gorgerider

I bought my 2000 CLK 320 cab and later found out it had spent most of its service life at the MB stealership in Reno, NV. I found this out from a parts counter guy at the dealership in Bellevue, WA who was able to pull up the complete service history on the car on his computer. I was able to find out the answer to a specific question at the time as to whether a certain item had been serviced or not.

Yesterday, I called up the Reno stealership to confirm whether or not my car had ever had the shocks replaced. The person at the service desk confirmed that they had never been replaced by their dealership (the shocks looked bone stock from the factory - Sachs). I asked her if she could email me a copy of the service history so I wouldn't have to keep bugging them about what work had been done. She said if I came into the dealership in person with proof of ownership, I could get a copy. Since I live 1,000 miles away, I told her it wasn't possible. She then told me (with someone kibbitzing in the background) that she couldn't even do that because of "privacy concerns."

We're not talking about national security issues. Rather, it's about information regarding a car I own. Brick wall. My guess is that it is a ploy to get you to bring it in to have them do the "work" or otherwise control the situation.

Anyone else run into this? Any ideas on how to get dealership service information? Any comments on my theory?

clkwork

Why couldn't you just fax them a copy of the title/registration and your ID?

gorgerider

I asked them that and they said "no." They could not release any service information. Period. The last reason they gave was "privacy issues."

clkwork

They could sanitize the previous owner's information from the tickets, at this point it sounds like they just don't want to make the effort. All you can really do is call MBUSA and squawk until you get satisfaction.

gorgerider

Am I to imply that dealer service information should be readily available to the owner - regardless of how far removed from the original purchase?

I will call MBUSA and see what they say.

clkwork

I'm not sure, but it sounds like a reasonable request. Good luck.

gorgerider

I just got off the phone with MBUSA. According to them, policies regarding the release of service histories on a vehicle are at the discretion of the stealership. They exercise zero control over it.

Needless to say, I'm disappointed in their attitude and lack of willingness to have a standardized policy that helps the car owner.

It also steels my resolve to never pay a dealership another dime for anything I can get done elsewhere. They tout how long their cars last and how well they treat their owners and how welcoming they are to their "family." This situation is a clear indication that it's all a pile and they are no better than a cheap-suited, cigar-chomping, used car huckster from the rough side of town.

Hey, maybe I'm just late to the party to have figured this out.

clkwork

That's disappointing... maybe someone will chime in with some other ideas.

bigben320e

This sucks *****. This is MBUSA's and MB dealer's stance? I have been able to look over the service history with my SA/SM but never asked them to email it to me. I will check on this in my area next time I go for service.

cindyclk

Why can't you just ask the WA dealership to print the service record for you while you are there?

ejsheltra

I believe you can go into any dealership, with the right attitude, and see a copy of your service for your vehicle. I believe all the MB dealerships are linked in order to transfer information via the ADP system. I obtained my complete history on a 1990 vehicle I bot used in a different state. Just a thought. Any others?

dlbehrns

I think that the individual you dealt with may not be representitive of the whole. did you talk to the GM? And if so did you explain to him that you would like to work with them in the maintenance of your car but if you don't know what has already been done you don't know where to start in making your decisions? Just a thought.

"it is a ploy to get you to bring it in to have them do the "work" or otherwise control the situation"
YAH THINK! LOL!

grane

My salesperson, with the aid of the service dept., prepared an entire dossier on my used G,presented in a 3 ring binder that included the entire service history, as well as several purchase, warranty and trade options.

This was shown and presented to me before the sale as well as the complete history as wells the original sticker and add ons. I learned that the truck has something called a Lo Jack that allows the police to track your movements for personal protection like a mobile burglar alarm so you can summon them in case of emergency. I asked them to disconnect it because I was given a free ez pass that allows the police, ADP, the banks, toll agencies, credit rating agencies, insurance rating companies, and other beneficent entities to track me and predict risky me.

I also learned the first buyer paid $30k over list. Is this trunk money?

MarcusF

The document the OP is asking them to produce is called a VMI. Some people will tell you it only applies to warranty work, but it doesn’t. It applies to all work performed by any MB dealer in the US. What was done, when it was done, and the mileage at the time it was done. I got one when I bought my car, sounds like grane got one with his G. Anyone can get one from an MB dealer when they buy a car, or see one while shopping for a car. My local dealer looks up the complete history every time they do any work to my car. It takes all of 20 seconds to do. Enter the VIN and it’s there. A hardcopy is a keystroke away. A dealer can also look up recommended service that wasn’t performed. If it’s on the worksheet, they have a copy of it. It's up to the dealer whether they want to give it to you.

I could be wrong, but "I think" MBUSA is right to stay out of it. So is any remote dealership. "I also think" this is a document that should only be produced for the current owner of the vehicle. Something that can’t be proven by phone. Suppose I want to buy David’s CLK. We haggle over the price. Should I be able to call a dealer, give them DL's VIN, and have them email me his vehicle history? If so, then I'll tell David, "According to MB of Lincoln, you skipped this that and the other service." DL’s gonna go ape. First they recommend a couple of $K in service he neither needs nor wants, then they tell me (the prospective buyer) that they told David it was needed. That's why MBUSA is in the "leave us the <expletive deleted> outta this" business.

Lastly, I’ve never seen prices on a VMI. Maybe there’s a special one with pricing, but I’ve never seen it and I’ve seen mine at more than one MB dealer.

MarcusF

I just picture going into my local dealer, grabbing my favorite service writer and telling him . . . . . .

ME: Yo. My man Castro. Do me a solid brother and print me a VMI for this other brother's VIN

Service Writer: Uh, Marcus, come take a walk with me for a minute.

As soon as we’re away from the other customers, I picture him going Samuel L Jackson on me.



Service Writer: Why is it every other time I see you it’s some Bull SH*T? No I’m not giving you a VMI. Why the F**** can’t you just ask for a M*** F**** oil change like a regular M**** F****?

ME: But yo man, I take care of you. I send people to you all the time.

Service Writer: That’s another thing, every M**** F**** you send to me asks for a discount. They say “but Marcus said you’d take care of me”. Don’t you have any friends who pay retail? Damn cheap as M*** F****s, what the F*** do I look like? You think I’d be here if I didn’t need the money? Their discounts come outta my azz. YOU owe ME M**** F****. I knew as soon as I met you, you were going to be trouble. Broke azz M**** F****. No wonder your initials are MF. I hate your azz worse than snakes on a M**** F**** plane. Now what’s it gonna be? A B-Service, or are you leaving?

Me: Come on man. Why do you have to be like that? All right. Give me an oil change. But look here man, I’ve got this coupon . . . . . .

grane

Your present dealer, perhaps the SM, should give you or show you a copy of your VMI once you prove ownership. They are not obligated to give the service history to anyone but the owner. That is why prospective buyers use Carfax and so on that is incomplete compared to the dealer records.

If you do service outside the dealer you are allowed to add that to the VMI for a complete record but not every SA knows this. This is how you get around " recommended service that wasn't performed" MF mentions. I tend to have any warranty service or extraordinary faults corrected at the dealer since I have an extended warranty on the CL. On the g I mention this to them for keep a record for me and I'll have an oil change or other special done. One hand washes the other, m****f*****!

gorgerider

Thanks for all the input, folks. To clear a couple of things up, I was sweet as sugar on the phone to the service desk person I spoke to in Reno. And she said initially that "if I brought in proof of ownership (to Reno), they could give me a printout." It was only when her boss, or some other guy in the background behind her (to whom I never spoke), chimed in and told her that under no circumstances would I be able to get a copy of the service history. That guy shut it down tight - regardless of my offer to provide them with a scanned copy or written copy of the title or even a notorized affidavit of title.

I live 100 miles from the nearest dealership out here in the boonies of Eastern Washington. My choices are Hahn in Yakima or a couple of options in Portland, OR. I'm on good terms with both and might be able to get a VMI off of their desks - especially if I go in there to make additions to the service record.

Also, I did not buy the car from an MB dealership, but from an independent lot. I also understand why MBUSA doesn't involve themselves more directly in this policy, but I would think those reasons are more along the lines of liability when they didn't perform the work or some other legal weasel words. The idea of "privacy issues" seems like a smoke screen to me and, at the very least, a misnomer.

We'll see how it goes and I'll keep you all informed as to what responses I end up with.

Nola

I would also withhold the service history from all the paranoid looneys, not because of hiding anything, but because people will make up fantasies around it.

On a more serious note, the assymetry of information regarding service history creates value for the CPO program. Symmetrical information, with asymmetrical expertise would likely lead to market failure.

gorgerider

I don't think I qualify as a paranoid looney (not yet, anyway). I'm the owner of a car and don't want to waste time guessing, or paying someone else to guess, as to what service work has been done on the car. I need the information to make better decisions to ensure quality of ownership and safety - nothing more. I also think this request is reasonable for 99% of the people who would ask for it. Symmetric or assymeteric - information is information, and in this case would be very helpful to the current owner. To have a dealership decide, for their own selfish interests, that they should retain this information, will end up doing more damage to them and possibly other dealerships who follow their logic. And it'll be the kind of damage they'll never see directly.

