How to view service history? (2018 C-Class)

[sandman77]

Hi all, I have never owned a Mercedes but have put a deposit down for the purchase of a 2018 C Class. There is a paper copy of its most recent service in the car and the salesperson looked up her system and confirmed the first 3 services were done on schedule (They were carried out at the same dealer group we are buying from).
The issue being the last service evidence (the paper receipt) was 20,000 miles ago. She (sales person) told me that they have serviced it ready for sale but apparently cannot provide a print out or receipt evidencing this. All she is telling me is it is stored in the key? The dashboard screen does say the next service is due in 350ish days but is this enough to prove a service was carried out?
Is there anyway I can access service history information online?

[Jon39]

Presumably the vehicle comes under the jurisdiction of the Sales Department.
Usually with motor dealer internal accounting, the Service Department would issue a detailed invoice to the Sales Department.
Therefore, it is likely that there would to be a record, if that work has been done.

[Glosphil]

Can't the dealer give you a printout of the service history.

The Seat dealer did that for us when we bought a 2019 Fabia last December. Handy to have it on one sheet.

[sandman77]

The dealer is a national chain (the biggest in Scotland I believe) and do have Mercedes dealerships but this particular branch is a Vauxhall dealership.
I looked up the service due date in the onboard computer and it stated 342 days. The dealer has only had the car for a week so the dates don't add up to me. We can evidence 4 services but nothing in the last 20,000 miles except the salesperson saying “it is on the key”. I suspect they haven’t serviced it at all and are assuming it isn’t due because the computer says 342 days. If they can produce some sort of evidence of this service I will be satisfied but I guess they can’t. My concern is anyone can reset the service indicated without actually carrying out a service.

[W201_190e]

You can go to any Mercedes dealer with the VIN and they will provide the DSB (digital service booklet) history.

Your service information is not stored on the key. Not to my knowledge.

[swisstoni]

I’d tell them that it’s a case of no service history, no sale.
If they can’t manage it, what chance would you have?

[Venisonpie]

W201_190e said:

You can go to any Mercedes dealer with the VIN and they will provide the DSB (digital service booklet) history.

Your service information is not stored on the key. Not to my knowledge.

This.

[Jon39]

sandman77 said:

The dealer is a national chain (the biggest in Scotland I believe) and do have Mercedes dealerships, but this particular branch is a Vauxhall dealership. ...

That is another peculiarity.

1. A Vauxhall branch of a group dealership (which includes a Mercedes agency) would be expected to transfer that car to the Mercedes outlet. It would be then be an easier sale and probably command a higher price too.

2. Are they saying the service was done by a Vauxhall workshop (who probably have Stellantis knowledge and computer diagnostics, but not Mercedes)?

[TarquinMX5]

IF (and it's a big if) it was serviced by a Mecedes dealer it would be recorded on the Mercedes electronic system and your salesperson would easily be able to access a copy as they have MB dealers in their group. Therefore, either they can't be bothered or it wasn't serviced by MB.

If the selling garage serviced it there is no reason why they wouldn't be able to provide some form of written evidence to that effect. The fact that the car's onboard system shows x-days to the next service proves nothing: anybody that knows how to update it can simply do so, there is no direct link to a service. Most likely the selling dealer has undertaken a basic oil change as the 'service'.

[sandman77]

Thanks for all the info and advice. The sales person has emailed all the service info they have in the car. It is a 2018 with 62,000 miles.

The car was serviced in 2019 (12k miles), 2020 (24k miles), 2022 (45k miles) and 2023 (62k miles).

I am happy that the car isn’t due a service and have evidence of these 4 services (first two by the dealer group selling the car and the second two by a prestige car specialist).
The service intervals for the car should be 12 months or 10k miles. How much of a concern is it that the car has done 20k miles between services on two occasions?

It also appears that the salesperson has been taking crap and actually didn’t know anything about the service history when I asked last week.

[swisstoni]

sandman77 said:

Thanks for all the info and advice. The sales person has emailed all the service info they have in the car. It is a 2018 with 62,000 miles.

The car was serviced in 2019 (12k miles), 2020 (24k miles), 2022 (45k miles) and 2023 (62k miles).

I am happy that the car isn’t due a service and have evidence of these 4 services (first two by the dealer group selling the car and the second two by a prestige car specialist).
The service intervals for the car should be 12 months or 10k miles. How much of a concern is it that the car has done 20k miles between services on two occasions?

It also appears that the salesperson has been taking crap and actually didn’t know anything about the service history when I asked last week.

They know that the history isn't top notch hence the mystery in the first place I suspect.
If the car is well priced, fair enough you may chose to overlook it. If it's expensive then I'd certainly be looking at what they could do about that, or moving on to a better one.

But has a modern car suffered terribly as a result of doing 20k between services? I very much doubt it.

[sandman77]

swisstoni said:

They know that the history isn't top notch hence the mystery in the first place I suspect.
If the car is well priced, fair enough you may chose to overlook it. If it's expensive then I'd certainly be looking at what they could do about that, or moving on to a better one.

But has a modern car suffered terribly as a result of doing 20k between services? I very much doubt it.

It is keenly priced compared to what else is on the market. Probably £1000 cheaper than other 2018 220d AMG line cars with similar mileage. I am collecting it tomorrow afternoon. I’ll update with pics when I have it.

[W201_190e]

I would be wary of the timing chain in these due to the long interval between oil changes (the interval is 15k or annually, whatever’s soonest) It’s probably fine. Try and make sure you hear it starting from cold. We’ve done a couple (I work for a specialist and used to work for an MB dealer) but they are usually higher mileage with multiple missed intervals.

If it were my car the first thing I’d do upon collection is ask a specialist or dealer you trust to do an oil change anyway.

[Jon39]

sandman77 said:

It also appears that the salesperson has been taking crap and actually didn’t know anything about the service history when I asked last week.

That would be the end for me. There are plenty of other C class cars to choose from. Am sure you could find a lower mileage example too. If you are not in a hurry, the successor models will soon be at affordable prices.

I recently accepted a tradesman's quote for work. Within a week they started lying, so that was it. I withdrew my accepance and easily found an honest company.
There is to much taking us for idiots these days, so those firms don't deserve to succeed in business.

[sandman77]

I know not to trust everything a salesperson tells me, that’s why I requested evidence of the cars history and at the end of the day it’s the car I am buying and not the dealer.
Anyway I collected the car today and it was a very pleasant experience. The didn’t try to add on any paint protection/wheel insurance/etc. The whole process took a little over 20 minutes as I didn’t have a trade in or need finance.
Anyway here is the car.