MrSnoopy

Hi All,

Getting a GLK/4 30mo lease/15k year. Is pre-paid maintenance worth it?
I always thought i'd be covered completely during the warranty period (essentially the term of the lease unless i go over in miles)
Thanks!

MBRedux

Now the cost of Service A isn't that much, but B & C are. So I guess it all depends on the pre-paid costs... do the math.

venchka

In 30 months you will only be liable for (1) A service and (1) B service. How much is the 2 year plan vs. how much does your dealer charge for an A and a B service?

Wayne

MKenM

In thirty months there are some essentials that need to be done for the sake of safety such as the brake fluid purge (must be done by MB or a qualified shop) Things like that along with tire rotation and oil changes that you can do yourself, is it worth it for the agreement? IMO it is not. Will the dealer penalize you at the end of the lease if you do not buy the maintenance? Look at the maintenance schedule and see what you can do or have your own mechanic do as opposed to MB. In the long run DIY.

MBRedux

Not entirely true. The Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act (P.L. 93-637) is a United States federal law that protects us against any manufacturer that tries to limit an owner from maintaining their own property/car... as long as proper records and procedures are kept and followed. I did mine.

venchka

Correction:
Service A @ 10,000 miles
Service B @ 20,000 miles
Service A @ 30,000 miles
Service B + transmission flush @ 40,000 miles.
If you actually drive 15k/year you need the first 3.

Wayne

MKenM

Sorry, MBRedux is correct my point was that there are certain services that should be done and if your mechanic is not capable of performing them which I think some usually cannot be done by the average mechanic that they should be done by MB. The question is will MB penalize you if you don't have the services done by whomever.

MBRedux

Actually, it will not be MB that will try directly, but your dealership service dept. acting on behalf of MB. Now they can try if they can find a valid reason why they should, but in most cases they buckle under the pressure of proof necessary to support their case. Anyone possessing basic mechanical skills and a $25 brake flushing device from Sears, Pep Boys, Napa Auto Parts, JC Whitney or Harbor Freight Tools, etc. can do the same job as the dealer, if not better, in less than an hour at a total cost of less than $50 bucks.

MrSnoopy

Thanks for the responses guys. Picked up the glk last night. It's great! Too bad it's going to be primarily driven by my wife. Hell of a car. The dealer was charging 995 for prepaid maintenance, I had heard others paying 795 and i had heard others having the dealer add it as a feature to their lease, allowing the cost to be residualized (the most optimal). Payments were up 30 dollars a month, so I knew it wasnt residualized and i passed.

Thanks for all the help guys! Definitely love the forum.

Btw, is there a parking/emergency brake on the GLK? Couldnt find any info on it.

venchka

A small pedal against the left side of the driver's compartment. Depress with foot. The release is on the lower edge of the dash left of the steering column.

Wayne

MBNA109

RTFM help ease many new ownership issues as I've been advised in the past.

venchka

It also helps to be an antique Geezer with domestic vehicle experience. The GLK parking brake arrangement is pure vintage GM sedan.

Wayne

venchka

From the MBUSA online GLK gallery. Brake pedal against the left side quarterpanel. Release above the small brake pedal-below the main light switch.

MBRedux

OMG!

MBRedux

Here's the new 2012 C-Class interior (the car our GLK's are based on). I really like the new multifunctional steering wheel (a Porsche/VW rip off IMO) and the overall look and feel of the 3 ring dash. I'd bet you'll see a lot of this in next years freshened up GLK.

MBNA109

I like the freshener for sure. Maybe not the round side cents but everything looks good in the darker non wooden manner.

bop11

I've rented several 2012 C class with this interior. I thought it was the sport bottom of the line. I wouldn't trade my 2010 interior or the beautiful wood interior of my wife's 2006 C for this plastic. Looks very Toyota to me.

MBNA109

Is Mercedes glossy wood even real wood?

Jaguar - you can tell it's really wood.
Mercedes - esp. In the GLK... not so.

MBRedux

Well I fully disagree. First of all, who said anything about plastic? The C-Class interior shown above is freaking amazing, if indeed you sat in one. There is no more plastic in it than our GLK/2011 C-Class has. In fact if you look close, you'll see that this interior has genuine wood as well! It's the very cool looking Black Ash-Wood. Yes MBNA, it's all real. Now you can get that trim in either brushed aluminum, Burl Walnut, Matte Ash Olive Wood and Black Ash-Wood. Secondly that flat bottom sport wheel feels a million times better than that crappy POS on our GLK. It also helps tremendously with ingress and egress, not to mention driving control and pleasure. The richly padded dash top actually feels better too. The new instrument cluster is now a complete vivid color multifunctional display. All controls are now refined and within hands reach, especially on the wheel where it was lacking before. Link: http://www.donny-design-cars.com/201...eneration.html

Metaxa

For what it's worth we were told at Mercedes of Westmont that if we turned the vehicle back in after our lease without proof of scheduled maintenance performed that they would automatically charge us for it and perform the maintenance at the end.

For our 30 month lease it was something like $610 for the two scheduled maintenances. It was almost half of the full price of the two services, which they told us was around $400 and $700 so I did it.

My other thought was that every time wifey would go to the VW dealership by herself I would end up with an inflated $600 bill for various b.s. items such as refilling blinker fluid and rotating the fan belt.

This way I figured everything could be on auto-pilot and since I would be paying for the maintenance one way or the other why not get it at a discount.

venchka

When you put it that way, it makes sense.

Wayne

MBRedux

Leasing is a whole different story. We owners are not renters per se. If your lease agreement specifies that you MUST have the dealer maintain (their) car, then yes, you cannot perform any maintenance yourself.

MBNA109

Do you read anything in context?
I was responding to bop11 on his comment about your pic...

The one you showed above is nice as I agreed earlier in the thread.

Yes it is.

Just like you can now with our GLK.
However, saved for the blacken wood everything else is too glossy for my taste when compared to the wood in the Jags.

It's a nice interior for sure...

Metaxa

I hear you. Leasing made sense for us because I wanted her to always have something new and safe to drive, and I think she'll want something bigger in a few years. Besides we're all renting until we have the title in hand.

MBRedux

However the lender (bank) cannot mandate that you must have the car serviced only at the dealer, like a lease agreement can.