service grace period

[Tilly]

Is there any sort of grace period on how many miles you can travel before the car is serviced while retaining the warranty?

The reason I ask is as some will know my brakes are a little past it, merc dont want to know and they refused to replace them under warranty a few thousand miles ago so I have had to take it upon myself surprise surprise. Anyway, my car is due its first "A" service soon. I have ordered some brakes myself and I plan on fitting them before it goes in for the service because they're dreaming if they think I'm paying their b*llocks prices. The thing is... the brakes have still not arrived in stock (3 weeks after ordering them) and so in that time my brakes have progressively got lower and lower, so low that now if I touch the brake pedal it groans so they're getting close to metal but I have already paid for these brakes because they were cheaper than merc discs and pads and if I cancel they're saying I can't have my money back because they were apparently ordered specially. I know legally until I have the goods I can cancel but its more trouble than its worth as I ordered these through a so called "friend" so cancelling is not an option.

I don't want to send it in for the service without the brakes done incase they pull a b*astards trick and moan about the warranty because I have let them get so low (but only in anticipation of the new ones arriving). I am assured they will be there sometime this week so I have booked the car in for its service on saturday (7 days from writing this)

The service indicator on the dash counts down in hundreds and it says "inspection A in 100 miles" but the figure is actually closer to 40 as the mileage is 13460. I was looking at the idea of putting the service back another week to give me some time to ensure 100% the brakes will be done in time so I consulted the handbook RE: grace periods with the mileage for overdue services but couldn't find a thing. In the service book and owners manual they stipulate that approx one month before the inspection is due it will show on the dash which is true but it then proceeds to say the mileage will count down until eventually hitting 0 and then saying "inspection overdue by x miles" with a warning beep. According to the handbook it says the service must be carried out WITHIN these miles when the ASSYT is coting down, so does that mean when it hits 0 miles and changes to "overdue" I can effectively lose the warranty? Even for the sake of 100-200 miles max.?

When reading the instrument cluster "inspection A in 100 miles" I perceive that to mean that in 100 miles it shall require servicing, not that the car should be serviced prior to this. Either way I will be over the 13500 miles slightly, where do I stand in regards to warranty because I find it a joke to be honest and I want to sell this heap of sh*te as soon as possible never to return to merc again.

 

[andyb]

From memory I believe the grace period to be 1000 miles or month but check with a mercedes dealer to confirm this .

I Know this to be the case with BMW and Landrover .

Hope this helps


Andy

 

[w124coupe]

Yep. More than 1000 over and you will have trouble with future warranty claims.

 

[fuzzer]

you need new brake discs and pads after 13,500 miles your having a laugh ..

 

[219]

I agree , a new set of front pads at that mileage I could understand , rears normally last twice as long ....

Discs shouldn't need replacing this early .

Or did you take it on the London/Sydney rally ?

 

[fuzzer]

the same brakes with a much more powerful engine and the brakes and pads were fine at over 37k never mind 13,500!!! On my c270 cdi.

 

[dchaddah]

In my 2003 model C220CDI, my front brake pads didnt need replacing till about 50k!

 

[Tilly]

Well my brakes were knackered at about 6.5k IMO and I used to be a mechanic so I am 110% confident with my judgements. Brakes were warped, groaning non stop, brake fade was hurrendous; the car failed to stop on two motorway sliproads.

I took it in on 3 or 4 occassions and they just fobbed me off time after time and only after giving them abuse the second time did they say "well we'll stand the discs if you pay for the pads and fitting" why on earth should I do that? Isn't that admitting liability to a fault that "doesn't exist" but still wanting some of my money? yes sounds about right, talk about a contradiction in terms!

The service chap wouldn't even write my diagnosis down of when the fault occured and what it was to save the mechanics time and then when I turned up they hadn't even looke at my car, said they couldn't find it.... (they had five hours) parked in their own ******* car park which believe me isn't big and they had a contact number for me but nooooo that'd be too much effort wouldn't it? So instead I sat waiting for approx. an hour watching through the glass workshop window in the service area. Their roadtest? Driving forwards and backwards for about 10 metres at snail pace, realistic road conditions huh?

Anyway, third or fourth time they decided yes there was a fault that the previously smug service chap had great difficulty in admitting but even then they misdiagnosed it as a brake master cylinder, they changed it and it made no difference so I thought sod it I'll sort it myself hence the discs and pads. I may have only worked at Ford but I can assure you, I would've had a written warning if I spoke to, diagnosed, or dealt with a customers needs in their way.

 

[Dieselman]

Tilly I'm confused by your description of the problem.
Is it that the brakes failed to stop the car in normal driving or is it that they faded away when being really roasted and have worn out quickly.

Other than the master cylinder not returning fully and releasing all the brake pressure I can't see how that could be at fault unless the pedal goes to the floor.

please elucidate.

