# Mercedes jacking up diesel maintenance rates?



## F32Fleet (Jul 14, 2010)

Flyingman said:


> The SA told me that they only give the loaner if the car is going to take longer than just a couple or so hours, like overnight. A regular service shouldn't take more than two (2) hours but invariably there is something else going on that requires more time.
> 
> It looks like BMW definitely has a +1 in this department, in that the service is included and you get a loaner almost no matter what.
> 
> I can't justify paying double for one fuel filter change at 20k and adblue every 10k.:tsk:


Ya, we opted pay as you go with the SLK. As for loaners my BMW dealership doesn't offer loaners for oil service only either. They just run through too many cars per day (100+) to maintain a fleet of loaners.


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## AutoUnion (Apr 11, 2005)

Flyingman said:


> I just received my new GL350 BT so will have to see how that Maintenance Program works. I'll pick it up at dealer this week. I really will miss the BMW 4 year/50k miles! Unfortuantely BMW did not offer a large enough rear end.:tsk:


Congrats! GL is an awesome car. Worth the price! I've been saying we need the X7 for years



> And that loaner for 3, 4 days sometimes weeks must really add up. I see the bill at my BMW dealer and Hertz charges them about $60/day.


Does your dealer not maintain a huge fleet of BMW loaners?


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## AutoUnion (Apr 11, 2005)

Flyingman said:


> They tried to tack on everything you can imagine. The financial guy closing out the sale tried to explain to me about it being a diesel and how it was different, like ad blue, fuel filter, etc... :tsk::tsk::tsk: He couldn't explain why this cost double of the gas engine. I explained I could get ad blue at just about any truck stop or auto store and just refill the tank myself. He pointed out that at one of the 10k intervals they had to flush the DEF tank.
> 
> Their OCI is every 10k or 1 year, whichever comes first. I'll probably stick to the miles as I doubt I will put 10k a year.


Yeah, I got the same run around when I called my local MB dealer asking for GLK service quotes. Ridiculous because no other maker makes this diesel distinction and raises prices accordingly 



> Inside you would never know you were driving a diesel, it is really quiet and smooth. Plenty of acceleration for such a big SUV. The nav system and controls are really busy, too busy for my liking and way more than what I have on my 335D. Not sure my wife is going to want to learn and deal with all of those details


I agree. iDrive is superior to COMMAND in so many ways. I dislike the tiny COMMAND screen and the whole thing feels about about 5 years out of date.


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## AutoUnion (Apr 11, 2005)

Flyingman said:


> The SA told me that they only give the loaner if the car is going to take longer than just a couple or so hours, like overnight. A regular service shouldn't take more than two (2) hours but invariably there is something else going on that requires more time.


Wow, that's a bunch of BS. My local MB dealer has a large fleet of loaners for anything. My local BMW dealer also is the same. I get loaners all the time. If it is something urgent, they just put me into a rental.



> I can't justify paying double for one fuel filter change at 20k and adblue every 10k.:tsk:


Bingo. It seems that they markup the DEF fluid by a lot too.


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## Snipe656 (Oct 22, 2009)

BB_cuda said:


> Silly question. Does the MB buyer have to purchase prepaid maintenance? If i were one of the guys that can't do it myself, I would just go the indy route. I know, i know it is the principle of the thing to unfairly charge almost double. Seems like they are discouraging the business on purpose.


The Mercedes dealership near where you live does free A and B services for the lifetime of the car if you buy the car from them. They typically also discount the car selling prices more so than any of the other dealers here in town. They also offer free pickup of your car and deliver a loaner at the same time. The only cars I do not think they offer the free maintenance for are AMG models. I think they do this deal for certified pre-owns they sell but I know they do it for new vehicles.

I actually was going to buy a ML350 BT from them last December but I kept debating if I really wanted one of those and it sold once I made up my mind. The discounts they offered along with the free stuff just made it the wisest economical choice at that time when compared to what the other dealer/brands offered me.


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## Snipe656 (Oct 22, 2009)

AutoUnion said:


> Wow, that's a bunch of BS. My local MB dealer has a large fleet of loaners for anything. My local BMW dealer also is the same. I get loaners all the time. If it is something urgent, they just put me into a rental.


The BMW dealer I was using here in town would not offer me a loaner unless the car was going to be there more than a day. They'd offer a shuttle service, but honestly every make dealer I have been to offers that.


