Mercedes Service Plan

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Fastcar155

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Hi , just had my car annual service on a Mercedes Service Plan and the brake fluid has not been changed by the serving dealer.

The brake fluid has been changed every two years on the Mercedes service plan.

The dealer told me that Mercedes provide them with a list of work they will pay for and change of break fluid was not authorised for change.

Another job for next week !

What really annoys me that the dealer could have told me that the brake fluid had not been changed.

I was told many years ago West Midlands / West Mercia Police check brake fluid condition when a major RTA happens as a matter of course !

The reason this happened according to the dealer

Because I had booked the car in early for the service this was the reason Mercedes would not authorise the bfc , but if I had booked the car in late the brake fluid would have been authorised by Mercedes and changed.

Update

The dealer told me they would see what they could do about it , as I pointed out to them I have paid for the work to be done.
 
This issue of items not being included in the service has cropped up before; it happened to me years ago (car was on a service plan at the time); I'd booked it in early, but only a matter of weeks, so that it was done before I went on holiday and the atf was due. Not covered said the sevice manager, not showing on the system as due. Common sense went out of the window, computer said 'no'. 'We only get paid for what shows on the system'. Of course, a couple of weeks later it would have been showing.

Long story cut short, they did it, but only after a lengthy 'discussion' and me refusing to sign their paperwork before the service started and it put me right off them.
(Similar case with a friend, but using an indy this time, requested atf change, even the indie didn't do it because it wasn't showing on the system as due, he uses a different indie now who is happy to do what the customer wants done.)
 
Mine is on the old variable servicing intervals and every visit to the dealer was a battle due to the ESS not showing things if it was early in time, or, if the time had passed, the system assumed the work had already been done.

I'd go in and they'd regale me with great lists of work, to which I'd eagerly nod. Then they'd ask how I'd be paying and I'd say "ServicePlus" (now defunct) and they'd visibily slump. Amazingly it would turn out that the car only needed an oil and filter change.

I'm convinced that even when other work was called for they didn't do it. I got the copy invoices at 6yrs old and it had apparently never had an air filter change.
 
So far my W204 had 4 services done by MB Brooklands under the Service Care Plan, and they have always done exactly was was due at the time (I did check it earlier on the free ESS Lite website).

I have also had them confirm prior to booking what was showing as due on their system. But then my car has always been serviced on-time (not earlier than it should).

I guess that with the Service Care Plan, if you want to maximise the value, you simple have to do your homework and be on top of things, rather than just dump the car at the dealer and hope for the best.
 
So far my W204 had 4 services done by MB Brooklands under the Service Care Plan, and they have always done exactly was was due at the time (I did check it earlier on the free ESS Lite website).

I have also had them confirm prior to booking what was showing as due on their system. But then my car has always been serviced on-time (not earlier than it should).

I guess that with the Service Care Plan, if you want to maximise the value, you simple have to do your homework and be on top of things, rather than just dump the car at the dealer and hope for the best.
Hi , Main reason that I booked the car in early is the lead times being offered by MB dealers for service.
 
I was told many years ago West Midlands / West Mercia Police check brake fluid condition when a major RTA happens as a matter of course !
Was it a bloke in the pub that told your this?
 
I also have a service plan with Mercedes. They changed the brake fluid on my E63 on its 2 year old service last year.
 
I do believe you, I don’t believe your drinking buddy.
Hi , no this information was given to me by the owner of an Audi specialist local to me.

I don't thing extracting the Michael but will ask him next week and post a reply.
 
I don’t think it's unreasonable to say that the police will inspect the mechanical condition of a vehicle involved in a serious crash? If anything, then to rule-out any claims by the driver that the car malfunctioned or that the 'brakes didn't work' etc. They have done this after the Selby train crash, for example, to prove that Gary Hart did fall asleep at the wheel, and did not career off the road due to blown tyre. That said, I don't know if they specifically check the moisture content of the brake fluid, and even if they did, I am not sure that they'll find anything amiss just because the last scheduled fluid change was skipped.
 
MB email me when my service is due so I book it in get get my free courtesy car booked, tell them what I expect to be done and on returning make sure it has been. But it's not all been plain sailing, like the time the idiots jacked the offside front up, when the nearside door crumpled on a tool box, I wrote about it on here at the time. For £120 plus per HR labour we should expect better. Rant over.
 
According the the digital service record on my Merced’s Me portal I’ve had the following done on EVERY service !

Brake pads front axle replaced, Brake pads rear axle replaced, Rear axle: Oil change, Dust filter replaced, AdBlue refilled, Battery for KEYLESS-GO key replaced, Brake discs of front axle replaced, Brake discs of rear axle replaced, Air filter element replaced, Spark plugs replaced, Fuel filter replaced, Automatic transmission: oil and filter change / Oil change of transfer case (4MATIC), Coolant replaced, Engine: oil and filter change, Brake fluid replaced
 
That said, I don't know if they specifically check the moisture content of the brake fluid, and even if they did, I am not sure that they'll find anything amiss just because the last scheduled fluid change was skipped.

On many makes changing the brake fluid is reagrded as a 'customer option' - VW service plans, for example, don't include it. Oddly the VW dealer my wife's car goes to never mentions it - I have to ask. So even if the fluid was tested and found to be deficient, it's diffcult to know what the police / CPS could do about it.
 
Mechanical failure is often claimed by drivers as the cause of a crash, rather than admit (for example) that they didn't apply the brakes because they were too busy texting.

A mechanical fault, if found, will - in the majority of cases - actually exonerate the driver, apart for cases where negligence can be proven. Drivers generally discharge their responsibility for the maintenance of their cars by having them serviced by a professional.

In most cases the police will look to to prove that there was nothing wrong with the vehicle and therefore the driver is at fault.

Of course there will be some cases where a mechanical check will find faults that amount to criminal negligence, but this is not a common occurance. For example if the car owner refused a safety-related repair that was flagged-up by the garage as needing doing.
 
If the car was booked in and the service date was earlier than the 2 yr interval then I doubt the brake fluid change would show on the ESS.
Booked in the day after the 2yr interval and I would bet it would show up.
 
In most cases the police will look to to prove that there was nothing wrong with the vehicle and therefore the driver is at fault.
Unless someone is killed or seriously injured as a result of an RTA, the Police won’t be doing any vehicle examination. And that includes not checking the brake fluid :rolleyes:
 
Unless someone is killed or seriously injured as a result of an RTA, the Police won’t be doing any vehicle examination. And that includes not checking the brake fluid :rolleyes:

Agreed. He did say 'major RTA', though (and if I remember correctly, 10 people died in the Selby train crash).
 
At any rate, I wasn't arguing as such that the police will inspect cars etc, the point I was trying to make is a slightly different one - that in the event that a car is being inspected following a crash (in whatever circumstances), if a mechanical failure is found, in the majority of cases it will actually exonerate rather then incriminate the driver.
 

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