Within Warranty Servicing

[mercmanuk]

If The Vehicle Is Still Under Warranty Does It Have To Be Serviced By A Main Agent Or Can It Be Done By One Of The Smaller Merc Specialized Places.in Other Words Will Mercedes Uk Accept The Service Book Stamp From Anyone Other Than A Main Agent.
Cheers And A Merry Xmas To All.

 

[jaymanek]

dealers only untill its out of service mate....

 

[MainMan]

If The Vehicle Is Still Under Warranty Does It Have To Be Serviced By A Main Agent Or Can It Be Done By One Of The Smaller Merc Specialized Places.in Other Words Will Mercedes Uk Accept The Service Book Stamp From Anyone Other Than A Main Agent.
Cheers And A Merry Xmas To All.

Under EU regulations that came in last year any "approved" independent can service your car. The question is what does "approved" mean and have Daimler Chrysler yet approved any independents. They have to be satisfied that the independent is trained in Mercedes servicing, has appropriate equipment and has access to all the required technical data.

 

[Brian WH]

If The Vehicle Is Still Under Warranty Does It Have To Be Serviced By A Main Agent Or Can It Be Done By One Of The Smaller Merc Specialized Places.in Other Words Will Mercedes Uk Accept The Service Book Stamp From Anyone Other Than A Main Agent.
Cheers And A Merry Xmas To All.

The other problem is that only Dealers can do Warranty Repairs.

 

[Sp!ke]

The other problem is that only Dealers can do Warranty Repairs.

hmmm... not sure on this one. I believe that George Fraser does warranty repairs if memory serves me correctly.

 

[Brian WH]

hmmm... not sure on this one. I believe that George Fraser does warranty repairs if memory serves me correctly.

My local dealer where I bought my cars lost the Franchise recently. They sell new Vans but not cars, only second hand ones. Anyway they now have started doing car services again but if the car needs a Warranty repair they send it to the other Dealer who has the Franchise.

 

[Big_Stick]

The Office of Fair Trading are keen to stamp out the dealer-warranty scam.

In a mystery shopper survey they found that 50% of independents did an ‘unsatisfactory job’ whilst 54% of franchised dealers did an ‘unsatisfactory job’.

Also, the OFT said that DaimlerChrysler will be making a statement this spring as to where they stand with this warranty scam malarkey.

In some EU countries it is already illegal for a manufacturers for force you to use a franchised outlet to maintain a warranty. Sweden is one example.

The fact remains that whatever M-B you drive an ‘A’ service will take around 90 minutes, will use around £25 of fully synthetic oil, £15 for the filter and of course £2 to fill up the washer bottle. So, assuming £80 per hour labour, that is £162. But they will charge you around £280 instead.

 

[Shude]

The other problem is that only Dealers can do Warranty Repairs.

A little garage around the corner from me, where my family take their cars to get serviced, are able to perform repairs under warranty by Mercedes. They are also able to service fleet/contract hire cars instead of the stealerships.

Lots of places can perform warranty repairs, stealerships just don't want you to know this.

 

[Big_Stick]

I have today written to DaimlerChrysler UK for clarification (I attached part of teh OFT report). I will publish their response. Here is my letter:

Customer Care Department
DaimlerChrysler UK Limited
Tongwell
Milton Keynes
MK15 8BA


1st March 2004


Dear sir or madam,

New vehicle warranties and Mercedes-Benz authorised dealerships

I have recently read a report from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) criticising vehicle manufacturers, including DaimlerChrysler UK, for insisting that a vehicle is serviced by a franchised Mercedes-Benz dealer in order to ensure that the new vehicle warranty remains valid.

I note that the OFT report states that DaimlerChrysler will be removing this restriction in the New Year (see report excerpt attached).

In view of this I request the following information:

· If the vehicle no longer needs to be serviced at a franchised Mercedes-Benz dealer then please provide a list of independent non franchised servicing outlets where I can have my new C-Class, registration XX53 XXX, maintained without invalidating the manufacturer’s warranty.

· Please provide a list of independent servicing outlets who are authorised to perform warranty repair work.

If you can provide any additional information which will assist this query then I would be grateful if you could send this to me.

Thank you.

Yours faithfully,

 

[cbenz]

Nice one Big Stick, look forward to reading their reply as it could potentially be of interest to a lot of us.

 

[Dave Kerr]

Nice one Big Stick, look forward to reading their reply as it could potentially be of interest to a lot of us.

Took my C220 for its first service today at worcester MB, I was told on the phone it would cost £388, I recieved a phone call telling me it needed four new tyres 225x50 Conti's @ £109 + vat, I told no way I will get it done later. The A class they gave me as a loan car had petrol in it, I drove home and put two litres in from the lawnmower, I think it was on fumes when I got back to the garage.
They then tried to overcharge me, I complained and they said OK £388 will do. They then tell me it's out of warrenty because it is a personal import. I had to explain that the law had changed and now all cars bought in Europe have a 2 year warrenty ( how the bloody hell do you spell warrenty?) you have to give them 9/10 for continually trying to relieve you of money, like trying to get blood out of a stone with me !!

Dave

 

[shekky]

Took my C220 for its first service today at worcester MB, I was told on the phone it would cost £388, I recieved a phone call telling me it needed four new tyres 225x50 Conti's @ £109 + vat, I told no way I will get it done later. The A class they gave me as a loan car had petrol in it, I drove home and put two litres in from the lawnmower, I think it was on fumes when I got back to the garage.
They then tried to overcharge me, I complained and they said OK £388 will do. They then tell me it's out of warrenty because it is a personal import. I had to explain that the law had changed and now all cars bought in Europe have a 2 year warrenty ( how the bloody hell do you spell warrenty?) you have to give them 9/10 for continually trying to relieve you of money, like trying to get blood out of a stone with me !!

