MB free vehicle health check

[philepo]

I phoned the local MB dealer in order to have the ATF level check before I go on a long trip. They suggested I have a full vehicle health check. WHen I asked how much, they said it's free

Maybe some other member may want to enquire about this?

Also, does anyone know a nothern version of Olly the well renowned MB man (Blackc55) as I would like to get the ATF changed but am loath to choose someone at random.

Cheers, P

 

[tpwuk]

hmmmm.....I'd be very surprised if they give it a full clean bill of health. They'll find something, no matter how insignificant and then hope you will instruct them to fix it whilst it's on the ramps. That's when it no longer becomes "free".

 

[steve333]

Had the free healthcheck last october at mb guildford & to be fair all they could find wrong was a small leak from the auto transmission(seal gone).i booked it in for an atf/filter/seal etc change & was given 40% off labour & 15% off parts as my cars over 6 years old gearbox changes up & down like new,would highly recommend if your cars not had an atf change & has covered more than about 70k

 

[philepo]

Hi, What did they charge for the leak? and ATF change? If I also get a discount I might go with that. Mine has done 130K with no ATF change but to be fair the box works fine apart from a clunk when enganging D or R from stone cold. The rest of the time it doesn't slip or jerk at all.
Cheers.

 

[h17n dj]

I always get a call once or twice a year from MB for my free health check.... last time they didnt even flag anything up on it either!!! which was rather nice¬! they are coming to do it again next friday too

 

[cplnoonoo]

I was told i was to get a free health check when i booked mines in to get the front pads replaced. About half hour after i left it there i was foned and told i had both front springs broken and that i also needed new discs. As the car was under warranty at the honda garage i got it from i told them not to bother doing anything with it and i would take it back the the honda place.

They then told me that as they werent going to be carrying out the work to rectify the faults the health check was going to cost me.

I suppose thats fair enough but it would have been nice to that this was the "get out" clause lol.

 

[swann]

Just had mine yesterday.
You get a print out of problems in categories, example: RED AMBER GREEN, green would be ok, amber would want looking at and red is a problem. However the limits seem a little high but maybe it's just to be on the safe side.
Example

N/S front tyre : RED inner 4.40 Middl 5.30 Outer 2.70 - Worn on outer edge.

Front Brake Pads RED Min 3.00 Actual 2.00 - Pad below min thickness.

Steering RED - Both front bottom ball joints worn - excessive play.

This is all on a nice bright sheet of paper easy to read. Also addittional findings showed an Air flap actuator fault (shown in RED) this is the problem I have had with the car for years and all the talk about maf sensors and kickdown misfires etc. Conclusion part says - requires futher investigation. So that is still not fixed and I'm yet to find anyone who can fix it or understand it.

 

[Gollom]

I phoned the local MB dealer in order to have the ATF level check before I go on a long trip. They suggested I have a full vehicle health check. WHen I asked how much, they said it's free

Maybe some other member may want to enquire about this?

Also, does anyone know a nothern version of Olly the well renowned MB man (Blackc55) as I would like to get the ATF changed but am loath to choose someone at random.

Cheers, P

Ian Walker at 124 works in Kirkham is your man! He is a member on this forum

 

[swann]

Heres what the sheet looks like:

http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/4691/img001m.jpg


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[philepo]

They then told me that as they werent going to be carrying out the work to rectify the faults the health check was going to cost me.

I suppose thats fair enough ....

That dosn't sound fair to me. I will ask about that before I leave it!

 

[antonyw124]

Surley that is not a free health check then?! I am sure some one with some legal training would see fault with this!

 

[Mike320]

Thanks for the heads up, just booked my clk to Colindale for a free health check next week.

 

[Rory]

That dosn't sound fair to me. I will ask about that before I leave it!

Nor me. Not sure I'd be paying under any circumstances if I'd been offered a free health check.

 

[swann]

Mine was booked in for diagnostic and to find out what the problem was with the air flap actuator (for the third time!).

After the free health check which they do first anyway, they called me to say they couldn't check the vehicle any futher in regards to the air flap actuator until the health check problems found had been fixed.

In other words, they were not going to test drive it with the kickdown etc anymore without the bits that showed up on the health check being addressed.

I went and picked up the car and wasn't too happy until they said there had been no charge for today. Including the diagnostic. But now I'm back to square one.

Sometimes I personally think that if the car is over 3 years old it might be best not going to the main dealer. They seem to be best suited to plug in fixes on the computer on newer cars, rather than getting oily hands on the older models?

 

[kickin'fm]

Ian Walker at 124 works in Kirkham is your man! He is a member on this forum

Seconded here!

The free MB check varies from dealer to dealer. In my case, MB Leeds basically said there was not much wrong with it, MB Stockport came up with over £1500 of work to do.

 

[jasonyw]

Everybody knows that the free health check is a trap to get your business as they got nothing better else to do, might as well give it a go. The "free" is never free.

 

[Rory]

Everybody knows that the free health check is a trap to get your business as they got nothing better else to do, might as well give it a go. The "free" is never free.

Yep. Same as reduced price MOTs. I'd rather pay full price at the village garage and not be stuffed with hundreds of pounds of made-up work as happened when I forgot this golden rule and had my daughter's car MOT'd at the franchised dealership.

 

[wxmclk]

that dosn't sound fair to me. I will ask about that before i leave it!

+1

 

[BTB 500]

Yep. Same as reduced price MOTs. I'd rather pay full price at the village garage and not be stuffed with hundreds of pounds of made-up work as happened when I forgot this golden rule and had my daughter's car MOT'd at the franchised dealership.

My SL has had free MOTs at my local main dealer (M-B Guildford) since I bought it (not from them, either). Far from making up stuff that needs doing, it's never had so much as a single advisory. They did a free aircon service on it recently, too. Not conditional on anything - I got a voucher in the post, took it in, came back with the aircon checked & recharged (and car valeted too).

We had a GTG at M-B Romford where all the cars were given a free health check ... the only comments on mine were brake disks coming up for replacement and driver's door needing a new check strap. Both true, and already known about.

I just had a letter from Rossets Commercials (M-B Aldershot) offering a free health check on our Vito before the warranty expires, which was a pleasant surprise and presumably not aimed at getting money out of me.

Yes I'm sure there are dodgy M-B (and other) dealerships around, but so far I've not experienced this.

 

[steve333]

Hi, What did they charge for the leak? and ATF change? If I also get a discount I might go with that. Mine has done 130K with no ATF change but to be fair the box works fine apart from a clunk when enganging D or R from stone cold. The rest of the time it doesn't slip or jerk at all.
Cheers.

Can't remember exactly how much as i had new front pads & brake fluid changed at same time but with the discounts as mentioned i doubt it would have been much/any cheaper at an indi