Servicing at Mercedes or Halfords?

[chrisk2010]

I'm a Service plan fan. It costs me £30 a month (less than my phone bill) and my 13 years old C class has been FULLY and I mean fully serviced by Mercedes.

It started off with a B service on the transmission plus the usual things B service include then on the A service last year EVERYTHING was due oil, air, fuel filter, brake fluid, plugs, coolant, oil change plus the checks an A service includes, they seriously went to town and gave me a courtesy car both times and it's still due another A service I honestly can't fault the price this time around for a B,A,B service as it works out £1080.

Kwik fit, when I asked years ago as they next door to my work wanted £360 for a basic service which is a rip off as they wouldn't have done half the work Mercedes have and it didn't include sundries if I recall so the bill would have been much more and they won't touch the transmission as they need a "master mechanic".

I do a interim service my self everything 6000 miles changing oil, oil, air and cabin filter plus a few checks buts that's just me being over the top and keeping everything fresh.

If you catch them on a Black Friday sale you may get it for £5 cheaper a month.

 

[Deletedmember130310]

Didnt replace the air filters as i checked them when i did the glow plugs and they were clogged , the service manager admitted they had been overlooked.

Didnt check the brakes as they told me there was 6.5mm of pad material remaining , 1500 miles later they were down to the wear sensors, service manager admitted they had been overlooked.

ATF was replaced , i know this as they left the gearbox leaking from the gasket.

Oil was impossible to check as it was a diesel and was manky as soon as it was ran for a few miles.

No need for spark plugs , it was an oil burner.

I took the car for a healthcheck at my local indy and after inspection it was deemed it needed £1200 to bring it up to scratch ,some of this was to replace a damaged hub that had been wrecked when MB replaced a suspension arm the previous year. The indy asked the mileage and said the engine was either a high mileage unit (which it wasnt - 39k) or one that hadnt been serviced , my ££ is on the latter.

K

that would be disappointing and annoying and would certainly colour your view.

 

[KennyN]

that would be disappointing and annoying and would certainly colour your view.

It did , hence the reason there is an M - Sport BMW 440i parked in the driveway , it could have been an E400 coupe if MB ownership had been a bit less of a PITA.

K

 

[E53AMG]

I serviced my last E class at Kwik Fit from 3 to 9 years old, until the last few weeks of ownership I needed only to spend £80 on repairs.

When I traded it in the dealer didn't even look in the service book.

Dealer would have sent you car straight to auction at 9 years old so no need to check servicing all the money was in your purchase.

Try that with a 3-5 year old car and the experience would be different.

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

 

[steveq]

Oil was impossible to check as it was a diesel and was manky as soon as it was ran for a few miles.

Interesting -- I used to think that too.
I changed the engine oil on my C220 CDI a couple of weeks ago. I have done about 200 miles since then. I checked the oil level yesterday and the engine oil still looks clean.

 

[Scott_F]

I'm a Service plan fan. It costs me £30 a month (less than my phone bill) and my 13 years old C class has been FULLY and I mean fully serviced by Mercedes.

It started off with a B service on the transmission plus the usual things B service include then on the A service last year EVERYTHING was due oil, air, fuel filter, brake fluid, plugs, coolant, oil change plus the checks an A service includes, they seriously went to town and gave me a courtesy car both times and it's still due another A service I honestly can't fault the price this time around for a B,A,B service as it works out £1080.

Kwik fit, when I asked years ago as they next door to my work wanted £360 for a basic service which is a rip off as they wouldn't have done half the work Mercedes have and it didn't include sundries if I recall so the bill would have been much more and they won't touch the transmission as they need a "master mechanic".

I do a interim service my self everything 6000 miles changing oil, oil, air and cabin filter plus a few checks buts that's just me being over the top and keeping everything fresh.

So you're spending £350 a year for the dealer to service a 13 year-old car and you're also doing additional 6000 mile services yourself ?

That is thorough but somewhat expensive.

 

[Adi101]

I’d start by talking to these

Home - Prestige Motor Works

Many thanks!! I’ll give them a ring

 

[Adi101]

I'm a Service plan fan. It costs me £30 a month (less than my phone bill) and my 13 years old C class has been FULLY and I mean fully serviced by Mercedes.

