Hoping I can glean some advice, please. As a newcomer to M-B, I have tried to work out the info from the website but it is not exactly comprehensive nor clear.
I hope to receive my new car at the end of June and have now budgeted to take out a monthly Service Care plan (I had hoped to go for 4 years/4 services but this option seems to have disappeared from the online 'calculator' and so it will be 3 years at £35 pcm, to start with). Thankfully I have a deferred army pension due in the near future to cover this expense! I'm a private (cash) buyer and plan to keep the car for many years.
I have three dealerships all about the same distance from me and once a year I'll be happy to drive to any one and then catch a bus into town to amuse myself for a few hours whilst the work is done. These are Bedford and Milton Keynes (both Sytner) and Stevenage (L&L). None of these 3 is the dealer from whom I am buying the car - the latter gave by far the best purchase price but realistically is too far away to service it.
What I am not sure about, is how the arrangement works - am I going to make a Service Care contract with one particular dealer, or generally with M-B GB? I understand that I could have servicing done at any of 140 dealerships in the UK, but is there any advantage to be had in approaching just one of those dealerships, in order to negotiate for extra benefits? I've noted that some folk on here seem to have been offered different features by different dealers, such as loaner cars or shorter booked timeslots ('Lounge') rather than wasting an entire day. The second one would be fine for me. I would like to think that creating a relationship with a specific local dealer might also help if I need warranty work or system updates etc, but maybe that's naive? And I would imagine that the electronic service record needs to know who my preferred local servicing garage is, doesn't it?
So - any recommendations or comments would be welcome, as I would like to sort out arrangements this month - should I choose and chat to a specific dealer or doesn't it matter in reality?
I hope to receive my new car at the end of June and have now budgeted to take out a monthly Service Care plan (I had hoped to go for 4 years/4 services but this option seems to have disappeared from the online 'calculator' and so it will be 3 years at £35 pcm, to start with). Thankfully I have a deferred army pension due in the near future to cover this expense! I'm a private (cash) buyer and plan to keep the car for many years.
I have three dealerships all about the same distance from me and once a year I'll be happy to drive to any one and then catch a bus into town to amuse myself for a few hours whilst the work is done. These are Bedford and Milton Keynes (both Sytner) and Stevenage (L&L). None of these 3 is the dealer from whom I am buying the car - the latter gave by far the best purchase price but realistically is too far away to service it.
What I am not sure about, is how the arrangement works - am I going to make a Service Care contract with one particular dealer, or generally with M-B GB? I understand that I could have servicing done at any of 140 dealerships in the UK, but is there any advantage to be had in approaching just one of those dealerships, in order to negotiate for extra benefits? I've noted that some folk on here seem to have been offered different features by different dealers, such as loaner cars or shorter booked timeslots ('Lounge') rather than wasting an entire day. The second one would be fine for me. I would like to think that creating a relationship with a specific local dealer might also help if I need warranty work or system updates etc, but maybe that's naive? And I would imagine that the electronic service record needs to know who my preferred local servicing garage is, doesn't it?
So - any recommendations or comments would be welcome, as I would like to sort out arrangements this month - should I choose and chat to a specific dealer or doesn't it matter in reality?
