Advice - Would you avoid a car missing a service?

[fizz47]

Hi all

Was looking for some advice...

Looking at a 171 SLK 55 AMG.

Currently the car has 68k on the clock.

From 2012 - 2014 no service was carried out and it covered 15k miles in between .


After this period a major service was carried out..would this put you off purchasing the car?

 

[Iwoody]

It wouldn't put me off.

 

[Headhurts]

Not sure really, it may reflect the owners lack of care, having said that I did buy a car that had low mileage but lacking service history because the unfortunate owner had been seriously ill and car hade been garaged for around a year.

I guess it depends how much you like the car.


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[brucemillar]

Looking at most of the cars I have looked at recently with a "Full Service History" I would be more worried about the use of ebay garage service stamps ;^)

 

[fizz47]

Thanks for the quick replies...


Have called up Mercedes and they confirmed they carried out the services just a little late...

Car is one owner only ...

Those were my thoughts .. Would a lack of service history be indicative of how the owner treated the car...

 

[tonysmb]

It wouldn't necessarily put me off, but it would mean I would double check everything carefully, ie who serviced it, when etc.. There could be many reasons why it wasn't serviced, some perfectly reasonable, others just pure 'can't be bothered, or can't afford it'.

15,000 miles, for me, is a long interval between oil changes, but MB schedule that for their cars, or every 12 months, nowadays, so many wouldn't have a problem with it. Does the lack of servicing tie in with a change of owner, if so that would ring alarm bells, ie what else wasn't done, especially with the AMG version.

On the other hand, it could be a one-owner car fully MB-serviced, but just not done one year as other vehicles in the owner's 'fleet'were being used instead.

What age is it?

Just look at it with your eyes open.

 

[m2287]

Wouldn't bother me at all

 

[Riverside Red]

My only comment would be has it had the spark plugs changed?

This is a major job and cost on a R171 SLK55, I believe there are 16 plugs and a Mercedes garage will charge over £1k to change them....

May be a good bargaining chip on price though!

RR

 

[Mrhanky]

My only comment would be has it had the spark plugs changed?

This is a major job and cost on a R171 SLK55, I believe there are 16 plugs and a Mercedes garage will charge over £1k to change them....

May be a good bargaining chip on price though!

RR

£1K who told you that?

About £180 for the plugs and a couple of hours labour max.

 

[Riverside Red]

I had a R172 SLK55 AMG and researched supplying spark plugs to the local Merc garage as I do with engine oil. When researching the job on the SLKWorld Forum a couple of threads stated that the plug change on the R171 was a complete pain and cost around a grand, evidently it took around a day to change all 16 plugs.

In the end I was just glad that the M152 engine only had 8 plugs but I couldn't source them in time for the service.

Still might be useful to get a quote if it hasn't been done and use it as a bargaining chip though.

RR

 

[Auto-mobile]

No way would it be £1k I doubt it would even be half that, I'm sure labour time is 1.7hrs for v6 and 2.3hrs for v8.

 

[Grovsie31]

Stafford Merc wanted to charge me about 450-500quid for spark plug change.

To OP, hmmm I guess if its had a major service since, but yeh 15k without even an oil change............Mine hasn't been serviced every year, but some years it only did like 3-4k miles.

 

[JattAmg]

No it would not put me off if the car is tidy.

 

[AMGeed]

As above, it wouldn't put me off, but I'd probably be more thorough in inspecting the car.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Hi all

Was looking for some advice...

Looking at a 171 SLK 55 AMG.

Currently the car has 68k on the clock.

From 2012 - 2014 no service was carried out and it covered 15k miles in between .

After this period a major service was carried out..would this put you off purchasing the car?

So no services recorded in 2012, 2013, and 2014?

Depends on year of registration, but I'd be surprised if the car pre-dates the move back to annual servicing, so it could easily be three missing services.

To add some balance, yes it would put me off. There are plenty more to choose from which have continuous service history.

 

[001]

Come on a 55 with no history !! Ammo for discount I suppose.

 

[fizz47]

Yes - potential discount on the cards ..

Car is a 2007 model... Not my first choice..

It does seem reasonably tidy and unfortunately there does not seem to be many other good examples on the market at the moment...

Ideally want a facelift version and not many around at the moment,

 

[Petrol Pete]

Nearest MB independent to me has quoted £312 + VAT parts and labour for plug change on C55 (16 plugs @ £14 each)

 

[m2287]

Come on a 55 with no history !! Ammo for discount I suppose.

It's "missing" 1 service not the whole history!

 

[Alex]

Bought 16 Bosch plugs for my 55 yesterday - sub £94 delivered (ECP). Takes about an hour to change and a very basic toolkit. Save yourself some money and do it yourself. Can't be an easier job on the M113 than plugs.