CPO Warranty and Self Maintenance
 

I recently completed the purchase of a 2014 CPO GL350 with 35,000 miles. Beautiful vehicle. It has all the features I wanted with the exception of surround view. Nicely equipped otherwise with lighting, keyless go, driver assistance package, p1, parktronic, power 2nd row, etc. Thanks to this site, I also purchased the 2 year CPO ELW from an internet contact much cheaper than I would have through the local dealer. This gives me full coverage on the GL until June of 2021.

Being... thrifty.... I prefer to pay people to do things that I can't do myself. I am capable of basic maintenance. Engine oil, DEF, filters, brake fluid, etc. I can do that.

Will MB give me a hard time and perhaps not want to honor the CPO warranty if the vehicle is not serviced by MB? This hasn't been a problem with other cars I've owned. I just keep records of the supplies I bought for the maintenance.

I would say be selective with work at the dealership.

Don't do everything but do some so you have a relationship with the dealer. Recommend transmission flush at 45K at the dealer and maybe brake flush.

Do everything else yourself and post DIY here for a record in case you need to have proof..

If you buy a 3 pack (B-A-B or A-B-A) and pre-pay ahead of time, the savings may not be that much. Depends on how much you value your time and effort needed.

For example, I pre-paid for a B-A-B for ~$1500. I would guess if I were to spend the time to do this on my own (B-A-B) over the next 30k miles / 3 years, say if I DIY, it saves me 50%, at a yearly cost of $250 savings, I would say I rather spend my weekend doing something else.

This is the first car in a very long time (since 2001) that I'm actually bringing to the dealer for service. I've worked on routine maintenance in mostly Japanese brand cars over the years by watching YouTube videos and they are easy to do. I watched the video on doing a Service A for the GL and while it is not that much more difficult, I decided it was worth paying the premium over DIY.

It's illegal for warranty to be tied to service by maker/dealer. Still, it's incumbent upon owner to prove that all factory required service got performed on time and to spec if otherwise done. Buy spec oil, maybe even MB filters only - discount sellers online are best bet - and save receipts. If not third party shop logging miles, maybe photo a contemporaneously dated receipt or a dated paper with the odometer and save as you planned. Note the difference between required maint and all the other BS dealers love to charge for "checking" without actually doing any work...