Prepaid service contract expired and I have to pay the service
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GLE350
Prepaid service contract expired and I have to pay the service
On Friday I took my car to the dealership in stevens creek for a service. I already purchased with prepaid service for 4 years and this would be my last service at the age of 3.5 years. Same as previous 3 services, my car is ready the other day and the service representative says it is all covered by the plan. Then today (Monday), I received a bill of 1.2k from the service guy saying my prepaid service contract has expired at 45k miles and my current mileage is 52 miles more. This surprising bill ruined my day. Why didn't they tell me about this before scheduling the service and if they didn't know, at least they should tell me before the service was performed. They then reduce the billing to 900 but it should have been 0.
Has anyone encountered similar case? I can seek legal plan but not sure if it will worth it. Thanks.
Has anyone encountered similar case? I can seek legal plan but not sure if it will worth it. Thanks.
Member
Joined: Nov 2003
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did the shop tell you it's free when you drop off the car or after the service?
by law, the dealer has to give you an estimate of the work. if they said it's free at that time, they have no right to charge you.
also check the "mileage in", dealers may have put some miles.
by law, the dealer has to give you an estimate of the work. if they said it's free at that time, they have no right to charge you.
also check the "mileage in", dealers may have put some miles.
Out Of Control!!
Joined: Nov 2018
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From: San Francisco Bay Area
2019 C63CS
Yes, they should have caught it upfront, but you should also know the terms of the prepaid maintenance. Your prepaid maintenance actually expired at 40k miles. It's 4-years or 40k miles, whichever comes first. Sounds like there's a 5k mile grace period, so technically you are 5052 miles past the terms of the prepaid maintenance. You can renew your prepaid maintenance instead of paying for just this service. I did that after the 4-year prepaid maintenance I had. I renewed for another 3 years. You can renew up to 8 years or 80k miles. I had my SA price out the services individually and the 3 year plan was about 30% cheaper than paying individually for the next 3 services, plus here in California they have to refund the unused portion of the plan if you sell your car.
EDIT: Good point above. You authorized the work based on the original estimate. They can't just change the price w/o you authorizing it.
P.S. Also now that I'm thinking about it, how are you at 45k miles and only done 3 services? You skipped or procrastinated a service somewhere. The services are due every 12 months or 10k miles whichever comes first, so your 4th service should have been done 5k miles ago.
EDIT: Good point above. You authorized the work based on the original estimate. They can't just change the price w/o you authorizing it.
P.S. Also now that I'm thinking about it, how are you at 45k miles and only done 3 services? You skipped or procrastinated a service somewhere. The services are due every 12 months or 10k miles whichever comes first, so your 4th service should have been done 5k miles ago.
Last edited by superswiss; Feb 10, 2025 at 07:13 PM.
Out Of Control!!
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 11,432
Likes: 5,343
From: San Francisco Bay Area
2019 C63CS
It means that if you signed below that then you agreed to any increase in estimated price. I never sign that part. Always only sign on the left to authorize them to do the work.
