Aimbit

The sales guy said I should come in every 10,000 miles for maintenance. What does maintenance entail? I understand part of it is an oil change.. but do I need to be getting oil changes every 3,000 miles? Or is it different with a Mercedes?

How does taking good care of my Mercedes differ from my Nissan?

superangrypenguin

Read the owner's manual.

Every 10,000 miles it's a Service A (glorified oil change) or a Service B (glorified oil change with a few parts that are replaced).

So no, you don't need to get an oil change every 3,000 miles. Most of us don't wait until 10,000 miles but it depends on how you drive you car and the conditions your car operate in. I personally do a service every 7500 miles, but that's me, and my used oil analysis indicates my oil is still OK at that mileage.

Aimbit

Haha ok. Do I necessarily need to go to Mercedes to get an oil change? Are they adding unicorn blood to the mixture or are they just charging more because they can?

BeaverMjr

You do not need to go to the dealership. If you can find an independent shop that knows how to do the work, go there. They can often times be cheaper.

I however ended up doing service A last week at the dealership because Mercedes gave me a coupon for $100 off of $200+ service.

I still can't believe it costs $250 for the service.

Aimbit

What did they end up doing?

dchar

This is what my local dealer has listed for Service A and Service B

superangrypenguin

FWIW, I do both of them by myself.

Realistically I do an oil change once a year given the mileage I put on the car, and I'll replace other items by myself (such as the cabin air filter). Checking things like brake pad thickness/rotor "health", poly-v belt conditions etc are all easy.

I think MB is raping their customers for what they charge.

The only thing I don't do by myself is a brake fluid flush - and I do that every 2 years.

Aimbit

Thanks. I enjoy doing work on my own car... just need to get comfortable with it first. I was afraid to go over 40mph on the highway yesterday since I wasn't used to the handling or anything. haha

dieseldoc

Do it yourself or take it to someone who works on Mercedes. Stay away from quick lube, jiffy lube etc. they will screw up your car.

superangrypenguin

150% agree.

Colin G

I love how they portray resetting the maintenance counter as some sort of difficult task to perform or some secret handshake that only the dealer can do. Takes about 5 seconds to do yourself.


Where is a damn roll eyes emoticon when you need one?

superangrypenguin

Here ya go

B737

right? same way they portray ANY type of brake service as well.

dieseldoc

That's why it's called a stealership. They rob you blind.

Aimbit

If you get service done outside of the dealership, does it show up on a Carfax report? Or does it depend where you get it?

I just want to make sure everything is well documented in the event I sell my car sometime in the future.

dieseldoc

Just keep your receipts.

superangrypenguin

If it's anything like it is in Canada, it doesn't mean ANYTHING unless you do a private sale. Dealers can't pass on your service history as it has PII data on it (personally identifiable information).

It means diddly squat. They just usually shred it. Now if you do a private sale, that's a whole different story.

michail71

You can add and see service records yourself. Just get the myCarFax app on your phone. I did my oil change this morning. I even record the brand, viscosity and type of filter.

​​​​​​I even report my tire purchases. Which most shops probably wouldn't even do.