Importance of service time intervals
08-24-2011, 07:53 PM
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ML350 2007
Importance of service time intervals
We bought certified ML-350 2007 about 15 month ago, and my wife drives it to work which comes to only about 7K miles per year total use.
When we purchased it, the dealer's written report stated that she had about XXXX miles or YYYY date until service D is due.
Due to lower mileage, she still has several thousand miles to go before XXXX miles are reached, but YYYY date has been reached and now dashboard computer shows "Service D is overdue by NN days" type of message.
I used to own Japanese cars before, and while there is always been both mileage and time interval (usually 1 year) specified between services, it is common knowledge that as long as the car is not unused for prolonged periods of time, it is mileage one goes by, not the time interval, unless of course we are talking several years between changes, or extreme conditions.
I understand that there is Flexible System sophisticated technology that MB uses to set the oil change interval, but still not 100% sure that it makes economic sense to change oil based on schedule rather than mileage. I can see how it could be designed to give dealers steady supply of customers with even low-usage vehicle. I was seeing "You have ZZZZ miles until service D" message on dashboard one day and then it just jumped to "Service D is due now" once YYYY date had been reached. Did oil radically deteriorate on that date?
I understand "if you purchased expensive vehicle you should be ready spend money on it" and trust me, I am ready as long as it is not a waste, which it seems to me in this case as I was using mileage all my life in other cars for service.
I still have the original printout so I know what XXXX mileage I should do service D at. Can someone please tell me whether it would be unreasonable and truly risky for me to wait till this mileage is near before taking the car for service? What do other people in similar situations did and what were the outcomes?
Thanks!
When we purchased it, the dealer's written report stated that she had about XXXX miles or YYYY date until service D is due.
Due to lower mileage, she still has several thousand miles to go before XXXX miles are reached, but YYYY date has been reached and now dashboard computer shows "Service D is overdue by NN days" type of message.
I used to own Japanese cars before, and while there is always been both mileage and time interval (usually 1 year) specified between services, it is common knowledge that as long as the car is not unused for prolonged periods of time, it is mileage one goes by, not the time interval, unless of course we are talking several years between changes, or extreme conditions.
I understand that there is Flexible System sophisticated technology that MB uses to set the oil change interval, but still not 100% sure that it makes economic sense to change oil based on schedule rather than mileage. I can see how it could be designed to give dealers steady supply of customers with even low-usage vehicle. I was seeing "You have ZZZZ miles until service D" message on dashboard one day and then it just jumped to "Service D is due now" once YYYY date had been reached. Did oil radically deteriorate on that date?
I understand "if you purchased expensive vehicle you should be ready spend money on it" and trust me, I am ready as long as it is not a waste, which it seems to me in this case as I was using mileage all my life in other cars for service.
I still have the original printout so I know what XXXX mileage I should do service D at. Can someone please tell me whether it would be unreasonable and truly risky for me to wait till this mileage is near before taking the car for service? What do other people in similar situations did and what were the outcomes?
Thanks!
Last edited by serbeer; 08-24-2011 at 07:55 PM.
