Mobilo-life To End And Service Plus.

[hawk20]

Give in - I have no idea!!

It would make sense to use local suppliers wherever practical and cost effective though.

I don't know either. But I imagine they ship the engines and many other componenets out from Europe as they are the same engines/gearboxes we get in many/most cases.

 

[hawk20]

If MB can profitably list the GL320CDi at $54K in the US then that makes the prices we pay already absurd.

That is the big if.

Lots of others sell cars at a loss in the USA.

 

[Rory]

The long term cost of Mobilo is huge. It provides free breakdown cover for 30 years.

The guarantee market is pretty competitive. Most seem to charge around £900-£1000 or more for an extended warranty on an E class. Service Plus gave virtually an extended warranty (on top of a service contract) for very much less than that. Great value. Probably far too good value especially now costs have risen sharply (currency etc etc).

Yet 3rd party warranty companies can cover for much less and extended warranty provision is known to be enormously profitable.

A significant part of ServicePlus's costs would be labour, oil etc which are all UK costs so unaffected by currency changes.

 

[crockers]

Cross subsidies spring to mind ..... Lucky we are so so rich in this country and so so soft as to take it...

what is the comparative cost of the same car in Denmark - they have a massive tax regime..The US cost is pre-tax ours are after tax - albeit ours being 17.5% (+any luxury tax --- or is that + any luxury tax and THEN +17.5%)...whereas the US varies from 0% to around 12% depending on the state..I believe Denmark is in the high 20's..

 

[jeremytaylor]

The big snag in the UK is depreciation. It's sooo much worse here than almost anywhere else. I have no idea what the answer is but I reckon if we got rid on the 6 month change numbers on registration plates then the new car market would all but collapse in the UK.

I think the big difference here compared to the rest of the world is our large fleet market, who all get their cars at a big discount. Hence the high 'day one' depreciation for punters who have 'only' got 10-12% discount. Depreciation is only great for those who choose to pay close to list. I bought a 1 month old pre-reg E320CDI estate at £10,000 off list a couple of years ago. When I sold it a year later, I 'only' lost £3,000 in actual depreciation, but compared to list it would have been £13,000!

Changing the reg plates would make a difference, but not that great a difference IMHO.

 

[Rory]

I think the big difference here compared to the rest of the world is our large fleet market, who all get their cars at a big discount.

I'm sure that's a factor, but the company car fleet is supposed to be decreasing as it becomes more heavily taxed - I opted out 3 years ago and I was one of the last in my company (100+ company cars).

All of our people across Europe certainly had company cars - is the UK so much different? I had a colleague from Finland here last week and he was astonished at how cheap used cars are here. If anything, 3yr old cars seem to be dropping in price here.

 

[bill3862]

I will do all I can to find out and post on this when I can. BUT I assume that existing cars will keep the cover given at time of sale but new cars registered, I think, from April 1st will have the new T's and C's.

I think Rory makes a good point about accounting practices getting stricter and stricter about making provisions for future liabilities. You make a car; think you have made a few hundred of profit but then the accountant says 'ah but if it goes wrong under guarantee it will cost; so we must make an appropriate deduction for that'

And if you offer 30 year rust guarantees, more provisions. And free long term breakdown cover. On it goes. I suppose we have been very lucky with the cover provided up till now.

Hawk 20

I quite agree but why offer in the first place 30 year rust guarantees - I think MB were confident of very limited payouts and played the 'prestige car' card hard - they got bitten very hard with quality being downgraded in late 90's with cost cutting exercises regarding galvanising and paint quality. Great damage to the prestige of the Marque and with depreciation rates now, no longer the long term prestige car.

Another example of wasting money is why MB have never resolved 'rusty wheelnuts' which must have cost them a fortune over the years - every MB I have owned has had a set replaced and guess what, my 2005 E Class is going in for the very same replacement next week - never ceases to amaze me how number crunchers can miss this drain on profits which must be easy to fix.

Bill

 

[jeremytaylor]

Yes, but wheel nuts must cost, er, peanuts, to replace. Unlike dealing with the rust on a W210 - that is what must have cost MB an absolute fortune!

 

[hawk20]

I have more details on New Mobilo. See new thread.

 

[bill3862]

Yes, but wheel nuts must cost, er, peanuts, to replace. Unlike dealing with the rust on a W210 - that is what must have cost MB an absolute fortune!

I am willing to wager that there are not MB vehicles of recent vintage that has not had wheelnuts replaced under warranty or could have should the owner bother to claim - multiply that by annual registrations since my first one in 2000 and that will add up to a very very tidy sum and, in my view, an unneccesary expenditure - only adds to the vast pile of loot spent on sorting out rust, rectifying/electronics and so on

Bill

 

[crockers]

I think my wheel nuts are ok...Dec 2005....just the wheels that aren't...lol..