MB Servicing

monkey_boy · 30 Sep 2010 at 19:16

Hi All,

My Father-In-Law has a 57 plate ML320 CDI Sport. It's done ~32,000 miles and is due for it's next service. MB in Leicester have quoted >£700 for it. I don't believe that was because of any major/abnormal work being done either. He checked with a MB dealer down south that he's used before and they were able to knock £70 off the price.

The closest he's ever been to that is the servicing on his Maserati which is fair enough- it's a prestige car, but this is a Chelsea Tractor for ferrying about! The most he's hadtopay for a daily car is a max of £500 quid for an Inspection II with brake fluid and some minor niggles. Whats the deal with these sort of prices??

DM · 30 Sep 2010 at 19:18

monkey_boy said:
Hi All,

My Father-In-Law has a 57 plate ML320 CDI Sport. It's done ~32,000 miles and is due for it's next service. MB in Leicester have quoted >£700 for it. I don't believe that was because of any major/abnormal work being done either. He checked with a MB dealer down south that he's used before and they were able to knock £70 off the price.

The closest he's ever been to that is the servicing on his Maserati which is fair enough- it's a prestige car, but this is a Chelsea Tractor for ferrying about! The most he's hadtopay for a daily car is a max of £500 quid for an Inspection II with brake fluid and some minor niggles. Whats the deal with these sort of prices??

Now its out of warranty take it to a specialist and half the bill.

[TW]Fox · 30 Sep 2010 at 19:19

DiamondMark said:
Now its out of warranty take it to a specialist and half the bill.

And remove from the value of the car slightly more than the approximate saving. It's worth at least £25k, its not cheap enough yet to justify losing that all important 'Full MBSH' line in the for sale advert.

DM · 30 Sep 2010 at 19:25

[TW]Fox;17483670 said:
And remove from the value of the car slightly more than the approximate saving. It's worth at least £25k, its not cheap enough yet to justify losing that all important 'Full MBSH' line in the for sale advert.

You think anyone gives a **** weather a mercedes monkey or a decent indy has done it?

Maz · 30 Sep 2010 at 19:26

With MB it's worth maintaining history with the dealer network because of Mobiliolife, this is the 30 year breakdown cover - but also on a car thats not much out of warranty should anything go wrong you have a chance at being covered under goodwill.

Aswell as the bodywork warranty aswell etc.

If it was my car, I'd shop around with the local dealers and compare with ones which are not too far out of town and maybe spend a morning shopping or something.

[TW]Fox · 30 Sep 2010 at 19:27

DiamondMark said:
You think anyone gives a **** weather a mercedes monkey or a decent indy has done it?

Yes, almost the entire market gives a ****. They might well be wrong, they are almost certainly wrong and an indy will probably do a better job, but since when have markets been entirely rational?

You advertise two £25k+ premium cars for sale, one with full Benz history and one without and tell me which sells first for the highest amount..

And as Maz has pointed out, you lose other benefits.

Maz · 30 Sep 2010 at 19:28

Oh and if he plans to trade it in anytime soon (With Mercedes) it will adversely affect the price if he has it serviced elsewhere, as MB Dealers are unable warrant a car unless it's been maintained by the MB Network - so dealers pay less for these cars as they end up being traded or going to auction.

DM · 30 Sep 2010 at 19:31

I can live without breakdown cover and they dont go rusty much any more

The bit about goodwill is true, but they are just as likely to say no as yes to that.

As for the history yea i suppose thats right, but in 2 years time or whenever the OP's FIL sells it, it will matter less.

I just hate Mercedes servicing, i thought Porsche could take the **** till i met Mercedes.

[TW]Fox · 30 Sep 2010 at 19:31

DiamondMark said:
I can live without breakdown cover and they dont go rusty much any more

You can, sure. But what about other potential £25k car buyers? Thats the issue here when considering resale.

Maz · 30 Sep 2010 at 19:36

DiamondMark said:
I can live without breakdown cover and they dont go rusty much any more

The bit about goodwill is true, but they are just as likely to say no as yes to that.

