Service Plus cost...

[Gollom]

I know that MB offer this - anybody got a rough idea how much pa for (lets say) a 3 year old E-class with 50K miles on the clock and 25K miles pa going forwards

Ta!

 

[pammy]

Quite high I would imagine with that mileage. I pay £50 pm for Edna on a 2 year contract 10k miles pa starting at 26k miles on the clock.

 

[glojo]

Rumour has it the premiums for new applicants is going to increase. If I were you I would consider contacting Mercedes-Benz and get a quote. At the moment it is a fixed monthly rate over a set period. Ours is something like £58 per month for the full term, but our mileage is quite low.

Good luck,
John

 

[Dryce]

Rumour has it the premiums for new applicants is going to increase. If I were you I would consider contacting Mercedes-Benz and get a quote. At the moment it is a fixed monthly rate over a set period. Ours is something like £58 per month for the full term, but our mileage is quite low.

Too late already perhaps.

My wife got a quote for her SLK which coincidentally was based on exactly the same mileages as pammy's Edna - starting at 26K with 10K/year (spooky!).

One year was about £60 inc VAT. Two years at £73 per month .

The mileage we've had between services is such that the car would definitely need one service in the two years but unlikely to need a second! So that makes the two year number seem even worse.

Before getting the quote I had assumed it would be at most somewhere around £55 to £60 per month for two or three years.

 

[hawk20]

I know that MB offer this - anybody got a rough idea how much pa for (lets say) a 3 year old E-class with 50K miles on the clock and 25K miles pa going forwards

Ta!

If you go to the MB website they give a phone number. Just ring them for an answer. Please post it here. Interesting because IMO that is the sensible way to run a car economically while still effectively having the benefit of virtually a full warranty, peace of mind and known costs. Your mileage is high at over twice the normal private amount and will involve approx two services per year, so interesting.

For comparison you might like to look at: -
http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?p=174745#post174745

This gives costs for an E class over 109,000 miles!

 

[glojo]

If you go to the MB website they give a phone number. Just ring them for an answer. Please post it here.

At the bottom of our contract there is the Milton Keynes number:

01908-245000

In the folder there is a Helpline number of:

0870-242-6200

Which on the 0870 convertor equates to:

01908 333000

Good luck,
John

 

[davidH]

I took out a service plus on 23rd March. I was quoted £81.52 plus VAT for 2 year period and £57.52 plus Vat for 1 year. This was based on a mileage of 39000 and 10000 a year. Car is an E Class Avantgarde 270 CDI. I was told the higher rate over 2 years was due to the built in factor of possible hourly labour rate increases and part price increases. I think its more likely to be based on their experience of what work is likely on the car based on their experience over the periods in question ie brake pads, fluid changes etc.

I would advise anyone to make sure they give an accurate assessment of the mileage as they apparently charge 4.29 pence per kilometre for mileage over the specified. How they would check I don't know unless it need work after the estimated mileage had been exceeded.

I took the 1 year.

Incidentally I also got a quote for renewing my tier 1 warranty which had gone up to £871 per annum. Service plus was £60 cheaper than the warranty.

It seems to have gone up a lot from the figures qutoted by people on an earlier thread about Service Plus.

 

[davidH]

I took out a service plus on 23rd March. I was quoted £81.52 plus VAT for 2 year period and £57.52 plus Vat for 1 year. This was based on a mileage of 39000 and 10000 a year. Car is an E Class Avantgarde 270 CDI. I was told the higher rate over 2 years was due to the built in factor of possible hourly labour rate increases and part price increases. I think its more likely to be based on their experience of what work is likely on the car based on their experience over the periods in question ie brake pads, fluid changes etc.

I would advise anyone to make sure they give an accurate assessment of the mileage as they apparently charge 4.29 pence per kilometre for mileage over the specified. How they would check I don't know unless it need work after the estimated mileage had been exceeded.

I took the 1 year.

Incidentally I also got a quote for renewing my tier 1 warranty which had gone up to £871 per annum. Service plus was £60 cheaper than the warranty.

It seems to have gone up a lot from the figures qutoted by people on an earlier thread about Service Plus.

 

[Dryce]

I took out a service plus on 23rd March. I was quoted £81.52 plus VAT for 2 year period and £57.52 plus Vat for 1 year. This was based on a mileage of 39000 and 10000 a year. Car is an E Class Avantgarde 270 CDI. I was told the higher rate over 2 years was due to the built in factor of possible hourly labour rate increases and part price increases.

I was planning to go down the Service Plus route with my wife's car and mine as soon as they approached three years. That was based on the pricing previously reported by people who had taken it up.

At £81.32 + VAT for two years that comes to ~£1150/year for 10000 miles!

It will be interesting to see how the 1 year period pricing shifts after the first year. It has to be over £104.98 + VAT /month if you renew after 1 year to make the two year deal worth it over two successive 1 year deals.

Frankly the pricing looks bizarre.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Pricing has definitely increased.

I had quotes on the C32 in September, December and March (ish), and the quotes increased each time despite the same annual mileage, and the starting mileage was probably increasing by 800 miles per month.

I think DCUK are gradually increasing the costs - in many cases it's still good value, especially if you're due a brake change in the period. When calculating if it's worth it for you, remember to add in other items like coolant change, brake fluid change, and spark plug changes, as these are not included in straight A/B service schedules*.

