serbeer

We bought certified ML-350 2007 about 15 month ago, and my wife drives it to work which comes to only about 7K miles per year total use.

When we purchased it, the dealer's written report stated that she had about XXXX miles or YYYY date until service D is due.

Due to lower mileage, she still has several thousand miles to go before XXXX miles are reached, but YYYY date has been reached and now dashboard computer shows "Service D is overdue by NN days" type of message.

I used to own Japanese cars before, and while there is always been both mileage and time interval (usually 1 year) specified between services, it is common knowledge that as long as the car is not unused for prolonged periods of time, it is mileage one goes by, not the time interval, unless of course we are talking several years between changes, or extreme conditions.

I understand that there is Flexible System sophisticated technology that MB uses to set the oil change interval, but still not 100% sure that it makes economic sense to change oil based on schedule rather than mileage. I can see how it could be designed to give dealers steady supply of customers with even low-usage vehicle. I was seeing "You have ZZZZ miles until service D" message on dashboard one day and then it just jumped to "Service D is due now" once YYYY date had been reached. Did oil radically deteriorate on that date?

I understand "if you purchased expensive vehicle you should be ready spend money on it" and trust me, I am ready as long as it is not a waste, which it seems to me in this case as I was using mileage all my life in other cars for service.

I still have the original printout so I know what XXXX mileage I should do service D at. Can someone please tell me whether it would be unreasonable and truly risky for me to wait till this mileage is near before taking the car for service? What do other people in similar situations did and what were the outcomes?

Thanks!

JeffyPooh

No matter what else, you wouldn't want to give them any reason to invalidate your 'certified' warranty. Right?

serbeer

We bought with only few months of factory warranty remaining. Certified warranty was for another year and will be up in a month or two, so I am not worried about that.

JeffyPooh

If the warranty is almost up, it might be worth going in for a complete nose to tail check up. Maybe they'll find something that they can fix under the last few weeks of warranty.

My present car was serviced once a year (right on schedule) by the original owner/lease holder. Even with only 8000 km (5000 miles) per year usage.

My view is that scrimping on service ends up costing more in the long run. Do it by the book and you can avoid so many expensive problems.

It's your call.

Dan Morgan

It is possible to extend the intervals if you have the fluids tested. Most people don't want to take the time effort and cost envolved to have this done. Fluids do break down from the heating and cooling, and pick up moisture from the atmosphere and such. The PH can also change over time creating a corrosive issue that you don't want.
That is why it is recomended to just change the fluids and avoid some of these issues and have some peace of mind.
In the end it is your car and your call! But I know what I would do.

Jon2007E63P30

Brake fluid is stricktly time based, 2 yrs (depending on the fluid, for OEM it is 2 yrs). It absorbs water over time and it reduces its heat tolerance and can start corrosion inside the brake system if left too long.
Oil is time based also based upon absorbing other things rather than it loosing it's own properties.
5yrs or 60k miles for spark plugs. This one I do not understand. My plugs after 3 yrs and 60k looked pretty good.

serbeer

Good idea but not possible under certified warranty. It is not like factory 100%. There is one but very relevant difference they told me about: If I report a problem and it is indeed a problem, I pay nothing. But if they discover it is not a problem, I am on the hook for payments. So, it only makes sense to bring car in if something really breaks, or there is a very good reason to belive there is a problem (like clear noise from something, etc)...

serbeer

Well, testing would be an expense not much unlike oil change. Per internet collected info, when other peope did testing on their cars, the results were not in favor of early oil changes. Here is one link: http://skepticblog.org/2009/02/22/oilchange-rant/

But that was not MB, so I was hoping this forum may be better source of info...

JeffyPooh

"...not possible..."?

Of course it's possible! You just need to go find your long-lost wallet ;-) and *pay* for the inspection yourself.