Not a great first MB service experience
- Thread starter spwells2002
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Yes you are right though the cost of a gearbox oil change does bring tears to the eyes. I am old enough that £260 is more than twice what I paid for my first car! Though of course it is hard to compare an A35 and the E350!
I don't buy that they didn't know what car they were servicing, before it was in the workshop and given W212s have been around since 2009 a fair number of E350s must have been through their hands for a 3rd year service. Therefore to ring up just as I was leaving to go back to collect the car and double the cost of the service and implicitly suggest I was lucky they had the parts in stock so could do it there and then, was stretching my credulity. The oil change and the parts must have been a regular occurrence. If they really didn't have the appropriate service schedule for the car, then the whole system of electronic service records would appear to be not worth the paper it isn't written on!
As I expect the car will outlive me, it was bought as a last car, I suspect a full M-B service record is irrelevant and I will explore the local independents next year and make my own breakdown cover arrangements. Not for reasons of cost but hopefully a better overall service experience and so I don't have to make more mountains out of molehills next year!
Exactly what I was getting at, service wasn't what you wanted so go somewhere else... What's the point in a big rant and getting all stressed about it... Not worth it over a gearbox fluid change.
Cathartic to vent sometimes.
spwells2002
New Member
You're right by my standards that was a vent, not a rant, certainly not a "big rant"!
Mrhanky
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I think the reaction of the OP to the dealers information at the eleventh hour was and is totally reasonable.
Just find a decent indy who can do it for you as sticking with an MB service record means nothing when its your last car.
Just find a decent indy who can do it for you as sticking with an MB service record means nothing when its your last car.
spwells2002
New Member
6cyl
Active Member
Pooer service by yor local MB. Service rep should've checked ESS and told you what was required. I called my local MB and they told me exactly what was required and the cost. I totted up the serviving costs for the next few years and for me, it was cheaper to go on the monthly servicing plan and stay on the dealer network rather than go indy. The indys here are more expensive than the franchised dealers !!
As an aside, I had to twist arms to get the supplying (MB) dealer to do the transmission service, even when the ESS said the car needed it. The service is time intensive and the oil is expensive. Supplying dealer and local dealer not the same.
As others have said, well worth doing as it improves the gearshift and prolongs the life of the gearbox.
As an aside, I had to twist arms to get the supplying (MB) dealer to do the transmission service, even when the ESS said the car needed it. The service is time intensive and the oil is expensive. Supplying dealer and local dealer not the same.
As others have said, well worth doing as it improves the gearshift and prolongs the life of the gearbox.
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It is annoying the way MB do servicing pricing - on our Honda and Mitsubishi, everything that is needed at any particular service interval is included in the price.
Snag with that is, especially for higher mileage users, some items end up being replaced more often than needed.
I must admit I'm a bit dubious about the ATF change - as mentioned earlier, mine doesn't have a change requirement in ESS so the dealer wouldn't do it as part of the old ServicePlus scheme.
A couple of years later I decided to get it done and had the devil of a job persuading the dealer to do it. I wondered if I'd be able to tell if they'd actually done it, but they managed to introduce an 'uncertainty' into the changes that just wasn't there before.
Unless you're keeping the car for a long time, you're changing it for the next owner rather than for your own benefit.
spwells2002
New Member
I will certainly get it done now I know what it is and that it is on the ESS. As you say it should have been quoted for at the time I booked the service, then it wouldn't have looked like I had been baited by a reasonable service price and trapped by the discovery late on that it needed another piece of work that doubled the price. I have never had that experience before, only calls to advise of items needing replacement that genuinely couldn't have been foreseen. It wasn't what I expected from service from a premium brand. Still naive I guess!
