Strafzettel

I bought my GLS450 new last September and I knew judging from the discount I got that it had been sitting in the dealers lot for a while. The sticker in the door shows that it was manufactured in March. The mileage on it isn't anywhere near the 10K and the board computer shows that the first service is due in September but I think the car is a year old so it's time for an oil change, right?
I guess that the dealer reset the board computer so it started counting when I bought it which I find wrong.
So I decided to get an oil change done and Mercedes dealers here in Chicago advertise their express service, so I went to get a quick oil change and when I got there, I was told it would take about 1,5 hours and I left. Am I the only one who finds it ridiculous having to wait that long for an oil change?

c4004matic

About par for an MB oil change.

thenew3

My experience with MB dealers (or just dealers in general) is that it takes 1/2 hour to an hour just to get your car to the service bay, 10 to 15 minutes for the oil changes, then another 1/2 hour to an hour for the "complimentary" car wash.

Even a simple oil change will take a minimum of 2 to 3 hours a the dealer.

In 27 years of driving and taking vehicles in to dealers for service, I've never had one that took less than 2 hours no matter how simple the job was.

pjw1967

I agree, but for the fact that the OP says the dealer lured him in with the words "Express Service". Optimistic advertising.

thenew3

I don't disagree that it's optimistic advertising. Most dealers use "express service" to mean a basic oil change, does not include all of the "checks" that goes with a full A or B service that adds a few hundred to the bill.

My dealer charges $90 for an express oil service which is just an oil change with synthetic, but does not include the rest of the A service which goes for $250.
My wife's BMW dealer also has similar advertising, express oil service for $90.

It still takes 2 to 3 hours to perform the service, regardless.

Strafzettel

People have better things to do than sitting at the dealership, luxury cars don't pay for themselves. They could say "hey would you like a free checkup which takes an hour or just the oil change?" instead of forcing you to get the check up. I have no idea why your dealer takes 2 - 3 hours just for oil change, how are they still in business?
The dealer that I talked about also has Audi and we were told an adblue fillup for our TDI would take 5 minutes and then we sat there for 50 minutes. After wards we got an email with repair suggestions including some that they had suggested before and were done meanwhile at an independent shop. When we asked why they suggested repair that had already been done they said that they just copied and pasted suggestions from previous reports!

thenew3

Not only are they still in business, they are the oldest MB dealer in the country and their business is booming. They don't expect people to wait there for the 2 or 3 hours, they give you a loaner to use for the day, or they have a driver take you to work/home or wherever you want to go and later pick you up.
They built a nice waiting area a couple years ago, but nobody ever uses it. It's always empty.

I usually will wait there if it's just 2 or 3 hours. I bring my laptop with me and do work from their waiting room (which has all glass walls so I can see them work on my car). If it's more than 2 or 3 hours, then I'll take one of their loaners.

Strafzettel

A loaner for the day is great if you get something done that really takes a day but filling out the loaner paper work and spending the time to return the loaner, sitting in traffic and so on is still a big waste of time just for an oil change

thenew3

Not sure what paper work you are talking about. My routine is drop off keys with the service adviser, go to the check out counter next to his desk, pickup keys for the loaner, go to parking lot (loaner is waiting by entrance) get in loaner and go. at the end of the day, I drove the loaner into the service shop, give the keys to the service adviser, he gives me my keys for my car and the receipt for the work and out I go. very easy.

Strafzettel

Making a copy of the drivers license, making a copy of the credit card, filling out the form with the mileage and amount of gas in the loaner and so on... The dealer where I bought my car doesn't even give you a Mercedes loaner, they use some rental car company and once I went for service in the morning before work, they were out of cars. I complained and they somehow managed to give me a Mercedes loaner then but I was still late for work.

thenew3

I guess I get lucky with my dealer. They keep the info on file so you don't need to fill out paperwork each time. They also have the mileage, fuel and condition of the loaner already documented. So it's literally dropping off my keys with adviser then going to the desk next to his and pickup the keys for the loaner.

JoeMa

My dealer (Lancaster Mercedes) always provides a Mercedes loaner, usually an E Class or GLS, but they bring it my house. The paper work is always filled out so I simply sign it and swap keys.

kombifan

JoeMa

Total disclosure, they only have 1 GLS450 but have multiple E's and few other smaller cars. I can get the GLS if I request it a few weeks in advance of my next service. Lancaster Mercedes is a very good dealership.

thenew3

That's nice that they bring it to your house and pick up your car. My local dealer doesn't quite go that far. But they do have a nice size MB loaner fleet (typically between 40 and 50 vehicles) Most of them are the current model year with less than 5k miles on them. Many C/CLA/GLA vehicles. A handful of E/GLE/GLC and one GLS. The GLS I'm told is reserved for S class and other high end vehicle owners who bring their vehicles in for service. All other loaners are on a first come first serve basis. They will have the loaner ready when I drop off the car so I just drop off my keys and pickup keys for loaner and I'm out. Returning is also simply dropping off the loaner keys with the service adviser and picking up my keys.