Steve I know it seems crazy cheap. here are the screen shoots of the offer. If you notice the last 6 of the vin in the email offer match the vin of my s580

 

Read the fine print. “Some models may be higher”

 

Yes the fine print states that. I called and confirmed with dealer that the S class is 380.00 for the full MB suggested service. I am not going to complain. I got my usual last month to price match the a service on my wife MB for 199 they were asking 540.00 as their cost. I guess I should buy a lottery ticket

 

Who you talked to was likely wrong, but hey if you can get them to honor it go for it. Just make sure they are doing everything grant they are supposed to do. That’s below their wholesale cost just for the parts they’re supposed to use.

 

if you read the fine print it clearly states this offer is only good for the VIN ending in pa236192 which is the vin for my S class nothing to have to get them to honer that is what it is for

 

Good then, doesn’t change the fact though that they are below the cost just for parts with that price. Be sure they are doing everything that is supposed to be done.

Maybe their practice is to lose money on these Saturday jobs and while people are in there on a Saturday waiting they can sell brakes and other things and it’s like a loss leader.

 

At my dealer prepaid saves you a couple of hundred.

 

As Steve said, that's a good deal, but the dealer is taking a hit on the price maybe to get traffic into the store on a Saturday. That or they'll do a basic minimum then hit you up for extras like wipers, this, that and the other thing.

 

Isn't the actual 'cost' of parts for dealers generally lower than what we see as invoice price?
Always wondered where all the added parts cost goes to.

I'm in the automotive business and the whole service parts business doesn't make sense, pricewise.
I see EV battery system assembly service part costing more than a brand-new vehicle. lol
And yet they still replace it under warranty and all that cost goes to the manufacturing plant and subsequently to their suppliers.
Ridiculous.

 

Oh yeah, the markup on the parts is huge.

 

Which dealer. I just paid $230 for an alignment at Euro Bethesda.

 

These dealer prices are all over the board. I was just quoted $500 this week for an alignment from my dealer.
I just finished the last maintenance on my 2022 S580. I originally bought a 4 year dealer pre-paid maintenance from another dealer for $2850. My dealer wanted several hundred dollars more at the same contract.

 

I guess it depends entirely on how much your dealer charges for these services. I paid $2,400 for three years and now I feel like I got ripped off. The ironic thing is that these service contracts are valid at any MB dealer. I don’t know if Mercedes sets a base price and then the dealer can mark it up as they see fit like anything else.

When I first purchased it I felt it was a good hedge against price increases but I don’t know if that ever materialized to the level that would make this purchase worthwhile other than the lease rate discount. Not sure I will get this again on my next car.

 

Euro in Germantown, which surprisingly is more expensive than Euro in Bethesda!

Thats exactly right, they mark it up and can negotiate it. I think its worthwhile. You leased right? Did you wrap it into the lease? If so MBFS residualizes it which means you're only paying that amount less the residual.

 

I’m still leasing through the end of the year.

How exactly does the residual work. They added the price of the contract to the negotiated price of the car but the residual is still the same, so didn’t I just pay the entire thing anyways, with interest no less?

 

There are often discounts available, but you have to ask. My wife got a card in the mail offering a B service on her GLC for 299. It was from MBUSA. I sent them an email asking if I could use that for my E450. They said no, but applied a $100 courtesy discount to any service or purchase from any dealer for my car.

 

The reason that most of you feel "ok" or think it's normal to pay more than 600 USD for an annual service is the reason that almost all Mbenz dealerships are still charging that much and I think it's greedy. To be clear, I also pay close to that for my GLS (tiny bit less), and If I had an S-class, I would also pay the same (less than most numbers above but close enough), but I in my mind I don't think this is fine or normal/justified at all.

Mbenz are known to make 300-400% profit (yes 4 hundred) on the smaller/cheaper parts like bolts/grease/supplies, and 40% on the more expensive parts, and somewhere in between for everything else.
The big rip off in my view is the fine particle filter. There is no reason on early that this thing costs this much. Corporate, first, is charging dealers too much for it, and dealers are adding a bit more than they should. It costs 1/10 of that on all my non-benz cars.

