I've just been robbed - a.k.a I had my car serviced at dealer (Long Post).

[Steve_Perry]

Well after the good run I've had of late MB have finally had their revenge. Before I detail how they've justified ripping a large gaping hole in my bank account, I must say that the customer service was good, they brought up the details of my car on their database and reminded me of all the service comments that were made last time round. They called when they said they would call and obviously waited for my authorisation before carrying out any additional work. They initially thought I would have the car back by 3pm but when they called at lunchtime they apologised and told me the car wouldn't be ready until approx 5pm.

The car was last serviced on 17 Apr 02 at 59,028 miles and they charged £138-73 Inc VAT for an 'A' ASSYST Service.

The car was dropped in at 8:30am this morning with approx 68,670 miles for a 'B' ASSYST Service. They had pre-warned me, when I booked the service earlier this week, that car would also require brake - pads / discs changed front and rear (This had also been confirmed by GF a few months back), change of spark plugs, coolant system drain/flush/refill and brake system drain/flush/refill.

And now to the gory details...

1. 2020000311 - MBASSYST Service B C240 with air cond.
2. 00 1100 02 - ASSYST, service operations list B carry out.
3. 92 7001 01 - To clean & lubricate upper cylinder area and decarbonise lambda sensor.
4. 00 1560 02 - Additional operations at 80,000KM difference to last change carry out.
5. 00 1500 03 - Spark plugs replace.
6. 42 2701 02 - Brake pads (all) remove & install, replace as required (road wheels dismounted).
7. 42 2731 02 - Brake rotors on front axle remove & install, replace as required (brake pad removed).
8. 42 2881 02 - Brake rotors on rear axle remove & install, replace as required (brake pad removed).
9. 42 1423 01 - Fluid in hydraulic brake system replace (with maintenance operations).
10. 20 1140 01 - (DP6) coolant replace & check for leaks.

Labour Total = £451-92

1. A 000 824 60 27 - Wiper - £3.76 - 1 - £3.38
2. A 000 180 23 09 - Filter element - £4.80 - 1 - £4.32
3. A 210 830 08 18 - Combination fil - £21.89 - 1 - £19.70
4. _ ZZOIL - Engine oil - £5.60 - 8 - £44.80
5. Q 3 60 03171 - Washer concentr - £2.50 - 1 - £2.25
6. N 007603 014106 - Seal ring - £0.13 - 1 - £0.12
7. A 0009890807 10 - Brake fluid - £6.69 - 1 - £6.02
8. A 0009890825 12 - Coolant - £4.14 - 5 - £18.63
9. A 003 159 81 03 - Spark Plug - £4.90 - 12 - £52.92
10. A 002 477 30 01 - Fuel filter - £49.66 - 1 - £44.69
11. A 604 094 14 04 - Filter element - £10.50 - 1 - £9.45
12. A 210 421 24 12 - Brake disc - £25.25 - 2 - £45.45
13. A 002 420 96 20 - Brake pad - £41.94 - 1 - £37.75
14. A 210 423 09 12 - Brake disc - £23.90 - 2 - £43.02
15. A 002 420 74 20 - Rear pads 210 - £32.47 - 1 - £29.22
16. A 000 423 17 71 - Bolt - £0.43 - 4 - £1.55
17. A 126 540 20 17 - Sender unit - £1.47 - 2 - £2.65
18. N 916002 012100 - Clamp - £0.36 - 2 - £0.65
19. A 124 421 05 71 - Bolt - £1.19 - 4 - £4.28

Parts Total = £370-85

Total Ex. VAT = £822-77
Total Inc. VAT = ££966-75

I apparently got a 10% discount on parts and a 15% discount on labour because my car is more than 4 years old, she said if I was charged list price then I'd be looking at a bill in the region of £1,150.

I printed out an earlier thread by smiff and showed the service receptionist that Rycroft Mercedes were offering 20% off labour and 15% off parts for cars over 4 years old. However she replied that Rycroft's charges and rates were more expensive in the first place so could therefore offer more of a discount and the prices would probably work out similar. They train them well I'll give 'em that

Anyway after more haggling (pleading poverty etc.) we settled on a final bill of £950-00. I knew this service was going to be on the heavy side but I never dreamed my wallet would be hurting this much

Why didn't I go to George? Well at the moment I still value dealer stamps and complete MBSH but now after today I'm beginning to wonder. I was also going to get MB to just do the bare bones 'B' Service (£260 +VAT) and get George to do the rest, e.g. brakes/spark plugs/etc. that way I keep prices down and still get MB offical stamps, unfortunately for me my brake wear indicators started lighting up the dashboard last week and I didn't feel safe holding out for a few more weeks until my next trip to London.

