mobile life con ...or is it

[mark.t]

My Dads 76 years old and took his 180k 4 years old for a A service and MOT this morning ..... the service manager told my dad that because the cars 4 years old ...it would need new spark plugs, 2 filter eliments @ 70 each, brake fluid and esp remanagment ..... the up shot is he said if he dose not have the work done by them (mercedes) the car will no longer be covered under mobile life ...and they will not attend a breakdown if the work is not done by them talk about putting the frightners on a old man ... sounds a bit fishy to me they are trying to squeeze extra £350 + vat out of him. and tried selling him a A150 while he was waiting for the service..... bloody cheek....any mobil life experts out there HELP

 

[Rose Chap]

Mobilolife requires a full Mercedes-Benz service history once the car gets past a certain age. Not unreasonable for what's a 30 year breakdown warranty!

I would have thought replacing sparkplugs and filters at a service is both prudent and necessary. Also, brake fluid doesn't last forever. Unless the items your father is being quoted for were done at the last service as well then it seems fair enough to me.

Additionally, £350 for a service isn't that bad. My Smart car generally costs at least that for a service and that's significantly smaller than an A Class.

There are of course independants who will service the car for less, though of course you then lose Mobilolife cover.

You pays your money, etc etc.

 

[Spinal]

Assuming you mean MobiloLife...

It is correct that any work carried out on the car MUST* be done by Mercedes; it is their only way of ensuring that the process is properly carried out.

Immagine a situation where someone gets the service carried out to a low standard and as such the vehicle fails. Who is responsible? (or worst, immagine a situation where the owner tells Mercedes that the car was serviced when it was not - then, because of that, the brakes fail to stop the car).

*That said, there was a time when there was a cutoff date. If you serviced the car somewhere else before the cutoff date (if I'm not mistaken it was 3 years after the car is sold new) you could pay for an inspection and re-join MobiloLife.

So essentially, its a matter of asking yourself: how much is MobiloLife worth to you?

Michele
EDIT: Doh! Had to talk to someone while typing

 

[mark.t]

Mobilolife requires a full Mercedes-Benz service history once the car gets past a certain age. Not unreasonable for what's a 30 year breakdown warranty!

I would have thought replacing sparkplugs and filters at a service is both prudent and necessary. Also, brake fluid doesn't last forever. Unless the items your father is being quoted for were done at the last service as well then it seems fair enough to me.

Additionally, £350 for a service isn't that bad. My Smart car generally costs at least that for a service and that's significantly smaller than an A Class.

There are of course independants who will service the car for less, though of course you then lose Mobilolife cover.

You pays your money, etc etc.

no thats an extra £350.. on top of £176 for a service .....

 

[television]

I have swiped this from the other forum and is an answer from MB on rust.

In the unliklely event that any part of the bodywork or underbody should rust through from the inside, this will be repaired at a Mercedes-Benz Service Centre free of charge for labour and materials, to the exclusion of any further claims. You will find details of the individual services in your MobiloLife brochure.

The warranty against rusting through from the inside is valid for an initial period of 2 years from the date of first registration. Therefafter, this warranty is renewed every time a service is carried out at a Mercedes-Benz Service Center and is valid until the next service is due, up to a maximum of
30 years.

I hope that the above information is of benefit to you and should you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely

Rebecca Lemmens
Customer Service

 

[Rory]

I'm not sure if it's true or not, but there is a body of opinion that believes that you only have to have the basic servicing done by MB to maintain Mobilo - any additional work can be carries out by an independant.

Would MB keep a record (or note in the service book) the additional work, such that if you called out Mobilo the technician would know?

 

[crockers]

there is more than one MB dealer out there -- get a second opinion...

 

[DansSlk]

Michele,

I take it your not saying that if the car gets serviced at an independent then it will be sub par work are you? I know a few people on this forum me included who will be quite offended by that.

Mark,

Not quite understanding this, everything that needs doing at the cars age and mileage should be included in the service price itself and in fairness with that amount of miles they are probably not quoting things that don't actually need doing but they should not be saying the service will cost X and we think that you should do Y and Z.

A service is a service and everything needed should be included in that, incidentally not sure why the ESP was mentioned at all it's irrelevant.

 

[mercmanuk]

have a look in the service book,fluid change should be done at 3 yrs whatever the milage,spark plugs are 6yrs.
just had a quote for mine £196 with mobil 1 and 10% over 3 yr old discount.the other bits never mentioned and when i asked was told not due yet...what dealer was it whitefield!!!!!!!

 

[hawk20]

I'm not sure if it's true or not, but there is a body of opinion that believes that you only have to have the basic servicing done by MB to maintain Mobilo - any additional work can be carries out by an independant.

Would MB keep a record (or note in the service book) the additional work, such that if you called out Mobilo the technician would know?

That is correct. The T's and C's only require that services are done with an MB dealer.

 

[mercmanuk]

just called mb whitefield as my w203 is due a service.
quoted £201 with mobil 1 and 10% discount
then additions which are optional
airfilter £43
fuel filter £125
brake fluid £51
spark plugs £91.45
air con regas £149
how can the above be optional,they either need doing or they dont,after a heated debate i was passed onto the service manager who stated just have the basic a service at £201 then take to an independant and have the other work done,that way mb stamp the service book and the mobil life is upto date.
sounds very odd to me how can the xtra's be an option they either need to be done or not

 

[Spinal]

Michele,

I take it your not saying that if the car gets serviced at an independent then it will be sub par work are you? I know a few people on this forum me included who will be quite offended by that.

