C63S - 3 year service items missed?

[Jobsworth]

The irony would be, if you had an extended warranty and they then told you it was invalided because the service schedule hadn’t been adhered to. Honestly, nothing would surprise me!

 

[markjay]

The irony would be, if you had an extended warranty and they then told you it was invalided because the service schedule hadn’t been adhered to. Honestly, nothing would surprise me!

Why is it a problem if MB stipulate that their extended warranty is pursuant to FSH?

Though in this case understanding is that the OP did not buy the car from an MB dealer and has no MB warranty on the car anyway.

 

[sgregory124]

Finally got to the bottom of things, its as I expected and unfortunately not in my favour. The missing items (ATF oil and filter, plugs and air filters) were all required @ 3 years, but declined on the 'A' Service in 2020. They will only reappear as being outstanding at the next 3 year interval, which I think is a real flaw in the whole system.

I'm therefore left with no choice but to pay for them to be done separately, which is frustrating, but you live and learn I suppose. What is a little annoying is that it took numerous calls to Mercedes to get to the bottom of it, whilst getting differing information from both Nottingham and Exeter dealerships.

Anyway, Laura in service @ Exeter was superb and clarified everything for me very quickly in a way that nobody in Nottingham seemed to be able to do.

Now I can stop worrying (well once the work is done next Monday). Thanks all for the insight and replies.

 

[Fastcar155]

Finally got to the bottom of things, its as I expected and unfortunately not in my favour. The missing items (ATF oil and filter, plugs and air filters) were all required @ 3 years, but declined on the 'A' Service in 2020. They will only reappear as being outstanding at the next 3 year interval, which I think is a real flaw in the whole system.

I'm therefore left with no choice but to pay for them to be done separately, which is frustrating, but you live and learn I suppose. What is a little annoying is that it took numerous calls to Mercedes to get to the bottom of it, whilst getting differing information from both Nottingham and Exeter dealerships.

Anyway, Laura in service @ Exeter was superb and clarified everything for me very quickly in a way that nobody in Nottingham seemed to be able to do.

Now I can stop worrying (well once the work is done next Monday). Thanks all for the insight and replies.

Hi , really glad your problem has been sorted out.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Finally got to the bottom of things, its as I expected and unfortunately not in my favour. The missing items (ATF oil and filter, plugs and air filters) were all required @ 3 years, but declined on the 'A' Service in 2020. They will only reappear as being outstanding at the next 3 year interval, which I think is a real flaw in the whole system.

I'm therefore left with no choice but to pay for them to be done separately, which is frustrating, but you live and learn I suppose. What is a little annoying is that it took numerous calls to Mercedes to get to the bottom of it, whilst getting differing information from both Nottingham and Exeter dealerships.

Anyway, Laura in service @ Exeter was superb and clarified everything for me very quickly in a way that nobody in Nottingham seemed to be able to do.

Now I can stop worrying (well once the work is done next Monday). Thanks all for the insight and replies.

Unfortunately lots of people skip additional items which are age and mileage dependent, and for all sorts of reasons.

Often if the car is being sold, the owner just wants the stamp to give the illusion that it’s fully serviced when a future buyer asks the question.

Other times owners see them as optional or unnecessary, and an opportunity for main dealers to try and make even more money.

And when serviced outside of the dealer network most independent garages will do their “standard” service regardless of make or model.

If you have the missed items done now then you have peace of mind, and you don’t have to have them done on time next time, you could keep them out of step.

For as long as you own the car you’ll know that’s the case, and the next owner will see from your service records or the digital service book.

 

[AMGeed]

^ Agreed. Most likely declined the expensive items as it was being sold.

One bugbear I find really annoying is the free for 3 yr Comand maps update that many owners will forget to ask for at the point of servicing.
MB are sly and don't mention it is due, and free. They'll happily advise the map is out of date and there is a newer version when its the customer paying for it.

 

[markjay]

Finally got to the bottom of things, its as I expected and unfortunately not in my favour. The missing items (ATF oil and filter, plugs and air filters) were all required @ 3 years, but declined on the 'A' Service in 2020. They will only reappear as being outstanding at the next 3 year interval, which I think is a real flaw in the whole system.

I'm therefore left with no choice but to pay for them to be done separately, which is frustrating, but you live and learn I suppose. What is a little annoying is that it took numerous calls to Mercedes to get to the bottom of it, whilst getting differing information from both Nottingham and Exeter dealerships.

