'A' Service = SHOCK Of My Life

[MSG2004]

Hi

Phone to MB today/London.

Car needs MOT for Sept and about 2300 miles before next service/

So I asked for a 'A' service and mot.

The lady came backwith a price:

The lady @ MB: Sir, once you've paid the 62 pounds mot this time, it will be free for the next mot, or until you sell he car. This is if you have it service. As your car has almost reached 42000 miles, with the '' service you will need the plugs, engine oil, gear box oil & filter changed = inc VAT = £986.00

(((no, i do not drive a S class MB, but aW203, 180k auto classic SE 2003)))
In the past I paid about 20 for an A service & abou 50 for a B service.

So i asked for a gearbox oil & filter change only = tha was just over £200.00 inc vat.


The lady expalined as the car had reached 42 k miles it meant extrawork

BTW, they offered me a 20% discount as car is more than 3 years old.

As I can changed the oil, filter air filter, plugs - where can I get the auto gearbox oil and filter changed & appox how much??? (what oil & filter))

I have read up on auto box oil & filter change & its too complexed for me

Thanks!

 

[jaymanek]

use an independent

 

[Rory]

The ATF change is a one-off thing, although some people suggest it should be done more regularly. On my C Class, which is on ServicePlus, the dealer wouldn't do it as the change from sealed for life to needing to be changed happened a few thousand VIN numbers after mine. Anyway, £200 isn't way out of court for the job.

Considering that an A service is a pretty standard £260 or so, they've really built up the value for themselves there.

 

[Dryce]

The lady @ MB: Sir, once you've paid the 62 pounds mot this time, it will be free for the next mot, or until you sell he car. This is if you have it service. As your car has almost reached 42000 miles, with the '' service you will need the plugs, engine oil, gear box oil & filter changed = inc VAT = £986.00

This sort of thing makes a complete mockery of the 'A' and 'B'.

My W211 went in a couple of months ago. For a B at 33K. The dealer phoned to suggest an ATF change was needed and quoted a price. After discussion we established they were being a bit keen to do it early. Next service would be OK.

My wife's car was in for an A and I got the call asking about spark plugs. They thought they might need changing. But then again after a quick discussion maybe they didn't. Apparently it might help the economy.

This is where variable service just completely screws up the niceties of the situation. Car goes in for a basic service. Dealer ends up calling the customer to negotiate major *service* items and the bill can double or triple. Honest dealer makes the customer feel like they were mugged, a less honest dealer mugs the customer.

And the irony? Meanwhile my servicing isn't actually variable. Nobody has an answer as to why the car has settled into a fixed routine because of other items coming up, the oil type isn't being set correctly, or it's been 'upgraded' to do this.

Of course it's all documented in the service booklet. Well perhaps. The car uses a completely different (A to H) system compared with the booklet (numbered).

A fixed 12K miles interval with a fixed deterministic schedule seems much more attractive than the current situation.

 

[grober]

Your car is now 5 years old and well out of warranty and perhaps now you have to re -assess the servicing costs at a main MB dealer against the retained value of the car. You have reached the point where servicing at a reputable independent specialist ( be careful there's lots of cowboys out there masquerading as "Mercedes specialists") makes more economic sense.

 

[ddentrec]

Welcome to the world of Mercedes Benz

 

[Uberwagon]

If I were buying a car out of the warranty period all I would want to see are receipts for genuine Merc parts and that's it. A good independant is more than capable of quality work so back any work you have done with receipts and a knowledgeable buyer will see this.

My transmission oil change was 260 from Merc as it was 1 item I had never done before but I didn't feel it was too bad when I saw the price of the pan gasket and filter.

Dave!

 

[Adam230K]

I only go to the dealers now just to get the basic services done, they can tell me whats wrong with my car but they can bet their a$$es that they aint going to replace anything! lol

 

[verytalldave]

Indie all the way for me.
Choose carefully and you will not only get better quality servicing - but at a much cheaper cost - and - you will still get your service book stamped providing genuine Mercedes parts are always used.
I dont want a flashy, trendy service centre - or deep pile carpets in the reception lounge. I would rather my money goes in the pocket of someone who KNOWS what they are doing AND cares about my car.

