[Ryanmar]

Hi, I recently bought a used 2019 GLA250 from an independent used car dealer. It has around 58k miles on it so the original warranty has already ended. Today I contacted the closest Mercedes dealer around my area (I live in Chicago suburb) for a quote for some maintenance services, and they gave me some numbers that I thought I heard wrong.. Basically, the quoted me for $2187 for a 60K mile maintenance service on this car, which sounds like just including basic things like an oil change, tire rotation, inspections, etc.. To the folks that bring their cars to the Mercedes dealers for services, does it really cost over $2000 to do a regular factory recommended maintenance ?

 

[Huey52]

Welcome to the forum (and the cost of Benz ownership).

Mercedes has biennial 'A' and 'B' services. The 'A' service is basically an oil change, new wiper blades (if you insist), and a number of systems checks. Although limited still somewhat expensive at $350 the last time we had ours so done.

The 'B' service is far more extensive with brake fluid flush etc. It is commensurately far more expensive, so most likely the 'B' in your case. In addition the 60K milestone is one of the major so some add'l items (transmission/differential, spark plugs, etc.). They may have also quoted additional work that was not accomplished post-warranty by the prior owner. This likely resultant of not seeing such maintenance done by Mercedes in their system, so they assumed worst case it wasn't accomplished.

Also, Benz has a somewhat unique way of packaging components so often a relatively inexpensive part on its own, such as a radiator thermostat, ends up requiring an assembly replacement which is more costly in both parts and labor.

History: Circa 2006 Benz reliability ratings dropped (JD Power et al) as owners were apparently a bit lax/cost avoiding with vehicle maintenance. So they countered with this warranty-mandated alternating year A & B service cycle. They basically over-maintain (not that there's really such a thing) to assure the maintenance is being done and thereby better reliability.

Here's an example (2016) maintenance plan:

 

[AMGowner]

Ask for a break down of what they’re gonna do. Pretty sure the 250 calls for transmission service @ 60k and I paid something like $800 for my service on my 45, although the 250 should be a bit cheaper but probably not dramatically cause it’s extra labor due to the special computer steps needed during refill.

They might have brake fluid on there too… probably the standard oil change.. maybe filters…

tl;dr if transmission service is on the quote then it might not be too far off from what should be expected

 

[Christine_S]

Their service is a ridiculously aggrandized list of things made to sound like something worth paying for ("inspect this, check that") but considering how much those techs are getting paid, yeah, it's expensive to have them look at your wiper blades!

At my last "B" service, I also needed a state inspection (PA) but managed to be exempt from emissions by 40 miles, so that part was cheapwr than usual. I also had a $30 coupon. Because I had just replace the air filter myself, I asked them to exclude that from the B service. So, it appears that they simply itemized the service, which was essentially an oil change and brake fluid flush. The total bill was just under $600. I was expecting worse.

Certainly ask for a breakdown of their quote and see if it really is all something needing their super-special expert mechanics and stupid MB-only tools. You can do some things yourself. Ask for the service records of the car for anything that was done at any MB dealership. They might be assuming things werent done which were done.

Enjoy your new (to you) GLA!

 

[2019 gla owner]

You can also seek out an independent (indy) shop specializing in German or Mercedes repair and service. Many are certified Mercedes technicians and are familiar with the specialized approved fluids. Their pricing is generally less than MB dealer.
You can check their reviews on sites like yelp or similar. Maintenance items like air filters and cabin filters can be easily performed by novice owners for additional savings.

 

[Huey52]

 

[Ryanmar]

Thank you guys for all your detailed answers! Very helpful.
Today I contacted another Mercedes dealer near me and they quoted me for $1600 for the same service (I believe is the 'B' service as @Huey52 here has mentioned). So I don't know what's the deal with the first dealer I contacted yesterday that quoted me for over $2000.. Perhaps there was some miscommunication.
But anyways, I was actually able to find an independent shop specializing in Mercedes in my area with very good reviews online. And their prices are much more reasonable than the dealer.. So I will give them a try and hope it will turn out to be good!

 

[RamaGLA]

Thank you guys for all your detailed answers! Very helpful.
Today I contacted another Mercedes dealer near me and they quoted me for $1600 for the same service (I believe is the 'B' service as @Huey52 here has mentioned). So I don't know what's the deal with the first dealer I contacted yesterday that quoted me for over $2000.. Perhaps there was some miscommunication.
But anyways, I was actually able to find an independent shop specializing in Mercedes in my area with very good reviews online. And their prices are much more reasonable than the dealer.. So I will give them a try and hope it will turn out to be good!

Glad it all worked out for you. Just to be on the safe side, I’d do this first service with the lowest-bidding dealership since they have a record of past services. This also gives you a baseline since you know the dealer was the first to look at it after purchasing.
Subsequent servicing can be done at the dealer or an independent tech per your choosing.

