Mercedes Benz and AMG Owners

Soldato
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15 Mar 2004
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Oxford
Did you read literally any of the documentation?

I ask in a facetious way because I had the exact same question and just answered it myself by reading the T&Cs.

(Short cut for you as I like doing home work for other people: yes they are, as long as they are on the electronic service schedule).
To be fair i never, was gonna wait till after they called me, to sort it out.

Though not sure they will. Next service is £700+ so they might not want to bother with it. Shall see
 
Soldato
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9 Dec 2004
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Dorset
I am unsure if anyone else has used them, but if you're in the general area then I fully recommend Avantgarde Automotive for servicing.

https://www.avantgarde-automotive.co.uk/servicing-and-repairs/mercedes-servicing-bristol/

They have serviced my car since my Dad used to own it from 5000 miles and it is now on 80k and still feels perfect. I travel 180 mile round trip each service as I know they never screw me over and are very honest with everything they do.

+1 for Avantgarde. Very knowledgeable and good value.
 
Soldato
Joined
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21,949
Spoke to them yesterday, if i want this next service included i have to pay £63 per month for 2 years.

That will include 3 services, so the car is booked in on 22nd Dec to have it all done.
Feels good dropping off the car, picking up a courtesy car and having the works done - all for only 42 quid initial outlay :D

Service plan is really good value for money IMO.
 
Man of Honour
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Its only good value because Mercedes servicing is so expensive. I've never understood why it's always so much more than the equivalent Audi or BMW.
 
Soldato
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Funny you say that, I was about to qualify my post with exactly that. All relative isn't it! Presumably the a la carte pricing is high to make the service plan a no brainer, and the effects to their balance sheet is well worth the "discount".
 
Soldato
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Its only good value because Mercedes servicing is so expensive. I've never understood why it's always so much more than the equivalent Audi or BMW.
It is expensive i agree.

Only doing it cos this is a big service and my car is old with a lot of miles. Easier to argue with Mercedes if anything goes wrong. Just passed the MOT 2 weeks ago so no issues with that either.
 

Jez

Jez

Caporegime
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Maybe missing something here, but why are you servicing an "old with a lot of miles" Mercedes, with Mercedes in the first place? A proper specialist such as Star would be far cheaper and also be where you'd want the car if it had any issues anyway.

While some brands such as BMW can offer reasonable service costs for old cars, Mercedes certainly don't. I would not be anywhere near them unless i had a warranty which mandated it. (And with that, you have to consider the Warranty to be extremely expensive, as the service costs feed into it)
 
Man of Honour
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Agree Mercedes service pricing is pretty ridiculous, on the flip side I find that Mercedes extended warranties are pretty cheap

Yes, the BMW warranty is about the least competitive one going in it's class and that was before the bargain options from Lexus and Audi appeared.
 
Soldato
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Oxford
Maybe missing something here, but why are you servicing an "old with a lot of miles" Mercedes, with Mercedes in the first place? A proper specialist such as Star would be far cheaper and also be where you'd want the car if it had any issues anyway.

While some brands such as BMW can offer reasonable service costs for old cars, Mercedes certainly don't. I would not be anywhere near them unless i had a warranty which mandated it. (And with that, you have to consider the Warranty to be extremely expensive, as the service costs feed into it)
That is a good question and to be honest i have not really thought about the answer until now.

I guess in my mind its my first decent car, coming from an 04 Xsara Picasso, that had been battered by the previous owner on his gate posts. So wanna take good care of it. The Mercedes Garage is 2 mins up the road from me here in Oxford so very easy.
Also the fact i can pay monthly, makes things a lot easier for me.

Where can i look up this Star you talk about ?

Thanks
 

Jez

Jez

Caporegime
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:) Fair re your points, easy setup - i buy all my service items from the same dealer in Kidlington as you (Mercedes genuine parts, quite contrary to the service dept, are very competitive). I'm way too tight to pay those service costs though, they seem like a total waste of money to me!

