C63 - to service or not?

[SaRO1321]

Hi all,

I hope you're all keeping well and safe.

Quick question. On 24th July of last year and at 39643 miles, I had the c63 (2013 reg) serviced - engine oil and filter, 2 x air filters, pollen filter, brake pads all round, BG fuel cleaner.

Since last year, I've only done just over 2700 miles. Not as much as I'd love to A. because of covid and B. because I have access to another car as well.

Do you guys recommend that I service the car on 24th July of this year, or should I do more miles? I have myself topped up the engine oil once and also topped up the coolant as well. Bar those two things, thankfully I've not needed to do anything else.

Appreciate your input.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Hi all,

I hope you're all keeping well and safe.

Quick question. On 24th July of last year and at 39643 miles, I had the c63 (2013 reg) serviced - engine oil and filter, 2 x air filters, pollen filter, brake pads all round, BG fuel cleaner.

Since last year, I've only done just over 2700 miles. Not as much as I'd love to A. because of covid and B. because I have access to another car as well.

Do you guys recommend that I service the car on 24th July of this year, or should I do more miles? I have myself topped up the engine oil once and also topped up the coolant as well. Bar those two things, thankfully I've not needed to do anything else.

Appreciate your input.

Personally I follow the manufacturers schedule regardless of whether I use the car a little, a lot, or not at all, but other people choose not to especially as the car gets older.

It’s unlikely that the car will stop working if you stretch the time/distance between services, but the risk of a surprise issue occuring will increase as the time between maintenance increases.

When selling the car, a missed service will put some buyers off, others won’t care. A well maintained car will be worth more and/or sell more quickly but unless you keep it pristine for decades then you’ll probably save money by cutting corners on maintenance.

Only you can decide what’s right for you.

 

[SaRO1321]

Personally I follow the manufacturers schedule regardless of whether I use the car a little, a lot, or not at all, but other people choose not to especially as the car gets older.

It’s unlikely that the car will stop working if you stretch the time/distance between services, but the risk of a surprise issue occuring will increase as the time between maintenance increases.

When selling the car, a missed service will put some buyers off, others won’t care. A well maintained car will be worth more and/or sell more quickly but unless you keep it pristine for decades then you’ll probably save money by cutting corners on maintenance.

Only you can decide what’s right for you.

Thank you. Really useful.

Money not the issue. Just I look after the car well and this question came to mind given the low mileage and circumstances. It's MOT is due on 20th July so I'll see if that recommends anything I've missed.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Thank you. Really useful.

Money not the issue. Just I look after the car well and this question came to mind given the low mileage and circumstances. It's MOT is due on 20th July so I'll see if that recommends anything I've missed.

If money is not an issue, then I would get it serviced, keep it spot on.

The MOT won’t suggest routine service items. It will highlight safety issues though, and they need to be kept on top of in addition to servicing.

 

[chic0821]

Depends if you are concerned about the service book stamp. mainly from resale value. From the cars point of view, it does not matter as 2700 miles from the last service is nothing. Personally speaking, I get my cars serviced as per manufactures recommendations. I run 3 cars, wife hates driving, so its really only me, so miles per car is pretty low. My Ftype did only around 100 to 150 miles between services, but it was serviced every year. If they actually did anything during the service is maybees aye, maybees no but I take it they did. Service book stamped & car sold within 1 day, obviously due to low miles & full service as this was the common question asked. If your car is a keeper a missed service is probably not a big deal. Keep a copy of your Mot,s which can verify why you missed a service due to mileage.

 

[SaRO1321]

If money is not an issue, then I would get it serviced, keep it spot on.

The MOT won’t suggest routine service items. It will highlight safety issues though, and they need to be kept on top of in addition to servicing.

I just meant things like tyre wear etc, but the tyres are in great condition.

Thanks, fella. You're right.

Thank you. Really useful.

Money not the issue. Just I look after the car well and this question came to mind given the low mileage and circumstances. It's MOT is due on 20th July so I'll see if that recommends anything I've missed.

 

[SaRO1321]

Depends if you are concerned about the service book stamp. mainly from resale value. From the cars point of view, it does not matter as 2700 miles from the last service is nothing. Personally speaking, I get my cars serviced as per manufactures recommendations. I run 3 cars, wife hates driving, so its really only me, so miles per car is pretty low. My Ftype did only around 100 to 150 miles between services, but it was serviced every year. If they actually did anything during the service is maybees aye, maybees no but I take it they did. Service book stamped & car sold within 1 day, obviously due to low miles & full service as this was the common question asked. If your car is a keeper a missed service is probably not a big deal. Keep a copy of your Mot,s which can verify why you missed a service due to mileage.

Thank you. Best to do it as you guys are advicing. Not worried about resale value, as it is unlikely I'll ever sell. But it is best to be consistent you say.