Dave

£388 for it's first service?????? Am I seeing this right? Presumably the first service is oil and filter(£50 max) + labour, say 1/2 hr. + " visual inspection" . How can that be £388?

Spoke to stealers yesterday and asked them to quote me for the first service on my e220 cdi. The guy in service dept. said it would be £250 and then he asked me if that is W210 or W211 and when i said W211 he said he can't give me the price since it has to be connected to a computer and only then they'll know what needs doing and subsequently be able to price it. I mean what kind of crap is that, what can possibly be the difference between W210 and W211 that stops them from having fixed price for W211 too, especially if that fixed price is ridiculously high in the first place. BTW, I'm only talking first service here.
I reffered back to his £250 quote for the W210 and asked him to explain, since it's only the first service , how do they break down that amount, ie. how much for labour and how much for the parts.
"I am not allowed to tell you that sir, it's a fixed price for the first service" was his reply ...
Bloody cartel, that's what it is... a license to print money

Can somebody post their first service costs here please, I'm still shocked to the bone!!!

BTW, the dealer in question is Lancaster Lakeside , West Thurrock, Essex

 

[Billy]

1st Service (A Service) on my CL55 last December at the Dealer was £192.76

Labour £72.5, Filter Element £9.66, Battery £2.69 & the gold plated oil (8 litres) £79.20

 

[MainMan]

£388 for it's first service?????? Am I seeing this right? Presumably the first service is oil and filter(£50 max) + labour, say 1/2 hr. + " visual inspection" . How can that be £388?
:

When I needed the first service on my SLK320, 18 months ago, I rang round the various dealers nearby and got a different quote from each. It varied from about £120 to £310. Obviously I took the cheapest one, at Harpenden. Nowadays all the dealers in nearly a 50 mile radius are owned by Mercedes and they all charge the same. Does anyone know of a dealer within reach of Barnet who's quoting less than £535 for a "B" service?

 

[RichardM]

I don't think 'first service' means much, it depends whether it is an A or B service. My first service wasn't until 19,000 miles and was a B - major service and was much more than an oil change.

 

[shekky]

I don't think 'first service' means much, it depends whether it is an A or B service. My first service wasn't until 19,000 miles and was a B - major service and was much more than an oil change.

you're right Richard, I stand corrected, should have written "A" service.
I did talk about "A" service when i spoke to the service dept. though, just forgot to be precise when writing...

 

[Big_Stick]

For any M-B model the 'A' service should take no more than an hour if no additional work is needed; the fact is that the stealer needs to turn over as many cars as he can to earn (earn?) a profit.

In my view they will run through the 'A' service checklist as quick as they can, and change the oil and filter; if you have got 25 cars parked outside you would do the same.

Forget about 'quality' and all that tosh. It's a money game.

A few years back I had a Seat Alhambra; despite a full main dealer history it broke down because the diesel fuel filter was blocked: it should have been changed at the 40K service but it had never ever been touched: even the original fuel pipe crimps were there (=they had never even drained the filter!). The dealer apologised and offered a free service-no doubt worried sick that I would contact trading standards (which I didn't).

 

[Brian WH]

I don't think 'first service' means much, it depends whether it is an A or B service. My first service wasn't until 19,000 miles and was a B - major service and was much more than an oil change.

Can I ask how much you paid Richard?

Mine is due in 3500 miles.@ 17000 miles at the moment, as it keeps going up.

 

[Dave Kerr]

£388 for it's first service?????? Am I seeing this right? Presumably the first service is oil and filter(£50 max) + labour, say 1/2 hr. + " visual inspection" . How can that be £388?

Spoke to stealers yesterday and asked them to quote me for the first service on my e220 cdi. The guy in service dept. said it would be £250 and then he asked me if that is W210 or W211 and when i said W211 he said he can't give me the price since it has to be connected to a computer and only then they'll know what needs doing and subsequently be able to price it. I mean what kind of crap is that, what can possibly be the difference between W210 and W211 that stops them from having fixed price for W211 too, especially if that fixed price is ridiculously high in the first place. BTW, I'm only talking first service here.
I reffered back to his £250 quote for the W210 and asked him to explain, since it's only the first service , how do they break down that amount, ie. how much for labour and how much for the parts.
"I am not allowed to tell you that sir, it's a fixed price for the first service" was his reply ...
Bloody cartel, that's what it is... a license to print money

Can somebody post their first service costs here please, I'm still shocked to the bone!!!

BTW, the dealer in question is Lancaster Lakeside , West Thurrock, Essex

Sorry forgot to mention I have done just over 20,000 miles so it was a 'B' service. I also missed out the *no* as in there was no petrol in the A Class loan car they gave me.
Dave

 

[RichardM]

Can I ask how much you paid Richard?

Mine is due in 3500 miles.@ 17000 miles at the moment, as it keeps going up.

The benefits of leasing the car Brian, I didn't see the bill nor did I for the 4 new Michelin Pilot Primacy tyres.

Sorry forgot to mention I have done just over 20,000 miles so it was a 'B' service. I also missed out the *no* as in there was no petrol in the A Class loan car they gave me.
Dave

MB Hertford couldn't apologise enough when they gave me a car without any petrol (a brand new C200 with sports kit). Before they handed over the keys they gave me a £20 voucher for the petrol station up the road.