emma9403
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Mb nottingham
Hi guys , I put a post up last week about mb nottingham. I took my car there for a service and ended up coming out with a £1300, I must admit I did pay nearly £500 for service and oil changes. For some reason the rest of the work they wanted to carry out I didn't believe so I took my car to another garage to check what mb had advised and they told me none of that work needed doing! I was fumming as you can imagine and won't be returning
Hi guys , I put a post up last week about mb nottingham. I took my car there for a service and ended up coming out with a £1300, I must admit I did pay nearly £500 for service and oil changes. For some reason the rest of the work they wanted to carry out I didn't believe so I took my car to another garage to check what mb had advised and they told me none of that work needed doing! I was fumming as you can imagine and won't be returning
After Shock
Active Member
Sadly this is a story that you herar so many times. (I'm sure I don't have to say "anything about being a girlie"!!!)((jokkkkke)). MB seem to get away with this on a regular basis. Having said that so do BMW, etc. My garage is great. But being a small independent is often questioned over bills or what is necessary work. Odd how some people take the word of a swish MB dealership yet will question a proper "grease monkey" who knows how to do a better, proper job.emma9403 said:
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Dieselman
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Seems to happen a lot nowadays...
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It does greatly irritate me that even in this day and age I can't leave my wife or daughters to buy and look after their own cars. Tried it a couple of times and both time the dealers basically tried to steal money off them by demanding more money than had been agreed in advance.
After Shock
Active Member
Rory said:
My comment was very tongue in cheek honest.
Dealerships do it to blokes too! Dealerships at least don't discriminate in this respect!
makita6030
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Hey Guys,
I'm finding it hard to understand how to post my first message! Forgive me if this is the wrong section, I only joined this evening…
I've got a CLS 320 56 plate. Sometimes when I accelerate hard (automatic),it judders, then sometimes it goes into slow mode where it will not change up or down!
If I then turn off the ignition and start the engine again, everything is fine. I get the impression it's not a mechanical fault but a sensor or electronic. Has anyone else experienced this at all? I'm not a mechanic, far from it, but it doesn't feel like it's the gearbox itself…Any suggestions? It's done 85K
SORRY to post here but am finding it hard to navigate to do it properly. I'm an idiot.
I'm finding it hard to understand how to post my first message! Forgive me if this is the wrong section, I only joined this evening…
I've got a CLS 320 56 plate. Sometimes when I accelerate hard (automatic),it judders, then sometimes it goes into slow mode where it will not change up or down!
If I then turn off the ignition and start the engine again, everything is fine. I get the impression it's not a mechanical fault but a sensor or electronic. Has anyone else experienced this at all? I'm not a mechanic, far from it, but it doesn't feel like it's the gearbox itself…Any suggestions? It's done 85K
SORRY to post here but am finding it hard to navigate to do it properly. I'm an idiot.
After Shock
Active Member
makita6030 said:
We have all been new to forums at some point so don't worry!
Look at the different topics. There is a "new members" area. Say hello there.
Then look at "general". You can read different threads. Add in comments in the box at the bottom.
It gets easier after a while.
As regards your problem. Sorry I haven't got a clue. Someone on here will have though.
Look at "general discussion".
"New thread" box at top. Type in a "subject" in the box and ask this as a fresh question.
Good luck and stick with it.
spwells2002
New Member
Hmmm
When I went to pump up the tyres tonight prior to a long fully-laden journey, I discovered I no longer had the tyre pressure information on the inside of the fuel filler flap. Any thoughts on why that might have been removed during a service? I haven't had cause to open the fuel flap since. The joys of the 80l tank!
When I went to pump up the tyres tonight prior to a long fully-laden journey, I discovered I no longer had the tyre pressure information on the inside of the fuel filler flap. Any thoughts on why that might have been removed during a service? I haven't had cause to open the fuel flap since. The joys of the 80l tank!
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Hmmm... the conspiracy theorist in me thinks they may have dented the car and repainted it (possibly replacing the damaged fuel filler flap)? How long did the have the car for....?
spwells2002
New Member
No only had it 6 hours.
