How much does it cost to maintain your Merc?

[Gollom]

* 27,500 , 2.5 years ago... Reasonable??

Seriously, have you tried writing to MBUK? I agree - the price you paid was hardly bargain basement. I had problems with my W203 and through persevering they gave me a full years warranty FOC. Took patience but they came up with the goods in the end. If your forte is not that kind of thing (I don't mean to sound patronising about it - I'm sure there are tons of things you can do that are not really my thing) just shout and there are any number of helpful people on here including myself who will offer assistance.

I agree, it may not work, especially as it is after the event (what did the dealer say when they replaced the sump?) But hell, it's worth the cost of a stamp!

Regards

Steve

P.S. Do hope I have not offended?

 

[s500surrey]

I had problems with my W203 and through persevering they gave me a full years warranty FOC.

Well done, I'm interested to learn about how you did it.

 

[Gollom]

Well done, I'm interested to learn about how you did it.

This was the first letter - there was one more I think but I always tried to keep the tone reasonable and non-threatening. (I have employed people who work in these Customer service places and nobody should have to tolerate the level of abuse they sometimes see. Physchology also comes into play) OK, this does not mirror your situation, but IMHO the principle is the same. The process was not quick BTW!! Hope it helps in some small way.

Have to add that I have a very good service manager who helped support me

Dear Sir/Madam

I have just collected my car yet again from the local Mercedes dealer in xxxxxxxxx This is at least the 6th time it has had to go in for remedial work including once in France when I was on holiday!

Problems include:

• Faulty injectors
• Exhaust
• Fuel system
• Etc. Etc.

I’m sure you would be able to get a list of the problems from xxxxxx should they be needed

I must confess that having purchased what is considered to be one of the leading marques I did not imagine that my car would need to visit the dealers quite so often. We are not talking about a car that is inexpensive here – I took the view that quality is something one has to pay for but I’m beginning to doubt the wisdom of my decision. I have no problem with the level of service from my dealer – quite the reverse. But as nice as they all are there I do not appreciate keep seeing them!

I’m not ready to throw in the towel just yet and really do hope that these are all teething problems (albeit a rather long running-in period) However I am concerned that problems will continue to arise. In view of this I would ask that you extend the warranty period by an additional year so that any issues (hopefully none?) can be catered for. Please give me a reason not to regret my decision to move from Ford and become a Mercedes Customer!

Many thanks for your help and I look forward to your positive response

 

[jaymanek]

My SL:
Wheels Refurbed - £200 ish
4 Bridgestones - £145
Servicing - £50 ish (Work done myself)

my w123:
Engine replacement (done out of choice, was not a necessity) - all in probably around £650 ish
Tyres - £70
Servicing - £30
Paintwork - £200

think thats it...

 

[R2D2]

First of all let be emphasis that I do feel sorry your your predicament, however,.........

5k is a lot but if you wanted a cheap car you should be driving a 1.0 fiesta. You have chosen to buy the S500 which is one of the safest places to be on the planet it also has a gold plated image. It never was going to cost £100 for a service was it.

A guy I knew bought a 5 litre Ferrari and believed he could run it for £1000 PA. It goes in for a service, the windscreen fails the MOT and needs replaced (ordered from Italy) the brakes need done all round..........and the bill £5000 for its first service.

ALL cars are expensive, all cars break down, all cars wear out and all cars cost a fortune. I reckon you just chose the wrong car for you. Starting at an S500 wasnt the budget option.

 

[Shude]

My car so far only has stealership maintenance and service, dispite the first service it had after I purchased it (where I asked them to change everything that could be changed! ) the bills have been very reasonable, probably about £350 per visit (once or twice per year depending on mileage).

 

[Alfie]

I voted between £50 and £1500 as the bands are not very realistic.

There should be a better spread of ranges as a typical a service (once every other year on average) will be £250ish at a main dealer and a B service (once every other year on average) will be £450. Pretty much everything else is covered by warranty. Tyres every two years circa £400 for four!

 

[Pringles]

I know the feeling. In 2003 I was looking at S500's when I fell over my W124 E36. I was prepared for some large bills but not half the value of the car in year 1 !

I replaced the head gasket, waterpump, ecu, radiator, wiring harness (that damaged the ecu !), brake discs and pads, LED brake light strip..................

