e400c

I purchased a new E400 in 2018, not leased, including the prepaid maintenance 4-year package, which will soon expire after having provided 4 yearly services for the $1400 I originally paid for it, so all worked great. Because of Covid, the car only has around 30k miles.

I am interested in purchasing another 3 years of prepaid maintenance, to match the duration of the extended warranty I have on the car, which I expect to trade-in for whatever residual value is left after 7 years of ownership.
While the conditions for the original prepaid maintenance plan are clear from the Mercedes website, etc, the details on prepaid maintenance beyond 4 years are scarce. I've searched through the various fora and did not find very conclusive information on this, so before talking to the local Mercedes dealers I was wondering if anyone out there has experience with the following:

1. The prepaid maintenance plans supplementing the original plan seem to be dependent on what plans each Mercedes dealer is offering. If one purchases the plan from a given dealer, does the car have to be serviced at that dealer? (This was definitely not required for the 4-year package plan I originally purchased, as I have serviced it at 3 different dealers)
2. If the answer to the previous question is no, I assume the prices for the plan will vary by dealer and also by state. What are your experiences in terms of pricing for a 3-year plan for a pre-owned car? Prices I've seen while searching the fora seem to range from $1400 to $2000.
3. If you have purchased such a prepaid maintenance plan, do you think it was worth the cost? The $1400 4-year package I got was definitely worth it, but I'm not sure $2000 for 3 years would be.

Thank you for any insights!

JTK44

FWIW: Just received a flier from my local MB dealership that gives $50 off on any schedule maintenance: that will bring the "A" service down from $225 to $175. Assuming similar deals in the future, I do not see how prepaying can save you money. In addition things could happen, an accident, decide to trade in early etc. so that you will not use the prepaid maintenance. I put the prepaid maintenance in my lease so I residualized it, otherwise I think it is better to pay as you go.


Just my $.02:

Bruizer

I just bought a 3 year prepaid maintenance plan from the MB dealer where I bought my 2019 E450 wagon. I had to wait until I had used the 4 year plan that I purchased with the car. The price was 1750 plus tax. I think it will be well worth it. One of the services includes doing the plugs and another includes trans fluid and filter. This plan is good at any MB dealer. Get in touch with the CFO for your dealer. According to the dealer that is the person who handles prepaid maintenance and extended warranty. I hope this helps.

cetialpha5

Check with the vendors mentioned in the extended warranty subforum, they also sell the pre-paid maintenance. The discounting isn't as much but some dealers mark up the pre-paid service plan so it still might be cheaper buying it from an online dealer. As others said, the plan is probably only worth it when it's due for major maintenance like spark plugs or transmission fluid change, otherwise it might be cheaper paying per service. And also best when rolling it into the lease. Keep in mind that pre-paid maintenance does expire, either have the expiration date handy or have the dealer print out the VMI which should list the expiration dates of any maintenance packages left.

Jeff gets mentioned a lot.

https://mbworld.org/forums/extended-...rranty-29.html

The G Man

Mercedes Extended maintenance varies in price, depending on what type of service is coming up for your car. When I had my 2 year prepaid maintenance on my last MB CPO, with dealer coupons, the savings on the pre-paid was less than 10%, not worthwhile in my opinion.

JTK44

I have the 2019 E450 which is the engine 276:

In addition to the normal "A" and " B" services I note that at 50,000 miles:

• Replace air filter
• Replace spark plugs

at 60,000 miles Automatic transmission oil and filter change.


My question is at 30,000 miles is the Axle differential fluid to be changed?

Also, has anyone had just an oil and filter change at a dealer instead of the "A" service and if so is that cheaper? I have looked over the "A" service and it is basically an oil and filter change and whole bunch of inspections, which I do myself.

Up to now I had the two year prepaid service. Now everything is coming out of my pocket.

Thanks.

Thanks.

kingscorpian27

I purchased my car June 2017 and did the 4 years prepaid then. My car is ready again for service tomorrow @ 31,340 miles and I checked my service advisor and he advised me
5th year includes spark plugs,air filters and an A service $1000.00
6th year is a trans service,brake fluid flush,hvac filters and service B $1700.00
7th year is an A service only $400.00

I paid $1,750 plus tax for 3 years period today so it was definitely worth it in my opinion.

The G Man

Unless you live in an expensive area, those service prices seem high. Service A in my area is around $300 and I can always find coupons.

kingscorpian27

Yep, NJ so on the expensive side

JTK44

On Long Island, expensive area, the A service is $225. Today I received a coupon for $50 off.

see: https://www.rallyemotors.com/service-specials/

kingscorpian27

Service A, year 5

The G Man

Not sure how much is service A year 5 cost here but the service A year 7 for $400 seems high. These finance managers always jack up the price to try to sell you these add ons.

mrmotoguzzi00

You sure about the plugs ? I had to pay ludicrous money for them to do it on 2016 E550...

e400c

Thanks for all the insights!
I was waiting to complete the last service on the 4th year of the original prepaid maintenance package to get a quote from the dealer and report back. That happened this week, so I asked the dealer how much an additional 3-year prepaid maintenance would cost, and was told $2300+tax. Also, after tallying up the estimates for service for each year with the service rep., with the spark plug replacement being the biggest ticket item (the rep said because my car has a 6-cyl engine), that would be about $2400+tax before any discount coupons, etc, so clearly not worth it. Not sure why they bothered giving me such a useless quote, given the individual service estimates they also provided.
I think $1750+tax would definitely be a reasonable deal, but unclear if one can get close to that at this point. This is not really an expensive area, so I'll check with the other nearby Mercedes dealer, and also contact Jeff mentioned above.