It's nearly impossible to find a Mbenz dealer that is willing to make reasonable profit on Service A and B cause they know Mbenz owners will pay that amount and very unlikely to go to an indy shop. Out of 3 Mbenz dealer close to me, there is only one that charges very reasonable numbers for my GLS. $279 for service A and close to 400 USD for Service B. All other dealers (including those in other states) would ask 400 for service A and 600-800 for service B. My GLS costs me this much, and all 3 of my prev X7s for the same exact services and parts among many different dealers was always 149 for the equivalent of service A, or 200-280 or so for the equivalent of B. OEM fine dust air filter Set is just 40 USD and I bet it's made same factory where Mbenz make theirs or at least made the same way (there is only a few original OEMs for these filters for german manufacturers and u can track them). On top of that, every non-benz dealer I worked with was willing to price-match the cost of parts from FCPeuro. My Mbenz dealers would not budge.

Anyway, to be clear, none of this bothers that much me when I take my GLS for service (it's still just couple hundreds / year more for an awesome car) but l wouldn't try to justify any of these costs as normal. Whether it's the manufacturer, or dealers, or both, someone is charging way too much for some of these items for sure, regardless of what the paperwork says

 

If the cost of the package is $2,400 and the residual is 50%, the residual should go up by $1,200 and the $2,400 added to the cost of the vehicle. Like any other equipment on the vehicle.

As a businessman I don't begrudge any business charging what their customers will pay. If customers are lining up to have their Mercedes serviced at the dealer, then they are seeing value in what they are paying so its all fair. Whether *I* see value there is a different matter. I will admit, taking the car to the dealer, seeing the staff there who know me and value my business and treat me well, getting to drive another Mercedes of my choosing as a loaner, the facility, getting to look at all the new cars in the showroom and catch up with the guy who sold me the car makes me feel good and its a process I enjoy. To me its no different than choosing to stay at the Ritz Carleton vs a Holiday Inn when I travel.

Could I charge less and still keep my business afloat? Yes. But, I provide great service and I charge the most I can get away with charging. So, I can't begrudge another business for doing the same.

 

Yes and that's why it doesn't bother me much, for years and years, I took all my Benz cars to the dealership regardless. They (most of them) just charge a bit more than they should, because like I said, I happen to find one dealer charging at least 30% less than what most the numbers that you all posted, and I guess they are also making profit. This dealer has the highest rating in the entire region (4.8 stars with over 2000 google reviews) with the other too charging similar numbers to what you posted 4 and 4.2 starts with 1000 reviews. I bet they are moving more cars, and servicing more cars too. Fair/reasonable pricing sometimes work when combined with a good proper service.

 

No such thing as "should"

 

No it does exist whether u like it or not. Manufacturers decide to follow it or not. When they don’t, simply less people buys their cars despite the remaining pool of owners are okay with it. That’s how i define “should”, the best decision for the consumer and best for the service provider together. I personally know (many many) people who would not own a benz just out of fear or because of how much it costs to maintain it even though they can afford it.

 

Who decides what something "should" cost? The free market does...thats how capitalism works. If someone overprices their product consumers don't buy it. If people are paying what a dealer charges for service, who is to say that the cost "should" be lower?

$1,250 for the B service I just had done is insane IMO, but...there is a line out the door of customers there to pay. So...who am I to say it costs too much? I can decide to pay it or I can shop it around or use my independent mechanic or do the work myself.

People can decide not to buy a Mercedes, its a luxury product and the fact that its expensive shouldn't be a surprise. If everybody could buy one and the cost of entry wasn't a barrier for people...it wouldn't be a luxury product

 

I don’t remember them mentioning anything about raising the residual. Are you sure about that? How much did they raise the residual and is if a set value or percentage?

 

That’s how it’s supposed to work with MBFS. Same residual as the car.

 

Thanks. I should have paid more attention.