Re Star, they are a specialist (proper one) in Reading which came recommended to me years ago, they have a genuine Star machine and seem to really know their stuff. They have fixed all manner of Mercedes specific ABC/Airmatic issues etc for me in the past. The techs there seem to know the quirks of every model and always seem helpful when i have turned up with a strange issue - once or twice fixing for free as they have known a certain module or whatever just needs a cleanup.

I know that they are a bit far being down in Reading - i used to live down that way hence still would always travel to them. Not sure if there is one up this way too, i am yet to find one. There is a faux "specialist" in Clanfield, and another in Carterton, but when i have looked deeper they seem to actually just be a normal garage who work on anything - that's all i can find up this way so i still travel to Reading with any Mercedes issues. https://www.starmotorservices.co.uk/
 
Soldato
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East of England
I called up MB Newcastle Parts Department to enquire about getting 10 litres of oil for my car delivered. They originally quoted me £250, to which I was shocked. They then corrected themselves and said "ohhhh, sorry, my apologies, that's what we bill the service department if your car is in for a service with us. We can do that through the parts department for £180." I then told them that I'd seen it on their eBay page for £48 delivered, to which they responded "oh, yeh we can do it for that then".

I was shocked that they charge someone who brings their car in for service, £250 for the exact same thing they sell on their eBay page for less than £50. MB Servicing is all about fleecing the customer as their mark-ups on parts are fairly gross.
 

Jez

Jez

Caporegime
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^ exactly my experience, service is just a total rip off (which also feeds into the extended warranty, being a prerequisite).

If you purchase direct from Parts though, they seem really quite OK value. £50 is about right for 2*5L genuine oil for example as you paid. Bought a thermostat recently which was a similar price to random eBay ones, etc.
 
Soldato
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3,182
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Oxford
:) Fair re your points, easy setup - i buy all my service items from the same dealer in Kidlington as you (Mercedes genuine parts, quite contrary to the service dept, are very competitive). I'm way too tight to pay those service costs though, they seem like a total waste of money to me!

Re Star, they are a specialist (proper one) in Reading which came recommended to me years ago, they have a genuine Star machine and seem to really know their stuff. They have fixed all manner of Mercedes specific ABC/Airmatic issues etc for me in the past. The techs there seem to know the quirks of every model and always seem helpful when i have turned up with a strange issue - once or twice fixing for free as they have known a certain module or whatever just needs a cleanup.

I know that they are a bit far being down in Reading - i used to live down that way hence still would always travel to them. Not sure if there is one up this way too, i am yet to find one. There is a faux "specialist" in Clanfield, and another in Carterton, but when i have looked deeper they seem to actually just be a normal garage who work on anything - that's all i can find up this way so i still travel to Reading with any Mercedes issues. https://www.starmotorservices.co.uk/
Reading ain't far to be honest.

I'll look into them. Thanks
 

Jez

Jez

Caporegime
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18 Oct 2002
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33,073
It’s a bit of a pain from Oxford but it’s rare that you have a serious fault - they are my Mercedes’ safety net as I know they’ll just deal with anything :)
 
Man of Honour
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21 Feb 2006
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Gotta pay for the nice environments and coffee machines somehow. Cars have become the inkjet printer. No margin on the printer but wait until you need ink.
 
Man of Honour
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21 Nov 2004
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44,880
With my washer jet pump broken, a new battery needed soon and new brakes not far away, it may be time to move on. Don’t want to drop too much cash, so going to see a TTRS this weekend. Should be interesting.
 
Soldato
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15 Mar 2004
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3,182
Location
Oxford
I have different size wheels on my E Class.

The back ones are down to 3mm tread now and Rotalla make the previous owner had put on.

I recently had a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4's put on the front which are at 6mm.

Can i move these to the back and get a new set of Pilot Sport put on the front the same size ?

Atm its 235/40/18 Front - Pilot Sports 4's
255/35/18 - Rear - Rotalla

Can i have

235/40/18 - Front - Pilot Sport 4's - New Set
235/40/18 - Rear - Part Worn Pilot Sports Already on Front ?

Or should i just get 255/35/18 Pilot Sport 4's on the back ?

Thanks
 
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