Jason.Bare

I just recieved information because I ordered a 2005 c230 sedan. There will be no more service A anb B intervals. Also all oil changes and any wear and tear items that were covered under the free maintinance is stopping. The lady I spoke with told me that the basic bumper-to-bumper warrenty is probally going to 5 years/60,000 miles. I AM MAD!

MJ50

wtf! that sux....
r they losing money for the free maintenance???
or is 2005 model that much more reliable?

freakinfreak

I gotta call BS on this one. MB would not stop the free scheduled maintenence. BMW, Audi, Lincoln and Jaguar do it. It would make people go to other manufacturers. This would also have the resale values drop even more because people will not take care of their cars since they have to deal with the high priced maintenence of a European car and can't go to Jiffy Lube to do an oil change.

Jason.Bare

It's true. Call up Mercedes-Benz and ask. (1-800-for-merc) It will be replaced by something else. like a longer bumper-to-bumper.

amdeutsch

Lets say its true. MB calculates the cost of this service into every car. We all know that there are some dealers that will do this service every year whereas others will follow the FSS guidelines. Looking at it this way could mean the last service B will not be done for some which is added profit for MB.

The other side of the coin could be the slide of the Dollar against the Euro; about 1:1.20 now I believe. Therefore MB will find it hard to increase the price of the cars that much. Remember that everyone is used to a certain std and equipment level. Would they be willing to pay extra for some of those things they take for granted now? Remember the price increase from 02 to 03 and the equipment that was std, 02, and now had to be bought, 03.

IMHO the slide of the dollar is not helping us with this and in turn also affects foreign stuff because so much of the world economy is based on the dollar.

tifosiv122

I went to the dealer on Saturday to look at a new E for my GF and I was also told the free service was 'changing' very soon.

Erik

bagwell

hahahhahahahaha now THAT's a good one!!!!!!!!!

pookie

i will not buy another benz if there isn't free service. i already have too many problems with the car and will dump it at 50k.

oggle

What exactly do you mean wear and tear items? Can someone provide more details as to what won't be covered any longer?

Jason.Bare

Yes, as a matter of fact I can, Oggle!

Wear and tear itmes such as filters, wiper blades and oil changes are all at no charge with the free maintanince program. I hope this helps. Also to learn more, you could check your service booklet and see what's covered in service A and B.
-Jason

SteveS

So what most of you are saying is that you make your car buying decisions on free oil changes, wiper blade replacements, etc., which has absolutely nothing to do with the cars reliability. If the cost of normal routine maintenance is too great for you, then maybe you should be looking at a different class of car.

Until just a few years ago, at least in the US, it was unheard of to have "general Maintenance items" covered.

BTW, the last three GM products I owned, all provided free oil/filter changes, whenever the car was in for other service. This was not a factory sanctioned process, but the dealership programs.

mctwin2kman

I do not depend on them, but it is a nice perk and a loaner dropped off to me and then my car later returned to me without needing to visit the dealership is a nice thing as well. I will buy another MB even if the Services are not paid for anymore. I just will do my own oil changes instead of taking it to the Stealer. Hopefully the FSS is not hard to re-set after performing your oil changes. Of course it is a nice perk and will be missed, and will probably hurt sales on the high end models, as those people spending $90K on a car will not want to get there hands dirty and probably will not want to pay for a $150 oil change. You do not get to own a $90K car without being somewhat tight with your money, these people generally expect a lot more from there dealer than the guy buying a Kia.....

ningeve

I'm thinking to buy a 2001 or later c230k. When are you going to sell your car? Thanks.

CHATMANR

lol

Dubs42

Is the no more free serivce just for new cars, or does it go for every benz still under warranty

Adobe

It only effects models starting with MY 2005. What you have now won't go away.

Guest0001

Good points.

20FHK02

There are only maximum 5 included free services for the current 50k miles warranty. If each costs $200 then the total saving is $1000. I will not base my purchase of a $30k+ car on a $1k saving.

And if the steering wheel button cracks or the roof squeaks, they will still be covered under the bumper-to-bumper warranty.

C230 Sport Coup

Well, free service was a major selling point for me after looking at used cars and realizing that I'd be nickled and dimed to death.
Since I'm not paying one thin dime to maint. it makes it easier to justify upgrading some of the components like suspension and brakes...
And they've done a lot of work to my car!
Flushed the radiator and brake fluid.
$1K ? Me think it's more than that. I'm sure of it.
And I wonder how keen they'll be to fix all the other little things?
I'm pretty sure, my repair bills have been well over 10 grand to MBZ.
They replaced the whole sunroof because of creaks, and it's creaking again. Oh well!

Wear and tear items could be almost anything.
I've already got another list for them for next time!

Guest0001

Service A and B would be ALOT more than 200 bucks. Try 400 for service A and maybe 600-800 for service B. Remember we are talking about Stealers here bro. You could probably do half the work yourself or take it to an independant shop for a fraction of the cost and take warranty items for dealers to take care of.

SteveS

The things you are mentioning are not part of the service anyway. The sunroof creaking, it's not maintenance, it's a repair, and should be under warrenty.
The free service is: Oil/Filter Change($50 max for synthetic change at an idependent shop, maybe $100 at MB), air filter change($30 on the high side), rotate tires, etc. Anything you are upgrading like suspension, brakes, etc. is voiding your warrenty anyway, so why do you care about free maintenance being dropped?
I really think this is much ado about nothing.

DL_AMG

MB might start offering Maintance package during the new 5 yr warranty period...it might cost $800-1500. Just my guess.
I still prefer NO-COST ownership during the warranty period.

Nola

Is this true? Are wiper blades included in the deal? If so, my trip to the dealer will be sooner rather than later.

Adobe

It's not free! It was built into the price of the car. And no, Mercedes are not now going to reduce the price of the car. What will probably happen is that they will avoid another price increase.

Has anybody checked the value of the dollar against the Euro lately?

What amazes me is that the only people who are complaining about this are those people who trade often or lease and those same people are blowing so much money on interest and depreciation that the little bit of additional cost for the lost maintenance is a pittance in comparison.

Let's go over this again. You'll probably get a max of three oil changes or maybe four. I think MBUSA pays the dealer $35 for an oil change plus the wholesale cost of the oil and filter. Now you may also get one set of air filters and one of cabin filters. You are also supposed to get *inspections* which are a farce (you are not missing anything).

Compare that to the tens of thousands of dollars lost in depreciation and the cost to borrow money for people who lease or trade every three years. In fact, in places like California, Washington and Arizona, you will probably pay more for your license plates on a new car than MBUSA pays for that free maintenance.

shortbear

I spoke to Kevin Malone (service rep) at Mercedes Downtown LA Motors and he said he did not know anything about discontinuing the free maintainence in 2005.

Where are you guys getting your information from?