Prepaid Maintenance (PPM) Rip-off?
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 281
Likes: 15
From: Los Angeles
2019 C43 AMG, 2017 Porsche Macan S, 2017 Mazda 3 HB
Prepaid Maintenance (PPM) Rip-off?
So I just got a 2015 C400 (and i LOVE The car).
The finance guy tried to upsell me on PPM to the point where I almost didn't get the car. This is what he originally offered:
$2495 for 3 years/36 months.
After I said "hell no. are you insane?" He walked out to "Speak to the General Manager" who supposedly dropped it to:
$1295 for 3 years/36 months.
I scoffed again. He finally budged and made it $975 for 3 years/36 months. But I'm still not sold on it.
Any thoughts?
The finance guy tried to upsell me on PPM to the point where I almost didn't get the car. This is what he originally offered:
$2495 for 3 years/36 months.
After I said "hell no. are you insane?" He walked out to "Speak to the General Manager" who supposedly dropped it to:
$1295 for 3 years/36 months.
I scoffed again. He finally budged and made it $975 for 3 years/36 months. But I'm still not sold on it.
Any thoughts?
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 368
Likes: 0
B200T
So I just got a 2015 C400 (and i LOVE The car).
The finance guy tried to upsell me on PPM to the point where I almost didn't get the car. This is what he originally offered:
$2495 for 3 years/36 months.
After I said "hell no. are you insane?" He walked out to "Speak to the General Manager" who supposedly dropped it to:
$1295 for 3 years/36 months.
I scoffed again. He finally budged and made it $975 for 3 years/36 months. But I'm still not sold on it.
Any thoughts?
The finance guy tried to upsell me on PPM to the point where I almost didn't get the car. This is what he originally offered:
$2495 for 3 years/36 months.
After I said "hell no. are you insane?" He walked out to "Speak to the General Manager" who supposedly dropped it to:
$1295 for 3 years/36 months.
I scoffed again. He finally budged and made it $975 for 3 years/36 months. But I'm still not sold on it.
Any thoughts?
Anything beyond the basic A/B/C (ie ones that include extra things you need to do) aren't covered anyways.
It also depends on the milage your drive, as the maintenance is by time as well as milage.
Super Member
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 831
Likes: 13
From: N.C. USA
2015, ML250 BlueTEC
Prepaid Maintenance $$
So I just got a 2015 C400 (and i LOVE The car).
The finance guy tried to upsell me on PPM to the point where I almost didn't get the car. This is what he originally offered:
$2495 for 3 years/36 months.
After I said "hell no. are you insane?" He walked out to "Speak to the General Manager" who supposedly dropped it to:
$1295 for 3 years/36 months.
I scoffed again. He finally budged and made it $975 for 3 years/36 months. But I'm still not sold on it.
Any thoughts?
The finance guy tried to upsell me on PPM to the point where I almost didn't get the car. This is what he originally offered:
$2495 for 3 years/36 months.
After I said "hell no. are you insane?" He walked out to "Speak to the General Manager" who supposedly dropped it to:
$1295 for 3 years/36 months.
I scoffed again. He finally budged and made it $975 for 3 years/36 months. But I'm still not sold on it.
Any thoughts?
Super Member
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 703
Likes: 68
From: Boston Area
2021 Mojave Silver E450, 2024 Black on Black Jaguar F-pace P400, 2011 335d (RIP), 2010 E350 (sold)
So I just got a 2015 C400 (and i LOVE The car).
The finance guy tried to upsell me on PPM to the point where I almost didn't get the car. This is what he originally offered:
$2495 for 3 years/36 months.
After I said "hell no. are you insane?" He walked out to "Speak to the General Manager" who supposedly dropped it to:
$1295 for 3 years/36 months.
I scoffed again. He finally budged and made it $975 for 3 years/36 months. But I'm still not sold on it.
Any thoughts?
The finance guy tried to upsell me on PPM to the point where I almost didn't get the car. This is what he originally offered:
$2495 for 3 years/36 months.
After I said "hell no. are you insane?" He walked out to "Speak to the General Manager" who supposedly dropped it to:
$1295 for 3 years/36 months.
I scoffed again. He finally budged and made it $975 for 3 years/36 months. But I'm still not sold on it.
Any thoughts?
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 60
Likes: 3
From: Winnipeg!
C300/STi
Ask them for a PPM brochure. We have them and give them to customers, all the pricing is in there.
This is for CANADA, so pricing is different.
This is for CANADA, so pricing is different.
Last edited by juice91si; Nov 1, 2014 at 05:17 PM.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 4,524
Likes: 1,181
From: WI
17 E43; 21 GLS580
So I just got a 2015 C400 (and i LOVE The car).
