Service Plus cost...

[Gollom]

Rang the 0870 number (they have disconnected the 01908 number...) and after a little to'ing and fro'ing got quoted the following from a VERY helpful lady called Sarah. They could not cope without an actual registration number so I looked on the MB direct site and just selected a car at random:

E270 CDi on an 03 plate with 56K miles, 20K per year.

Service - £45 + VAT per month
Service Plus - £103 + VAT per month

She assured me that price remains the same over the 2 year contract period, which is supported by the written quote. (Would not quote 3 years as it would take car over 6 years old)

One thing that is not clear (at least to me!) By taking one of these contracts is the car then under warranty? Or could I just take out warranty and pay as and when for servicing costs?

Questions, questions!

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

That quote sounds steep!! Not dissimilar to some of the quotes I had on the ML, before the system issued a cheaper one that I pounced upon.

One thing that is not clear (at least to me!) By taking one of these contracts is the car then under warranty? Or could I just take out warranty and pay as and when for servicing costs?

Technically it's not a warranty, but given that it covers the cost of repair or replacement should a component fail (ie not deliberate or accidental damage) then for all intents and purposes you can consider it to be a warranty. Of course the bonus is that it also covers wear and tear items (except tyres) which a warranty wouldn't.

For me, the cost of warranty + wear & tear + servicing was greater than the cost of Service Plus. If you would take the warranty it is then good value. If you wouldn't otherwise take the warranty it won't be so attractive.

 

[splang]

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 ???

Just checked my service plus contract:
If you cancel before the natural end of the contract then they look at the total of all invoiced amounts done during the service +. If such total exceeds the total of the monthly payments made hereunder (ie already made) then the customer shall pay to DCUK the amount of such excess up to a maximum of 3 monthly payments.

~so , if you pay £50 per month and have paid only for 4 months and have a big service with brakes costing a total of £1200 !! (ok - I exaggerate!)Then, you cancel service + next month you would be liable for £150.

Hope this helps,
S

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Sounds like a loophole that could be exploited should someone be so inclined.

That's a big benefit over and above a warranty - AFAIK, once you've paid it, that's it. Not refundable or transferrable.

 

[frich107]

Hi, I'm new to the forum. Have joined partly because I have just got a quote for service packages on my 07 C320 CDI, and want to get some idea of whether its worthwhile or not. I will probably drive something like 10,000 miles a year, so thats going to be a service every 18 months or so.

1) What would be the typical cost of first service for a C320 CDI?

2) Do the quotes (over 3 years and for 10,000 miles per year) of £31.98 for standard service contract, or £57.03 for service plus seem good or not?

3) What sort of a saving am I likely to make by opting for either service contract compared with just getting the car serviced when it needs it at the franchised dealer?

Sorry if this seems a little simplistic. I'm new to M-B ownership, and my previous cars have all been lower end front wheel drive mainstream cars. As a comparison I pay £15 a month for a basic service contract for my 2006 Vauxhall Vectra based on 3 years and 12,000 miles per year - hence the quotes seems quite expensive to me!

Thanks for any replies - much appreciated.

 

[hawk20]

Hi, I'm new to the forum. Have joined partly because I have just got a quote for service packages on my 07 C320 CDI, and want to get some idea of whether its worthwhile or not. I will probably drive something like 10,000 miles a year, so thats going to be a service every 18 months or so.

1) What would be the typical cost of first service for a C320 CDI?

2) Do the quotes (over 3 years and for 10,000 miles per year) of £31.98 for standard service contract, or £57.03 for service plus seem good or not?

3) What sort of a saving am I likely to make by opting for either service contract compared with just getting the car serviced when it needs it at the franchised dealer?

Sorry if this seems a little simplistic. I'm new to M-B ownership, and my previous cars have all been lower end front wheel drive mainstream cars. As a comparison I pay £15 a month for a basic service contract for my 2006 Vauxhall Vectra based on 3 years and 12,000 miles per year - hence the quotes seems quite expensive to me!

Thanks for any replies - much appreciated.

To give you an idea, the A service on my S320cdi was £235 inc vat. This includes low ash synthetic Mobil 1 which is very good and expensive.

The B service will be about £450 and yours will be pretty much the same price.

You need to check: has your car gone over to the new system of annual services (not 18 months).

I don't know if your quote covers tyres?

Depending on how you drive, you will need brake pads every 20-30k??? And discs maybe 50k???

