Pre-paid maintenance-MB Star program
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MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Nov 2009
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From: Southeastern USA
2010 E350 Luxury Sedan, Engine 272 (V6)
Pre-paid maintenance-MB Star program
I bit the bullet and paid the $769 for 3 year plan on 2010 E350. Dealer offered 3, 4, 5 year plans. 4 year was something like $1,700 and 5 year was about $4 or 5,000 I think.
Does the four and five year maintenance really cost that much?
Does the four and five year maintenance really cost that much?
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Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,828
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From: United States
2008 R350 & 2008 C300
Its probably actually more than that. I sat down and crunched some numbers with my dealership for the same maintenance and they were a hundred and some odd dollars more than the $769. In other words you get a servicing for free when you buy the plan through Mercedes.
BUT....my dealership is seemingly always offering discounts every time I turn around, so I haven't paid full price for a servicing in a while now.
BUT....my dealership is seemingly always offering discounts every time I turn around, so I haven't paid full price for a servicing in a while now.
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 299
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e63 2010 W212
i got it as well. my wife just got service a few months ago and we did the numbers, it's a great deal to get it upfront. i've seen discounts at the dealership, but never for the new cars. and there's always some catch.
Super Member
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 518
Likes: 2
From: Orange County, CA
E350
What are the details of this Pre-Paid Maintainence Plan?
1) Does it ONLY cover what's in Service A, B, C, D, etc? (And all items repaired or replaced outside of normal service is NOT covered, like brakes, rotors, transmission flush, brake flush, replacing spark plugs, etc?)
-OR-
2) Does it cover the normal maintainence services AND anything replaced or repaired in these normal services?
If it's only #1, then this plan may not be such a good deal depending on your location. In SoCal, you can regularly find Service A at $99-$129 after coupon (or price match), and Service B at $219-$279 after coupon (or price match) on average. Service C (from what my SA told me) is basically a Service A (so he priced it the same) and Service D is similar to B, etc... basically according to him there's really only Service A and B, and all the others are variations there of.
Assuming this, even if you paid the upper price or $129 and $279 alternating for 3 years, you'll only spend $537 on 3 services (assuming you drive 10K-13K per year).
However, if the Pre-Paid Maintainence Plan includes the cost of replacing brakes, rotors, brake flush, coolent flush, transmission flush, wipers, spark plugs, and basically all other wear-and-tear items that the SA finds wrong with your car during a routine service maintainence, then that's another story!
1) Does it ONLY cover what's in Service A, B, C, D, etc? (And all items repaired or replaced outside of normal service is NOT covered, like brakes, rotors, transmission flush, brake flush, replacing spark plugs, etc?)
-OR-
2) Does it cover the normal maintainence services AND anything replaced or repaired in these normal services?
If it's only #1, then this plan may not be such a good deal depending on your location. In SoCal, you can regularly find Service A at $99-$129 after coupon (or price match), and Service B at $219-$279 after coupon (or price match) on average. Service C (from what my SA told me) is basically a Service A (so he priced it the same) and Service D is similar to B, etc... basically according to him there's really only Service A and B, and all the others are variations there of.
Assuming this, even if you paid the upper price or $129 and $279 alternating for 3 years, you'll only spend $537 on 3 services (assuming you drive 10K-13K per year).
However, if the Pre-Paid Maintainence Plan includes the cost of replacing brakes, rotors, brake flush, coolent flush, transmission flush, wipers, spark plugs, and basically all other wear-and-tear items that the SA finds wrong with your car during a routine service maintainence, then that's another story!
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,828
Likes: 1
From: United States
2008 R350 & 2008 C300
What are the details of this Pre-Paid Maintainence Plan?
1) Does it ONLY cover what's in Service A, B, C, D, etc? (And all items repaired or replaced outside of normal service is NOT covered, like brakes, rotors, transmission flush, brake flush, replacing spark plugs, etc?)
-OR-
2) Does it cover the normal maintainence services AND anything replaced or repaired in these normal services?
If it's only #1, then this plan may not be such a good deal depending on your location. In SoCal, you can regularly find Service A at $99-$129 after coupon (or price match), and Service B at $219-$279 after coupon (or price match) on average. Service C (from what my SA told me) is basically a Service A (so he priced it the same) and Service D is similar to B, etc... basically according to him there's really only Service A and B, and all the others are variations there of.
Assuming this, even if you paid the upper price or $129 and $279 alternating for 3 years, you'll only spend $537 on 3 services (assuming you drive 10K-13K per year).
However, if the Pre-Paid Maintainence Plan includes the cost of replacing brakes, rotors, brake flush, coolent flush, transmission flush, wipers, spark plugs, and basically all other wear-and-tear items that the SA finds wrong with your car during a routine service maintainence, then that's another story!
1) Does it ONLY cover what's in Service A, B, C, D, etc? (And all items repaired or replaced outside of normal service is NOT covered, like brakes, rotors, transmission flush, brake flush, replacing spark plugs, etc?)
-OR-
2) Does it cover the normal maintainence services AND anything replaced or repaired in these normal services?
If it's only #1, then this plan may not be such a good deal depending on your location. In SoCal, you can regularly find Service A at $99-$129 after coupon (or price match), and Service B at $219-$279 after coupon (or price match) on average. Service C (from what my SA told me) is basically a Service A (so he priced it the same) and Service D is similar to B, etc... basically according to him there's really only Service A and B, and all the others are variations there of.
Assuming this, even if you paid the upper price or $129 and $279 alternating for 3 years, you'll only spend $537 on 3 services (assuming you drive 10K-13K per year).
However, if the Pre-Paid Maintainence Plan includes the cost of replacing brakes, rotors, brake flush, coolent flush, transmission flush, wipers, spark plugs, and basically all other wear-and-tear items that the SA finds wrong with your car during a routine service maintainence, then that's another story!
By the way, your service adviser is correct, A and C are the same, but if I recall B and D are similar but D ends up costing more because they need to actually replace the air filers instead of just pulling them out and cleaning the old ones. This could have changed as its been quite some time since I've had to get a D servicing done, I just don't keep them that long anymore.
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 2,616
Likes: 160
From: Southeastern USA
2010 E350 Luxury Sedan, Engine 272 (V6)
Cost at dealership
Dealer has BIG sign at check in desk in service deparment-A service-$250, B service $400. So for me, it is $900 IF they or MB do not raise prices. They may offer discounts, but I decided not to count on it. It covers only what is in the Maintenance Manual for A, B, C services.
Other dealerships are too far away to make it practical to save a couple of hundred dollars over three years.
My real concern is what are the 4, 5 and 6 yuear services going to cost if I keep the car? Of course, that is also why God made independent service providers.
Also, I do not rack up may miles, so after 3rd service I can start doing it by mileage rather than months -and turning off the reminder.
Other dealerships are too far away to make it practical to save a couple of hundred dollars over three years.
My real concern is what are the 4, 5 and 6 yuear services going to cost if I keep the car? Of course, that is also why God made independent service providers.
Also, I do not rack up may miles, so after 3rd service I can start doing it by mileage rather than months -and turning off the reminder.