 

[2019 gla owner]

Their service is a ridiculously aggrandized list of things made to sound like something worth paying for ("inspect this, check that") but considering how much those techs are getting paid, yeah, it's expensive to have them look at your wiper blades!

At my last "B" service, I also needed a state inspection (PA) but managed to be exempt from emissions by 40 miles, so that part was cheapwr than usual. I also had a $30 coupon. Because I had just replace the air filter myself, I asked them to exclude that from the B service. So, it appears that they simply itemized the service, which was essentially an oil change and brake fluid flush. The total bill was just under $600. I was expecting worse.

Certainly ask for a breakdown of their quote and see if it really is all something needing their super-special expert mechanics and stupid MB-only tools. You can do some things yourself. Ask for the service records of the car for anything that was done at any MB dealership. They might be assuming things werent done which were done.

Enjoy your new (to you) GLA!

Just had my front windshield wiper blades replaced at the MB dealer for the bargain price of around $36 with a 10% off coupon and free installation. LOL. (Installation took all of about a minute)

 

[DeNice05]

Hi, I recently bought a used 2019 GLA250 from an independent used car dealer. It has around 58k miles on it so the original warranty has already ended. Today I contacted the closest Mercedes dealer around my area (I live in Chicago suburb) for a quote for some maintenance services, and they gave me some numbers that I thought I heard wrong.. Basically, the quoted me for $2187 for a 60K mile maintenance service on this car, which sounds like just including basic things like an oil change, tire rotation, inspections, etc.. To the folks that bring their cars to the Mercedes dealers for services, does it really cost over $2000 to do a regular factory recommended maintenance ?

Hello:

I own a used 2021 GLA250 and when the B Service came up at 20,000 miles - I asked my Mercedes Dealer what the cost was and they quoted $800 and 5 hours of work. I took it to my trusted mechanic and they did it for $80 and 2 hours.

Be on the lookout for your car possibly shifting into Neutral in wet weather. My car has been in the shop for 6 weeks dealing with this issue...I got it back from the Dealership after 4 weeks (they claimed MB Germany Engineering reviewed and gave them OK to fix) and a day later we had a storm and it happened again (going 50-60 miles an hour on a four lane highway). It's now almost 3 more weeks in the shop - while they figure out what's next !!!

 

[Huey52]

There's no way that just the genuine MB parts, not to mention the labor, for the full list of 'B' service items could be accomplished for only $80 (see sample maintenance plan above - 2021 not that much different).

But it's your vehicle and your choice of how to service (or not).

As you're still under warranty be sure to keep all your non-Benz service records detailing exactly what was accomplished. I actually always maintain records/receipts, and a log, of all my vehicles. Private sales especially really appreciate knowing all that was done.

Hello:

I own a used 2021 GLA250 and when the B Service came up at 20,000 miles - I asked my Mercedes Dealer what the cost was and they quoted $800 and 5 hours of work. I took it to my trusted mechanic and they did it for $80 and 2 hours.

Be on the lookout for your car possibly shifting into Neutral in wet weather. My car has been in the shop for 6 weeks dealing with this issue...I got it back from the Dealership after 4 weeks (they claimed MB Germany Engineering reviewed and gave them OK to fix) and a day later we had a storm and it happened again (going 50-60 miles an hour on a four lane highway). It's now almost 3 more weeks in the shop - while they figure out what's next !!!

 

[DeNice05]

There's no way that just the genuine MB parts, not to mention the labor, for the full list of 'B' service items could be accomplished for only $80 (see sample maintenance plan above - 2021 not that much different).

But it's your vehicle and your choice of how to service (or not).

As you're still under warranty be sure to keep all your non-Benz service records detailing exactly what was accomplished.

Hi:

Thanks for the reply. As I had just purchased the vehicle on August 31st with 14,400 miles on it - the Dealership I bought it at (Chevrolet-it was a trade in)had already done the inspection of everything before selling it. 5,600 miles later - what could possibly need to be replaced?- They followed the B service -all points check and nothing needed to be replaced. I trust them emphatically.

 

[DeNice05]

Hi:

Thanks for the reply. As I had just purchased the vehicle on August 31st with 14,400 miles on it - the Dealership I bought it at (Chevrolet-it was a trade in)had already done the inspection of everything before selling it. 5,600 miles later - what could possibly need to be replaced?- They followed the B service -all points check and nothing needed to be replaced. I trust them emphatically.

Also, my mechanic keeps Carfax records of all service done on a vehicle in their shop.

 

[Huey52]

I've/we've already well detailed why there's a Benz biennial 'A' & 'B' service interval. "Nothing needed" is a judgement call by your "trusted" 3rd party maintainer. But again, do what you want.