 

[markjay]

It's a tough one. Quite a few owners will stretch the service internal when the annual mileage is low.

However, there's a school of thought that says that cars that cover low annual mileage should not only be serviced on time, but also have an additional interim oil service in-between the scheduled services.

The rationale is that when the oil is working at operating temperatures (typically 95-105 degrees) for a long duration it gets 'cleaned' by evaporating the moisture and petrol that it absorbs when running cold, while in cars that only cover low annual mileage the oil will deteriorate much sooner due to absorbing contaminants without being able to expel them.

 

[daveenty]

I asked the same question a few weeks ago on a Lexus forum regarding an RX450 I was running at the time. This had only done 250 miles (two hundred and fifty ) since it's last service but the consensus was that it shouldn't really miss one in order to keep the history intact. I'd literally walked further than I'd driven it in the course of 12 months but reluctantly took it and let them service it.

This turned out to be a good move as, due to a change in circumstances, I decided to sell it not long afterwards, attaining a reasonably healthy price, in no small part due to it having a manufacturer's full service history.

Another bonus with keeping the Mercedes service records up to speed is that it keeps your Mobilo recovery in place should you ever need it...

 

[jasonh]

In practice it's about the resale value and that's it. Modern synthetic oil is "long-life" and other manufacturers exploit that. BMW's and VAG cars have had services based on time or miles for 20 odd years now. BMW's are fine with numbers like 18,000 miles or 2 years (whichever comes first).

With the C63 it gets up to temperature so fast that most journeys will drive off any moisture.

However, and it pains me, I do and will get my C63 serviced every year - and by a specialist - just to get the "stamp in the book". I can easily do the service myself and based on the loose clips, screws and other shoddy work by MB Main Dealers I would do the service with far more care. However when it comes time to get another car, on a performance car, the service history matters.

 

[millc63]

If you have an MB warranty or extended warranty it may be a condition of the warranty to keep it serviced according to the schedule

 

[A.J.]

I had the same dilemma, I decided to go ahead and have it serviced. What it meant was that taking the depreciation, service costs, insurance cost, fuel cost and RFL costs it has roughly cost me £2.20 per mile and that is only on C200 !!

 

[Skd884]

You have one of the best N/A v8 ever, service it annually no matter the miles.

 

[Spro368]

I agree that cars ought to have the recommended service and oil change for a number of reasons.Peace of mind, maintain the cars value and having fresh oil in should extend the life of the engine.In theory the main dealer should also carry out routine checks and given the price they charge they should do a thorough job.I’m not convinced they do.My dealer was supposed to change the differential oil before purchase but the record shows it had the transmission fluid changed instead!
I don‘t agree with BMW 20,000 mile oil change intervals so on my last Z4 I did my own intermediate without changing the on board computer record.It didn’t benefit me directly but the new owner has the benefit.

 

[R77C]

It took me over 6 months to find a well-kept C63 in good condition/right spec etc, which had been serviced annually. So many of them (even some doing 7k + miles each year) had missed several annual services.

If it were me, to preserve your resale "value" I'd get it serviced. However clearly most buyers aren't like me and don't seem to care that the cars haven't been done annually as people keep buying them!

 

[Ninjadom]

It's a tough one. Quite a few owners will stretch the service internal when the annual mileage is low.

However, there's a school of thought that says that cars that cover low annual mileage should not only be serviced on time, but also have an additional interim oil service in-between the scheduled services.

The rationale is that when the oil is working at operating temperatures (typically 95-105 degrees) for a long duration it gets 'cleaned' by evaporating the moisture and petrol that it absorbs when running cold, while in cars that only cover low annual mileage the oil will deteriorate much sooner due to absorbing contaminants without being able to expel them.

I probably do around 2000 miles a year. Maybe less. I’ve done 1500 in my C63 since August.

Although I don’t drive the car often (one or two times a week), when I do drive it I do longer trips 10+ miles. Do you reckon my car would fall into the category you’re describing above?

 

[markjay]

I probably do around 2000 miles a year. Maybe less. I’ve done 1500 in my C63 since August.

Although I don’t drive the car often (one or two times a week), when I do drive it I do longer trips 10+ miles. Do you reckon my car would fall into the category you’re describing above?

If I'm honest I don't actually know. I first heard the above listening to John Cadogan on carexpert.eu. It sounds plausible, and while John Cadogen himself is not everyone's cup of tea, he does have an engineering degree and the technical information he provides is usually both reliable and accurate. You'll have to make-up your own mind on that one, I'm afraid....

 

[markjay]

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From 10:15 onwards.

 

[A.J.]

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From 10:15 onwards.

That bloke talks nothing but $hit, an absolute pratt

 

[theworkerb]

I personally wouldn't buy a car like this without full service history, so if you have any thoughts to the resale value, whenever that may be, I would have it serviced on time