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## UncleJ (May 7, 2006)

If I were a cynic I would think that M-B is doing this to increase "the value" of these packages so that the salesman can "include" them in the purchase price as an "extra" to make the customer think they are getting something special!:rofl: Many (as pointed out above) dealers include these A & B services in the cars you purchase from them (although not from another dealer) as a selling point, or marketing tool.:angel:


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## AutoUnion (Apr 11, 2005)

Snipe656 said:


> The BMW dealer I was using here in town would not offer me a loaner unless the car was going to be there more than a day. They'd offer a shuttle service, but honestly every make dealer I have been to offers that.


Yeah, it really does vary everywhere. This brings me back to the issue of dealer service. The Germans need to follow a Lexus-like model. They have the strictest guildlines in the industry. Their reputation speaks themselves. Constantly #1 year after year. If any dealer doesn't perform up to spec, they risk loosing their franchise.

I've never been to a ****ty Lexus dealer. Audi, BMW, Mercedes? I've been to a bunch.

- Sent from Galaxy S4


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## AutoUnion (Apr 11, 2005)

Snipe656 said:


> The Mercedes dealership near where you live does free A and B services for the lifetime of the car if you buy the car from them. They typically also discount the car selling prices more so than any of the other dealers here in town. They also offer free pickup of your car and deliver a loaner at the same time. The only cars I do not think they offer the free maintenance for are AMG models. I think they do this deal for certified pre-owns they sell but I know they do it for new vehicles.


That is a fantastic perk. It really does help the dealer get repeat buyers.

Most BMW owners I know won't leave the brand because of how hassle-free everything is when under warranty. Don't have to worry about anything. This positive experience makes them want to buy another one in the future.

I really wish Audi and Mercedes get with the program and include everything. I really want to jump ship to Porsche, but my no-headache experience with BMW is holding me back.

- Sent from Galaxy S4


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## Snipe656 (Oct 22, 2009)

AutoUnion said:


> That is a fantastic perk. It really does help the dealer get repeat buyers.
> 
> Most BMW owners I know won't leave the brand because of how hassle-free everything is when under warranty. Don't have to worry about anything. This positive experience makes them want to buy another one in the future.
> 
> ...


I honestly think the Mercedes dealership I was talking about does this policy to "steal" Mercedes buyers from the other dealerships. They maybe get some people from other brands but I don't get the impression that is the bulk of what gets attracted to them. It is hard to argue though free maintenance for life of ownership plus the whole come out with a tow truck to drop off your loaner car and pick up your car, I believe they even will deliver your car back when done. The tow truck thing though a lot of people I think get hesitant on, afraid of damages.


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## Flyingman (Sep 13, 2009)

AutoUnion said:


> Congrats! GL is an awesome car. Worth the price! I've been saying we need the X7 for years
> 
> Does your dealer not maintain a huge fleet of BMW loaners?


Yes they do but they are a large volume dealer so often times they are all gone so they have Hertz on site.


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## Flyingman (Sep 13, 2009)

UncleJ said:


> If I were a cynic I would think that M-B is doing this to increase "the value" of these packages so that the salesman can "include" them in the purchase price as an "extra" to make the customer think they are getting something special!:rofl: Many (as pointed out above) dealers include these A & B services in the cars you purchase from them (although not from another dealer) as a selling point, or marketing tool.:angel:


I didn't do any type of cost analysis but the Financial guy said I would save about 30% off regular price on the maintenance.

The extended Warranty was like 15% more if you purchased after 1 year or something like that. I told him my decision to buy the extended warranty depended on how well the car performed during it's first four (4) years. If MB did a good job, I wouldn't need it. He didn't respond to that.:bigpimp:

This is where they make their money adding on this stuff up front and getting you to include in your financing so it's not as "painful".

I will look further at the maintenance costs and perhaps try to squeeze that in, but doubt it.


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## Flyingman (Sep 13, 2009)

It is interesting to see the difference between MB and BMW in this area. BMW goes 13k and MB goes 10k on the OCI. BMW is 2 years and MB is 1 year. BMW is included and MB you pay through the nose.

I guess if you can afford to buy a MB you can afford to pay the cost of maintenance.


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## Snipe656 (Oct 22, 2009)

Flyingman said:


> It is interesting to see the difference between MB and BMW in this area. BMW goes 13k and MB goes 10k on the OCI. BMW is 2 years and MB is 1 year. BMW is included and MB you pay through the nose.
> 
> I guess if you can afford to buy a MB you can afford to pay the cost of maintenance.


