New A/B class service indicator

[richard]

My A class (brand new A180CDI) is showing 12300 miles to its first service, but its saying it is a "B" service.
On my other mercs, it went A/B/A/B and B is/was expensive.

Anyone else out there with a newish diesel A/B class (or even a petrol one) who is willing to look at their service indicator and tell me what it says would be very much appreciated

Thanks
Richard

 

[Robbo]

B service, 11500 miles.

 

[DC_insider]

Brand new B180 CDi - Service B in 12,300 miles.

I was under the impression that it will vary between A or B services depending on how hard the car is driven (i.e the harder it is driven the more extensive the service required).

 

[richard]

Brand new B180 CDi - Service B in 12,300 miles.

I was under the impression that it will vary between A or B services depending on how hard the car is driven (i.e the harder it is driven the more extensive the service required).

Yup, so was I - so I looked in the service book, and service 1 is the light weight service, 2 is the heavier - 3 is oil change (always done with 1 and 2 services), 4-... all are all the brakefluid and filter changes done at certain times

So, assuming A=1 and B=2, it wants the heavier service - mines only done 300 very careful varied miles .. But it looks like MB want everyone to spend more money with the dealer on the first service in 12k miles

I need to go to the dealer - mine left its lights on (definetly on AUTO) and ran the battery down last night :-( So I will ask

Richard

 

[lofty]

lofty

Not so, If you had read my earlier post you will see that services go A-H at least that's what i was told by my branch. I was told that you won't know what the cost of or which service is reqd until the car is linked up to the computor, that it why I have held off buying a new A. I object strongly to not being able to pre determine what the cost of a service will be or what service is reqd. I even rang Head office and they couldn't or wouldn't tell me what was included in any given service .
Surely you asked about servicing when you considered purchasing? This time I afraid Its 'you pays the money they take the choice!'
However just as a point of interst If with your face lift A you had done a large mileage a 'B' Service could be followed by anther 'B'
Mind you I have only done a few miles this year but an 'A' didn't follow the prevous 'A', I suspect it's all got something to do with profits and losses?
Lofty.'

 

[richard]

Not so

Aha, so the A/B/C displayed doesnt correlate with the 1/2/3 in the service schedule book ... Oh well, I can see why they are considering going back to fixed interval servicing ...

No doubt, this is a good excuse for some of the less "honest" dealers to charge customer what they feel like !!

Cheers

Richard

 

[lofty]

lofty

Richard I haven't got or seen a service book for the new 'A' But I had heard it was a different regime of servicing and made enquiries of my branch and head office, as I said I was so disillusioned by what I heard that I have held off even looking at the new 'A' again. I was one of the first to drive it, see my site for the report I did way back, no mention of servicing though. I’m not going to be stitched up by MB for service costs unless and untill I can see what it is they are charging me for UP front. Somewhere there is a list of what's done when and unless I can access this information they can keep their car.
lofty

 

[BonzoDog]

Lofty.
I understand your position and although I am nostalgic for the days of carburretors, distributors and being able to do it all myslef, I don't miss it. In my view the flexible servicing scheme meets the need and the computer diagnosis is far more likely to spot needs than most of us with our overalls on. Electronics change not just the way the car works but the thinking behind how the car should and needs to be maintained. Although I regeret not feeling in control as I did previously I am far happier with the cars of today tahn those of previous eras.
When I reflect on all the many electronic improvements in the B Class and transpose these to a similar level of improvement in maintenance diagnostics, I am more than happy that the person starting work on my car knows exactly what to do and doesn't have to work through several manual checks, as was the practice years ago to work out what is wrong.
Although I have had little experience of our local dealer, every contact with them so far has been professional, courteous and helpful.
And our B class, like our E Class displays the service interval and approximates the type of service.

 

[lofty]

lofty

BonzoDog I understand the new servicing regime to a point On my model there were for instance many 'B' services all with variations, one with air filter, one with brake fluid, the there was the coolant change etc all falling under cat 'B' Then there are the extras tasks such as brakes etc etc . All I'm saying is if my car goes for service and it falls into a mileage category then I want to know what they are supposed to do on that service and what its going to cost me upfront, without extras. I don't think that is unreasonable. If your not careful the size of the bill will depend on how many cars have been booked in for that days work. And I'm having none of it I know what my present 'A' & 'B' Services costs as well as what the extras cost, also when they are due, I can't work out a schedule of costs on this new 'A' because nodody knows only the computor, My present sytem of Assyst suits me fine. So they can keep my New 'A' until word leaks out what they are doing and when.
lofty.

 

[saorbust]

Richard,

Be advised that as your car is new the service indicator doesn't have much data to go on. Given its a new car and you are running it in, I'd expect that to change to an 'A' as you put more miles on it.

My E had 'D' Service at the time of collection - but the first service turned out to be an 'A'. After about 14,000 miles.

J.

 

[Robbo]

Update,

Ours now has done 1300 miles and now says 10700 miles to A service. it has changed from B to A.

 

[Flash]

I was under the impression that it will vary between A or B services depending on how hard the car is driven (i.e the harder it is driven the more extensive the service required).

Only additonal item replaced in a B service in comparison to an A Service is just one "single" filter at almost double the price of an A service as well as some other basic checks and any other work would be charged for as additonal work as a result of the additional checks.