I won't argue that at times, e.g. lessened pandemic driving, the designated service seems "over-maintained", but there's really no such thing.

btw: Don't get me wrong. I vote for the "right to repair" every time it's on the ballot so as to support Independent shops. It's just that when under warranty I think it's best to have regular dealership 'A' & 'B' service increments so as to avoid any potential balk on warranty (even tho' they have to prove that something one does/doesn't do directly led to an issue).

Hi:

Thanks for the reply. As I had just purchased the vehicle on August 31st with 14,400 miles on it - the Dealership I bought it at (Chevrolet-it was a trade in) had already done the inspection of everything before selling it. 5,600 miles later - what could possibly need to be replaced?- They followed the B service -all points check and nothing needed to be replaced. I trust them emphatically.

 

[Vladds]

I think that:

-The reliability problems brought up before, originated from the Daimler-Chrysler days.

-There are two concurrent lists: The Service A & B lists, then the maintenance card list. So you may be at a service B mileage, but then the maintenance card adds gearbox and differential service and then it gets expensive

-There was a time, in the 80's when Mercedes was run by engineers and reliability was most important. Back in those days a scheduled Mercedes maintenance session included simple operations. But the number of those simple operations was most amazing and eye opening. So yes, they charged you, but you could sit back and watch the technician continuously working on the car for 2 hours, it was reliability the German way:
-Check every electrical control and indicator in the dash
-Check every night time illumination bulb in the dash
-Check and align every body panel, check the gaps of the body panels, lubricate the hinges, adjust the height of the hood and trunk
-Baseline alignment check
-Headlight beam geometry check
-Cleaning drains for the windshield cowl and sunroof, lubricating sunroof rails, check rain gutters at the roof
-Check drainplugs in the trunk, the W126 had rubber plugs with holes in them, make sure those aren't clogged
-Adjusting jets of washer nozzles for windshield, rear glass and headlights. I believe that headlight bulbs were on a maintenance replacement, not as-they-burn.
-Refilling all fluids with OEM
-Checking all wipers travel and parking positions, checking that headlight wipers operate in sync
-There was something about lubricating the chassis, don't know exactly what it meant, maybe there were some of those grease gun fittings, that the dealers knew about
-Check tire wear and condition, including pressure in the spare wheel
-Rotate wheels, but then apply the Mercedes torque to the wheel bolts. You should see how long the wheel bolts can be on a W126. Wrong torque and they're stuck.
-Measure the relevant height at every wheel well, to determine the condition of the suspension spring
-Exhaust and brakes checkups
-Medical kit, only the carry bag stayed, the medical supplies get replaced, as they expire
-Check completeness of the tool and spare wheel kit, replace if something is missing
-Seat belt retractors, headrest function going up and down, rear for folding
-Telescopic radio antenna lubrication with special graphite grease
-Everything has filters in the old Mercedes, replace stuff like power steering and fuel filters
-Determine condition of suspension shocks (most of the old school cars don'
t have McPherson suspension and therefore no struts)
-License plate bulbs
-Pneumatic door locks
-Completeness of travel of rearview mirrors going up and down, to make sure that motor doesn't jam
-Keylock mechanism for trunk and front door lubricated with special graphite grease
-Then the more common tasks, wiper blades, air filter, oil change, brake fluid change

So in time, Mercedes discontinued all these maintenance activities from their service schedule, but they kept the cost for that amount of labor, that's how the A and the B ended up costing so much and giving so little.
Honestly, if i would see a technician working for 1-2 hours and performing all of the above simple but important tasks, I would not mind being charged the cost of an A or B.

PS: Did you know that in the Xentry, for certain modules there is a tab called "User Author data"?

Here are some examples of what this means:

-For the HVAC controls module, you know how when you select a fan speed, there's a dash display that shows the fan speed? It shows for a moment, but then it goes dark?
Well, you the customer have the right to request that the bar fan speed display stay always on.
You request this, then the Xentry allows the technician to implement this without asking permission from Mercedes.

-For the lights in the shifter console of the GLA45: D, R, N, Park; you get to choose the intensity of those lights during the day and during the night. They come from the factory set equal at a factor of 1, they can go to 10 and can be set different for the day than the night.

I can set those with Xentry, because My theory is that Mercedes Engineers mandated that these settings be kept unlocked for the customers to choose, but at the same time, Mercedes bureaucracy never disclosed they're available choices that one can request at the dealer.

 

[Huey52]

@Vladds, the only one of my many Jeeps I ever had trouble with was from the short period when they were Daimler owned (mine 2001 Liberty). Coincidence? [I think not!] I ultimately got a buy back/trade for a non-Daimler Patriot.