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I have been to that very Mercedes dealership in Arlington. My father used to have 2 Mercedes 190E 2.6, a 1987 and a 1993 and they ran a long time and that is where we went. I actually bought my 2017 CT200h used at a Mercedes dealership in Pembroke Pines, FL but did not see this particular setup last year when I was waiting to take delivery.
I personally want a person there to handle things, even if it does come with a higher price. I do want to be able to talk to a service advisor on things, even if they try to talk me into getting stuff I know I do not need (it has happened to many times to count often to the insult of my automotive knowledge). I can tell you that when I used to bring my RX300 up to San Antonio, TX, North Park Lexus, I had good relationships with the service advisors out sheer curiosity over how my RX300 was doing 800+ miles south of the border, where Toyota, my Uncle and a few 3rd party groups were the service providers (Lexus only arrived late last year). I could never have automated that experience simply because there were all sorts of things that were not routine maintenance.
I'm a former Mercedes customer, and there is no way I'd choose to interface using a kiosk over dealing with a human being. There is no advantage for me should something go wrong with my car. Not having an established relationship makes it unlikely that anyone there will go to bat for you. Now that I have switched to Lexus, I as well prefer dealing with people.
many will vote for the machine with their wallet. many thought they'd 'never' do self-checkout at the supermarket. well, see how that changed.
but i get that the SA can give a warm and fuzzy experience vs a cold box.
and that ad for the kiosk above shows at least MB is serious about this. and over time dealers may be squeezed to reduce the number of SAs and thus the number of 'personal' appointments they can handle, perhaps with SAs only on 'big' services or warranty claims at first. but for an oil change? not needed even if nice to have. next step... the SA "fee" if you want one with the oil change, the low low price of $50 for the 'car therapist'.
A grocery store is not a luxury retailer. Anyways we stopped going to the grocery store during COVID, we have all our groceries delivered now. Only thing we buy in the store is beef
and marinated chicken and stuff that I like to pick out myself.
Having someone bring all your groceries to the front door, that’s luxury!
I think from the response here it’s clear more people don’t like this idea than like it. I don’t necessarily dislike it, but I wouldn’t want to pay the prices I pay now for service to use a kiosk and wait.
There really isn’t any such thing as just an oil change, if you follow the maintenance schedule there is always a packaged service that includes things other than the oil change.
There really isn’t any such thing as just an oil change, if you follow the maintenance schedule there is always a packaged service that includes things other than the oil change.
That's really overselling it. The Mercedes A service is an oil/filter change, plus:
Fluid level inspection. 3 seconds on most cars, may be as long as 30 on yours, unless they decide not to do it because of the covers you added.
Tire inflation check. This is nearly always done by eye. I've NEVER seen a service tech do this with a gauge (at any brand's dealer) during an oil change unless something looked off or they were also doing a tire rotation. But let's assume they do. That's another whole minute.
Brake component inspection. This takes about 10-20 seconds, since the car is already in the air.
Maintenance reminder reset. Part of the oil change service, so doesn't really count.
So all told, if they actually do everything on the list, there's 2 minutes of non-oil-change work involved in the A service. The B service is just the A service plus the air filter and cabin air filter.
Some people maybe are Wowed by those plush customer-waiting areas. That's fine....but I'm not. That kind of stuff simply doesn't impress me. In my book, what's truly important is the quality of the service...I couldn't care if I had to sit in a warehouse while I was waiting, as long as the service itself is done correctly and carefully.
However, I'll admit that I don't have kids, don't need a nursery, don't need a lot of high-tech devices to use while I'm waiting (ordinary Wi-Fi is fine), and usually have time to wait for fairly long periods. (sometimes I'll even review or test-drive something while I'm waiting). Not everyone, of course, can say that.
That's really overselling it. The Mercedes A service is an oil/filter change, plus:
Fluid level inspection. 3 seconds on most cars, may be as long as 30 on yours, unless they decide not to do it because of the covers you added.
Tire inflation check. This is nearly always done by eye. I've NEVER seen a service tech do this with a gauge (at any brand's dealer) during an oil change unless something looked off or they were also doing a tire rotation. But let's assume they do. That's another whole minute.
Brake component inspection. This takes about 10-20 seconds, since the car is already in the air.
Maintenance reminder reset. Part of the oil change service, so doesn't really count.
So all told, if they actually do everything on the list, there's 2 minutes of non-oil-change work involved in the A service. The B service is just the A service plus the air filter and cabin air filter.
B service also includes a brake fluid change. I totally agree though, but if you are following the maintenance schedule what you schedule is an A or B service, not just an oil change.
Originally Posted by mmarshall
Some people maybe are Wowed by those plush customer-waiting areas. That's fine....but I'm not. That kind of stuff simply doesn't impress me. In my book, what's truly important is the quality of the service...I couldn't care if I had to sit in a warehouse while I was waiting, as long as the service itself is done correctly and carefully..
But here's the question, would you pay $350 to have your oil changed and wait in a warehouse? That $350 includes the luxury experience of interacting with the Mercedes dealer, thats mostly why its so expensive.
If you cared the most about quality service, you would find a GREAT independent mechanic and let them maintain and service the car. You will get much more experienced, detailed and professional work to the car through them than you will ANY dealership. I have used both, and for me I just don't have the energy to find such a person to maintain the Mercedes since my guy is an Asian car specialist, nor do I have the time to deal with the time and hassle required to have the car maintained by someone who doesn't have loaners etc, so I have been using the dealer and the service has been great. If I still had a Lexus I would still use my guy vs the dealer.
If I still had a Lexus I would still use my guy vs the dealer.
assume 'your guy' isn't exactly a luxury experience even if he's great at what he does. no loaner? probably not much of a waiting room either. and since your cars are leased, not sure why you'd go to an independent service place, i guess because it's cheaper.
so perhaps cost DOES matter to you, and so if the kiosk A/B service at mercedes were 2/3rds the price vs. getting the smiling well dressed SA to talk to for 5 minutes, would you still not want the kiosk?
I think from the response here it’s clear more people don’t like this idea than like it.
because more people don't like change, and people don't like it if all other things are equal which they may be today, but i wouldn't be surprised if dealers start charging for 'consultation'.
assume 'your guy' isn't exactly a luxury experience even if he's great at what he does. no loaner? probably not much of a waiting room either. and since your cars are leased, not sure why you'd go to an independent service place, i guess because it's cheaper.
so perhaps cost DOES matter to you, and so if the kiosk A/B service at mercedes were 2/3rds the price vs. getting the smiling well dressed SA to talk to for 5 minutes, would you still not want the kiosk?
No, he's not but he does great work and I'm not paying for a luxury service. The lack of loaners is a big PITA, but I rent a car and he takes me over to Enterprise to get it and picks me up. If he charged the same as the dealer, I would use the dealer.
I never said cost didnt matter to me, I said VALUE matters to me, something can be a better value and be more expensive at the same time. If I pay a luxury price, I want a luxury service. The kiosk wouldn't bother me if I was paying less price, but if you think this MB dealer plans to reduce their service costs when rolling these kiosks out I have a bridge to sell you lol. They are going to expect that their consumers will pay the same cost and they can reduce their own costs for qualified customer service professionals to interact with them. THATS my problem.
07-04-22, 09:05 AM