On a new car, with which you only do 10k miles p.a., and which you only plan to keep for three years (so under full guarantee) it is hard to see how Service Plus is of much benefit to you. The service quote looks good value, especially if your car must be serviced every 12 months.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

As hawk suggests, the benefit of having Service Plus is limited whilst your car is under manufacturers warranty. Service (only) Contract simply meets the cost of servicing. The 'plus' bit provides cover for maintenance (wear and tear, not including tyres), and repairs not due to deliberate or accidental damage.

Given you have a manufacturers warranty, the extra £25 will in real terms enable you to have your brakes changed (as your warranty will cover repairs). Given your expected mileage, this might happen once, but will cost £900 over the duration of a 3 year contract. Even if you paid a dealer to change discs and pads, it would probably only just cost this. Whilst the dealer might recomend discs and pads, in reality only pads should be required at that sort of mileage.

So doesn't look like the 'plus' will benefit you a great deal. How about Service (only)?...

Over the same three years you would expect maybe two A services (@ £250-ish each), and one B service (@£450-ish each), or two B's and an A. This will cost between £900 and £1150 as a rule of thumb. You'll also need to change brake fluid after two years - I can't remember how much that is now, but it's probably £80, so I would therefore expect total servicing costs to be in the region of £1000-1250 over three years. The Service Contract will cost you £1200 over the three years.

I'm a big fan of it, but it works out better value in some circumstances than others. It looks like in this case it simply spreads the cost out over a longer period, and offers some protection from labour rate price increases, but to be honest it's not doing a great deal for you.

If you decide not to go for it, review the situation a couple of months before the cars third anniversary, and the 'plus' element will become very valuable after the third anniversary and will then make Service Plus good value.

I hope this helps...

 

[hawk20]

Great answer from Bobby Dazzler; I agree with all of it.

 

[frich107]

Thanks for the quick replies. That is certainly helpful - I probably should have checked out servicing costs before buying the car in the first place. It was a clear case of heart over head! Based on what you have said I suspect that I won't take out a servicing contract at this stage. Probably just put the money in a separate account for servicing.

As to the 3 year bit it just gives me flexibility. I don't have a 'normal pattern' of how long I keep cars for. Based on my experience so far I shall probably keep this car for 3 to 5 years, or maybe even longer.

Thanks again.

 

[Dryce]

Thanks for the quick replies. That is certainly helpful - I probably should have checked out servicing costs before buying the car in the first place. It was a clear case of heart over head! Based on what you have said I suspect that I won't take out a servicing contract at this stage. Probably just put the money in a separate account for servicing.

As to the 3 year bit it just gives me flexibility. I don't have a 'normal pattern' of how long I keep cars for. Based on my experience so far I shall probably keep this car for 3 to 5 years, or maybe even longer.

Hearts sometimes know best.

The MB is expensive. But, compare the total cost of ownership against a Primera/Mondeo/Laguna/Vectra and the car you have is proprtionately much better than the ownership cost difference. So the MB is better value for money. At least that's the spin my head puts on the whole thing in support of my heart.

 

[glojo]

If you decide not to go for it, review the situation a couple of months before the cars third anniversary, and the 'plus' element will become very valuable after the third anniversary and will then make Service Plus good value.

I fully endorse what Bobby and Hawk have said but would respectfully suggest that if you want peace of mind, then take out Service Plus 3 months prior to the vehicle's 3rd anniversary. I say this because of the small print wehich states we cannot claim for the first 90 days or 3,000 miles?? The MOT is exempt from that stipulation.

I think you have made a great choice of vehicle and fingers crossed you will have many miles of trouble free motoring.

Regards,
John

 

[MHT223]

I fully endorse what Bobby and Hawk have said but would respectfully suggest that if you want peace of mind, then take out Service Plus 3 months prior to the vehicle's 3rd anniversary. I say this because of the small print wehich states we cannot claim for the first 90 days or 3,000 miles?? The MOT is exempt from that stipulation.

I think you have made a great choice of vehicle and fingers crossed you will have many miles of trouble free motoring.

Regards,
John

I think, I may however be completely wrong, that you can claim within 3 months, but not for wear and tear items.

 

[glojo]

I think, I may however be completely wrong, that you can claim within 3 months, but not for wear and tear items.

