Early W/S204 Autobox - Sealed For Life?

[Chrishazle]

Collected my S204 today, and as advised by a member on here (or maybe it was t'other side, both have been helpful!), checked the service booklet in the car. Sure enough, it says ATF and filter change at 3 years/36k miles. Took this to the service manager for MB Ashford (where I was buying the S204) and said - it's here in the service book, you've been servicing the car, why has it not been done?

He went off to his service chief and came back saying :

"This is a generic booklet applied to all 204's so not necessarily applicable to your car (despite the fact that it's in the wallet of manual with the car!!). 722.6 transmission certain chassis numbers, transmission is sealed for life - and yours is one of those chassis numbers."

In other words, if I want an ATF and filter change, I pay for it.

VIN is WDD2042082F200232, date of first reg 17/06/2008.

Does anyone know if what he says is correct, or is he attempting to save cost on a car they're close to loosing money on!

 

[markjay]

Mercedes-Benz ESS

Whatever ESS says....

 

[markjay]

Also, this 'sealed for life' business is not new, Vauxhall and BMW tried that before, to name a few, the general advice however is to ignore it and change the ATF and filter periodically.

I did hear that MB applied it for some cars recently, which I did find odd, but dealership will use it as an excuse to not carry it out if it is not on ESS. This, incidentally, is also the case if your car is on one of MB's Service Plans - if ESS does not show ATF change, you'll have to pay for it in spite of having a Service Plan...

 

[mightymouse]

The dealer where I have bought my used facelift w204 has said that ATF and filters will need to be changed every 3 years/36k miles

 

[Chrishazle]

Mercedes-Benz ESS

Whatever ESS says....

I put the VIN and reg date into ESS, it said nothing - even about the time related stuff as car is only 45 months old. An owner on t'other side has a 58 plate C220 S204 from new, on an MB service plan, and his was done at 3 years/37k miles as part of the service plan!

I suspect MB Ashford are pulling the wool, as I've got one heck of a deal on the car and they're crying about "can't spend any more on it, we've spent too much already" (alloys redress, drivers seat bolster redo, paintwork repairs, B service, windscreen chip attempted repair).