I feel like I'll be living on beans on toast and Marmite soldiers for the next month or two

I'm going off for a lie down...

S. (Back to Earth with a bump)

p.s. Enjoy the GTG peeps.

 

[GRAV888]

Ouch Steve. Mine goes in for a "B" service on Wednesday.
I better arange an extra overdraft.

 

[Steve_Perry]

GRAV,

A big factor on mine is the spark plug change, it doesn't sound like much but there are 12 of them and the labour to change them runs at approx 2hrs.

Fortunately, they won't need changing again until the car reaches approx 130k miles. Changed approx every 60k miles.

S.

 

[clegsr]

Originally posted by Steve_Perry
... Well at the moment I still value dealer stamps and complete MBSH but now after today I'm beginning to wonder. I was also going to get MB to just do the bare bones 'B' Service (£260 +VAT) and get George to do the rest, e.g. brakes/spark plugs/etc. that way I keep prices down and still get MB offical stamps, unfortunately for me my brake wear indicators started lighting up the dashboard last week and I didn't feel safe holding out for a few more weeks until my next trip to London.

Unfortunately here is your problem, I learned the hard way like you that to allow an authorised mercedes dealer loose on your car for anything other than a fixed price service then you may as well just leave your credit card on the front seat for them to swipe through when they are finished paying for a caribbean cruise for the whole service team (and their wives and girlfirends).

Mercedes only charge what they do because it is stiil worth money to us poor journeymen to get that service stamp in the log-book. but for any other work I get a trusty independent specialist to carry it out

I've lost count of the number of times when the car is in for its service and the stealership has rung me to say the car needed a new widget and it would only be 45p and I when I came to pick the car up I was faced with yet another £1,000 bill - because I needed eight widgets plus the mini widgets plus the dongly bits plus labour plus VAT and we had to order the parts blah blah - is it still worth it? - I do wonder sometimes...

 

[GRAV888]

That's a relief then.
My plugs should come to under £20 then.
Still, the rest of it wont be much different though.

 

[sym]

OMG OMG OMG !!

....mine is due a B service in a few thousand miles . . . (although my spark plugs don't need changing - its been done already - and four took about 20 minutes - so don't know how they work out 2 hours for 12 !!!) - but ouch !! £950 !!!

I do need to use a dealer this time in order to keep my MB warranty valid (until March) - hopefully the warranty will cover anything expensive that might need replacing this time, but from then onwards it will be a specialist for me !!

 

[Steve_Perry]

clegsr,

agree with you completely.

GRAV,

If they want to change your entire braking system, or do any extra work, I suggest you get it done at an independent. Just let them (MB bandits) service the car and stamp the books.

Sym,

George once told me about ASSYST services, "Just remember B service stands for BIG bills" and in this case he wasn't kidding

Hehe the gains I made at the beginning of this week with the warranty rust repair have just been totally wiped out and then some, I think MB is like an elephant, it never forgets if you get one over on it.

S.

 

[andy_k]

expensive yes - but not unreasonable and not unexpected

take away the brake replacement and it would have cut the bill by half.

The prices for the brakes are reasonable (not much if anything higher than europarts) and you've got the satisfaction that the job was done properly - at a guess to change 4 disks and pads will be booked as 2-3 hours labour - so take that out the service wasn't that bad.

Dunno what George would have charged you for the brakes part but i guess it wouldn't have been a whole lot cheaper.

Still, enjoy your lie down and if the marmite soldiers and beans on toast get tedious you can always sign up to be a mystery shopper and get free meals at macdonalds

Andy

 

[GrahamC230K]

It all amounted to a big bill, but nothing on there jumps out as a rip off, so if it needed it all then there you have it.

I had an Inspection II on my BMW with new brakes all round and that was about £800+ 3 years ago.

I dont care about main dealer service book stamps and will never go to a main dealer again unless I have too.

Should I ever own a C43, I'll be doing extra research into what the engine requires attention wise and make sure my independant is up to scratch and that's it.

 

[Andy W]

I have just had my Fiat van serviced by a local garage even though it is still under warranty until next month, because the last two times I took it in for service they said it needed front brake pads, first time I let them do it second time I said why, "because they are 75% worn " was the reply , excuse my maths I said but that leaves 25% left I said, they wanted to charge me £116 to change the front pads, I bought some Ferodo pads from Halfords for £45 and had my local tyre shop to change them while they were replacing my front tyres, they charged me £10 ! My Merc is under warranty for another 10 1/2 months, I doubt that I will do 10,000 miles in that time so hopefully I wont need to pay stupid money to the dealership. Incidentally there is a independant close to me called MERX in Stoke on Trent, I dont know anything about them or how good they are but the workshop is always busy, a bit tatty looking but busy. Regarding the "stamp" in the service book, I personally think as long as it has been stamped by a garage, not necessarilly a main dealer particulary on older cars, that is more important than having blank pages in your service record book, at least services have been carried out by a so called full time professional garage and not Eric up the road who does it on a Sunday morning on his drive, can you see my point ?