It is not that bad if going to an independent shop and really no reason not to do the A&Bs at an independent shop anyway. One of my family members was managing an independent MB shop earlier this year to help out his friend. They'd see a ton of high end Mercedes like S63s and such come in because the cost at the dealer was ridiculous in comparisons.


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## AutoUnion (Apr 11, 2005)

Snipe656 said:


> It is not that bad if going to an independent shop and really no reason not to do the A&Bs at an independent shop anyway. One of my family members was managing an independent MB shop earlier this year to help out his friend. They'd see a ton of high end Mercedes like S63s and such come in because the cost at the dealer was ridiculous in comparisons.


I guess most people who buy new MBs don't want to deal with the hassle of having to go to an Indy. Not to mention, I really don't think I trust them quite yet on the new crop of diesels. They aren't required to train on them nor do they have the proper tools (+ oil, DEF, etc). I'm sure there are some indies that do it, but the overwhelming majority of them probably don't wrench many diesels at all.

For example, I doubt any Indy has experience with the SCR system or the new biturbo diesel in the GLK

- Sent from Galaxy S4


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## AutoUnion (Apr 11, 2005)

Flyingman said:


> It is interesting to see the difference between MB and BMW in this area. BMW goes 13k and MB goes 10k on the OCI. BMW is 2 years and MB is 1 year. BMW is included and MB you pay through the nose.


Yeah, this is very interesting. BMW recently changed their OCI to 1yr/10k on all their models for MY14. Let's see what happens.



> I guess if you can afford to buy a MB you can afford to pay the cost of maintenance.


Valid point 

Porsche has an OCI interval of 6 months/5k miles on the diesel Cayenne. I was quoted $649.99 every 5k by my local Porsche dealer for a simple oil change, rotation, DEF top off. :what:

- Sent from Galaxy S4


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## Pierre Louis (Oct 23, 2011)

The oil change is pathetically simple on these cars so I like to do it myself. While the 335d gets free ones, I won't do it, but when its not included, I'll probably do them myself. Besides, I tend not to overfill or overtighten anything like I'm used to getting from dealers. I love to be "one with my car" so its therapy for me!

Porsche 911 oil changes are different and more complex. I'd probably welcome the challenge and enjoy them even more! I used to do them on my Carrera 3.2.

PL


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## Snipe656 (Oct 22, 2009)

AutoUnion said:


> I guess most people who buy new MBs don't want to deal with the hassle of having to go to an Indy. Not to mention, I really don't think I trust them quite yet on the new crop of diesels. They aren't required to train on them nor do they have the proper tools (+ oil, DEF, etc). I'm sure there are some indies that do it, but the overwhelming majority of them probably don't wrench many diesels at all.
> 
> For example, I doubt any Indy has experience with the SCR system or the new biturbo diesel in the GLK
> 
> - Sent from Galaxy S4


I know two people that own Mercedes independent shops. They both along with their mechanics regularly attend Mercedes training on new models. These are not even the really big independent shops either. They after all have to keep up to date with the make they tailor too so that people continue to have confidence in using them. I know in the case of the smaller shop, that at least one local dealer has aggressively been trying to hire off his mechanics. I know that because my father is good friends with the guy in charge of that dealers service department, the very guy aggressively try to get those people. The new GLK is probably a bad example because so little probably has gone wrong, the only way a dealer mechanic would know more than a trained independent is because the dealer would take care of warranty repairs. Really a properly trained Spider Monkey could probably do A&B services though, it does not take a brainiac and apparently owners at least at my friends shops realize that because they are taking brand new Mercedes there for the savings.


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## Pierre Louis (Oct 23, 2011)

Indy mechanics are an eclectic lot. Many are paid much better than dealer wrenches and are motivated to learn the most up to date stuff. I was surprised that a "general" foreign car shop was able to do senso-tronic brakes on my 2005 E-class when they were thought to be trouble. He had the latest software updates etc. He even had better capabilities to service the transmission with Mercedes spec synthetic fluid that Mercedes specialty shops didn't know about. I wouldn't discount any of them until you have a bit of experience to see what they can do. We have "specialist" entrenched in our culture and don't value a true enlightened "generalist" viewpoint and its advantages.

PL


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