First (and Second) Mobilolife Experience.

[glojo]

Wow, finally MB have woken up!

????
I think it very rare to read of complaints regarding breakdowns and this posts merely repeats experiences of other owners.

Cars breakdown, that is a fact of life and thankfully Mercedes-Benz appear no worse than any other marque, it is all about the after sales service and I personally cannot praise Mobilio enough, although I was disappointed to read how large areas of the country are now covered by sub-contractors.

Thanks for the very informative post and I would recommend taking out Service Plus just before the three year warranty expires. Is there a three month clause?

Nice to see the half empty brigade can still moan about a free service (Mobilio)

Regards
John

 

[Andy Stanton]

????

Thanks for the very informative post and I would recommend taking out Service Plus just before the three year warranty expires. Is there a three month clause?

Regards
John

There is a 3 month clause in certain circumstances I believe. I left it a month between buying my car and taking on the Service Plus contract as I was too busy to get it organised in time (don't ask). Therefore I had to get the car examined by the very dealer that had serviced it for 3 years (and only 2 months prior) at a charge of £75 and then had a 3 month claims restriction applied. If you arrange Service BEFORE your 3 year warranty expires then none of this applies and you just roll onto your new package.

Be warned!

 

[crockers]

Hence why I intend to take it out 3 months before the end of my warranty -- I have already put in a diary reminder for Sept 1st.......

 

[robert.saunders]

Great to hear about the service - I rely on The AA should the Mondeo decide to play naughty. And that only gets me home or a loan car for a couple of days....

Don't knock Mobilo

 

[Rory]

But presumably the average benefit from having Service Plus is less than people pay for it, otherwise M-B would lose money on it ...

You are buying peace of mind really - same as any insurance policy.

Of course - I expect to be way out of pocket on mine, but I don't even notice the £80/mth going out of the bank. It's the uncertainty of the potential costs if anything does go wrong that would keep me awake at night.

And the case in the this thread is a classic - they change the turbo and the pre-cat and the fault still exists. They'll say they needed to replace those parts, but who knows? If you're spending your own money (surely over £1K worth of work there?) then you'd be bound to feel that you'd been shafted.

 

[marcos]

And the case in the this thread is a classic - they change the turbo and the pre-cat and the fault still exists. They'll say they needed to replace those parts, but who knows? If you're spending your own money (surely over £1K worth of work there?) then you'd be bound to feel that you'd been shafted.

And you really think other main dealers have a clue what they are doing, I dont think so.

The main point of this thread is to mention how good Mobilo are, not that the main dealers are incompetent.

 

[Rory]

And you really think other main dealers have a clue what they are doing, I dont think so.

Who mentioned other dealers? This is a Mercedes forum.

The main point of this thread is to mention how good Mobilo are, not that the main dealers are incompetent.

Lucky Mobilio is good - it went some way towards making up for the incompetence of the dealer.

 

[marcos]

Who mentioned other dealers? This is a Mercedes forum.

Lucky Mobilio is good - it went some way towards making up for the incompetence of the dealer.

Kind of my point but thanks anyway

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

I really like the sound of this ServicePlus and think I may join. However, would it make more sense to join after my 3 year MB warranty is up on the car ? As I assume I can join after 3 years ?

You can get a Service Contract (servicing only) or a Service Plus Contract (servicing and wear & tear). Get a price for both and do a few sums.

As long as you take Service Plus out whilst you're under warranty you won't need to pay for an inspection. The most important thing to remember is that you can only take it out in whole years, and the latest you can take it out is a 12 month contract on the cars fifth anniversary.

Therefore if you take out SP the day after an anniversary you can't get cover for the final (fifth year).

Do a search on ServicePlus or Service Plus and you'll get to read lots about it.

Back to topic...

 

[Andy Stanton]

The most important thing to remember is that you can only take it out in whole years, and the latest you can take it out is a 12 month contract on the cars fifth anniversary.

Back to topic...

Of course, everything is negotiable.

Because I'd delayed the purchase of my Service Plus plan they insisted I could only take out a 2 year contract, not the 3 year one I wanted. After a fair bit of haggling we agreed that I could pay the rate quoted for a 3 year contract but it would only run for 2 years and 10 months (with a 3 month no claim period, so effectively 2.7 years). Small compromise on my part but it was exactly what I was looking to achieve.

Maybe they won't be so flexible on a 12 month contract though

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Of course, everything is negotiable.

Because I'd delayed the purchase of my Service Plus plan they insisted I could only take out a 2 year contract, not the 3 year one I wanted. After a fair bit of haggling we agreed that I could pay the rate quoted for a 3 year contract but it would only run for 2 years and 10 months (with a 3 month no claim period, so effectively 2.7 years). Small compromise on my part but it was exactly what I was looking to achieve.

Maybe they won't be so flexible on a 12 month contract though

Interesting. I asked them if they'd be prepared to do that and they refused.

All became accademic as they've stopped Service Plus for AMGs now anyway!!

Worth knowing for anybody interested in Service Plus though.

 

[DieselE]

Thanks.. And sorry I don't want to hi-jack this thread but another question..

I really like the sound of this ServicePlus and think I may join. However, would it make more sense to join after my 3 year MB warranty is up on the car ? As I assume I can join after 3 years ?

There have been a number of threads on Service Plus and the majority on the forum who contributed seem to favour taking out the contract at the end of the warranty. I took it out when the car was eighteen months old.

