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Car Forum / Mercedes-Benz Cars / January 2008What is Maintenance cost for Mercedes C350 ?
What is the scheduled maintenance cost for a MB C350 or 330 over the guaranteed life of the car? That's a very open ended question that is hard to define because a useful guaranteed life of the car is 20 years or so. What you can do is when you buy new... Buy the extended warranty that boost the bumper to bumper warranty to 7 years or more if available... and that cost of additional warranty... say $3000... is well worth it as it guaranteed you never pay any more than $3000 for the 7 years of ownership in repair. I am not sure the mileage but I believe is 100,000 miles for the warranty. > Buy the extended warranty that boost the bumper to bumper warranty to 7 > years or more if available... I am not a fan of extended warranties in general but I agree with Tiger that it will probably pay off if you plan to keep your MB for the term of the warranty. There were a couple of times where the warranty paid for repairs where the total cost of repairs exceeded the price of the warranty. I am not kidding. Granted, these were at dealer rip-off prices, but even indy priced repairs would have exceeded the cost of the warranty. The one thing you have to look at now is what exactly is covered by the warranty and whether there are any deductibles/exclusions. If it is specifically listed on the warranty, it is not covered and MB does not make expceptions! When I bought mine, there were two levels of coverage and it went up to 8 years. My understanding is that the time amounts are now shorter, they do not cover as many items on the car as they used to, and that they are much more expensive. For general services like A and B, you need to call the dealer service department to get prices. You will be surprised at how much the glorified oil changes cost. Remember that there are other things outside of this which are normal maintenace and for which you must budget such as brake flush, coolant flushes, brakes, transmission fluid changes, etc. These are quite costly through the dealer. Dealers make their money from service these days, not the selling of cars. I believe you and that is why I asked and why I do appreciate your fine feedback. I have a friend who brought in his E320 for a scheduled A-service and it ran $1300. I think things like that keep me from MB and probably go to BMW, where all maintenance is covered during the 40K (or was it 50K) miles. But I do appreciate comments. >> Buy the extended warranty that boost the bumper to bumper warranty to 7 >> years or more if available... [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > > Dealers make their money from service these days, not the selling of cars. >I believe you and that is why I asked and why I do appreciate your fine >feedback. > >I have a friend who brought in his E320 for a scheduled A-service and it ran >$1300. This is suspicious. Scheduled A service can run about $130 (private shop) to around $300 at a dealer but $1300 suggests that, at the A service, they discovered other items that needed attention and that were not under warranty. A large part of the A service consists of inspections but what those inspections may uncover is NOT part of the A service. For example, at my last one, it was discovered that my car needed brake pads and rotors. The A service was $135 (private shop) but the parts/labor for the brakes was about $600. I would not say that the A service was $735. Would you? Kal I see that there is confusion. I meant during the GUARANTEED period (is it 3 or 4 years) what the Maintenance const would be. That is A service, B service and C service. That is what they call it on my Toyota and Lexus. BUT I am at least thinking of getting a Mercedes C330 or 350 and try to access the cost other than acquiring the car. I NEVER hold a car for 20 years, seldom for 5, so that does not come into the equation at all. I am not talking about regular replacement of a part, but MAINTENANCE as prescribed by MB. I called MB and cannot get a decent answer. Probably very high. > That's a very open ended question that is hard to define because a useful > guaranteed life of the car is 20 years or so. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > in repair. I am not sure the mileage but I believe is 100,000 miles for > the warranty. Ahh... you are absolutely right about MB on maintenance coverage. There is none... They used to have it completely covered but I think it stopped in 2002 or 3. You are right on BMW covered everything for 4 years. With your type of ownership, I would say better deal is to go with BMW for freedom of any expense during warranty period. > I called MB and cannot get a decent answer. Probably very high. You just need to act like you already own the car and call to ask for the service department. Then tell the receptionist that you would like to speak to a service advisor to get a quote on some prices. Then ask the advisor for specific service quotes (e.g. A and B). I have done this at every MB dealer in my metro area just to compare prices (varied quite a bit!) and never had an issue getting the information. Great advice. I shall try that Monday or Tuesday. Thanks PS I had in the past 10 years 3 times a BMW, never a MB. But the maintenance cost is horrible! >> I called MB and cannot get a decent answer. Probably very high. > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > every MB dealer in my metro area just to compare prices (varied quite a > bit!) and never had an issue getting the information. > What is the scheduled maintenance cost for a MB C350 or 330 over the > guaranteed life of the car? check your local library for something like "The Complete car cost guide...." published by Intelligent Choice Information Company... which amoratizes the cost of a car for a five year period. It factors in projected cost of fuel, insurance, maintenace/repairs, etc. After 5 yrs, you could extrapolate a bit and try extending the curve out 2-3x, depending on what you define as 'life'. There are hundreds of cars in the book so you can compare and use the data to project further. I've not used it for a couple of years so unknown if this annual release is still maintained to-date. If, by "guaranteed life" you mean its 48 month new car warranty, then the maintenance cost will be the "A" and "B" services plus tires, brake pads, wiper blades etc -- all at dealer retail. The original 48 month / 50K mile new car warranty can be extended for one, two or three years at extra cost. But know that the extended warranty is more of a major components warranty than is the comprehensive new car warranty. Routine dealer maintenance is at a premium cost vs. quick oil change places but, as with a luxury product, the owner is well treated. The trick to owning a M-B is to be shielded from major repair costs because they are painful! One way to "win"is to lease a new car for 4 years and move on to another when the new car warranty expires. That's the lowest annual ownership cost when the depreciation, which is the most expensive part of driving a new car, is included. If you drive 10K to 15K miles annually a lease makes a lot of sense, if less than that buying is preferable.  