Mercedes Servicing

Hi Everyone
             The service plan on my Mercedes is now finished, I am looking for a new service plan, they have an offer at the moment A & B service £432 covers 4 years but it excludes Auto's and Motorhomes has anyone found a way round this.
              Regards
              Alan

Hi Everyone
       I have just got my Mercedes Serviced so I am thinking where next I know it is a while, do you give up on Mercedes and go local or carry on with main dealer servicing at a premium
       Regards
        Alan

Alan,

Sorry, not an answer to your question but further food for thought.

One thing to consider - The dashboard service advisory messages indicate my next service is a long way into the future having just had a service. But, I am advised by my local Mercedes dealer that the 'free' ongoing Mobilo roadside assistance is only available for 12 months from the last Mercedes service after which it lapses until the next Mercedes service at which point it's available for 12 months again. I'm currently trying to determine what the minimum Mercedes annual service requirement is to maintain the continuous availability of Mobilo assistance should I have the misfortune to need it. Or does someone know the answer?

Regards

Lance

Hi Lance
         I noticed the same thing, no answer yet. I have breakdown cover with Britannia Rescue, I presume that would get me to a Mercedes Commercial Garage. The special service deal of £432 for an A & B service does not cover Automatics and Motorhomes any more. I checked yesterday and an A service is only an oil change and filter and visual check of a number of items
     COST £300 inc vat seems an awful lot still I have 2 years to save up and think about it
       Regards
        Alan

Hi Everyone
             Just had some recalls done that could not be done at service time, most urgent one was a new fuse holder in case it caught fire. Got a quote for a service plan £55.00 inc vat a month for 12 months for an A & B Service that will last me 4 years and be inflation proof, what are your opinions
            Regards
            Alan

My opinion Alan, is that we need to find a competent garage with a mechanic who charges a reasonable rate, and knows that when The Computer That Must Be Obeyed says 'cam chain sensor faulty' it is definitely NOT the cam chain sensor that is faulty, but instead the mechanic is capable of diagnosing the acutal fault.

My 2019 Bourton came with one Mercedes invoice as follows:
Carry out free (DID YOU GET THAT? FREE? ) visual health check . . . .£0.00
MOT fee £58.60 plus VAT (or £45 inc VAT at your local test garage)
Now this is the bit I don't get:
Vehicle to official inspection prepare £120 +VAT
Vehicle to official inspection submit £60 + VAT
(so it sounds as if it costs £216 to get the vehicle on the ramps)

This is printed on the invoice: "Customer said do not replace key fob battery and do not replace NOX sensor." Guess what they did?
NOX sensor £455 + VAT. (excluding labour)
It cost him £551 in parts for them to do something he had instructed them not to do. Plus another £116 for the labour of changing the sensor.
EML on dash. 54101101 £24 + VAT Well it's worth £28.80 to open the door and look at the dash to see if there is a light on, isn't it?
Perform quick test 54065001 £12 + VAT ? I wonder what that is. I guess that is extra to having got it on a ramp, they had to plug in the OBD2 diagnostic plug. Phew., take a rest old chap.
On-board psu voltage maintain when checking / testing and troubleshooting 
54101001 £120+ VAT I think that means get another 12v battery and connect it with croc clips while troubleshooting. £150 to connect another temporary 12v. The mind boggles.
Electrical system check £72 + VAT I.E do the headlights work? Yes. OK, that will be £86.40.
Replace NOX sensor with electric controller unit upstream of cat converter £96 + VAT. Ignore the customer's instruction not to change it, we'll change it anyway and charge him.
Threaded socket repair, program, code control unit £36 + VAT

Total £1,264.32 including VAT

I expect that is the reason he got rid of the Bourton, and probably went and got a Ducato.

I've been looking for the engine battery. Anyone know where it is? It's not in the engine, not under the carpet / rubber mat in the cab, not under the front seats. I reckon the engine starts by fairy power.

Addition to the above:
Ebay NOX sensor with the same part number, £115.19 including VAT, not Mercedes price of £546. It's probably made in the same factory. I imagine this same part would be used on many different vehicles.
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So the realistic, sensible solution would be to find a garage that can accommodate the Bourton on its lift, and that charges say £60/hour as my local one does, plus the run-of-the-mill ebay prices for parts given that they can get them cheaper as they are trade.

MB vehicle battery is under floor on passenger side, remove step edge trim, carpet and foam underlay, and tool foam under foot panel, then remove black panel.

Hab battery is under passenger seat, remove seat if you need access and have swivel seats.

Currently A Service cost is £200, B Service is £365, unclear if with/without VAT. 12x£55 is more but includes future price increases.