No of course not! My car goes to an independent on a regular basis (in fact, it hasn't seen the dealer since the day I bought it - and the odd time I go pick up some parts to mod it !)

What I meant was; mercedes have no way of "controlling" and "checking" what was done to the car. To give a silly example; if I decide to open service a car under MobiloLife myself; botch it up and thus cause further problems - its unreasonable to expect MB/MobiloLife to fix those problems free.

As MB aren't all-seeing and all-knowing; they can't be certain that unless a car was serviced by them that the service was done "properly". The service may be much better than at an MB garage, but they cannot be sure of that.

Sorry for any misunderstanding - I haven't slept much recently!
Michele

 

[DansSlk]

No of course not! My car goes to an independent on a regular basis (in fact, it hasn't seen the dealer since the day I bought it - and the odd time I go pick up some parts to mod it !)

What I meant was; mercedes have no way of "controlling" and "checking" what was done to the car. To give a silly example; if I decide to open service a car under MobiloLife myself; botch it up and thus cause further problems - its unreasonable to expect MB/MobiloLife to fix those problems free.

As MB aren't all-seeing and all-knowing; they can't be certain that unless a car was serviced by them that the service was done "properly". The service may be much better than at an MB garage, but they cannot be sure of that.

Sorry for any misunderstanding - I haven't slept much recently!
Michele

Understood thanks mate.

Sorry for the snappy reply having one of those days myself

 

[mark.t]

ok the items mentioned are to be changed at 4 year or the car has only 14,500 on the clock mileage equivalent intervals so the service guy has told my dad that if the sparkplugs brake fluid etc are not done by mercedes (whitefield) (yes baz) then his mobile life will be invalde and he has put a note on his account, me thinks he is trying it on as his service book is stamped A service 9th jan 08 and up to date with all the others i am feeling a phone call coming on and charging £350 + vat for that .

 

[DansSlk]

Oh sorry mate for some reason i was thinking of high mileage.

I can see the brake fluid point because of the cars age but the plugs is just taking the piss.

The car has been serviced and he cannot invalidate the Mobilio.

 

[Ian B Walker]

airfilter £43
fuel filter £125
brake fluid £51
spark plugs £91.45
air con regas £149

That's scandalous

 

[hawk20]

I think we should get clear that a Service is a service and there is no reason at all why it should include everything that needs doing. For example a typical A service is around £235 using Mobil 1. And a B service is around £450. BUT if you need pads and discs they are extra and cost more. Equally if you have a tyre or two that are on the edge of illegal, that is extra too. And if they spot that the exhaust has a small leak etc etc etc.

The point remains that only the Service itself needs to be done at an MB dealer in order to retain FullMBSH and to retain MobiloLife.

 

[DansSlk]

I think we should get clear that a Service is a service and there is no reason at all why it should include everything that needs doing. For example a typical A service is around £235 using Mobil 1. And a B service is around £450. BUT if you need pads and discs they are extra and cost more. Equally if you have a tyre or two that are on the edge of illegal, that is extra too. And if they spot that the exhaust has a small leak etc etc etc.

The point remains that only the Service itself needs to be done at an MB dealer in order to retain FullMBSH and to retain MobiloLife.

I'm sorry if I've read this wrong but from my understanding of your post you are basically saying a service includes X and Y but if they spot something wrong with Z thats extra.

Thats correct with all the examples you mention but R&R of fluid and plugs are included in the correct service, they are NOT additional items.

 

[hawk20]

I'm sorry if I've read this wrong but from my understanding of your post you are basically saying a service includes X and Y but if they spot something wrong with Z thats extra.

.

Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. The service is one thing. There are many other maintenance jobs and repairs too that can be done either elsewhere or at a different time. For example, the handbook may say new plugs at 6 years, or it may say 50,000 miles, or whatever. You are free to have these changed at an MB dealer when you are not being serviced, if you wish, when the time limit is reached or nearly so. You may not need a service for another few thousand miles. Or, if convenient, you could combine the service and plugs if they come close enough together.

Discs and pads can be done at the time of a service -and often are as it then that many of us have them checked. But they need not be. If the owner detects wear he can have them replaced at an MB dealer or elsewhere whenever he thinks it appropriate. It need not coincide with a service and should not be thought of as part of the service. Part of maintainance, yes, but not part of a standard service.

You often see in threads people saying 'the service cost me £1,000' or whatever. But it wasn't for the service. It included pads, discs, exhaust etc etc. Optional things that the mechanic noticed while doing the service and which he mentioned as he should do. They have a legal duty of care. I for one am delighted that they take the trouble to check other things, let me know what the problem is, and offer to put it all right if I want it done. Usually I have these items done by the MB dealer as mine is excellent and that is my choice. But I need not. I could say 'complete the B service only' and then I could take the rest elsewhere, as many others choose to do.

 

[DansSlk]

Agreed 100% but i'd just like to point out again here that yes you are free to change what you want when you want but if we assume the OP's father was not looking to have the plugs replaced and we also assume that with the miles on the car the plugs should not need replacing unless the it has some engine fault thats causing increased plug wear.

When the time comes that the plugs need replacing they will be done as a part of the main service just like the oil change not as an optional extra.