ml3500

I bought my 2008 CLK 2 months ago, and its telling me to do service A. I only have 2000 miles but I guess the oil is over a year old. I moved to a different state so I can't go back to the dealership to make them give me service A for free.

What are my options?

Is there a cheap place I can go to for just a oil change? Like Jiffy Lube or something

Or does anyone know how much it would be to just get a oil change at a MB dealer?

sosh

Generally there are no free services with MB. Check the date of Mfg and see if its a year old. If so you can ask for a free service A but its up to the dealer. If you get it it would be a courtesy. As for Jiffy Lube and the like stay away.

ml3500

thanks, I will ask the dealer

is there any harm in driving my car with the oil being older than a year?
i dont have any problems

sosh

In the short term you will be fine but oil, even the synthetic in your MB does degrade over calender time. Also keep in mind that the A inspection does involve a bit more than an oil change. Read you maint book for details.

vettdvr

IMO I don't understand how the oil deteroriates in the oil pan on a closed engine when it is not running. Seems about the same is being in a container on the store shelf. If I had 2000 miles and I knew the car didn't spend the time in idle I would run it at least another 8000 miles. The initial oil is to help break in the engine and If it were mine I would not change it. I however would be really tempted to reset the FSS and make the next change at about the 10,000 mile point.

But that of course is only my opinion on what I would do your results may vary and past performance is no predictor of future performance.

sosh

I agree with you to a point. However the crank case is not sealed like the oil container. Its open to the atmosphere. There could be some condensation that has not burned off. I do know that synthetic oil used in aircraft turbines has a life rated in months from the time the container is opened and/or the oil is placed in an engine no matter if the engine is used or not. This oil is similar to the stuff we use but costs about $8 per quart or did years ago. I like your disclaimer!!

Eurosport

ml3500

lol dont worry im not

but yea I think im gonna drive until I hit 7 or 8K then perform a service A or just change the oil at the dealer

Eurosport

just do a quick search on these forums, there's plenty diy oil change write up, if you're going to wait to do the oil change, you can easily do it yourself after you read the simple procedures.
after you do your first one, you'll be kicking yourself for not doing it yourself sooner (or other cars as well) it's that easy.
gl

Ausmbtech

Just get the A service done.
In the unlikly event you have a major engine failure/fault you don't want to give the opportunity for MB to point out that you haven't followed the service schedule.

I have seen a M271 that went 4 years/20,000km/13000mi without an oil change (this is the first service that they missed)........the engine needed a complete teardown to remove the sludge and replace the rings......at the owners expense!!! It was a very unusual case, but the owner did alot of short trips and ignored the service indicator for 3 years. They weren't even close to the requirements of the scheduled service, so MB didn't have to pay nor would I expect them too.

SL2003driver

X2 I just bought a 2008 with 20 miles on it, the maintance system says I will need a service A in another 45 days. I now have 500 miles on it so I figure I will have about 1500 miles on it when the service A will be due. I will pay the $230 for the service A to keep my warranty intact and also because the msrp on my CL550 was around $117K and I don't want to risk having a problem cheap insurance. Also I am old school and we use to always change the oil at around 1K to 2K miles so not a big deal.