Utopia Texas

Just bought a pristine 2008 SL550 with 38k miles and have no clue as to what services were performed last and at what miles. I believe the previous owner went only to MB for service. Can I go by a MB Dealership and get a copy of past service records or do I start from scratch?

Ghostty

Usually if you will go and do a full service inspection ( don't know what is called, i paid about $200 for it) they will tell you what is due, what needs to be replaced, and stuff.
If you're interested in a full record you might need to find the dealership the service was done at, then they might consider it.

Regards

BlownV8

I have a good relationship with my dealer. They printed one out for me at zero cost.

arenaej

If you ask for the VMI report it will document any services provided at any MB dealer in the USA. Shouldn't cost anything.

Ejbrock

Ejbrock

I also asked my dealer to print out my VMI report. This report is important to establish baseline maintenance history. I use the data to establish my preventative maintenance plan.
I get an updated report once a year. I have never paid for this report.

Good Luck with your new addition!

STL-SL500

I've done the same..VMI report without charge, however, if & when having service performed helps. To get the detailed report from actual dealerships, they won't provide them as they view it as a "privacy issue" to prior owners. Yes, that is both good & bad. Some will provide with the owner information, "blacked-out", however, only if it is from the same dealership. If from out-of-town dealerships, they tend to respect the previous owner(s) privacy.

Geo3

Mercedes Canada refuse to provide previous owner service history "due to privacy laws".

bha

Yeah, have had the same experience with MB Canada. Although once (years ago) they let me look at the records without being able to photograph them or make photocopies. Although I knew the service guy well so maybe it was a special favour.


Note that the VMI only shows work done under warranty. If the customer paid for the work, it will not show up in VMI.


Find out what dealer the car was serviced at (CarFax is a good helper on this) and call and ask if they'll fax you the records. I always make it totally clear that I do NOT want to see owner info or details, just what was done.


They print out a version which has no prices (I think it's a checkbox when they do the printout, so easy for them to do) and then they black out the owners name/phone #.


If it's a one owner car, also try to call the owner up and ask nicely. Offer to send them a $20 bill for their time.

anothercar

+ 1 on the VMI. Any dealer wishing to get your business for service should be happy to supply the VMI.