IS-SV

He was kidding about the magic.

I'm not aware of new Mercedes vehicles with free maintenance in US.

mmarshall

I owned a Lexus IS300 for almost 5 years, and the typical service costs for it (even at a Lexus dealer) were nowhere near what they run for an equivalent Mercedes C-Class. And I could get oil changes on the IS300 (and other minor stuff) done at a local Toyota shop (I was close friends with the service manager there) for half of what a Lexus shop wants. Lexus recognizes Toyota service for non-warranty stuff. You can't take a Jag, Mercedes or a BMW, for instance, and do that.


You may be wondering....why didn't I not change my own oil on that car, like I usually do? The IS300 (and the Saturn SL-2) were the only vehicles I had owned, in decades, that I couldn't easily change the oil on at home....the filters were in a VERY difficult location.

Anyhow, while luxury-car dealers, in general, charge more for service than those of more mundane brands, M-B and Porsche dealers, from what I've seen, are probably the worst among mass-produced cars. A friend of mine, who drives and services a couple of old Porsches, won't deal with a Porsche shop unles he absolutely HAS to.

mmarshall

It may not be offered at the factory level, but, when I've reviewed some newer M-B products in this area (D.C. metro) some dealerships were offering it as a dealer perk to stimulate sales (M-B gets a LOT of competition in this area from BMW and Lexus). I can't remember, though, if they specifically included that on the Bluetec models.

I8ABMR

Thanks gor posting this I asked this same question about a week ago. I just feel bad that even though the car is more economical you still screwed by the maintenance.

IS-SV

1. Your IS300 was a few years back so it's not a valid comparison for today.

2. I have both a Lexus IS and Merecedes C-class today. Both are comparably expensive to service at dealers today.

3. btw, a Mercedes can be serviced at qualified independent garages too. I have my Mercedes serviced at a shop owned and operated by a Mercedes master tech and save over 30 percent on service versus dealer costs.

4. Yes you can take your Jag, Mercedes, Lexus and BMW to a qualified independent garage and save the equivalent amount of money like going to a Toyota deaer. Jag, Mercedes and BMW recognize service at these qualified shops, there are plenty of them in the affluent urban areas around here. And to this point many of the premium automakers service departments are feeling the impact of business being taken by the qualified independent shops, but you can't blame the customers for wanting to save serious amounts of money.

LexFather

Yeah there r many solid independent German shops here.

IS-SV

Yes, all luxury car dealers charge more in general.

But let's refine what's out there as general internet hearsay about Porsches.

1. Porsche dealers generally get plenty of service and maintenance business while the customers cars are in warranty, it's more of a convenience thing for the high-roller customers while the car is in warranty. Once the cars are out of warranty, the cars are often serviced by qualified independants.

2. When it comes to repair and maintenance of the older air-cooled Porsches, dealers often lack the experience and are too expensive. Again the qualified independant mechanics get this business usually and are usually more experienced and reasonably priced.

Before we get too offtopic, I think most of us agree the urea refill price quoted is an unusually high-margin ripoff.

SLegacy99

Which is ashame because I feel that a superurb car like the 335d is already a bit pricey. It's a turnoff.

MadMax96

Sorry - if you can afford a $60k vehicle, an extra $1500 per 100k miles is a drop in the bucket. Do people who buy these things new generally even keep them that long? I doubt it.....

Yeah yeah - it's the prinicple of it all.......

The G Man

Come on people, this is a MB we are talking about. It probably cost $30 for the dealer to refill the windshield washer fluid

mmarshall

One of the big complaints of independent shops is that they can't work on a lot of newer luxury cars because of the excessive complexity of these vehicles and the fact that manufacturers don't (or won't) share specs or repair-manual procedures with thm. This has gotten to the point where it may come before Congress soon with legislation....CAR CHAT discussed that recently in another thread.

IS-SV

That is not a common complaint here. We have separate independent shops here that are specialists and manufacturer certified and trained to work on Mercedes, Porsche, Lexus, BMW, Toyota and Honda products for example. Those of us that actually own these cars no where these shops are located and which ones are best.

As I stated in the major urban areas where premium cars are popular, independent specialized shops with both the certified mechanics and correct tools are common. We are not talking about Jiffy Lube or Quality tuneup shops.

For example a certified Mercedes Master Tech works on all late model Benz's.

I'm not expecting any meaningful or real action from Congress on this.

mmarshall

I'm on your side on that one.....for a number of reasons. I've already explained why in previous threads.

SLegacy99

People buy diesels to drive them forever. People buy alternative vehicles (save the LS600hL, Tesla Roadster) to save money on fuel, even if you have plenty of cash, spending $300 to fill up a tank every 15k miles diminishes those savings.

MadMax96

I agree about buying diesel work trucks (Ford, Dodge, GM) and driving them forever - but keeping a luxo SUV forever? The kind of people who can swing $60k on a diesel luxury vehicle are probably going with the diesel option to save some gas mileage during the 3 years they own it.