 

[pluggers]

Originally posted by Andy W
Incidentally there is a independant close to me called MERX in Stoke on Trent, I dont know anything about them or how good they are but the workshop is always busy, a bit tatty looking but busy.

I use them all the time when I need something doing .Pete is the man to talk to he does all the mercs.He used to work at Drayton in cobridge then set up on his own a few years ago.He is busy but if you catch him in the week it isn't to bad.Dont worry about tatty he is working on it.

 

[weebobster]

I negotiated the next "A" service for my year old C220 CDi when I bought the car. It presently has 11,000 on the clock with the computer telling me the service is due in 3,200 miles. Having read this, im so glad I negotiated the service into the purchase price, but as was mentioned above, the garage will simply make this up whenever the "B" service comes along. Nothing for nothing these days

 

[fuzzer]

Originally posted by weebobster
I negotiated the next "A" service for my year old C220 CDi when I bought the car. It presently has 11,000 on the clock with the computer telling me the service is due in 3,200 miles. Having read this, im so glad I negotiated the service into the purchase price, but as was mentioned above, the garage will simply make this up whenever the "B" service comes along. Nothing for nothing these days

I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news but ....

When you reach over 13,300 or 13,600 its automatically a B service.

sorry dude ...

 

[Mark300SL]

My SL is due the 72k service in the next week or 2

quote from Lancasters about 3 months ago was £900+ vat
quote form them more recently was £970+ vat
But I need brakes too! - pads front and rear, Discs look fine

GF quoted me £350 + vat and brakes at parts cost if needed. - I estimate about £500

The car currently has full MB or Rolls Royce service history - but htis is where it ends!

By Steves experience I would be loking at a bill the wrong sode of £1500 - and I really dont think that the resale value of non FMBS/H will suffer that badly (£1000) - esp if the 72k was done by a recognised specialist.
If I loose a grand on its value - then at least Lancasters wont have that grand!

Only time will tell

Mark

 

[Tan]

Mark

Could be worth having at look at Tony purslows (MB dealer) for the service, due to the discount they give for older cars they work out quite good. My mate had his 190 serviced and the brakes changed for less than GF quoted.

 

[Kinky]

I swear by Purslows - as documented elsewhere.

And a healthy discount for having an 8 year old+ car (but certainly not feel or drive like one!).

 

[olikea]

Originally posted by Steve_Perry
GRAV,

A big factor on mine is the spark plug change, it doesn't sound like much but there are 12 of them and the labour to change them runs at approx 2hrs.

Fortunately, they won't need changing again until the car reaches approx 130k miles. Changed approx every 60k miles.

S.

Incidentally, why don't you change the spark plugs yourself? I do, I also change the oil and filter, and its all simple stuff to do, and I take it to an independant to do anything else. It greatly cuts down on bills!

Well, that is up until now with a new car, I will be needing to service it at main dealers to keep the warranty!

 

[bazza]

I've got a receipt(thankfully I didn't pay it) for a similar amount from John R Weir in Grangemouth for my 190E in 1998!!!!



Bazza

 

[Steve_Perry]

Originally posted by olikea
Incidentally, why don't you change the spark plugs yourself? I do, I also change the oil and filter, and its all simple stuff to do, and I take it to an independant to do anything else. It greatly cuts down on bills!

Well, that is up until now with a new car, I will be needing to service it at main dealers to keep the warranty!

olikea,

I've been told by indepent mechanics (George Fraser) that the spark plug change for my engine is not really a job that should be contemplated by the casual DIY'er, as I've posted in other threads. The location of the plugs is tricky to get at and there is a significant chance of stripping threads, apparently it's easy to do, or so I've been told.

Originally posted by bazza
I've got a receipt(thankfully I didn't pay it) for a similar amount from John R Weir in Grangemouth for my 190E in 1998!!!!



Bazza

Bazza,

Scary isn't it? It certainly is when you're paying the bill I knew this was going to be a big service but I was expecting a bill in the region of £600 to £700. £950 for a service, no matter how you look at it, seems extreme imho, but maybe I need to be earning more money I was still pleased at the customer service though, very polite, and phone calls when promised.

S.

 

[silverarrow]

you know why we pay so much it is because we pay it ask for fixed price and play one stealership against another we pay high prices to cover the so called warranty costs i have a friend who has his car serviced in france on his holls saves ££££££££££ and it has a mbz stamp