Mercedes Dealer Service - Price Match

[design guru]

After my brother was quoted £700+ by MB to replace and fit Pads and Disks to his B-Class he approached an indy who quoted less than £500 and after speaking to Mercedes to book in a car for an AC recall/update they asked if he had had the brakes done as it was showing on their system, he mentioned an indy who uses only original Mercedes parts could do it for less than £500 so the said they could match the price.

 

[roviw1]

A shame they did not give their best price first !
I guess that maybe in the future, myself included, that we ought to get an approximate price from an independent first so we are armed with the details before we ask, I will bear that in mind .

I had a similar thing a few years ago with the insurance on my work van, the renewal came through and it had gone up quite a lot from the previous year.
I phoned the company to see if they could improve on it as I don't mind a small increase each year but this was a large increase. The girl said she would certainly be able to improve it and tapped away on a keyboard and came back with a reduction of about £15 , I said I was looking for more like a £50 to £60 reduction.
She said she could not get to that so I told her that I was sorry but I would have to go online to get a better figure, she said to me " If you do find a better offer then let us know and we will see what we can do " !
My reply was " if I find a better offer then I will go with the new company, why don't you give me your best price now ? "
She told me they don't do it that way .
Oh well, thye had the chance, I went wityh another company in the end at a much better price.

 

[design guru]

Its definitely better going through a call centre rather than dealing with the dealer direct as you are more likely to get a price match, but yes I agree, if they said it in the first place I would not bother shopping around. I'd rather get it done in one place.

 

[markjay]

Many members here carry-out scheduled servicing at the dealer through the MB Service Care Plan, then anything that is not covered by the plan e.g. brakes, battery etc (or any repairs) is done by a trusted Indie with access to the Digital Service Book.

 

[bob6600]

I had this with Audi, although they told me upfront that they do price match any VAT registered garage within 15 miles of their dealership provided a quote using original parts can be produced. I didn't have it in writing (broken down) but they still got within £30 of it. Next time I will go prepared.

MB probably have a similar set of rules but don't advertise it.

 

[markjay]

Good plan, but be aware that there's only that number of times that you can approach your local indie asking for a printed quote for service using original MB parts and then disappear and not come back to them until the next time you need another quote.......... your local indie will quickly work-out that you are wasting their time and may (rightly...) not engage with you in future. You can ask for quotes from your indie as long as you also also give them some work from time to time, as opposed to always go to the dealer.

 

[SW18]

Good plan, but be aware that there's only that number of times that you can approach your local indie asking for a printed quote for service using original MB parts and then disappear and not come back to them until the next time you need another quote.......... your local indie will quickly work-out that you are wasting their time and may (rightly...) not engage with you in future. You can ask for quotes from your indie as long as you also also give them some work from time to time, as opposed to always go to the dealer.

Yes indeed: I’d rather give my money to the indie since the main dealer is unlikely to beat the price, only match it. And I trust my indie more than the dealer, he’s old school and carries out or supervises all work himself so quality is as good or better than the dealer.

 

[jdrrco]

Yes indeed: I’d rather give my money to the indie since the main dealer is unlikely to beat the price, only match it. And I trust my indie more than the dealer, he’s old school and carries out or supervises all work himself so quality is as good or better than the dealer.

And why reward the main dealer for trying to rip you off first, then backing down when the Indie was honest with the cost upfront?

 

[Tonygw]

I use a local indy near me MB automotive who I can higly recommend (based in Loughborough Leics)
The local MB main dealer quote over £800 for an A service..lol.... which is basically and oil change and some checks. Needless to say I declined to book it in with them... Even with price match I dont think I would use an MB main dealer unless I really had to..

 

[ToeKnee]

I use a local indy near me MB automotive who I can higly recommend (based in Loughborough Leics)
The local MB main dealer quote over £800 for an A service..lol.... which is basically and oil change and some checks. Needless to say I declined to book it in with them... Even with price match I dont think I would use an MB main dealer unless I really had to..

"A" service for my R231 SL500 was £210 from MB Leicester!