Anyway, Laura in service @ Exeter was superb and clarified everything for me very quickly in a way that nobody in Nottingham seemed to be able to do.

Now I can stop worrying (well once the work is done next Monday). Thanks all for the insight and replies.

Glad you managed to figure it out. And MB shouldn't really 'stamp the book' (i.e. update the DSB) if the customer declined part of the service, so it's a bit naughty of them to have done that. With regards Service Care Plan, it clearly states that it can't be used for 'catch-up' servicing, i.e. for items that were missed in previous services, which makes sense.

 

[sgregory124]

Glad you managed to figure it out. And MB shouldn't really 'stamp the book' (i.e. update the DSB) if the customer declined part of the service, so it's a bit naughty of them to have done that. With regards Service Care Plan, it clearly states that it can't be used for 'catch-up' servicing, i.e. for items that were missed in previous services, which makes sense.

So am I....i'm not too bothered about the money aspect of this (although it would have been nice to not have to pay obviously!). Its more about peace of mind as has been said above, once complete i'll know everything essential and outstanding has been done and I can get back to 'business as usual' and driving, rather than worrying something expensive is about to go pop

 

[geoffus]

I can't say I'm surprised the previous owner declined the ATF change at 3 years and 14,000 miles. How can this expensive high quality fluid be degraded in such a short mileage, do mercedes assume the car is driven on a race track every weekend ?

 

[markjay]

I can't say I'm surprised the previous owner declined the ATF change at 3 years and 14,000 miles. How can this expensive high quality fluid be degraded in such a short mileage, do mercedes assume the car is driven on a race track every weekend ?

AMG notwithstanding, MB have been known to vary the recommended service intervals for their automatic transmissions for no obvious reasons.

Over the years, we've had:

Every 37,500/40,000 or 4 years
Once at 37,500/40,000 or 4 years
Every 40,000 or 3 years
Every 77,500 or 5 years
Once at 77,500 or 5 years
Sealed for life

It is very difficult to see what mechanical changes have been made to the 5g, 7g, 7g+ and 9g transmissions over the years to justify such drastic changes in maintenance regime. No wonder that for owners on Service Care Plan it often seems like the 'luck of the draw' whether their ATF will get changed under the plan.

(That said... on the balance of probabilities, the previous owner just skimped on the service, rather than having had deep insights into the necessity of the service... though we'll never know for certain)

 

[sgregory124]

I can't say I'm surprised the previous owner declined the ATF change at 3 years and 14,000 miles. How can this expensive high quality fluid be degraded in such a short mileage, do mercedes assume the car is driven on a race track every weekend ?

It's highly likely it doesn't I guess, but you just can't take the risk. What gives me solace here is that the car has only covered roughly 5000 miles between it being due and me getting it done (Monday next week), so i'm hoping nothing untoward happens when they drain it!

 

[sgregory124]

AMG notwithstanding, MB have been known to vary the recommended service intervals for their automatic transmissions for no obvious reasons.

Over the years, we've had:

Every 37,500/40,000 or 4 years
Once at 37,500/40,000 or 4 years
Every 40,000 or 3 years
Every 77,500 or 5 years
Once at 77,500 or 5 years
Sealed for life

It is very difficult to see what mechanical changes have been made to the 5g, 7g, 7g+ and 9g transmissions over the years to justify such drastic changes in maintenance regime. No wonder that for owners on Service Care Plan it often seems like the 'luck of the draw' whether their ATF will get changed under the plan.

(That said... on the balance of probabilities, the previous owner just skimped on the service, rather than having had deep insights into the necessity of the service... though we'll never know for certain)

I agree here. When I owned my C36 they claimed 'sealed for life', but as many owners discovered, if you believed that you potentially needed deep pockets when the box lunched itself. The advice at the time was to get hold of a couple of bottles of Royal Purple transmission oil and bang that in, which I did immediately after buying the car and I had no problems.

 

[Benz17]

AMG notwithstanding, MB have been known to vary the recommended service intervals for their automatic transmissions for no obvious reasons.

Over the years, we've had:

Every 37,500/40,000 or 4 years
Once at 37,500/40,000 or 4 years
Every 40,000 or 3 years
Every 77,500 or 5 years
Once at 77,500 or 5 years
Sealed for life

It is very difficult to see what mechanical changes have been made to the 5g, 7g, 7g+ and 9g transmissions over the years to justify such drastic changes in maintenance regime. No wonder that for owners on Service Care Plan it often seems like the 'luck of the draw' whether their ATF will get changed under the plan.

