DO I maintain MBSH or go independent

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stringers

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Jan 1, 2010
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Hi, been lurking for a while but could now use some advice - just bought a 2002 C230K EVO coupe, has light rust around the wheel arches & door trim - my local MB garage say they MIGHT repair it under warranty but are more likely to contribute. the condition is I must take it in for it's (due) B service with them. I took the car to an indy bodyshop today who quoted £400 to do all the work, I have a good local indy garage who can service the car for less than MB (& probably do a better job as have good experience of them) . . . SO - what do you think is the best move ? Pay out for the more expensive MB service & cross my fingers that they will at least contribute towards the cost of the rust repair (& thereby maintain a full SH), else just bite the bullet & go independent ? The car has done 83,000 miles . . Many thanks for any advice, cheers.
 
Welcome to the forum.

Before deciding I'd wait on MB's contribution offer. When you then know how much it will cost + MB servicing cost, it may then be an easier decision to make.
 
Hi, been lurking for a while but could now use some advice - just bought a 2002 C230K EVO coupe, has light rust around the wheel arches & door trim - my local MB garage say they MIGHT repair it under warranty but are more likely to contribute. the condition is I must take it in for it's (due) B service with them. I took the car to an indy bodyshop today who quoted £400 to do all the work, I have a good local indy garage who can service the car for less than MB (& probably do a better job as have good experience of them) . . . SO - what do you think is the best move ? Pay out for the more expensive MB service & cross my fingers that they will at least contribute towards the cost of the rust repair (& thereby maintain a full SH), else just bite the bullet & go independent ? The car has done 83,000 miles . . Many thanks for any advice, cheers.

Hi there and welcome.If the car has full mercedes service history,you can get it done but you must own the car for 6mths.
 
Go independent on recommendation of the forum. You do not say where you are but some one will know of a good one near you.
Its only my opinion tho!!
 
Thanks for the advice - & welcomes - only had the car for a month & 8 yrs is up in April, so it won't have been in my possession for 6 months . . wish I'd joined this forum 3 months ago ! will probably go independent - at least then the price won't get bumped up - I'm always a bit skeptical when a dealer says 'around' £600 - read as 'probably' £852.66
 
At 8 years old defo go independent. These guys do it because they like doing their jobs and love the marque too. Otherwise they would be servicing something else.
Welcome to the forum.
 
Independent

dealers usually deal with new cars, dount many of the teckies there have even seen a 230k engine (it was discontinued in 2005?), whereas an indie will have seen loads.

Where are you based, there are many good ones that are recommended.
 
Thing is car is 7/8 years old and as you are going to own it for at least 1 possibly 2 years then it will be a ten year old car and i wouldnt expect a ten year old car to have a full mb history, i doubt many others would as well.

If it did have full mb history i would think the owner was a bit of a nutter who liked wasting his/her money.



Lynall
 
Thing is car is 7/8 years old and as you are going to own it for at least 1 possibly 2 years then it will be a ten year old car and i wouldnt expect a ten year old car to have a full mb history, i doubt many others would as well.

If it did have full mb history i would think the owner was a bit of a nutter who liked wasting his/her money.



Lynall
My red one had full mbsh when i bought it and was 13yrs old.
 
Thanks for the advice (again) Have booked in with Horizon in brighton (they did a great job looking after my previous BMW323i) & a local spray shop who did good work on my old vespa, must say I'm loving driving the C230K around, great grip & smooth feel, and of course, very comfy !
 
Thing is car is 7/8 years old and as you are going to own it for at least 1 possibly 2 years then it will be a ten year old car and i wouldnt expect a ten year old car to have a full mb history, i doubt many others would as well.

If it did have full mb history i would think the owner was a bit of a nutter who liked wasting his/her money.



Lynall

My 1990 300TE-24 had FMBSH when I bought it at 17 or 18 years old . The one previous owner had had it serviced by the supplying dealer from new until well past 400,000 miles and I discovered the car was a talking point within the dealership when I went there to buy parts . Such was the owner's loyalty that MB had even made a goodwill contribution to the new engine at 380,000 miles ( the bill for a little over six grand was in the service history , don't know what the price of a new M104 would have been ? ) .

Thing is , the guy was MD of his company , so I'm sure the company just paid for whatever was needed all along the line . Easy to maintain FMBSH when you're spending company money or other peoples' money .

Having said the above , I do my own servicing as I don't like paying others to do things I can do myself ; I then know it has been done right ; don't trust garages and only use them if I absolutely have to .
 
My SL is 13 years old and still goes to the main dealer for servicing.

They give a big discount, free MOTs, seem genuinely interested in the car, and never push to do extra work (quite the opposite - they suggested it didn't need the scheduled plug change this year because of the low mileage).

Happy for me to provide my own oil (from Costco) too.
 
When I buy a second-hand Merc (never bought a new one!) I like to see a FMBSH, and will pay more for a car that has it than one that doesn't, all other things being equal.
 
You might get a little more for FMBSH, but the cost of the servicing will outweigh the additional sale price.
 

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