Overdue Service

[Pappilo]

My Merc will be a year old on 22 December and I am due to take it for its A service on that day. Because of the snow, I moved the car out of harms way yesterday evening but was I shocked at the way the car handled. It was sliding all over the place for the 20 yard drive to the back of my house.

There is no way I will be driving that car to the dealer 3miles away if that is the way it handles. I,ll like to know if there are any penalties for not doing the service bang on 1 year or before. Say for example I get it rebooked to be done on 4 January.

Never thought I would say this but my Pug handles a 100 times better than my Merc in the snow!

 

[Alps]

im sure you will be fine, ask the dealer to collect it ) lol

 

[Aoraki]

Mine had first "A" service last Friday, it was nearly 20 days overdue. No problem encounted at all.

 

[Fizzer]

Do you not just get the car serviced when the car tells you? (via dashboard).
I got a letter from Mercedes saying mine was due an A service but I took delivery on the 12th of Feb this year and the car says it has about 4500 miles to the A service. Should it be serviced at 12 months (so 12th Feb 2011) irrespective of what the cars service indicator says?

 

[markjay]

Due to low mileage, I get the Dashboard warning for service after between 15 to 21 months. This does not stop the dealer from calling me after 12 months reminding me that the car is due a service.

 

[Gemdo]

I've heard you're best to get a car serviced every year no matter if the sufficient mileage hasn't been covered. Just so everything keeps fresh and clean. If you have a car from new, routine is the best form of maintainance, keep it serviced every year without fail. But remember its like a sell by date - you would still use the milk 3 days past it if it still smelt and tasted fine!

 

[LTD]

3 miles - amateur !

You just need to learn how to drive.

Delicate feet, delicate hands.

 

[Dryce]

I've heard you're best to get a car serviced every year no matter if the sufficient mileage hasn't been covered. Just so everything keeps fresh and clean.

Well each to his own.

I just let my car tell me when it wants a service and comply.

 

[tagnut]

Some of the fluids in the car will degrade over time. Coolant and brake fluid definitely do.

As coolant degrades it becomes more acidic. It eventually becomes corrosive and starts eating away at your cooling system. Brake fluid absorbs moisture which lowers the boiling point significantly and can lead to reduced braking performance or even failure in certain circumstances.

I don't know about the degradation of oil or other fluids over time but personally like to make sure that all fluids are changed on the intervals recommended even when this means the time is up but the miles aren't.

I don't use main dealers and my local indy is very reasonably priced. As I intend to keep my car for a long time I consider this an investment in it's longevity.

 

[Pappilo]

Thanks guys.

When I started it on Friday 17, it said service due.

The roads are starting to become passable again and may have improved the more by Wednesday. If it doesnt snow again then I may take it for its service on Wednesday.

Just incase it snows again before Wednesday, Is the consensus that it is ok to leave it till when it is safe to drive to dealer?

@ LTD

Amatuer you say? I hear you. I,ll bet my life you couldnt do half the things I can do with a car. I drive my Pug 307 in the snow with no problems and I have just come in from doing doughnuts in the car park :bannana:but the expereince I got from driving the Merc (first time driving a rear wheel drive car in snow) on Friday gave me a real scare. I put the car in drive and took my foot of the brake and it edged forward, I then stepped on the brake and the car wouldnt stop. The kerb save me from going into my neighbours house. My Merc is my pride and joy and wouldnt want to wreck it just because of an A service.

 

[tagnut]

Thanks guys.

W
Just incase it snows again before Wednesday, Is the consensus that it is ok to leave it till when it is safe to drive to dealer?

Absolutely no issue with this at all. I don't know what the warranty requirements are but you will be able to run so far over without impacting the warranty (think my Audi was 10% when I had it)

 

[s88]

There are limits in miles and months but you have a long time to go.

 

[steve333]

How i understand it is if you were to buy a mercedes new & do low mileage say 5k a year assyst won't show service due until probably 2 years but newer mb's(mine included)call for servicing every 15k miles or annually whichever comes first so the problem you could encounter is if you waited until assyst called for service due & the 12 months had elapsed both your mb warranty & mobilo/mobilife would become invalidAs far as coolant/brake fluid changes are concerned they are both non service items & will be invoiced seperately when due(brake fluid on my cls is every 2 years,coolant every 15 years).

 

[tagnut]

coolant every 15 years).

Yeah and my ATF doesn't ever need changing according to MB .....each to his own but I would never leave coolant in a car for any longer than 2 years and usually change annually.

 

[steve333]

Yeah and my ATF doesn't ever need changing according to MB .....each to his own but I would never leave coolant in a car for any longer than 2 years and usually change annually.

Agreed about the coolant(can't believe the service book says 15 years),strangely enough my service book says the autobox oil/filter should be changed once only at 40k(so what happens after that if it gets to 200k)

 

[tagnut]

As far as coolant/brake fluid changes are concerned they are both non service items & will be invoiced seperately when due.

Didn't realise these were considered non service items. They are shown with a tick box on every page of my service book.

 

[steve333]

Didn't realise these were considered non service items. They are shown with a tick box on every page of my service book.

By tick do you mean they were carried out at the relevant service?(mb will contact you if say your brake fluid change is due when your car is in for service but will invoice it seperately,i.e. over & above the price of the service unless you have an mb serviceplan)

 

[GP801]

They seem to vary quite a lot. Ours only do a low mileage. The CLK asks for a service every 2 years. The SLK every 15-18 months. I think the "extras" such as brake fluid, coolant spark plugs etc I am told depend on the individual vehicles history. Can be quite confusing at times especially now the old A and B service now seem to run as A - E. The dealer tells me they largely ignore the A-E letters

 

[Aoraki]

New MB's are not on ASSYST any more, fixed servicing max 1 year, only "A" & "B" services (plus LOADS of age related items).

 

[tagnut]

By tick do you mean they were carried out at the relevant service?(mb will contact you if say your brake fluid change is due when your car is in for service but will invoice it seperately,i.e. over & above the price of the service unless you have an mb serviceplan)

No what I mean is that on every page where the dealer stamps box is there is also a number of tick boxes for things like coolant, brake fluid etc for the person carrying out the service to indicate if these have been done as part of the service or not.

Understood that cost of the service is greater if these are done at the same time just never occurred to me that they aren't considered service items.

Don't have a service plan and don't use MB. I spend enough on the car already without using the stealers