• The Forums are now open to new registrations, adverts are also being de-tuned.

I Feel Poor !

Privatedoc

Active Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2010
Messages
193
Location
Down on the farm, Ayrshire
Car
W203 C200K Estate
my C estate is in for its service yesterday and today (ouch, 2 days!)
so far my A service has swollen from about 200 to at least 600 squid! and gotta do it as still under merc warranty!

Extras so far:.fuel filter, Air filter, Transmission fluid, trunnion bushes etc etc

oh, and the back tyres only have 4mm....ouch, well that bit can wait for a month or two.....methinks as soon as the mot in sept and warranty ends, its aftermarket and aftermarket warranty for me!

oh, all on a 4.5 yr, 41000 mile car.....but I love it!.......bloody GL I had was cheaper to service. :dk:
 
An interesting exercise would be to forsake all the warranties and do your own servicing and see which was cheaper in the long run.
 
Consider a tyre with an allweather/winter tyre tread compound the next time round on the rears. The open and directional tread is handy on loose surfaces as well as in winter conditions. :thumb:
 
ah, that sound about right.
I recently sold my E320 Sport, everytime I took it to the MB MD the servicing costs when from around 4/500 up to 800/1000 - there was always something that needed replacing.

Now I take my cars to the MB Indie, my wifes recent CLK B Svc was 300 and a recent A Svc for my SL500 came in under 200.

The difference Im informed - MB MD do the jobs that the computer/schedule tells them to do however, my Indie does what need doing!
 
I thought as long as the service as been carried out according to MB service schedules using genuine MB parts, you can take it wherever you want. It shouldn't effect your warranty.
 
I thought as long as the service as been carried out according to MB service schedules using genuine MB parts, you can take it wherever you want. It shouldn't effect your warranty.


With the car being a w203 (last one made in 2007) surely that would be some sort of after-market warranty rather than new car warranty - and presumably they can then apply any conditions they like?
 
Incidentally...

Assuming your car is 2007:

The air filter and fuel filter indeed need doing every 4 years, so the MB garage was right.
(although personally I don't wait 4 years with the air filter - it's false economy).

The ATF change is also very reasonable this to do at this time.

However they seem to have omitted the spark plugs - which according to the MB service schedule should be replaced at 4 years as well.

And, the brake fluid should be changed every 2 years, so you should have had it changed (second time around) at the 4-years service.

There's nothing wrong in what the MB dealer did, expect MB charges are always very very high. A fuel filter change for example is around £140, while an indy would typically do it for half that (using original MB filter). Not rocket science and no need for STAR...
 
My Service A about 200 miles ago shot up with additional extras (MB Sheffield). I laughed and said I be there to collect the car and take somewhere else. 10 minutes later I got a phone call from the service manager and offered me reduced labor. £45 per hour from £115. Go ahead I said.......Hmmm
 
will prob fit winter type tyres this time round as the car was worse than useless this last winter....any suggestions folks as to make/model etc ...205 X 16 ?
 
will prob fit winter type tyres this time round as the car was worse than useless this last winter....any suggestions folks as to make/model etc ...205 X 16 ?

Ive got dunlop 3D winters on my bmw in 205/55/16. ill prob go with those for the merc next year. Car was absolutely amazing in the snow!
 
Are these winter tyre any good in the summer? Or are they ONLY to be used in the winter?
 
Are these winter tyre any good in the summer? Or are they ONLY to be used in the winter?

They are only for the winter. They will work ok in the summer , but not as good as summer tyres and will wear significantly faster and that was michelin telling me that.
 
They are only for the winter. They will work ok in the summer , but not as good as summer tyres and will wear significantly faster and that was michelin telling me that.

Not only do they wear quicker, they aren't as grippy as a summer compound tyre once the temperature is above 7 deg C IIRC. My winter wheel / tyres will be coming off next weekend and the summers going back on.:)
 
Got disagree. It depends on what to expect. A modern winter tyre with a conservative or dual pattern tread will perform perfectly well in average summer conditions in the UK. With a more open / deeper tread pattern it will certainly move about more on the road to a slight extent and won't have same grip in the dry as a summer tyre but unless you are in the habit of cornering on the limit I doubt the average motorist would notice. As to accelerated wear of a modern winter high silica tread compound I would like to see some figures to back up that assertion. I have personally used high silica compound tyres all the year round for 10 years+ and have yet to experience higher than normal wear rates.:dk: The slight diminution in performance in summer conditions is counteracted by the increased cold/ wet weather performance of the high silica tread compound during the colder months of the year. Having said all that there is a geographical factor to take into account here where average temperatures in the South of England will be marked different from those "North of the Border" by 3-4 degrees C
Climate of the United Kingdom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Got disagree. It depends on what to expect. A modern winter tyre with a conservative or dual pattern tread will perform perfectly well in average summer conditions in the UK. With a more open / deeper tread pattern it will certainly move about more on the road to a slight extent and won't have same grip in the dry as a summer tyre but unless you are in the habit of cornering on the limit I doubt the average motorist would notice. As to accelerated wear of a modern winter high silica tread compound I would like to see some figures to back up that assertion. I have personally used high silica compound tyres all the year round for 10 years+ and have yet to experience higher than normal wear rates.:dk: The slight diminution in performance in summer conditions is counteracted by the increased cold/ wet weather performance of the high silica tread compound during the colder months of the year. Having said all that there is a geographical factor to take into account here where average temperatures in the South of England will be marked different from those "North of the Border" by 3-4 degrees C
Climate of the United Kingdom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I think I notice a bit more wheelspin when leaving a junction quickly in an afternoon when the temperatures are raised but this could be just my mind playing tricks. Of course the definitive way to answer this would be to have 2 identical cars with different tyres fitted in the same situation on he same piece of road under identical road conditions. I can't change my wheels that quick but I will be putting my 18" summers back on in preference to my 17" winters.:D

This answers the difference in grip. Quite interesting winter tyres in summer only 10% behind summer tyre performance but summer tyres in winter 50% behind winters. So if you are going for one tyre over the other then winters all year round as Grober said is the way to go.:thumb:

Summer VS Winter tyres Warm weather performance - tyre reviews, the online tyre guide
 
My winters came off a month ago, entirely because I got a puncture and wasn't going to drive around with three winters, one summer tyre.

Of course, the moment I changed them, the putative spring we were having got all cold and windy again. So watch out for snow when you change back!

I can't say I have noted any great change, but my summer tyres are just a bit quieter.
 
If you could only have ONE set of tyres for the whole year, what would you do?

1. Winter tyres all year round.

2. All-season tyres.

3. Summer tyres all year round.

What would you do?
 
1. Winter tyres all year round.

2. All-season tyres.

3. Summer tyres all year round.

What would you do?
3. Summer tyres all year round.

If you break it down exactly how much snow we get in this country (not including our Scottish brethren ;)) it isn't worth buying winter tyres.

And before people start going on about they aren't just for snow, I have never had a problem using summer tyres all year round. Except in the snow.
 
1. Winter tyres all year round.

2. All-season tyres.

3. Summer tyres all year round.

What would you do?

Winters I think only 10% less grip in summer versus 50% less grip with summers in winter. Plus I tend to drive early mornings and evenings very little during the heat of the day.

The all seasons are a bit too much of a jack of all trades for me I think but I would probably go for them if I did more driving during the day.:)

I'm a contractor, with digs 2 miles down a country lane. As I found out in December summer tyres are going nowhere once the snowplough had smoothed the snow out, which cost me 3 days wages. I can't pay for the MB if I aren't working.:D
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom