columbus

whoaaa - now WAIT just one minuzzle! Are u guys saying there is NO MORE free maintenance at MB if I get a new one this year?!?? Where have I been...

Well, nice knowing you guys, i'll drop in from time to time to see after you.

See you over at the Audi forum ;-)


(whew - good thing I didn't sign the order for my new Benz yet... )

FrankW

starting 2006 BMW will go the same route as MBz which will no longer have free schedule maintainance.

CitronC230K_03

well Frank, now people are going to cry "why did BMW do it longer than MB."

PsssTkiD

i think they should put it back..... because a lot of people can afford these C-class , but they're worried about the parts and maintenance

CitronC230K_03

well then how about they increase the price of the cars and then offer it. that way people still think they are getting it. either way we are going to have to pay for it.

revstriker

There's not really a lot of "parts" covered in this.

revstriker

This is what I think people don't understand. There's no such thing as "free" maintenance; someone is paying for it. If it's MB that's paying for it, where do they get this money? That's right, from car sales.

I would think people would rather have the car for less money. That way they can get the oil changed as much as they want. Also, there's no reason to go to an MB dealer to get non-warranty work done, so you can find some place that's less expensive.

CitronC230K_03

i think its better to give them the option to pre-pay for maintenace if they want it, or if they want the car for less, then they can opt for no prepaid maintenace. its a smart move to sell the cars for less.

tuscanraider

Sure they would, but it's not going to work that way. The service will be removed, AND the price will go up. Now how do you defend them?

Removing the service is just a bad idea for the customer. period.

CitronC230K_03

now if i can only get somene who looks like an Oompa Loompa to sell me an MB, and ill be set.

shortbear

both my 2002 MB c240 and my wife's Lexus RX330 get free service. Mine expires in July 2003 though and I probably will trade it in for a 2005 Lexus GX470 when my free maintenance expires. Lexus is great, my wife brought in her RX330 to the dealer on a saturday with no appointment and said, "I need an oil change". They took her car in right away and did it for her on the spot for free.

My c240 has had almost $3000 of repairs and maintenance on it if it were not for the free service. It was great service while it lasted but I dont think I will be buying another mercedes until they reinstate the free maintenance. Sorry I am a traitor.

postoak

Repairs are included under your warranty.

Jim Banville

How much of that $3000 was "free maintenance" and how much was warranty work?

yodlebenz

well after close to $18000 in repairs plus 2.5 yrs and counting of service, i'm just glad i havent had to pay for anything but $30 touch up paint and new tires.


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ctC230K

wtf?? did you crash your car or something?
yes, 15k miles/year

CitronC230K_03

my last warranty work cost the dealer a little over $5500.

yodlebenz

not yet. just lots of defective parts. check my sig, most of the hi points are listed. 7 instrument clusters due to dealer errors and defects. the dealer tells me they are about 1500 each and can only be programmed once. if they mess it up it's a loss... pano roof is not cheap either. all the other goodies add up too. total is probably higher and doesn't include labor of course. i wouldn't be surprised if 25000 in parts/labor has been spent.

but they keep fixing things under warranty...

ctC230K

what is a pano roof? is that different from the standard sunroof package?

doctamb

I tell you guys these maintenance visits are not cheap. They lose money with free mainetnace and that is why they took it off. You think if they were to be making it up in sales they would have taken it off with all the competition that is out there? No way. excluding cases in which you crashed your car, the other parts are really expensive. Whether it's the dealer or MB that pays I don't care. I would have loved to have that free maintenance.

CitronC230K_03

short for the Panorama roof. its the all glass roof on the coupes. the SL's have them as options, as do the E-Class, Porsche's, Scion's, to name other makes and models.

revstriker

Of course it won't work that way. Based on the dollar to Euro rate, it makes sense that they would cut costs in order to not raise the price by too much. If the service was not removed, I suspect that the price would probably go up by 1-2K.

Sure, it's a bad idea customer service wise, but probably a better idea than raising the price of the car by 1-2k.

CitronC230K_03

everyone wants something for nothing, and to evetually sell that something they attempted to get for nothing for something more than its worth to someone who wants to buy something for nothing.

its the circle of life.

ctC230K

don't confuse warranty with maintenance. warranty covers parts, maintenance covers service like oil changes, etc. warranty still comes for 4 years.

vraa

Actually you do due to the Euro vs Dollar.

Moviela

Mercedes discontinued the free maintenance because many owners thought wear items like brakes, wiper blades, belts, and hoses were included. It was a PR nightmare to settle each angry owner. What they had in mind for maintenance was oil changes and tire rotations. There was an economic incentive for the factory to discontinue it as well. The dealers were not too happy either because somehow the public pays more for service than the factory does, so the shop was busy with cars not paying full freight.

For 2005, the factory offers a maintenance plan for $ 1,312 or $ 2,919 including the brakes for 4 years 52,000 miles. Now try to buy it. I spoke to four California dealers, and they refuse to sell the plan. Feel like I am in the army.