mercedes 'tesco finest' range of servicing

[GP801]

In my experience dealers are willing to negotiate on both labour and parts charges on older cars. Well at least MB Gatwick are. Rather than use the 7+ scheme why not just ask for a better price to get the same work as the full service schedule for a lower cost. Best of all worlds. I have done this for years now. It still works out slightly more than using an Indie but when you factor in the convenience (the dealer is less than 10 minutes from my work) there is very little in it.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Also forgot to mention it's having a recall done on some ABC pipe, this was something I wasn't aware of.

I'll definitely check on this Mobilo thing though, the only time I needed to use it on a previous Mercedes was on my W220 (which had full mercedes history) but the servicing schedule was slightly out on one of the services and they refused to come out...

 

[SamW]

Mobilo or not, a couple of hundred quid for a mb service with mb parts by mb techs with mb service stamp is happy days in my book.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Mobilo or not, a couple of hundred quid for a mb service with mb parts by mb techs with mb service stamp is happy days in my book.

Don't forget the 'free' valet, inside and out.

 

[markjay]

I think there is too much emphasis on cost... what put me off delear servicing was not the high cost - I was and still am willing to pay that - it was the lack of professionalism displayed by both the so-called 'service advisor' and mechanic who carried out the service. I would not want these pair anywhere near my car ever again...

Not to mention poor customer service as no one was interested in hearing the negative feedback, let alone do something to about it.

Keeping the book stamped with dealer stamps makes sense only up to a point, it is almost expected that owners do not continue with dealer service after 3 or 4 years and I doubt there will be any difference in the market value of a 5 years old car (bar perhaps some of the more exotic AMG variants) where the last service or two were carried-out by a reputable MB specialist.

 

[philepo]

Keeping the book stamped with dealer stamps makes sense only up to a point, it is almost expected that owners do not continue with dealer service after 3 or 4 years and I doubt there will be any difference in the market value of a 5 years old car

Totally disagree. When I was searching for a Merc over the last few months (I looked a lot!), the FMBSH cars were snapped up very very quickly. It may not add an amazing amount to the value (5/10 % at a guess), but you will find it much easier to sell as it grabs attention and gives a sense of reassurance (even if it is misplaced).

rgds

 

[Spinal]

Totally disagree. When I was searching for a Merc over the last few months (I looked a lot!), the FMBSH cars were snapped up very very quickly. It may not add an amazing amount to the value (5/10 % at a guess), but you will find it much easier to sell as it grabs attention and gives a sense of reassurance (even if it is misplaced).

rgds

A while ago, I looked at an S320 which I quite liked. Oddly low mileage (important to me as it means it wasn't a cab running 24hrs a day). Full MBSH in the books with all the stamps to prove it.

As always, I called a dealership to confirm, and they were happy to confirm that the last service had happened 3+ years before, and that they had no record of any service since. Yes the booklet had 4 stamps since.

A quick look on ebay will confirm how little you should rely on service books; searching for "mercedes service book" returns 124 results. Some will offer to "recover" your "lost" service history, some will sell you a fake dealer stamp, others will sell a complete service book, minus the car details...

Be wary out there
M.

 

[flango]

These days a stamped service book means nothing unless its backed up by receipts, as Spinal says just look on e bay then a £6 stamp from staples and you are all set. I've seen loads of fake histories service books covering a 5 year period written in the same pen and same handwriting (how stupid can you get) to faked BMW dealer stamps. It a big bad world out there

 

[Zulu 10]

Whilst it might be possible to fake a service book, I doubt it's as easy to fool the ASSYST computer inside the vehicle: mine, when connected to Star, happily churned out its memory of what had been done and when.
Thankfully it confirmed that my year 2008 car really has only done 33,000 miles.

That said I'd still rather use an independent than a main dealer.
The web site referred to by the OP lists the tasks which the 'service' will include but neatly fails to mention the per-litre cost of any replenishments which might arise from each check.

 

[mejermy]

I do all the servicing on my elderly 2004 E220Cdi estate. I update the ASSYST on screen entries each time and the record is accurate and true. I see nothing to stop the dishonest updating the ASSYST screen in just the same way, but without bothering to do the work. Much like filling in the service book fraudulently.

 

[whitenemesis]

ASSYST is only going to know what the tech bothers to tell when he resets the display. Apart from the recorded mileage the rest is all manually input

 

[Zulu 10]

ASSYST is only going to know what the tech bothers to tell when he resets the display. Apart from the recorded mileage the rest is all manually input

So how can a vehicle be 'clocked' to remove all the entries that have been previously stored? Star doesn't seem to offer a facility to delete service entries from the ASSYST record.

 

[whitenemesis]

I didn't say it could be 'clocked' I said one couldn't rely on the information stored there being either complete or accurate.

 

[philepo]

Whilst it might be possible to fake a service book, I doubt it's as easy to fool the ASSYST computer inside the vehicle: mine, when connected to Star, happily churned out its memory of what had been done and when.
Thankfully it confirmed that my year 2008 car really has only done 33,000 miles.

That said I'd still rather use an independent than a main dealer.
The web site referred to by the OP lists the tasks which the 'service' will include but neatly fails to mention the per-litre cost of any replenishments which might arise from each check.

Perhaps the words 'fixed' and 'priced' have a different meaning in your experience!?

 

[Zulu 10]

Perhaps the words 'fixed' and 'priced' have a different meaning in your experience!?

The point which I was trying, but clearly failing, to make is that the value service price includes tasks for which the verb uses the word “check” rather than “replenish”.
This suggests that any fluids requiring replenishment will be chargeable.
So by the time the customer has paid the per litre cost of a slight top-up of Anti freeze, Brake Fluid and Transmission Fluid (as required), the total bill may be higher than expected.

To answer your question regarding fixed price: as a former programme manager in the defence industry I’m well aware of the meaning of quoting a fixed price prior to commencing a job, but I’ve never felt the need to subsequently honour it….

 

[flango]

So how can a vehicle be 'clocked' to remove all the entries that have been previously stored? Star doesn't seem to offer a facility to delete service entries from the ASSYST record.

20 second job to delete the entries or falsify them this data means about as much as a stamped service book I mentioned earlier.

You need to look deeper into the diagnostic/developer programming that is out there must electronic records on cars can be changed or erased. Also most cars have a separate EDR independent of systems like ASSYST it is these EDR's that criminals usually fail to delete because they don't know they exist as they dont appear on dealer diagnostic systems such as Star.