To within a few pounds, I've broken even between then and the expiry of the warranty last month. In any event, I've enjoyed eighteen months of absolute peace of mind knowing that running the car would cost no more than £71.46 a month (except for tyres and glass). The "twelve month chunks only" rule means my cover will stop when the car is five and a half years old.

I would certainly strongly recommend that you join up a little more than three months before the car's first MOT (and the expiry of the warranty). I didn't ask what they found on mine when it went through the MOT but I did spot the brand new number plates on the car (the old ones were still legal IMO but looking shabby).

 

[glojo]

Interesting. I asked them if they'd be prepared to do that and they refused.

All became accademic as they've stopped Service Plus for AMGs now anyway!!

Worth knowing for anybody interested in Service Plus though.

I was very surprised when you first said that and it speaks volumes about the vehicle or perhaps the way some of them are treated?

The bottom line with any purchase is the seller making a profit and to me it would appear the AMG presents too much of a risk and would not make be viable?? My own personal experience of ServicePlus is it was one of my better decisions and I'm way better off with it.

Mobilio is a very nice breakdown cover, but the ServicePlus warranty is peace of mind and when it expires then I fear the days of our 211 are numbered.

John

 

[Andy Stanton]

Mobilio is a very nice breakdown cover, but the ServicePlus warranty is peace of mind and when it expires then I fear the days of our 211 are numbered.

John

Or you could just buy a new 211 and start again ;-)

 

[glojo]

Or you could just buy a new 211 and start again ;-)

Will the replacement E-class be out before then?

As a point of interest the MOT does not count as a claim and will be done free of charge. I queried this when I took out my contract one month before the vehicle's third anniversary.

John

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

I was very surprised when you first said that and it speaks volumes about the vehicle or perhaps the way some of them are treated?

Apparently the brakes are the killer for the larger heavier AMGs - MLs and SLs were cited specifically as being contributors. It's incredibley expensive to replace the brakes on these particular models, and they were at an increasingly rapid rate (soft compound).

Dare I say it, many dealers use Service Plus as an opportunity for easy income. I'm confident that the brakes on my ML had plenty of miles left when they were replaced (without request from me) under Service Plus. I'm not suggesting they did it fraudulently, but I suspect they were generous when estimating whether they would need replacing before the next service.

It seems some MLs are heavy on the brakes however I can easily get 30,000 miles from a set of pads. They probably work on an average of closer to 15,000 miles, and hence changed them.

 

[maddog]

I'm shocked how much Service plus agreements are !!

We had a similar thing on our VW Beetle 2.3 V5 sport , £22 per month for the first 3 years INCLUDING tyres, servicing, wear and tear etc

In the 6 years i have had my E class i dont think its cost more than £40 per month for all the servicing , repairs and tyres!!!

 

[glojo]

I'm shocked how much Service plus agreements are !!

We had a similar thing on our VW Beetle 2.3 V5 sport , £22 per month for the first 3 years INCLUDING tyres, servicing, wear and tear etc

In the 6 years i have had my E class i dont think its cost more than £40 per month for all the servicing , repairs and tyres!!!

We are not really talking about the period when a car is covered by a no quibble warranty, I have just looked at the offering by VW and thanks but no thanks. Here are some of the exclusions, but no pricing.

Exclusions apply as follows

• outine servicing (all parts replaced associated with routine servicing are excluded)
• All bodywork and glass
• Wear and perishable items as follows:
  • All adjustments, timing or cleaning
  • Batteries
  • Bulbs and fuses
  • Exhaust system (catalytic converters are covered)
  • Interior and exterior trims
  • Non-genuine manufacturer's parts
  • Tyres and wheels
  • Un-encased drive belts
  • Wiper blades and arms
  • Wiring and connections (including HT leads and aerial co-axial cables)
  • - Worn brake discs, drums and frictional material
  • - Worn clutch pressure plates, bearings and frictional material

Using just one car as an example is not the best way to make an assessment, but if your 6yr old E-class has not had any expensive issues, then well done.

 

[Rory]

I'm shocked how much Service plus agreements are !!

We had a similar thing on our VW Beetle 2.3 V5 sport , £22 per month for the first 3 years INCLUDING tyres, servicing, wear and tear etc

In the 6 years i have had my E class i dont think its cost more than £40 per month for all the servicing , repairs and tyres!!!

Just finished the same thing on my daughter's Seat Ibiza and that was £19/mth for 3 yrs/36K miles. It does only cover basic servicing (not brakes etc) but in 3yrs it only needed annual oil changes, 1 brake fluid change and 2 tyres. They also forgot to charge me for the MOT - that shouldn't have been free.
There's no option to extend after 3yrs though - I called VAG maintenance and they were quite rude!

If you've run an E Class for £40/mth then that's remarkable (or you do extremely low mileage). The main issue that I think most MB owners worry about is that if anything at all significant goes wrong then you're looking at potentially very big bills.

 

[maddog]

Thats not the policy we had

We had the wiper blades replaced each service, oils filters etc and 2 complete sets of tyres and 235/45/17's dont come cheap

Maybe they underpriced it but as with any insurance it only gets expensive if you claim but the odd are certainly in MB favour at those rates.

Especially seeings as many of the parts are already under warranty or under seperate insurance ie bodywork and glass and that accidental damage or unfair wear and tear is normally excluded from these types of policies.