depending on the mileage I put in. No change in work done - I printed both off to compare.
Different dealers will be different prices - even in the same dealer group they can vary. If they were all the same people would say it was a cartel.
The system does get messed up though, especially if the car does a lot more or less than typical annual mileage as it may assume some additional work needs doing even if it was done recently, or it'll miss it out if it thinks it's been done already.
Merc wants everyone on ServiceCare - much as I hate it, it does take all the hassle away. And the MB pricing has been jacke dup to make ServiceCare look attractive. You do (if you're bothered) need to keep you witts about you though as the dealer will only do what the Electronic Service System (which is where MyService gets its worksheet from) tells them to.
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