It started off with a B service on the transmission plus the usual things B service include then on the A service last year EVERYTHING was due oil, air, fuel filter, brake fluid, plugs, coolant, oil change plus the checks an A service includes, they seriously went to town and gave me a courtesy car both times and it's still due another A service I honestly can't fault the price this time around for a B,A,B service as it works out £1080.

Kwik fit, when I asked years ago as they next door to my work wanted £360 for a basic service which is a rip off as they wouldn't have done half the work Mercedes have and it didn't include sundries if I recall so the bill would have been much more and they won't touch the transmission as they need a "master mechanic".

I do a interim service my self everything 6000 miles changing oil, oil, air and cabin filter plus a few checks buts that's just me being over the top and keeping everything fresh.

If you catch them on a Black Friday sale you may get it for £5 cheaper a month.

So with a service plan I pay around £30 a month and then when my car is due a service do I pay anything extra or is it covered with the monthly payments? So I literally book my car in for a service and collect it when it’s ready? Unfortunately at the time I thought ‘oh probably won’t need it’ when they were asking ‘oh would you like this and that’ when I bought the car

 

[Adi101]

No question: neither.

Find a Mercedes specialist. He'll charge you about the same as than Halfords, but will know why there's no handbrake lever (i.e. he'll actually know the cars and their idiosyncrasies), and won't rip you off on the price of parts.

Leave Halfords to women who don't care, are scared of cars, and who like a tidy reception area so that they can read Grazia while waiting to pick the car up.

I use them for an MOT but I am sceptical about using Halfords for anything else cause it is a high end car for me and I don’t want them to just tick a few things of a checklist and say here’s the bill when for the same price I could have actually got my car properly serviced

 

[Adi101]

If you are asking on here then you must care enough about your car. As said by MikeInWimbledon, if you care enough about your car then don't use Halfords.

It is a case of you get what you pay for. Like you said, a Mercedes is very different from an Astra.

If you are intending to keep the car then you will want it looked after properly. Use an Independent specialist.

If you are not intending to keep the car then you will want it serviced properly by at Independent specialist to keep the value.

So either way, if you buy a Mercedes, don't go cheap and don't use Halfords.

It is my pride and joy and logic would suggest use the best but £468 is a pretty high amount just for a Mercedes logo if I could get the same done from somewhere cheaper. However everyone is suggesting stay away from Halfords so I guess an independent Mercedes specialist would be the way to go

 

[Adi101]

Did Halfords just quote you for their standard full service? Does it cover the additional "4 year" service items your car requires which would have been included in the Mercedes service?

People are being hard on Halfords (you will most likely get a technician with limited experience at a main dealers being assigned to the basic stuff, so no real difference). But saying that, much better to find a local reputable independent and make sure you get all of the required items done.

It was just the standard full service no additional items. Looking back maybe I should have gone for the service plan when they asked

 

[Deletedmember130310]

you can set up a service plan any time - better value if you set it up to cover at least one "B" (large) service. The preferred sequence, for value, is a B A B service

 

[Adi101]

I would not let Halfords or kwikfit fix a kiddies car, period. There are so many bad experience stories surrounding them and often your bill ends up bigger as they suggest work not needed, seriously find a decent Indy and if work isn't MB specific and you want to cut costs more ie servicing, brakes ect use a recommended run of the Mill garage that has a good reputation.
Some will disagree with me but a car is a car, its a machine but different makes has different needs, the fault finding software for MB is quite specific so hence you need an Indy or dealer, other things such as auto box service etc also need this software. everything else that does not require this software could be done from any respectable garage.

Personally never had an issue with them but that was with an Astra. Don’t really want to hand over my Mercedes to anyone with a spanner in their hand. The problem is finding someone who you can actually trust and not just rip you off behind closed doors

 

[Adi101]

I have nothing against Halfords I used them for my last MOT as they were offering it for free and I had just had my car main dealer serviced, but there is little difference between Kwik Fit and Halfords when it comes to servicing, try talking to the Mechanics, ask them Mercedes related questions such as do you need to change the ATM fluid and you will soon realise that they are only used to family saloons.