Signature© 2008 T.G.Lambach. Publication in any form requires prior written permission. Thanks for you valuable input. I drive the Toyota about 15 - 18 K/yr, the Lexus about 6K miles a year. With the MB (if there will be one in my decent future) probably similar to the Lexus now. > If, by "guaranteed life" you mean its 48 month new car warranty, then the > maintenance cost will be the "A" and "B" services plus tires, brake pads, [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > car, is included. If you drive 10K to 15K miles annually a lease makes a > lot of sense, if less than that buying is preferable. My annual use is about similar - low mileage vs. the relatively high obsolesce of new cars - all new cars. So, rather than buy a "new" zero mile M-B I bought a 26 month old M-B Certified model w/ 17K miles and added two years of M-B extended warranty to the 12 month additional "Certified" warranty. Now I'm driving what I want with a factory warranty on its major components until 8/2011. By then the car will have either proven itself for retention or be ready for trade-in. As to your friend's $1,300 scalping - I believe there's a bit more to it but in any event, always, always ask for an estimate and never, never say "just do whatever it needs". That's just opening your bank account! Signature© 2008 T.G.Lambach. Publication in any form requires prior written permission. He is fairly wealthy and I would not be surprised he said due a class A service and whatever you else find bad. But that was his very FIRST class A service. You would think that very little, if anything, could be bad so soon. If it is, then maybe , regardless of the very nice Star, one should stay away from MB. What do you think? > My annual use is about similar - low mileage vs. the relatively high > obsolesce of new cars - all new cars. So, rather than buy a "new" zero [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > but in any event, always, always ask for an estimate and never, never say > "just do whatever it needs". That's just opening your bank account! Find out exactly what was done before reaching a conclusion! > He is fairly wealthy and I would not be surprised he said due a class A > service and whatever you else find bad. But that was his very FIRST class A [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > but in any event, always, always ask for an estimate and never, never say > > "just do whatever it needs". That's just opening your bank account! I've driven M-Bs since 1980 (and still own an '80) and have used M-B dealers and independents for repairs and service. The dealers give full service and generally get it right. The independents are Ok for older models but give minimal service but for a similar price as the dealer. So I use the dealer for the newer car and the independent for the old one. Either is fine but it's up YOU keep the agenda under control. Signature© 2008 T.G.Lambach. Publication in any form requires prior written permission. >He is fairly wealthy and I would not be surprised he said due a class A >service and whatever you else find bad. But that was his very FIRST class A >service. You would think that very little, if anything, could be bad so >soon. If it is, then maybe , regardless of the very nice Star, one should >stay away from MB. What do you think? Regardless of one's wallet, giving a blank check to a stranger is dangerous. I have rarely paid a penny over the basic service in 5 years with the MB dealer and then only for consumables like windshield wipers. In any case, since none of us, including you, know exactly how/what was done, it is improper to reach such a conclusion. Kal I just repeated what he and his wife told me 2 weeks ago when we drove in the car. I did not feel it was or is my job to either doubt it or question it. This is his first MB and they expressed shock at the high cost. >>He is fairly wealthy and I would not be surprised he said due a class A >>service and whatever you else find bad. But that was his very FIRST class [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Kal When you asked "What is the scheduled maintenance cost for a MB C350 or 330 over the guaranteed life of the car?" you can only include the prices of a A and B service plus whatever is required at certain mileage intervals plus normal wear items like brake pads and rotors. You cannot then ask if $1300 is too much for a first A service when you have no clue as to what else was done. Something else WAS done that had nothing to do with an A service. An A service is an oil and filter change with a vehicle inspection. Anything else done is not part an A service. > I just repeated what he and his wife told me 2 weeks ago when we drove in > the car. [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > > > Kal I now found out what ELSE was done, according to my friend. The replaced a hose for the transmission fluid. That was all. Nothing else. > When you asked "What is the scheduled maintenance cost for a MB C350 or > 330 [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] >> > >> > Kal Back to your first question... if BMW offers "free maintenance" during the warranty period its new cars must have $zero cost beyond fuel and tires; is that correct? If so, then we M-B owners are total fools for not buying BMWs. Signature© 2008 T.G.Lambach. Publication in any form requires prior written permission. I think you are correct, all normal required maintenance is done free, NOT brakes and tires! This is for a new BMW, not used ones even if they are covered by a 100K warranty. Maintenance is then not included. > Back to your first question... if BMW offers "free maintenance" during the > warranty period its new cars must have $zero cost beyond fuel and tires; > is that correct? If so, then we M-B owners are total fools for not buying > BMWs. But it still does not mean buying a BMW is necessarily a better bet, since maintenance/warranty costs (one way or another) will be included in the selling price. DAS For direct replies replace nospam with schmetterling --- >I think you are correct, all normal required maintenance is done free, NOT >brakes and tires! This is for a new BMW, not used ones even if they are [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >> tires; is that correct? If so, then we M-B owners are total fools for not >> buying BMWs. >I now found out what ELSE was done, according to my friend. > >The replaced a hose for the transmission fluid. That was all. Nothing else. Now, that sounds like a ripoff. Of course, he gave them carte blanche. Kal Unless there was physical damage, i.e. an accident or rodents, that repair should have been 100% warranty. There is more to this story...... > I now found out what ELSE was done, according to my friend. > [quoted text clipped - 40 lines] > >> > > >> > Kal NO, there is NOT more to this story. We are live-long friends and he and his wife told me everything!!!!!! > Unless there was physical damage, i.e. an accident or rodents, that repair > should have been 100% warranty. There is more to this story...... [quoted text clipped - 50 lines] >> >> > >> >> > Kal |
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