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It’s worth remembering that servicing/repairs by a MB garage will give access to the MB software updates and analysis which independent garages won’t have. We got caught like that with our Sprinter when an independent was unable to find a fault. We still had a bill to pay there and another at the MB van centre who later carried out the work.

In my experience, MB vans are expensive to buy but servicing and repair costs tend to be cheaper than for the Boxer/Ducato.

I have a Peugeot van & have recently bought my first MB car. I’ve taken out the service plan for 4 years of servicing but when I replace the car at 5 years it won’t be another MB. Likewise when I change the van it’ll be a Ducato or Boxer. MB dealers are rip off merchants.

Flash wrote:I have a Peugeot van & have recently bought my first MB car. I’ve taken out the service plan for 4 years of servicing but when I replace the car at 5 years it won’t be another MB. Likewise when I change the van it’ll be a Ducato or Boxer. MB dealers are rip off merchants.

It’s like everything. Some are some aren’t. There are two dealerships near me, one is a car franchise that dabbles in smaller vans and the other is an authorised MB commercial garage. I’d not class the second as rip off but I have grave doubts about the car dealership in terms of repair costs and ability.

I recently purchased a replacement fuel filler cap (£7) from the car dealership for my Vito - I was passing the door and several miles from the van dealer - and the parts salesperson confirmed spares for vans are much more reasonably priced than those for MB cars.

Tinwheeler wrote:It’s worth remembering that servicing/repairs by a MB garage will give access to the MB software updates and analysis which independent garages won’t have. We got caught like that with our Sprinter when an independent was unable to find a fault. We still had a bill to pay there and another at the MB van centre who later carried out the work.

In my experience, MB vans are expensive to buy but servicing and repair costs tend to be cheaper than for the Boxer/Ducato.

Today I found myself parked (with my motorbike) next to a Merc van and the driver came to get in. 
I said "I've just got a sprinter, an automatic motorhome. I looked at the bottom rad hose and it looks as if it will cost £400, but then again it looks as if it is the same for a German tank so it should outlast me"
He said "I'm a merc commercial mechanic, no they aren't that much, about £100 and they will last 20 years. The worst problem with the sprinter is the inlet manifold, they are made of plastic and over time they crack. They don't cost a lot but they take a full day's labour to replace, they are very difficult to get at" I then asked what the labour rate at a merc dealer would be, and he said about £100 an hour, he said much much cheaper than at a merc car dealer which will charge about £400 an hour".

I've just been out to look at mine. It is a RWD so the engine is in line front to back of the vehicle, and the access each side of the engine is spacious. I can't see any bother replacing the inlet manifold - there is a lot of bits of plastic to remove, but I can see the manifold and I can imagine doing it myself. I suspect that he may have been referring to a FWD Sprinter where the inlet manifold would probably be up against the bulkhead.
Anyway so I am happy - or at least, less worried about the running costs of the Merc chassis. Yesterday I got my first Mercedes spares disappointment - I went to the dealer in Leicester with a list of water pipes I would like to replace on my 1981 car. He couldn't supply any of them which was a bit of a surprise because in the past they have always supplied parts for my 1987 onwards cars. But he did say go to Mercedes Benz Poole, who have collected a large stock of parts for the older cars.

The mechanic you met verified my postings of MB commercials being cheaper to repair than MB cars. 

I’m glad you’re happy. 

I have had a MB E Class for 10 years (11 years old). Cant' verify the £400/h labour (don't believe it though) as in that time I have never paid for any MB Dealer work, hasn't needed it. I have always had a Service Contract, currently £42/m which covers all normal service item (A & B) including auto box fluid change. Cheap way to get Europe wide breakdown and recovery, though have only used it for flat battery once.

Don't get that (Mobilo Cover) on my Sprinter as it only applies on post 2014 Sprinters.

No, I find £400/hr hard to believe too, he was probably just saying in effect that commercials are significantly cheaper than cars and picked a number out of the air.
Talking of which, m/h versus cars I have just applied for Critair and Umwelt stickers, and the German www gave me a choice of vehicle type to enter which was motorcycle / car / light commercial / HGV / PSV so I called it a car, since it isn't any of the others. My V5 doesn't have any entry next to J: Vehicle Category. Neither does it have a CO2 rating, which the site wanted, but I got away with not entering a value for that. I just scanned the V5 data page and added that.

I can't remember what I entered but I think I'd have entered light commercial as that describes the base vehicle better than car.  I might have left it blank. Whatever I entered, the green grade 4 sticker came back very quickly giving entry to all the LEZs in Germany. Similarly the yellow grade 2 Critair sticker was quick to come.