Well said,
To be 100% accurate: Please note that work for servicing and friction materials will not be covered within 3,000 miles or 3 months (whichever occurs sooner). I certainly would not want to define what is, or is not a friction material. MOT is definitely exempt though.

Regards
John

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Well said,
To be 100% accurate: Please note that work for servicing and friction materials will not be covered within 3,000 miles or 3 months (whichever occurs sooner). I certainly would not want to define what is, or is not a friction material. MOT is definitely exempt though.

Regards
John

I think a sensible rule of thumb is that if something breaks/fails in the first 3 months or 3 thousand miles, then that couldn't be expected and is covered. If it can be foreseen, for example break pads, scheduled service, etc then it's not covered.

That's the way I understood it having probed and prodded DCUK and my local dealer.

 

[Gollom]

I think a sensible rule of thumb is that if something breaks/fails in the first 3 months or 3 thousand miles, then that couldn't be expected and is covered. If it can be foreseen, for example break pads, scheduled service, etc then it's not covered.

That's the way I understood it having probed and prodded DCUK and my local dealer.

From the quote they sent: "Please note that work for servicing and friction material will not be covered within 3,000 miles or 3 months (whichever comes sooner) from the start of the date of the contract. This excludes extended contracts which will be fully covered by the terms and conditions from the start date"

 

[crockers]

Ive just been quoted £414 £364 £424 for a B service from three different dealers the £414 was originally £485 until I queried it.

My car has done 32,000 miles no warning lights on but do you think it will need new pads? If so how much will that be?

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Pads seem to wear at incredibly diverse rates depending upon the type of use and driving style. You're probably in the moonlight years of the pads life even if you drive like a daisy.

 

[masqueraid]

What does Tier1 have that ServicePlus hasn't?

Interesting thread and very relevant to me as my Tier 1 is up for renewal.

E Class 40K with 10k. Modial who administer the warranty were particularly evasive about ServicePlus to the extent that one of the people I spoke to was unsure what ServicePlus was. (I'm still not convinced that there wasn't an implicit threat that all my wheels will fall off if I don't renew!)

Spoke to the local dealership (who happen to be Milton Keynes) and was quoted a monthly rate for ServicePlus which is pretty much equivalent to what Tier 1 would have been (i.e. just over £70 pcm) although interestingly they couldn't quote for a two year rate.

So looks like I'm giving up my warranty. I really can't see from the paperwork what I'm losing that ServicePlus won't pick up.

Unless someone knows better ...?

 

[Stuart1]

Hi, just been quoted £54.03 inc vat for 4 years service plus, for a B180 SE (new car) on 12,000 a year, extra mileage was quoted at £2.88 per KM.
5 years is £65.04 inc vat.
What does everyone think, is £648.36 a year worth it?
If I had been offered this on my last car a Saab 93SS I would have bitten there hand off, and made money from it!

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

My post earlier in this thread probably applies equally to your situation. The absolute numbers may be different, but the principle remains.

For convenience, here it is:

As hawk suggests, the benefit of having Service Plus is limited whilst your car is under manufacturers warranty. Service (only) Contract simply meets the cost of servicing. The 'plus' bit provides cover for maintenance (wear and tear, not including tyres), and repairs not due to deliberate or accidental damage.

Given you have a manufacturers warranty, the extra £25 will in real terms enable you to have your brakes changed (as your warranty will cover repairs). Given your expected mileage, this might happen once, but will cost £900 over the duration of a 3 year contract. Even if you paid a dealer to change discs and pads, it would probably only just cost this. Whilst the dealer might recomend discs and pads, in reality only pads should be required at that sort of mileage.

So doesn't look like the 'plus' will benefit you a great deal. How about Service (only)?...

Over the same three years you would expect maybe two A services (@ £250-ish each), and one B service (@£450-ish each), or two B's and an A. This will cost between £900 and £1150 as a rule of thumb. You'll also need to change brake fluid after two years - I can't remember how much that is now, but it's probably £80, so I would therefore expect total servicing costs to be in the region of £1000-1250 over three years. The Service Contract will cost you £1200 over the three years.

I'm a big fan of it, but it works out better value in some circumstances than others. It looks like in this case it simply spreads the cost out over a longer period, and offers some protection from labour rate price increases, but to be honest it's not doing a great deal for you.

If you decide not to go for it, review the situation a couple of months before the cars third anniversary, and the 'plus' element will become very valuable after the third anniversary and will then make Service Plus good value.

I hope this helps...