 

[Tonygw]

mm I get the feling they dont like me then LOL
I may well give the the Leicester MB dealer a call to see what they say then, cheers

 

[SlimJim]

I use a local indy near me MB automotive who I can higly recommend (based in Loughborough Leics)
The local MB main dealer quote over £800 for an A service..lol.... which is basically and oil change and some checks. Needless to say I declined to book it in with them... Even with price match I dont think I would use an MB main dealer unless I really had to..

That’s price sounds less me a basic A Service and a host of additional items. Filters, fluids ATF ?

 

[Tonygw]

Yeah possibly, they didnt elborate, perhaps I need to clarify whats included, although I was clear I only wanted an "A" service.
I've had the ATF done already and air filter. Really only needs oil & filter, fuel filter (as its probalby due now) plus the "checks" they do

 

[markjay]

Yeah possibly, they didnt elborate, perhaps I need to clarify whats included, although I was clear I only wanted an "A" service.
I've had the ATF done already and air filter. Really only needs oil & filter, fuel filter (as its probalby due now) plus the "checks" they do

The fuel filter would have been an extra cost (though in itself it does not explain the £600 gap...).

Also, i the ATF and air filter were not done by an MB dealer or by a garage with access to DSB, the dealer may have assumed that they needed doing.

 

[Rory]

Its definitely better going through a call centre rather than dealing with the dealer direct as you are more likely to get a price match, but yes I agree, if they said it in the first place I would not bother shopping around. I'd rather get it done in one place.

That's interesting - I always got stone-walled by the call centre (Inchcape), but the dealer themselves were pretty amenable. However I got fed up with it, and use an indie now. I got an email off the dealer quite recently saying they would price match.

MB used to have fixed prices for things like pads and discs which were pretty aggressive but that fixed price menu disappeared a few years ago,

 

[kianok]

After my brother was quoted £700+ by MB to replace and fit Pads and Disks to his B-Class he approached an indy who quoted less than £500 and after speaking to Mercedes to book in a car for an AC recall/update they asked if he had had the brakes done as it was showing on their system, he mentioned an indy who uses only original Mercedes parts could do it for less than £500 so the said they could match the price.

I presume that was for all four?

Still sounds a bit expensive.

 

[markjay]

You can generate service quotes online on the MB website and choose the dealership, this way you get the full breakdown of costs.

Also the cost will vary from one dealership to another so the online comparison can save you some running around between dealers.

 

[wongl]

According to my indie who used to work for a main MB dealership, the dealership will run through the same (extended) checks regardless of A or B service since they would grab the opportunity to upsell while they have the car in the workshop!

 

[markjay]

According to my indie who used to work for a main MB dealership, the dealership will run through the same (extended) checks regardless of A or B service since they would grab the opportunity to upsell while they have the car in the workshop!

That's actually good news. So I book my car for an A service and in fact get more things looked at - sounds great.

For one thing, I was never comfortable with the idea that the wheels don't come off for an A Service. This means that the brakes only get proper visual inspection once every two years. If what you are suggesting is true, and they do take the wheels off for an A Service and properly inspect the brakes at their own expense (i.e. in the hope that they can sell me new discs and pads), than it's reassuring.

Every other car I have ever owned had the wheels removed and the brakes inspected at each service, MB is the only marque I know that don't carry-out a full brake inspection at each service (well, according to your friend, they actually do, just don't charge for it, so great).

 

[wongl]

That's actually good news. So I book my car for an A service and in fact get more things looked at - sounds great.

For one thing, I was never comfortable with the idea that the wheels don't come off for an A Service. This means that the brakes only get proper visual inspection once every two years. If what you are suggesting is true, and they do take the wheels off for an A Service and properly inspect the brakes at their own expense (i.e. in the hope that they can sell me new discs and pads), than it's reassuring.

Every other car I have ever owned had the wheels removed and the brakes inspected at each service, MB is the only marque I know that don't carry-out a full brake inspection at each service (well, according to your friend, they actually do, just don't charge for it, so great).

Before you get too excited, this was the practice at the dealership he worked at in Sussex, although he thought that this would be common practice across most MB dealership. It is a great opportunity to up sell their services for spending a little more time on inspection, probably akin to the free summer/winter checks dealership offers from time to time (with free wash and top up of vital fluids).