 

[Tilly]

several problems arised with bad braking performance in general with the brakes warping and groaning trying to slow down the momentum of 17" 7.5J front and 8.5J rear wheels but combined with mercs money saving scheme of fitting standard calipers with small discs on the "sport" edition and not the brakes you would get in a sports pack on an avantgarde to match the wheel size. But the one thing that really worried me was upon leaving a motorway sliproad, coming to a halt at the bottom of this road approaching traffic lights on the roundabout the fade was hurrendous but they had by no means been thrashed as obviously brakes are rarely used on the motorway. This is when I went back and kicked up a fuss and they diagnosed the brake master cylinder which was load of b*llocks. Anyway, after replacing that the problem was still not rectified. The same thing happened again on a motorway sliproad only this time it felt worse when my foot was pushed to the floor so with no locking of the wheels or ABS kicking in I let my foot off the pedal and pressed it again... there was a firm pedal so IMO there is air in the system from when some numpty fit the master cylinder without bleeding the system correctly.

 

[Dieselman]

The same thing happened again on a motorway sliproad only this time it felt worse when my foot was pushed to the floor so with no locking of the wheels or ABS kicking in I let my foot off the pedal and pressed it again... there was a firm pedal so IMO there is air in the system from when some numpty fit the master cylinder without bleeding the system correctly.

Maybe the handbrake is too tight causing the fluid to boil in the rear calipers.

If this has been happening since the brake pads have worn down then it might just be the pads over heating.

 

[Tilly]

Well again, something else down to the amateurs at Merc I was always warned about the handbrake systems on mercs so without fail I pull the lever twice to ensure its fully released. Anyway, when I got the car after about a couple of thousand miles on my way to work one morning heard a grinding noise, pulled over at the first opportunity to get out and look. The rear brakes were smoking like crazy, when I say smoking, I mean full on like I'd been doing donuts in a supercar! Jumped back in the car and pulled the lever again to ensure the handbrake was definitely released and yes it was so I had to travel the next 8/9 miles to work with my rear brakes looking like they were going to set on fire. Merc replaced the full handbrake system. Again something I still have issues with... When I come to a halt I tend to keep my foot on the brake while I put the car into park and press the handbrake pedal or whatever you want to call it but still when I let off the brake pedal, the car slowly rolls forwards or backwads depending on the slope of the road until it stops... because of the pin that locks in place when your select the parking gear leading me to believe the hand brake doesnt even work effectively anyway but the pedal does go very solid because you can feel the tension of the cable as you push the pedal closer to the floor so it must be doing something even if its not its proper job!

Anyone for a chocolate teapot?

 

[Rory]

I think we've been through this before, but can't you raise a customer complaint with MB head office?

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

I think we've been through this before, but can't you raise a customer complaint with MB head office?

If you haven't done so already, Rory's suggestion is a good one. Things tend to happen when MBUK Customer Services get involved.

When do you get the new car?? Subaru IIRC??

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

I forgot to ask - what is stopping you having the car serviced before you change the discs/pads?

Just tell them when you drop the car off, you know they need replacing and you have it in hand, so no need to call you when the mechanic spots them.

 

[Tilly]

Because with my age and them pulling so many stunts previously, I don't trust them to not turn around and tell me some b*llocks about it invalidating my warranty because upon waiting for the new brakes they've become extremely low and they have a habit of b*ll****ting their way through things, needless to say the attitude they take with me is pathetic because I'm young. In regards to the new car, around April time. Providing I have a grace period I'll just put my service back a week. My service is now due so I'll be calling the dealers shortly

 

[glojo]

I can understand to a degree what your saying but brakes are NOT a thing I would let get worn down for a thousand and one reasons.

If you have had bad experiences with Mercedes-Benz, then I don't blame you for moving on. Unless you get a new Impreza WRX SL be prepared for higher service bills.

Good luck,
John

 

[Tilly]

To be hoenst it cant get much worse. the new imprezas have 10k service intervals which is manageable and merc want £300 for its first service which is an absolute joke but hey!

At the moment things are going better than expected at work though so I may be going down a different route in the new year (I dont know yet because I work on sales commission so its not guarantee'd) possibly a cheaper car and a new house but we'll see

 

[Rory]

To be hoenst it cant get much worse. the new imprezas have 10k service intervals which is manageable and merc want £300 for its first service which is an absolute joke but hey!

Perhaps MB dealers are thin on the ground where you are, but, in my experience and from other posts on here, the first A service is a pretty standard £250.

I took my own 229.5 oil (I'm assuming that you have contacts who can get it, or else buy it from Costco) and the dealer was happy to use it and so only charged me £150.

 

[C240Sport97]

taking your own oil is a great idea ... that's what I have always done

I took my own 229.5 oil (I'm assuming that you have contacts who can get it, or else buy it from Costco) and the dealer was happy to use it and so only charged me £150.