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Yeah I use them for MOT’s and they’ve passed both times without any issues but this is my first service since I’ve had the car and understandably their knowledge on a Mercedes would be somewhat limited as they deal with a wider range of Makes and Models

 

[Deletedmember130310]

If you've spent c£15k buying your pride and joy, what is your planned budget to run and maintain it?

 

[Adi101]

MB servicing prices is a joke ,with their service plan i was averaging £500 pa over four years when i had the CLS for nothing more than an annual oil change and one gearbox oil change and it is doubtful if the work was actually getting done as they were caught out more than once by me. I dont know what Mercs servicing prices is now but i just booked my first main dealer service on my two year old BM and it was just £230.

I dont think i would trust Halfords with a car as new as yours as it may need specialist diagnostic equipment (STAR) , access to the MB service portal to update its history which i would want on a newish car. Having said that we use Halfords for all our MOT`s and ,to date , they have been fair and anything that has caused the car to fail has genuinely been an issue.

If it were my car and cash i would entrust my car to a local , recommended , independent specialist. Just wish i had taken my advice before i signed up for the MB service plan.

Kenny

That’s the problem. Even going to a dealer and getting ripped of is an issue. You’re sat waiting in the waiting room whilst in the back they’re ticking away at checklists without doing any work. That’s why I’m thinking if I can get the same work done for cheaper it would be better but everyone seems to say stay away from Halfords so I guess I’ll take it to a Mercedes specialist

 

[chrisk2010]

So you're spending £350 a year for the dealer to service a 13 year-old car and you're also doing additional 6000 mile services yourself ?

That is thorough but somewhat expensive.

Not really but depends on your perspective I like to keep it running smooth. I buy the oil from MB Newcastle on eBay for £50 odd (if I recall) which covers two changes plus a little left over, the oil filter is about £11 and a Bosch air filter I usually pick up for about £20, pollen about £15 in total costs about £70 for my own service. Also keep an eye out for eBay's discount days where you can get another 5/10% off. I check the spark plugs each time but they always good.

I do a fair few miles of mixed driving and the car always runs and feels better after each service plus the MPG improves and for £70 not the £360 Kwik fit quoted me for the same thing it's worth doing.

I used to work as a forklift mechanic and have drained more than my fair share of cooked oil and it's just become a habit over the years for regular oil and filter changes plus maintenance checks.

The old oil I give to my brother in law to go in his golf as it still has some use and he isn't bothered with a £500 car what oil goes in it's certainly better than anything he is prepared to pay for.

If I would have had the transmission serviced, codes read and everything outside of the service plan I would have definitely ended up shelling out more plus not having the convenience of a courtesy car. It did take a little bit of research to sure I was getting my moneys worth before i took out the plan to make sure I got the most from my B,A,B service but it has paid off.

Plus I've started enquiring about there rust guarantee as I have what I suspect is a bad weld just on the inside of the boot lip which is starting to show so if that pays off too it'll be covered.

 

[Deletedmember130310]

It was just the standard full service no additional items. Looking back maybe I should have gone for the service plan when they asked

What did their full service quote cover?
- oil and filter change?
- air filter change?
- pollen filter change?
- brake fluid change?
- interrogate and reset any error codes?
- lubricate sunroof (if fitted)
- new batteries in key fob?

 

[ash59fifty-uk]

Amazes me people buy a Mercedes or the like and are then shocked at maintenance/servicing prices. The brand isn’t a bag of crisps, either start a service plan or go to a Mercedes specialist if money is an issue

 

[Deletedmember130310]

h

That’s the problem. Even going to a dealer and getting ripped of is an issue. You’re sat waiting in the waiting room whilst in the back they’re ticking away at checklists without doing any work. That’s why I’m thinking if I can get the same work done for cheaper it would be better but everyone seems to say stay away from Halfords so I guess I’ll take it to a Mercedes specialist

Why so cynical? How do you know Halfords or your indie won't "tick away at checklists without doing any work"