Since then costs have evened out somewhat and I seen to pay about £260 for an oil service and £600 odd for a main service.Tyes are £110 each for Goodyear F1s but I have only used 6.

I seem to be spending as much each year on getting corrosion sorted out professionally because although it is a solid car I can't stand unsightly rust bubbles.

Economically the car probably doesn't make sense- 20mpg etc.but it is a great drive and depreciation has slowed if not stopped at the moment.

 

[janner]

I'll be the first to tick the under 50 quid box.
In the last 12 months that's all I've spent (new coil pack). Don't suppose you count the cost of the MOT?
I only do 5,000 miles a year in it and change the oil myself.

I'd better find something wooden to touch...

 

[saorbust]

1500+, but thats at least three services. Over 30k miles per year for me.

 

[Dieselman]

Total cost in a 15 month period is £1207 but that includes wheel refurbishment and new tyres, MOT test, 5L Waxoyl for touching up underneath, diff seals not yet fitted, enough oil for the next 3-4 years.

Take out the exceptional items and it's £491 including an A service and new shock absobers.

 

[big x]

Thinking back over 20 years of motoring mainly BMW I don't think I've ever had an electrical or steering box fault ever.Alternator,lights,wipers,ignition,widows etc have all been perfect as have my current E320 and C180.Touch wood.
Having had an older BMW 740i and a Lexus LS400 in the past I would say the BM was cheaper to run due to the availability of cheaper OE parts through the likes of GSF.An S500 would be between the two costwise but is known for an extremely expensive aircon repair if the evaporator goes..Lexus suffer steering box leaks and suspension rebuilds are costly.

adam

 

[SG CL500]

So far (18 months) £650 for a 'big' service, about £300 for a set of rear tyres and £1k for a suspension fault (not that I paid for that) - overall very happy.

Servicing - cheaper than my honda (main dealer)
Tyres - more - but i used to be able to get 50k before this car...
Suspension - I feel really sorry for the supplying dealer

To be honest - running costs are about 1/3 rd of what i thought they'd be - the only surprise is the mpg is less than expected on long constant speed runs and I expected 'surprises' of about £1k per year given the car. Depreciation has been more that I thought but not by much.

I am sorry to hear of anybody with bad experiences - i know i've been lucky, there's also normal and unlucky.

 

[Thmsshaun]

Overall the C43 has cost in a years ownership.


1) 2* Rear Tyres £170
2) B Service Inc Spark Plug Change £511
3) Transmission Oil Cooler £311

Total £992

On the whole I am quite happy as the only unexpected cost was the oil cooler.

 

[s500surrey]

ALL cars are expensive, all cars break down, all cars wear out and all cars cost a fortune. I reckon you just chose the wrong car for you. Starting at an S500 wasnt the budget option.

Totally agree. I would say that it's time and reliability more than money. I can't take expensive services because I knew that was par for the course. Money you can make, but time is lost forever...

 

[fuzzer]

My cars do galactic miles every year , so im firmly in thr £1500-3000 band.

 

[R2D2]

If anyone is interested I've got the complete breakdown of expenditure on my car C200 from the day I bought it new to the day I sold it with 93k on it.
I'll post it if anyone wants to see it.

 

[BTB 500]

I don't do a lot of mileage in the R129, but in the time I've had it (coming up for 3 years) the only "failures" I've had have been:

* battery (replaced under warranty)
* radio aerial mast (replaced during service, I paid for the part only)
* check valve in the headlamp washer pipe

As far as I'm concerned that's not bad for a fairly complex car which is nearly 10 years old.

Service costs have been £400-£600 a time at the main dealer, that's after a hefty discount on labour and a smaller discount on parts (because of the age of the vehicle).

 

[Satch]

Since April i've spent......

£800 - 8 tyres, 6 on the back, 2 on the front.

That sounds like self inflicted wallet injury

 

[Benzowner]

I do approx 14k per annum and have the car serviced once by my local indi. The most expensive single outlay this year was £150 when some bas***d broke into the car and stole the radio. The £150 was excess for replacement windo(£50) and replacement radio(£100). I usually spend an additional £200 on paint and body repairs(rust ) Car still looks good