MB has spends tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars every year creating and pursuing an image of elite quality and special customer treatment and service. To have one (or more) of their dealerships follow a path that leads their customers to believe they are operating solely in their own self-interest, and that the image is nothing more than B.S., seems pretty counterproductive. Regardless of the size of the cappucino machine in the lobby or the shinyness of the sales brochures or the suits worn by the service advisors, if they have policies that show them to be nothing but a glossy version of the local car lot huckster, then it will cost them in the end and their efforts will prove to be a fraud.

And although I haven't been around this forum very long, I seem to have run across enough examples of situations where the quaity of work performed by a dealership was just as "symmetrical" as anyone else's - mine included. The service record, in my mind, should be a library of information abut the car. That information should provide the source of service or parts (dealership or backyard mech, MB parts or aftermarket). It shouldn't be a means to control information for the dealership service department(s) so they can manipulate the customer.

Again, thanks for all your input and patience with my rantings.

Nola

Hmm... sounds like we are using the term information asymmetry in a different way. Go read a bit about assymetric information in markets, and you could see why in general service history would be a commodity. It is not about you as an individual, but about a market model in general.

Now, if they **** you off in the process well that's another matter, but as far protecting their CPO program I would hold the info as well.

dlbehrns

I DON'T CARE WHO YOU ARE! THANKS FUNNY M***** F*****!

FWIW: Before I bought my car which was in Florida I called the dealer in Lincoln and said "I gotta VIN#. Hook me up M***** F*****. And they told me what needed to be done but I never asked for a print out. Basically, the car only had 3623 miles on it and the only thing that was needed was a recall on the serpentine belt tension(or one of those pulleys up front)

dlbehrns

"It shouldn't be a means to control information for the dealership service department(s) so they can manipulate the customer." Capitalism at it's finnest, eh.

I work at a bank. Did y'all know there are seminars out there for bankers to help them continue to enable their customers to continue to pile up non-sufficient funds fees. One could say that if you are a dumb a$$ and you can't add and subtract that's your problem however, is it legal? Of course. Is it ethical or immoral? You know the answer. One of the most successful banks in American and on the stock market has thee most predatory policies I have ever seen. I won't mention their name but I might just flatten the tires on their stagecoach.

gorgerider

Nola, I'm no international man of world financial mystery. I'm a simple chemist who likes to drive and work on his old buggys. My assumption (obviously wrong) on the reference to "assymetric information" was that the service information provided by the dealship was somehow considered more relevent than information supplied by the owner or an indy shop. After looking at the Wikipedia article (yes, I did look it up - I take my condescension like a man), your reference certainly seems to fit in the context of this discussion. I'm just a little lost why you would make such a reference in a car forum. I guess I'll just chock it up to my inexperience with this forum and the folks who contribute to it. Thanks for prodding this old chemist into learning something new today.

dlbehrns, thanks for the suggestions. Sometimes, I bark at the Moon of Idealism a little too loudly. The good thing is that I don't do it too often. I just have a real sore spot for hypocrisy, like when the shiny actually turns out to be rusty, but the seller/provider still insists it's shiny. I've always tried to be one who knows the difference and am not the kind who tries to pawn off rust as shiny. Chock that up to a career dealing with facts and numbers and more-often-than-not concrete decisions. I actually had a full-ride scholarship from a bank after high school. I turned it down after talking with a number of others in the field - obviously disillusioned by what the banking business was becoming. I've also seen more than a few "personal bankers" from the bank to which you allude burn out and quit because of the B.S. and predatory practices they were mandated to pursue as salesmen in that position. It's hard to watch honest people struggle with questions of ethics imposed by their bosses - they wear it all over their faces.

MarcusF

Between MBCA and forums, I get a LOT of questions about buying cars. Specifically, how to tell if some service has been done. This seems to fall into the same area, except you own the car. My advice is the same here; If you don't have proof that it's been done, assume it hasn't. If you own the car for three or four years, you'll go through most of the regular maintenance stuff on your own anyway.

Nola

Just conversation man. To me it is fascinating to see how information conditions make or break markets. Especially the balance of information between buyers and sellers in different situations is quite interestingas it can make or break markets.

Imagine that you could compare the price you paid for your ticket with what everyone else on the plane paid for that particular segment? And that you also got a printout of the maintenance record for that plane? What would the consequences be?