The finance guy tried to upsell me on PPM to the point where I almost didn't get the car. This is what he originally offered:
$2495 for 3 years/36 months.
After I said "hell no. are you insane?" He walked out to "Speak to the General Manager" who supposedly dropped it to:
$1295 for 3 years/36 months.
I scoffed again. He finally budged and made it $975 for 3 years/36 months. But I'm still not sold on it.
Any thoughts?
The finance guy tried to upsell me on PPM to the point where I almost didn't get the car. This is what he originally offered:
$2495 for 3 years/36 months.
After I said "hell no. are you insane?" He walked out to "Speak to the General Manager" who supposedly dropped it to:
$1295 for 3 years/36 months.
I scoffed again. He finally budged and made it $975 for 3 years/36 months. But I'm still not sold on it.
Any thoughts?
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Member
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 85
Likes: 0
From: Los Angeles
GLK250
$975 for 3yr/30k is the MSRP. And like all MSRP, there is room to negotiate down further. Unfortunately, the invoice price for PPM isn't publicly known - it's certainly more than the 7% discount of the car cost. I've seen PPM offered as low as 25% below MSRP.
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Super Member
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 789
Likes: 47
From: Eastern Massachusetts
2021 E450, 2020 C43, 2015 C300, 2007 C280
Prepaid Maintenance (PPM) for nothing
I just got the two-year Prepaid Maintenance (PPM) for nothing. The MSRP of the PPM in the U.S. is $750. I don't think that the dealer got even for this benefit by simply failing to come down on the overall price as much as he would have without the PPM. The dealer was already matching the offer of another dealer, plus an additional "something/anything" as a tie breaker. The PPM was the tie breaker. In turn, the other dealer was meeting my offer, which equal to the "Average Paid" amount from the Consumer Reports Build & Buy Car Buying Service. So I figure that I paid the going rate for the car, minus the value of the PPM. Still, the amount was thousands less than the MSRP of the car.
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 37
Likes: 5
From: Florida
Aston Martin Vantage, Hyundai Sonata, E450 Wagon
I cant imagine buying prepaid maintenance without knowing what the dealer charges for a service A & B and comparing the options. Without knowing the cost you can not make an informed decision. The dealer/MB is at least getting your money interest free and is hoping the customer doesn't come in for their maintenance. If they were losing money, they would not offer it.
Member
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 88
Likes: 0
2015 Mercedes C400
If you plan to do the maintenance at the dealer, then go to one of the service advisors, and ask how much the cheapest Service A/B/C for your car are (and how many/how often you need to do for your car), then add them up.
Anything beyond the basic A/B/C (ie ones that include extra things you need to do) aren't covered anyways.
It also depends on the milage your drive, as the maintenance is by time as well as milage.
Anything beyond the basic A/B/C (ie ones that include extra things you need to do) aren't covered anyways.
It also depends on the milage your drive, as the maintenance is by time as well as milage.
)
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 368
Likes: 0
B200T
Is it different on the C class than the previous B (W245)?
The computer in my car tells me that next service is A or B or C or D (I think there was a D there too), and how many Km to go. When at the beginning I would call dealers to find out cost, they would tell me it's "from $xxx", and more often than not, it was much more, as the basic service A, for example, is $250 here, but they found other things that "needed" to be done.
The prepaid maintenance only covers the "basic" service (the extra stuff is out of pocket), so just find out which service (A/B/C/D) needs to be done during the coverage period you're buying, and do the calculation. You probably will save some $$, but then again, if you weren't that set on servicing at the dealer....
One other thing to add, there was a dealer that said that the cost for one of my service visits was fixed (not "from", like the other dealers), I drove 50km to him, serviced my car, got a huge bill. I asked service rep why, when he quoted me a different price on the phone, he just shrugged his shoulders and said that this is what it costs. Just one of the many reasons why I don't service my car at MB anymore.
The computer in my car tells me that next service is A or B or C or D (I think there was a D there too), and how many Km to go. When at the beginning I would call dealers to find out cost, they would tell me it's "from $xxx", and more often than not, it was much more, as the basic service A, for example, is $250 here, but they found other things that "needed" to be done.
The prepaid maintenance only covers the "basic" service (the extra stuff is out of pocket), so just find out which service (A/B/C/D) needs to be done during the coverage period you're buying, and do the calculation. You probably will save some $$, but then again, if you weren't that set on servicing at the dealer....
One other thing to add, there was a dealer that said that the cost for one of my service visits was fixed (not "from", like the other dealers), I drove 50km to him, serviced my car, got a huge bill. I asked service rep why, when he quoted me a different price on the phone, he just shrugged his shoulders and said that this is what it costs. Just one of the many reasons why I don't service my car at MB anymore.
Last edited by mihaelb; Nov 2, 2014 at 08:44 PM.