Hi Everyone
       Just to sew it up really, in the end I went for a Mercedes Service Plan,I know it is a rip off, but the MH is only 4 years old and I think it will help keep it's value. It is about £56 a month payable for 12 months, It is inflation proof, 4 years servicing paid for, fit and forget cheers
        Alan

I wonder if I need that servicing plan. Is it startable on a 4 yr old Sprinter? My heater blows cold air when the selected temperature is obviously above ambient, yet strangely under the bonnet the hot flow and return pipes to the heater are hot enough.
Also it commonly takes several attempts to start the engine. "Key not detected. Place key in detection zone" or something similar, the dashboard says. I SHOUT back 'The key is jolly well in the detection zone you STUPID COMPUTER'. Eventually it works but you wouldn't want to be in a hurry to go anywhere. My 41 yr old Mercedes car starts instantly. But then it has a metal key which you push into a slot and turn it. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Meanwhile the van randomly emits a chirrup, and lots of Clunks when it decides to lock itself, and lights randomly flash on and off . . . it's hard to tell which oddities are the Sargent doing its own thing or the Sprinter.


I've got my green Umwelt and yellow Critair stickers very quickly, so we'll be off Sur Le Continent in a week's time.

I had experience of Mobilo assistance on a new E Class I used to have.  It sounded impressive - free breakdown cover for 30 years and a replacement car if needed.  But there were catches.  All servicing and repairs had to be carried out by M-B main dealers and when Mobilo is activated the car is taken to the nearest M-B main dealer for repair.  I called out Mobilo when I had a flat battery having replaced the battery a month earlier.  I was nearly charged for the callout as the battery didn't come from a M-B dealer or have M-B on it.  I sort of got away with it because the callout man detected a faulty alternator.  I say sort of, as the M-B dealer charged me £1000 for a new alternator and that was approaching 20 years ago.  I found that all my M-B repairs were costing me upwards of £1000 with relatively high servicing costs on top of that.  I deduced that Mobilo was a means of ensuring that all repairs and servicing are carried out by main dealers rather than independents who provide better VfM.

I just phoned the nearest Merc commercial garage and asked why my heater doesn't blow hot, only cold. Book it in, they said. What is your labour charge? I asked. £150 an hour Plus VAT. I need a brandy, but more importantly a competent garage that charges an earthly rate, not an inter-gallactic one. My Bourton is under the selling dealer's warranty, but I don't know if I have the courage to take it to the Merc dealer at that price. I wonder if an AutoSleeper dealer with their own workshop might be an idea? Marquis? Brownhills? Although they failed three times to get an electric bed of mine working. I haven't heard any good reports from either of those.

And to think that British Gas paid me £18 to travel to a customers house (in my own van and at my own expense) and spend half an hour servicing a boiler.

Caraman wrote:............the M-B dealer charged me £1000 for a new alternator and that was approaching 20 years ago. ..........

About ten years ago a friend of mine 'needed' a new alternator for his 650cc BMW motorbike. That was £850. All you, and he, would have needed was a £5 set of carbon brushes or maybe a £2 rectifier.

I've just returned from 3 weeks touring in France where the outside temperature dropped to 9 degrees. The heater didn't blow any heat in my Bourton. I found a commercial MB dealer and explained the problem. They diagnosed that 3 servo motors needed replacing, they have them in stock, it would be €750. So I said yes please, I was shivering cold. They did the job the same day which took 3.5 hours, gave me the old servos and the bill was €630 which was under £600 by the time my credit card bill arrived. I was well pleased with the service which I think was cheaper, and certainly faster than it would have been here. Whether all 3 actually needed changing I can't be 100% sure but maybe there was so much labour that it wasn't worth changing just one. They had to strip out the dashboard to get at them.
Of course they wouldn't have been needed if the heating was controlled by knobs and wires instead of computers . . . . .

Hi
    It was nice to see that they actually ended up charging less than the estimate,an honest garage
regards
   Alan

That's what I thought. There is a term for it in business, something like
"Managing the customer's expectations"
OK Tell him it's £750 when we know it will be £600.
"It will be £750, do you want it done?"
"Yes please"
Job done,
"Here's your bill, £600"
"Oh golly gosh, I like that, it being cheaper than I expected"
That's good, he'll go on some forum or faceache or instantcoffeegranules or jigjog and tell the world we're a good garage.

All clever stuff, but it still leaves me with a good feeling towards that garage. Specially the customer experience The guy actually saw me at 6:30pm as he was closing up. He stopped and saw my problem, videod the hot heater pipes inside the engine compartment and sent the video and explanation to his van mechanic who had gone home. He said they would do it first thing the next day so we stayed the night just outside the garage and sure enough they diagnosed the problem and did the job as soon as they opened up and got rid of the previous customers van.

Hi everyone, just brought a 2023 Bourton and noticed this thread about servicing costs. We live in Herefordshire and wondered who is the best cv dealer to carry out the servicing. Thanks for your help