Am I out of touch?

[MEMERC7]

Maybe I have been living on a parallel planet for the past few years because I could not believe the costs quoted & telephone attitude when seeking help from a main Mercedes dealer. But then I was stupid enough to phone in the first place, having a brilliant village garage 500 yards from home & one of the UK's top independent Mercedes specialist about 4 miles way, who concentrate mainly on classics but have all the expertise by factory trained staff to look after 'moderns'. Both establishments have helped with some SLK problems in the past & of course at reasonable cost.
My 25k mile SLC suddenly decides to show me pretty signs on the dash about Cruise Control/Brake Assist/Distance Pilot none of which chose to work. In a panic I rang the main dealer & was advised by what sounded like a young girl just out of school & reading a script that:
"We can check that for you in a couple of days time but as our compute is down I'll have to get back to you"
And she did to say "Sorry the computer is still down I'll ring you at the end of the day"
To her credit she did & said
"We can book you car in but to diagnose the fault will cost you £190. We may be able to fix the fault when we do the diagnosis. How are you finding the car anyway?"
At this point I was tempted to tell her that I 'find the car' by opening my garage doors. Instead I asked that if I was unable to make my own way home or be collected, could a hire car be supplied.
"Yes sir but we charge £30".
Mmm £220 spent & my car that may still need work. Oh well I let the booking stand but promptly phoned my village garage.
"Delighted to help sir. As you know we have all the necessary diagnostic equipment no different from a Mercedes main dealer. We will charge you £40 or £80 if it takes an hour.
Of course should have done this first, so main dealer visit cancelled & car booked into the village garage. In the meantime the next day all systems start to work OK but I need peace of mind there is not an inherent fault that might re-occur. Village garage do an exhaustive check to find no problems, do a road test & top up the oil & the bill was £80.
However ........ I was told my car is likely to use oil which I'm not convinced about as my SLK R172 never needed oil between services.
Incidentally its p/ex value was not remotely affected by the fact that some servicing was NOT done by Mercedes dealers.

 

[davymead]

Glitzy TV adverts and gargantuan premises have to be paid for. Any decent independent will have the appropriate diagnostic equipment and tools to be able to compete in what is a very competitive market. Personally I’d rather any Mercedes I’ve purchased hadn’t got a FMBSH, but then I’m biased working for a large independent, hearing MD horror stories on a daily basis.

 

[Chrishazle]

Unless it affects the supplying dealer warranty, it seems that irrespective of the age of the car, but especially one that is over 3 years old, forget the MB main dealer and look for a respected indie with star/Xentry close by and your wallet will be a lot heavier afterwards. I recently lost all dashboard instruments etc, turned out the dash had lost its programming, local indie fixed it for £80, a diagnostic at the local main dealer alone would have been double that without sorting the problem!

 

[E220dEstateS213]

Its not just M B main stealers as my past few cars have always been worse after a MD service just taken there till warranty run out etc, so will now service my own after warranty runs out.
If any probs arise will use good indy.

 

[markjay]

..Incidentally its p/ex value was not remotely affected by the fact that some servicing was NOT done by Mercedes dealers.

Even if it was... there's still no reason to go to the dealer for repairs (unless, of course, you find your particular MB dealer to be exceptionally good and well worth the price... but that's going into unicorn droppings territory ).

 

[markjay]

Unless it affects the supplying dealer warranty, it seems that irrespective of the age of the car, but especially one that is over 3 years old, forget the MB main dealer and look for a respected indie with star/Xentry close by and your wallet will be a lot heavier afterwards. I recently lost all dashboard instruments etc, turned out the dash had lost its programming, local indie fixed it for £80, a diagnostic at the local main dealer alone would have been double that without sorting the problem!

Agreed.

And with the MB Service Care Plan, you can keep to main-dealer service history - if you wish - without breaking the bank, while carrying-out all other repairs at your trusted indie

The dealer will only look at the service history at Px time, they will not be interested in your repair bills anyway.

 

[MEMERC7]

Thanks for your positive assurances I do the right thing by avoiding Mercedes main dealers.
I WILL return to them (especially the very large ones) come the end of the restrictions though as they are a useful stop-off for free coffee & biscuits whilst relaxing in a leather chair reading the magazines. Turning up in a Mercedes tends to infer a right to do so & enquiries from salespersons easily deflected. All very satisfying being able to take & not give.

 

[John]

I only use MB main dealers for warranty work where I have no choice as I have an MB warranty.

For many years I've used a trusted inde even with my car under the MB used car warranty as it's no problem to do that subject to conditions.

We're all human and mistakes now and again but the test of a decent inde is how they rectify.

If someone enjoys the service and convenience they get from a main dealer, good luck to them. Their money, their choice.

