None MB spec fuel cleaner put in MB cars

[lofty]

I have just put another page on my site A160 ‘A’ & ‘B’ service schedules (Page 47) and having gone through my receipts from MB discovered that they have been putting fuel cleaner in my car without my approval or knowledge.
I contacted the branch and it was confirmed that the product was not produced by MB nor was it approved by them, when I asked why it was put in I was just “well we have always done it”. MB servicing is expensive anyway, this adds another £12.98 to the bill, how do other owners feel about this and is it being put in your car without you knowledge??.
I'm also concerned, because I have been using my own brand (used for many years) this means there has been a doubling up of fuel cleaners, which may not even be compatible, also I now concerned! Did this in anyway contribute to my mass air flow sensor failing at 29000 miles?
I have now contacted MB head office to find out what their policy is, I’m awaiting their answer.
lofty

 

[Dieselman]

Other than the fact that you have paid for two lots of fuel system cleaner I wouldn't be bothered by this.

It is normal practice for dealers to add a fuel system cleaner at service to de-gum the injectors and valves.
This is the reason why people feel adifference when the car has been serviced, virtually nothing else has any real effect on engine drivability.

This isn't the reason why the MAF failed as the MAF is in the airflow and doesn't contact any fuel. In addition MAF sensors do fail.

 

[neilrr]

Dieselman,

Could they use ATF instead?

How does that work?

Neil

 

[Dieselman]

The cleaning solvents in the ATF do the cleaning. ATF is generally kerosene based, not sure about the synthetic ones though.

 

[Rory]

I try not to think about these things because it just annoys me. To me, this is just another rip-off along the lines of the windscreen washer additive (at least MB leave the remains of the bottle, but £4.50 + VAT! - I buy it for £1.99 for 5L).

I had a 95p charge for 'Preservation' - what on earth's that?


I saw a Renault servicing bill the other day, as well as screen wash, they'd charged for:
Environmental charge!
Reducteur de fume!!
Consummable products!!!
Handy Lube!!!!

It's just outrageous - all this stuff should (if necessary) should be taken of by the hourly charge.

 

[Dieselman]

I try not to think about these things because it just annoys me. To me, this is just another rip-off along the lines of the windscreen washer additive (at least MB leave the remains of the bottle, but £4.50 + VAT! - I buy it for £1.99 for 5L).

I had a 95p charge for 'Preservation' - what on earth's that?


I saw a Renault servicing bill the other day, as well as screen wash, they'd charged for:
Environmental charge!
Reducteur de fume!!
Consummable products!!!
Handy Lube!!!!

It's just outrageous - all this stuff should (if necessary) should be taken of by the hourly charge.

Why should it, it's not labour??

 

[Rory]

Why should it, it's not labour??

because they're not items mentioned in the service schedule, and that's because they're not real things - they're simply scams.
I'd be amazed if the leasing companies pay for such items.

 

[PJH]

Environmental charge!

That's for disposing of the old oil.

 

[lofty]

lofty

Oh dear I hope I haven't got you lot going? I just realised I didn't mention the car care kit which is a bit of paper to put on the floor and a cover used to put on the seat @ 87pence , A can of aerosol lubricant for lubricating the bonnet hinge and boot lock @£3.85 can you really imagine standing with a whole can of lubricant waiting for it to run out? Then there is the environmental levy disposal of oils and filters what oil's they only replace one! That only cost £3.00 all of course plus VAT. And then to crack it all the use bulk storage oils, (and I have worked in a garage in my younger days) and then charge for it by the litre £5.99 for a litre of Mobil 1 Is it any wonder I have decided to service my own car, Are I hear you say but then you don't get the road side cover from Mobilo-life . Well the only time I used them they got the diagnostics wrong and it cost me £150 pounds Ok so I got that back from MB but it was hassle I could have done without.
lofty :bannana:

 

[Rory]

Where do these things end - why not charge for laundering the mechanics overalls ('of course they put clean ones on for each car, sir'), and the receptionist's lipstick ('you wouldn't want Chardonnay to look dog rough would you sir'?)?

I had a huge row in a hotel in the US where they added a per night room cleaning fee!! And that was on top of an energy surcharge, which the US courts subsequently declared illegal.

