Mercedes grrrrrrr

[JohnfromUK]

10 minutes ago, Vince Green said:

Main dealers never seem to change pollen filters irrespective of what make of car you are talking about.

I was certainly charged for one!

I had a standard 'fixed price' intermediate service carried out (necessary to continue the extended warranty) and the Cabin Air Filter was a listed (and priced) item.  The service price is 'fixed' at £306.

Edited November 14 by JohnfromUK

[BobbyH]

On 14/11/2024 at 16:12, Vince Green said:

Main dealers never seem to change pollen filters irrespective of what make of car you are talking about. I believe it is because they are not usually included in the service schedule. 

My main agent keeps banging on about my car should have the brake fluid changed every couple of years. No it shouldn't, modern synthetic brake fluid should never need changing for the life of the car because it's not hydroscopic like the old brake fluid used to be. Okay it may be nice to change it now and again, but not £140 every two years.

Similarly, they wanted to change my plugs at 60K miles but the service book says every 90K it's running fine and giving around 38-40mpg on a run so leave it alone

I worked as a car mechanic for a main dealer for 8 years, I Can confirm that we did everything we were asked to. As a small Norfolk, main dealer business we always said the customer is right, even when they clearly weren’t and I had numerous times on having to prove that.

On 14/11/2024 at 16:12, Vince Green said:

Main dealers never seem to change pollen filters irrespective of what make of car you are talking about. I believe it is because they are not usually included in the service schedule. 

My main agent keeps banging on about my car should have the brake fluid changed every couple of years. No it shouldn't, modern synthetic brake fluid should never need changing for the life of the car because it's not hydroscopic like the old brake fluid used to be. Okay it may be nice to change it now and again, but not £140 every two years.

Similarly, they wanted to change my plugs at 60K miles but the service book says every 90K it's running fine and giving around 38-40mpg on a run so leave it alone

I do also understand that you don’t need to change spark plugs, brake fluid etc as often ad the manual says so, that is just to future proof, and to maintain the service schedule of the car. So if it came to any big issues, the customer used to get goodwill gestures.

For example, I vaguely remember one guy had a Golf Tdi, did everything he was supposed to, in the exact dates, then bought us the car for us to look into an ABS light on. He needed a new pump with would have been £700+. He got it for £200ish because he kept up his service schedule, and was a loyal customer.