As for the history yea i suppose thats right, but in 2 years time or whenever the OP's FIL sells it, it will matter less.

I just hate Mercedes servicing, i thought Porsche could take the **** till i met Mercedes.

For the sake of £2-300 I'd take it to a dealer myself, and get a new courtesy car off them safe in the knowledge that I'm not harming the cars resale and Mobiliolife.

Plus should they mess up like a dealer did with someones 530d on here, they're more likely to correct it than an indy would be.

Fair enough if it was a 03 plate ML or something but this car is 57 plate and just done 32k!

DM · 30 Sep 2010 at 19:40

Maz said:
For the sake of £2-300 I'd take it to a dealer myself, and get a new courtesy car off them safe in the knowledge that I'm not harming the cars resale and Mobiliolife.

Plus should they mess up like a dealer did with someones 530d on here, they're more likely to correct it than an indy would be.

Fair enough if it was a 03 plate ML or something but this car is 57 plate and just done 32k!

I be honest the second a car has gone out of warranty iv always gone indy but thats just me.

You pick your indy and if theres a problem they will fix it as well as Mercedes.

Its more a thing when something breaks rather than servicing, because then the saving is huge.

[TW]Fox · 30 Sep 2010 at 19:42

Problem with the newer stuff is that if you take your car there as soon as the warranty expires then you are a guinea pig for your indy who wont have seen your car before.

On ringing about getting some coding done, none of the indys in Plymouth had seen a BMW with an N57 yet as they were only 3 years old this Summer..

So you get to be the test dummy. Or you can just take it to the dealer..

DM · 30 Sep 2010 at 19:45

[TW]Fox;17483842 said:
Problem with the newer stuff is that if you take your car there as soon as the warranty expires then you are a guinea pig for your indy who wont have seen your car before.

On ringing about getting some coding done, none of the indys in Plymouth had seen a BMW with an N57 yet as they were only 3 years old this Summer..

So you get to be the test dummy. Or you can just take it to the dealer..

That might be the case where you are but not in London, i guarantee my indy's that i have found over the years be they BMW/ Porsche / Mercedes / Jag have exactly the same diagnostics as the main dealer.

Worst ways 6 months behind them for software.

Scania · 30 Sep 2010 at 19:47

DiamondMark said:
Its more a thing when something breaks rather than servicing, because then the saving is huge.

This imo.

With that age of merc, certainly service it at a dealer.

as for fixing something that's broken, I guess potential buyers would be better left in the dark about that bit, so lose the invoice from the service history perhaps?

My e38 had this - Full BMW SH, but an invoice for a half shaft replacement from a jaguar specialist of all things!!!

I can only assume it was cheaper from them?

monkey_boy · 30 Sep 2010 at 19:58

I don't think going to an Indy is an option. If he was in the market for £20k car, or even a £10k car for that matter, it would need main dealer SH. I was half hoping that Fox's twin brother who happens to be a merc fanboy would pop out and tell us all about the fantastic MB Value Servicing scheme that you can ask for! Oh well.

What are servicing costs from Range Rover or Porsche going to be for their equivalent cars?

DM · 30 Sep 2010 at 20:01

No worse than Mercedes and you will hear less lies

Nah i shouldnt say that i just hate mercedes service.

iaind · 30 Sep 2010 at 20:07

Maz said:
.

Plus should they mess up like a dealer did with someones 530d on here, they're more likely to correct it than an indy would be.

Not sure I follow the logic there? An Indy is subject to the same laws as a main dealer, they'd still have to put it right

Maz · 30 Sep 2010 at 20:26

iaind said:
Not sure I follow the logic there? An Indy is subject to the same laws as a main dealer, they'd still have to put it right

Yes, where as main dealer would replace any affected components and independent would probably repair.

DM · 30 Sep 2010 at 20:27

Maz said:
Yes, where as main dealer would replace any affected components and independent would probably repair.

I think that depends on the indy, there are some very good very big ones in London.

[TW]Fox · 30 Sep 2010 at 20:28

DiamondMark said:
I think that depends on the indy, there are some very good very big ones in London.

Which charge as much as a main dealer anyway..