At £150 + VAT hourly, you bloody-well ought to!

Don't try and preach to me they are worth using for servicing as I don't believe they give good value for money and nor are they immune from cockups as I've seen personally.

I'd rather someone who gave a flying look after my car.

 

[Smiley]

It was very different twenty years ago with the likes of Tony Purslow and **** Lovett as just two examples of large MB dealers; it felt like you were a valued customer.....over the years it has got worse and worse and I will never use them again.

 

[Smiley]

LOL the word D!ck seems to be filtered out! It's short for Richard btw.

 

[TeddyRuxpin]

It’s not short it’s average

 

[Dickster]

I haven’t used main dealers for years. If I can’t do the work, it goes to my village garage. They are car enthusiasts and so treat me very fairly. And they will tell me if work is beyond their comfort zone, and then I’ll go to an indie.

 

[Petrol Pete]

We could ask ourselves if the main dealers are so good why are there so many MB independent MB garages around ? I do think if Mercedes Benz gave a $hit about fixing/servicing older (4 years seems to be 'old' to them theses days) cars they could put them all out of business by offering real MB servicing, they just don't want to . Not their business model, not interested.
And it's that lack of interest that is reflected in many posts on here.

 

[BTB 500]

It was very different twenty years ago with the likes of Tony Purslow and **** Lovett as just two examples of large MB dealers; it felt like you were a valued customer.....over the years it has got worse and worse and I will never use them again.

Tony Purslow are now Sandown but give the same service (and the same hefty discounts on older cars) ... I've been taking my R129 there for almost 17 years:

Platinum Programme Offer | Mercedes-Benz & Smart Car Offers From Sandown

Take a look at the platinum programme offer at Sandown. Filter the offers online until you find the right car for you.

www.sandown-group.co.uk

They did some work on our S203 as well, and I'd certainly consider taking our S205 there.

I have an excellent 'village garage' with good modern tech. skills but they had to admit defeat after having our Vito for 2 weeks and not being able to resolve a persistent fault code that was putting it into limp mode. They recommended taking it to an MB dealer, who sorted it in a day. I had a similar experience with the instrument cluster on the Vito ... three 120 mile round trips to the top UK specialist (www.clusterrepairsuk.co.uk) but again they couldn't fix the issue and I ended up back at the dealer. So IMHO you are very lucky indeed if you have an independent garage on your doorstep with the equipment & knowledge to deal with the complex electronics in modern Mercs.

 

[gr1nch]

Did not know where to get this off my chest, so thought here rather than opening up another thread....

I've just had a terrible experience at the main dealer that I've been loyal to for many years, which has changed my mind about carrying on doing business with them. It is such a bloody shame as I was more than happy to continue using them if they give me great customer service and good value. I realise, belatedly, that in reality I get neither.

• Booked a B service 3 weeks in advance. The last service was in Feb 2020, but it's done less than 2K miles since then.
• Told I'd have to pay £20 to go towards their courtesy car insurance, despite having cover on my personal insurance. At £5K per car a year, that's expensive insurance they are choosing.....
• Courtesy car is not of the same or better standard - not even close. But it's all electric which is a novelty for me, so no probs this time.
• Told on arrival, after waiting 20 minutes for the service expert/professional to leave their office to get to me (there was no one else being served) that the map update will cost £99 + VAT even though they accepted on booking it was included in the car purchase. It had only had one map update in 4.5 years. I has asked about it the last service when I realized they had not been updating the maps at service time, which they admitted - they said the included updates would be honoured, as expected. After 15 minutes the service expert (clueless person who does not know the answer to any question I've asked) came back from speaking with their manager and told me that they would install them for free this time (bear in mind I had paid for this with the new car) but future one's would be charged. I still don't know for sure how many map updates you get with a new car.
• During service I get a call saying they have found problems:
  • front discs and pads £600+
  • rear pads £300+
  • a single LED replacement in the drivers door handle £480+
• I queried the LED cost, the part is £16. The labour they estimate 1.7 hrs at £145/hr. It does not add up. The expert looks at her computer again and said there was a mistake and it is now £320. Hmmmm. That is a lot for one LED replacement. If I had not queried it and had said go ahead, they'd have charged me nearly £500 for replacing one little bulb.
• They asked me if I wanted the car washed and vacuumed, when I obviously do look after my car to some degree. I never take it there filthy. Why ask? Are they trying to save money at the expense of maintaining good customer service?
• The staff generally never remember my name, call me by name when they look it up or recognize me. Despite me taking my car to them probably a couple of times a year on average so far. It feels like they do not value me as a customer at all.

I'm now looking around for other options. I had my car MOT'd at a smart, independent garage that has good reviews and I was impressed with their work and respect for my time as well as theirs. There is another good garage locally it seems. Two decent options which will make taking the plunge away from the main dealer less stressful, I hope!

