Service Care, Worth it ?

[Godot]

Just had the M.O.T. done on our 55 reg A class 180cdi Auto..no worries, we only do about 4/5,000 mile a year & drove into Vikings at Canterbury for the M.O.T.
Drove into Vikings just as the Odometer reading turned to 21,000. I had letters last June from Viking saying that if I was on a "timed based serviced indicator" I should be due a service in June. Yesterday the distance service indicator told me I still had 3,495 miles to go.

Had made enquiries at the "Warranty Wise" (I think that's what it's called) fronted by that nice Quentin Wilson looked nice, also looked a tad expensive.

Made enquiries at the Service Desk, as I believed that Mercedes did the same sort of thing, i remembered speaking to about 3 years ago. The helpful chap, there said "Yes they did, need to get signed up for it as soon as the next service would be the B service."

I know that this year I will be doing a lot of driving, possibly twice our normal.

Looking at the booklet he gave me..A Class £22.50 a month for 3 years for 3 services seems a good deal for the wallet, instead of a big lump coming out.

Any thoughts, advices welcome

 

[Soltan]

What I liked about Quentin's Warranty was that it excluded hardly anything. I suspect that the Merc one cannot say the same. When I briefly looked at the leaflet a few months ago it only seemed to cover service parts, and only some of those. Didn't seem worth it for me.
I would have prefered a single solution that covered everything, i.e. no more headaches or anything to worry about, but as you say, it's a bit pricy.

 

[moonloops]

Looking at the booklet he gave me..A Class £22.50 a month for 3 years for 3 services seems a good deal for the wallet, instead of a big lump coming out.

Any thoughts, advices welcome

£270 per service assuming one every year - £810 total cost for three years.. How much does a standard A and B service cost on the A class?

There will be a lot of things not included I bet and they will charge you for them on top of the payment plan.

Do they give you it in writing than ALL and every service item is covered e.g. brake fluid, coolant change, spark plugs (if petrol) etc etc??

It would work out cheaper if you were doing mega mileages each year I guess.

 

[Godot]

Mercedes-Benz UK - Servicing - Service Care

It states in the brochure, but not on the web site, "Service Care guarantees the price of parts and labour for up to three services and safeguards against any further inflationary increases. Furthermore, it covers the cost of all standard service items including spark plugs,air filters, fuel filters & screen wash.

The chap at Vikings said (I was in a bit of a hurry) that it basically covered everything except wear & tear stuff, like tyres, wipers, batteries, scratches etc. & it covered labour too. I hope to be in contact with him in the next few days to question further, but I am obliged for your input.

I think the attraction is the monthly payment versus the large (for me, old, retired, befuddled , technophobic, numerically dyslexic bear of little brain) lump sum

 

[Colin_b]

My SLK is covered, about £33 a month, one service a year. The one service so far was completely covered, no extras at all.

 

[Rory]

Had made enquiries at the "Warranty Wise" (I think that's what it's called) fronted by that nice Quentin Wilson looked nice, also looked a tad expensive.

Made enquiries at the Service Desk, as I believed that Mercedes did the same sort of thing, i remembered speaking to about 3 years ago. The helpful chap, there said "Yes they did, need to get signed up for it as soon as the next service would be the B service."

Be careful here - you're comparing two entirely different things.

Warranty Wise (and others, such as Warranty Direct, or even Mercedes own extended warranty) cover unexpected failure of components such as engine, gearbox etc etc.

Mercedes ServiceCare covers the cars standard servicing requirements - ie oil & filter change and other items required on a time/mileage basis such as brake fluid change and spark plugs (for petrol cars). That's it - anything else such as brake pads wearing out, or some item failing, ie the alternator, would be down to you to pay for.
These cars don't need a lot of servicing, and the dealers will often do them cheaper as the car gets older, so you probably won't save money by having the monthly plan. On the other hand you can "lose" £22.50/mth whereas a chunky bill tends to smart.


Mercedes used to have a scheme called "ServicePlus" which I had, and that basically covered all service and repair. But they stopped doing it a couple of years ago, apparently because it was costing them a fortune.

 

[Godot]

Update :

Spoke the man at Vikings Canterbury again today, going in tomorrow, questioned him on a few matters to clarify things.

He reiterated the wear & tear issues, used "bushes & tyres" as examples & said any other items that were agreed wear & tear. I questioned him more specifically about the Labour matter.

He stated quite categorically that the Cost of Labour is included along with cost of parts & lubricants etc are held at the cost of WHEN THE SERVICE CARE CONTRACT IS TAKEN OUT !

He emphasised that for any wear & tear matters as per above. I was free to go to "Fred in his shed" to have the work carried it & it would not effect things with Mercedes at all. He also mentioned that they would try & match cheaper quotes by more reputable companies.

He said in favour of Service Care "how could we guess what labour charges would be in play in 3 years time. We could move back to Knightsbridge in 6 months time & find the Labour charge may be double what is in Kent, or move to Cornwall which might be 2/3rds of the charge in Kent or even move to live in the E.U., as long as I have got the Service Care Contract. We would still be paying the same each month & still have the same required service."

So it's off to Vikings tomorrow, with cheque book & pen in hand (pay monthly or in with a lump sum, we will choose the former) to set up the Standing Order. Shame the bumpf didn't have a proforma for the Standing Order, but no problem popping in

Thanks for all the input, it has been appreciated

 

[Rory]

I think you're over-emphasising the possiblity of future price increases - in fact dealer servicing is probably cheaper now than it's been for years, as the dealers try and compete with independant garages.

Sure, you could move to Knightbridge, but you probably have a pretty good idea of whether that's likely or not.

What if you sell the car at 1yr 11mths, can you get money back for the untaken second year service?

Overall, there's probably little in it either way though. Which is a shame, MB should reward people who commit to these schemes by offering a significant discount. After, it means they can rely on getting you into the dealership every year for 3 years and that brings the chance for them to generate extra work.

 

[crockers]

Pity MB don't offer the service plans such as BMW. Buy a new one and pay £400 for 5 years or 60k miles. Or £1200 to cover all wear and tear items such as brakes etc. Don't think it covers tyres though.

 

[Godot]

Thanks all for your posts & advice.

I will be going ahead, just for the peace of mind, for me anyway.

Rather like the Staywarm deal. I know I pay over the odds for the Gas & Electricity we use, but, the peace of mind of not worrying about our consumption & searching for the best deals around & switching about suits us & for the moment & for the foreseeable future we can afford it. Likewise, we feel the small monthly charge for Service Care deal.

Many thanks again for support, I shall wear it always !