* This may not be the case on the more complex A/B/C/D/E/F/G... schedules on some models though.

 

[Dryce]

I think DCUK are gradually increasing the costs - in many cases it's still good value, especially if you're due a brake change in the period.

Gradually increasing might be a few %. The prices given, particularly the two year ones which hike the one year costs by around 40% over the whole term (so the second year costs you 80% more) indicate other factors at work.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Gradually increasing might be a few %. The prices given, particularly the two year ones which hike the one year costs by around 40% over the whole term (so the second year costs you 80% more) indicate other factors at work.

Gradually was maybe being generous!!

I was actually referring to getting a quote at one point in time, and getting another at a later point in time, rather than the relative expense of 24/36m contracts compared to 12m. They started low to build excitment/demand/interest in the product, and I suspect are now increasing it based upon what the market is prepared to pay. Makes sense.

24 month and 36 month quotes do appear to be higher than 12 month quotes - some more than others. I think there's a flaw in their logic that could be exploited though. I reckon their quoting system makes assumptions based upon which service will be due next based upon the age and mileage.

This means that if you're confident you'll need a B service and brakes, but the system assumes an A-service only, then the quote will be bargain basement. Of course the opposite is true when quotes appear expensive - it could assume you're due a big one, and you know you've just had one, and so the Service Contract looks expensive.

However the longer the term, then the more likely it is that you'll need expensive services, eg maybe a couple of B services, brake discs/pads, transmission oil, spark plugs, brake fluid, etc in which case the cost spirals!! For example last September (maybe August?) I got the following quotes on the ML270: 12m £82.22, 24m £87.29, 36m £123.71. They can be more certain of big bills over the longer period.

I had several in-depth conversations with my Service Advisor, Service Manager, Principle and indirectly Area Sales Manager about the initial teething problems - mainly because they affected me!! They acknowledged issues around being able to provide consistent quotes, although word is that this is resolved. I also had similar conversation with someone in DCUK - I know one or two other members did too - who seemed to suggest a similar story but from a DCUK rather than MB dealer perspective.

 

[Dryce]

They started low to build excitment/demand/interest in the product, and I suspect are now increasing it based upon what the market is prepared to pay. Makes sense.

Well it makes sense to MB presumably

The bottom line here is that it's gone from a not insubstantial amount of money that was kind of justifiable as a good buy (even though it would cost you a bit more than servicing) to one that looks less insubstantial and not so justifiable -- unless you are particularly afraid or able to claim back the VAT.

It doesn't make sense to raise 2nd year costs in the manner they have unless they want to push people into 1 year deals. (Problem with that explanation of their methodology is that it raises the question of how much will it cost next year?).

As for starting low to build excitement - I don't go with that either. It's not exactly published as some kind of bargain, the literature is dry, and if I wasn't on this forum I'd never have heard of it.

So they probably messed up in some odd corporate way. Not sure how to punt the service product and nervous of the liabilities and keeping the dealers happy.

 

[ddentrec]

I pay £58 + VAt for 24 months cover.

Well worth having; my steering rack may be on the way out.

 

[splitpin]

I have just taken 3 year cover for my 04 C270 CDI estate @ £65 + VAT /month.

I am certain that there will be increases in parts/fluids & hourly service
rates during the period, so am content.

Splitpin

 

[hawk20]

I have just taken 3 year cover for my 04 C270 CDI estate @ £65 + VAT /month.

I am certain that there will be increases in parts/fluids & hourly service
rates during the period, so am content.

Splitpin

A very good deal I'd say and nothing there to support what Dryce is saying. I really don't believe they try to push anyone to one year deals. Most quotes we have seen have been very reasonable.

Some people take out Service Plus from new. I got a 5 year quote for 1 year old S320cdi doing 12k per annum, starting from 20k miles so far. It was £62 per month plus vat. I think that is good. Can leave when you like -just give 3 months notice- or can pass on to next purchaser who can keep up the same level of payments.

 

[crockers]

Can leave when you like -just give 3 months notice- or can pass on to next purchaser who can keep up the same level of payments.

Now that would be interesting - take it our 3000 / 3 months before a B service and get rid of it afterwards -- then take out another 3 months / 3000 miles before a service...methinks there is a catch to this ...like its a "contract" for the period subscribed....anyone know ???

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Now that would be interesting - take it our 3000 / 3 months before a B service and get rid of it afterwards -- then take out another 3 months / 3000 miles before a service...methinks there is a catch to this ...like its a "contract" for the period subscribed....anyone know ???

I was told that if you do cancel straight after a service then you would be expected to make up the difference between what you had paid in, and the cost of the service. Can't remember if it says that in print though - one would imagine there's something about it in the T&Cs.

 

[crockers]

I was told that if you do cancel straight after a service then you would be expected to make up the difference between what you had paid in, and the cost of the service. Can't remember if it says that in print though - one would imagine there's something about it in the T&Cs.

Seems logical ..but whenever did logic stand up in law...lol

 

[hawk20]

Now that would be interesting - take it our 3000 / 3 months before a B service and get rid of it afterwards -- then take out another 3 months / 3000 miles before a service...methinks there is a catch to this ...like its a "contract" for the period subscribed....anyone know ???

I think you do a full year before you can leave -but I haven't checked the small print.