If I had the confidence, as I'm fairly good with mechanical items, I'd replace my own brake discs and pads. Just don't know enough to do so.

The car
I bought a brand new W222 S350D with 13k of extras from them in 2017 and it's had 4 services since then and all repair work was done there, apart from the fitting of new tyres, which I had done locally.

 

[mioba]

Been there done that. I have been loyal to the brand since i got my first a w124.

When I got my W124 moons ago your were well known to the dealer principal and the mechanic would be your window person. Its like years ago you were well known in the local supermarket/

Now we are not even a number to these huge corps.

Share your greivance with the head of the dealership and MB UK by letter.

 

[fabes]

£145 / ph....!

We use partners at law firms the cost only a little more than that!
That mis price on the LED is awful. They'd have taken your cash, mind.....

 

[markjay]

Did not know where to get this off my chest, so thought here rather than opening up another thread....

I've just had a terrible experience at the main dealer that I've been loyal to for many years, which has changed my mind about carrying on doing business with them. It is such a bloody shame as I was more than happy to continue using them if they give me great customer service and good value. I realise, belatedly, that in reality I get neither.

• Booked a B service 3 weeks in advance. The last service was in Feb 2020, but it's done less than 2K miles since then.
• Told I'd have to pay £20 to go towards their courtesy car insurance, despite having cover on my personal insurance. At £5K per car a year, that's expensive insurance they are choosing.....
• Courtesy car is not of the same or better standard - not even close. But it's all electric which is a novelty for me, so no probs this time.
• Told on arrival, after waiting 20 minutes for the service expert/professional to leave their office to get to me (there was no one else being served) that the map update will cost £99 + VAT even though they accepted on booking it was included in the car purchase. It had only had one map update in 4.5 years. I has asked about it the last service when I realized they had not been updating the maps at service time, which they admitted - they said the included updates would be honoured, as expected. After 15 minutes the service expert (clueless person who does not know the answer to any question I've asked) came back from speaking with their manager and told me that they would install them for free this time (bear in mind I had paid for this with the new car) but future one's would be charged. I still don't know for sure how many map updates you get with a new car.
• During service I get a call saying they have found problems:
  • front discs and pads £600+
  • rear pads £300+
  • a single LED replacement in the drivers door handle £480+
• I queried the LED cost, the part is £16. The labour they estimate 1.7 hrs at £145/hr. It does not add up. The expert looks at her computer again and said there was a mistake and it is now £320. Hmmmm. That is a lot for one LED replacement. If I had not queried it and had said go ahead, they'd have charged me nearly £500 for replacing one little bulb.
• They asked me if I wanted the car washed and vacuumed, when I obviously do look after my car to some degree. I never take it there filthy. Why ask? Are they trying to save money at the expense of maintaining good customer service?
• The staff generally never remember my name, call me by name when they look it up or recognize me. Despite me taking my car to them probably a couple of times a year on average so far. It feels like they do not value me as a customer at all.

I'm now looking around for other options. I had my car MOT'd at a smart, independent garage that has good reviews and I was impressed with their work and respect for my time as well as theirs. There is another good garage locally it seems. Two decent options which will make taking the plunge away from the main dealer less stressful, I hope!

If I had the confidence, as I'm fairly good with mechanical items, I'd replace my own brake discs and pads. Just don't know enough to do so.

The car
I bought a brand new W222 S350D with 13k of extras from them in 2017 and it's had 4 services since then and all repair work was done there, apart from the fitting of new tyres, which I had done locally.

Sorry to hear this.

One minor point... they ask if you want the car washed because many enthusiasts will go ballistic if the dealer attempts to wash their cars. I actually think that when a dealer asks you if you want the car washed, it shows that they are used to dealing with OCD owners. I have only ever been asked this by MB dealers; the Toyota, Renault, Kia, Vauxhall, and Suzuki dealers I used always washed my cars as a matter of course and without asking me first. The infamous one lad, one bucket, one cloth, 5 minutes wash method

 

[markjay]

The other point is that for best value have the car serviced at the dealer on an MB Service Care Plan, then have any repairs done at a specialist who uses genuine MB parts - this is the best of both worlds.

The repair costs at the specialist (brakes, LED, etc) will probably be just over half that of the dealer, using the same parts.

You can also get the car serviced at the specialist, but they might struggle to meet the cost from MB for the bigger services (under Care Plan) mainly when the ATF and spark plugs (on petrol cars) are due.

 

[markjay]

As for COMAND, you are entitled to free maps update for the first 3 years, up to once a year.

The usual problem is that dealers often don't actually bother updating the maps during servicing unless the customer specifically asks for it to be done, and even then they don't always do it.