 

[lil.smartie]

The max legal cost for an MOT is £53.10 too robbing ********!

Smarts have set servicing until Merc get their hands on them 'sorry sir we haven't changed the plugs on your B-service even though the service schedule says they are due as you have only done 18,000 not 20,000 since the last B-service' seriously WTF, it causes such headaches for us as an indie, I don't know how you Merc guys keep on top of things when MB get involved!

Kate

 

[Rory]

The max legal cost for an MOT is £53.10 too robbing ********!

There's an issue with this that has caught many garages out - if they sub it out then they have to charge VAT. So £53 + VAT = £62.

It could just be a "mistake" and they're doing in in-house and adding VAT to the standard charge.

 

[Dinnie]

Maybe you pay extra for the lifetime MOT offer (or until you sell the car).

 

[Dieselman]

There's an issue with this that has caught many garages out - if they sub it out then they have to charge VAT. So £53 + VAT = £62.

Do they.? Wouldn't that be like Tesco charging Vat on food. Surely if it's a zero rated item then there should be no vat charged as none was paid.?

Can anyone answer definitively?

 

[ash-uk]

I have a local MB garage (owned by a technician with 25 years of main dealer experience)
A-class
£99 = A service
£199 = B service

I took it in there a couple of days ago and he cleared the error light on the dash after hooking the PC up to it without accepting a penny

 

[verytalldave]

My point entirely................way to go.........

 

[SilverSaloon]

if you already change the oil an filter in your car yourself then i would suggest giving the gearbox fluid & filter change a go yourself!

Although the parts will come to approx £80 for the fluid (get genuine merc) and the filter; so approx half the MB dealer cost.

i worried about doing that job myself but now i've done it, it was pretty straight forward really.

derek

 

[mercmotion]

The Mercedes benz main STEALER

 

[Rory]

Do they.? Wouldn't that be like Tesco charging Vat on food. Surely if it's a zero rated item then there should be no vat charged as none was paid.?

Can anyone answer definitively?

It seems it depends how it appears on the bill, see:

Look here at "VAT on MOT" near the bottom of the page:
http://www.motester.co.uk/mot-qanda3.html

I know about this as a friend who runs a garage got hit with a bill after a VAT inspection and he hadn't been charging. I don't know the details though, but I assume he hadn't itemised the MOT test out at cost.

 

[Dieselman]

Thanks Rory, that's pretty clear.

This question made me chuckle.

UNACCEPTABLE CORROSION REPAIR
The garage that my mother has always taken her beloved Fiat Uno (now 20 years old) to has failed it yet again (about the 8th time in exactly the same places) for welding requirements. Although the car has only done 40 miles this year, the garage in question found three holes, one in each sill (about 4cm x 1cm each, halfway along each of the front doors) and a more severe hole (6cm x 4cm) under the pedals.
We repaired the sills using a chemical weld compound and strips of galvanised steel, but resorted to bolting large sheets of steel under the pedals ... effectively completely replacing the floor pan at that point.
When we took it back for a retest, the garage insist (as it's worth £120 to them) that the repairs must be welded, but I don't see why. The points are not structural and other parts of the car (like the wings) are bolted on. At what point does body filler become unnacceptable and a weld become necessary ? Robin Rixon
It is an absolute requirement that any repairs required as a result of corrosion following a failed MOT must, with but a few exceptions be seam welded.
The actual requirements regarding whether or not excessive structural corrosion comprises a failure are quite complex, very specific and laid down by the authorities in the “Tester’s Manual” – effectively the ‘bible’ of how MOT Tests MUST be conducted by the Testing garage.
So whether or not your vehicle should have failed in the first place is something I cannot comment on. I can, however, say with absolute certainty that if a structural repair is required, the way you have done it is totally unsatisfactory and would always result in a failure at re-Test.

 

[MSG2004]

Your car is now 5 years old and well out of warranty and perhaps now you have to re -assess the servicing costs at a main MB dealer against the retained value of the car. You have reached the point where servicing at a reputable independent specialist ( be careful there's lots of cowboys out there masquerading as "Mercedes specialists") makes more economic sense.

Cheers, was considering this today & may go down that route.
I was thiking of buying the new C Class sport 180 next year, but may not bother.