Servicing:- Merc, Independent,mechanic??

[jpspencer]

Ref 2006 E230cdi Sport Estate V6 Diesel 82k

Hi,
I have recently purchased the above car and would like to hear your recommendations. Because Im retired due to medical problems my funds are limited and I have to be carefull where and how I spend the wifes earnings!

The car has a full Merc history, so do I continue with Mercedes, an Independant Merc Specialist or the Mechanic I have used for the past 20 years who is a one-man outfit who seems to have a good knowledge and plenty of tooling etc?

What are the average service costs for my car likely to be? I know a reasonble amount of how to care for a car but in my circumstances Im going to have to do it by saving without compromising the cars longevity or reliability.

Many thanks, Jon.........

 

[Palfrem]

Unless your wife is the likes of Naomi Campbell or Sheryl Cole, go for a good independant

 

[Deleted member 37751]

I keep the actual services at Mercedes, and then use an indie for any maintainence.

 

[BobbyHowie]

My R-class is out of warranty and has just had a rear shocker replaced free of charge and they are going to fix my pano roof free of charge purely because I get my cars regularly serviced there. That will save me around £2000. Pretty good reason to stick with my dealer - MB Giffnock, Glasgow. Excellent service and I didn't even ask them.

 

[BTB 500]

Some M-B dealers will give significant discounts on older cars - always worth asking.

With my SL I get 40% off labour plus 10% off parts, completely free MOTs (mine don't coincide with a service), and various other little perks (they gave me a free aircon service last year).

 

[kusanku]

I vote indie, provided you have a good one near you. Not all indies are created equal. The mercedes specialists section on this website is a good place to get recommendations.

 

[tagnut]

For me this would depend on how long you are planning to keep the car. What dealers do have going for them is provenance for your cars servicing and repairs that some buyers consider paramount and will pay a premium for. If I was changing cars every year then I'd probably keep them in the dealer network if they come with full dealer history.

My personal experience however is that main dealers are unnecessarily expensive, don't provide provide particularly good customer service and don't appear to be any more knowledgeable than a good indie. I'm sure there are many exceptions but this is my experience.

I bought my car (a 2003) last summer with full MB history (not a pre-requisite for me) but as I have no intention of selling it for some time I am not concerned about maintaining the connection to the dealership network

As mentioned above there are plenty of recommendations for good indies on this site. If you do depart from the dealer network, specific Mercedes knowledge and a Star Diagnostic System are a must for whoever maintains your car in my view. I don't know if that applies to your guy but it would be easy to confirm with him if this is the case.

Hope this helps