I'd also be keen to know which MB dealer charges £5.99/L for Mobil 1? Mine charges £12,95 +VAT = £15.21 per Litre for Castrol SLX. I took my own.

 

[ddentrec]

That's for disposing of the old oil.

...which is sold onto an oil processing firm for around 20p per litre. My brother in law does this for a living (and he reclaims restaurant oil too).

So, the customer is charged by the dealer, and the dealer also makes a cut on the recycled oil.

That is life.

 

[lofty]

lofty

Rory, MB Bognor Road Chichester West Sussex, Mind you I am talking about an invoice 11/03 the last one 01 /05 shows its gone up to £7.95. But the clever bit is that they charge for 5 litres ?? You got it the sump is full to the mark at 4.5 litres and MB emphasise “Do No overfill!” So where on earth do they put the other .5 of a litre? Well it doesn’t want much working out, for every 9th car serviced the Garage, make 100% profit on the oil supplied, that’s over and above the profit, if you get my meaning! So now I direct them to only fill with 4 litres and I put in the other .5 of a litre from a can purchased from Halfords. I'm not tight but I'm not being ripped off either.
Oh and watch out for the screenwash scam, full your washer bottle to the brim and see if they still manage to top it up with a bottle of screen wash, my garage did till I challenged them and asked them how the managed to get it in the reservoir, I will given the unused bottle of fluid without question.
lofty

 

[GrahamC230K]

Rory, So now I direct them to only fill with 4 litres and I put in the other .5 of a litre from a can purchased from Halfords. I'm not tight but I'm not being ripped off either.

You are in my book! The time and effort involved to work this out, worry about it and then be bothered to actually rectify it for the cost of half a litre!? Ask for half a litre of oil in a can from the dealer before you leave with the car maybe, but requesting the dealer to underfill your car sounds crazy if not inviting the dealer to have a "gotcha" ready should you have any oil level problems.

 

[Robbo]

The labour charges the dealers charge is so much that the cost of the odd half litre of oil and bottle of screenwash pales into significance. I'd not worry about it, but that's me.

 

[glojo]

Crikey,
This is fun. I suppose a fool and his money are soon parted, but I must confess to not going into fine detail on the items I paid for. I do check the bill and will query excessive over charging.

What about jam, or crisps?? Should we weigh each ingredient, just to make sure we are not being deceived?

I understand where your coming from and would not like to pay for 6 litres of oil but only get 4. However I do want the the right amount of oil added and would NEVER instruct a service department not to carry out the correct procedures? .5 of a litre???

John

 

[lofty]

lofty

You pay you money you take your choice! Multiply what I have highlighted over the period of a year in a busy MB garage and the benefits to the garage become obvious.
My getting the garage to under fill the sump was two fold, 1 many forums have indicated that their cars have been overfilled with oil, and 2 in my case I wanted to add engine additive, had the garage filled the sump to the correct level I would not have been able to add the additive without causing a problem. & Just as a point of interest when were you last given any thing for free on your service? I'll pay for 5 litres this service if they charge for 4 next service. They say that as you get older you get wiser, when you get older you also have to live on a pension, then you really do start looking after the pence. 'donations always welcome' but you can visit my web site for free.
lofty :bannana:

 

[Dieselman]

2 in my case I wanted to add engine additive, had the garage filled the sump to the correct level I would not have been able to add the additive without causing a problem.

What additive are you adding?

 

[GrahamC230K]

You should certainly ask for the raminder of the lubricants used etc if they have charged you for a whole can - I read that others get that as part of the service. I shy away from main dealers as the age of the car isn't worth the the glitz of a dealership. Newer car, I would think again.

 

[lofty]

lofty

greased lightning 236 ml with (ptfe) Polytetafloraetheylene

 

[Dieselman]

greased lightning 236 ml with (ptfe) Polytetafloraetheylene

I hope you haven't added this yet, if you have change the oil and filter.

All PTFE additives use ground paricles which A: don't really do aything and B: can clog the filter and score the bearing surfaces.

This is why MB say don't use any additives.

Your money would be better spent on better quality synthetic oil.