(That said... on the balance of probabilities, the previous owner just skimped on the service, rather than having had deep insights into the necessity of the service... though we'll never know for certain)

On the W213 it’s now at 77500, and NOT 77500/5years, that’s what I have been told by MB UK for mine.

 

[markjay]

On the W213 it’s now at 77500, and NOT 77500/5years, that’s what I have been told by MB UK for mine.

Ha ha, missed that one in my list!

 

[geoffus]

It's highly likely it doesn't I guess, but you just can't take the risk. What gives me solace here is that the car has only covered roughly 5000 miles between it being due and me getting it done (Monday next week), so i'm hoping nothing untoward happens when they drain it!

Be very interesting to hear their independent opinion of the quality of removed ATF, also the reason for changing at 14,000 miles and 3 years.
I can understand if the vehicle is doing 18,000 miles a year, and i can understand the reason you are changing it as (the very unlikely) failure would be expensive.
Mercedes seem to be masters of targeting Piece of Mind theory to their customers, cars must be the only mechanical devices that are over serviced on a time bases rather than operating hours.
Or is it easy to assume cars are driven without any mechanical sympathy for 15,000 miles every year and never have their bonnets lifted ?

 

[sgregory124]

Be very interesting to hear their independent opinion of the quality of removed ATF, also the reason for changing at 14,000 miles and 3 years.
I can understand if the vehicle is doing 18,000 miles a year, and i can understand the reason you are changing it as (the very unlikely) failure would be expensive.
Mercedes seem to be masters of targeting Piece of Mind theory to their customers, cars must be the only mechanical devices that are over serviced on a time bases rather than operating hours.
Or is it easy to assume cars are driven without any mechanical sympathy for 15,000 miles every year and never have their bonnets lifted ?

I suspect your latter assumption is correct, they assume that everyone drives them like race cars, just more protection for the company I suppose.

 

[leef44]

Be very interesting to hear their independent opinion of the quality of removed ATF, also the reason for changing at 14,000 miles and 3 years.
I can understand if the vehicle is doing 18,000 miles a year, and i can understand the reason you are changing it as (the very unlikely) failure would be expensive.
Mercedes seem to be masters of targeting Piece of Mind theory to their customers, cars must be the only mechanical devices that are over serviced on a time bases rather than operating hours.
Or is it easy to assume cars are driven without any mechanical sympathy for 15,000 miles every year and never have their bonnets lifted ?

I tend to agree with this.

My SLK55 was on a service plan for year 4 and year 5 because of the expensive items coming up. Year 4 was spark plugs and year 5 was ATF. I checked ATF would be done when booking the appointment and they said at the time, it would not be done unless my mileage had reached 37,500 miles.

Luckily it was close to that and I had a trip coming up before service day but it was touch and go.

So I guess with only 14,000 miles on the clock and not in a service agreement, the previous owner was offered the choice to have these items done and declined.

 

[Rich764089]

AMG notwithstanding, MB have been known to vary the recommended service intervals for their automatic transmissions for no obvious reasons.

Over the years, we've had:

Every 37,500/40,000 or 4 years
Once at 37,500/40,000 or 4 years
Every 40,000 or 3 years
Every 77,500 or 5 years
Once at 77,500 or 5 years
Sealed for life

It is very difficult to see what mechanical changes have been made to the 5g, 7g, 7g+ and 9g transmissions over the years to justify such drastic changes in maintenance regime. No wonder that for owners on Service Care Plan it often seems like the 'luck of the draw' whether their ATF will get changed under the plan.

(That said... on the balance of probabilities, the previous owner just skimped on the service, rather than having had deep insights into the necessity of the service... though we'll never know for certain)

And isn't the MCT 7 speed on the W212 31k miles or 3 years?

My box started making a slight whine at three years after the last fluid change, despite being only 25k miles after the change. Fluid change sorted it instantly.

 

[Skd884]

And isn't the MCT 7 speed on the W212 31k miles or 3 years?

My box started making a slight whine at three years after the last fluid change, despite being only 25k miles after the change. Fluid change sorted it instantly.

Correct the same as my 2012 c204.

 

[markjay]

I believe that 7g is 3 years, 7g+ is 5 years.