Transcription
What exactly happens behind closed doors when you get your car serviced at a main Mercedes dealership? Well, in this video today, we get to find out together.
So, for context, I actually bought this car, my Mercedes A-class. I can't believe it, 2 years ago now, and it's already had one service. This was a minor service one year ago, but today it is due a major service with a brake fluid change. So, no, this video isn't just me enjoying their awesome coffee. This is going behind the scenes, behind closed doors to things that you wouldn't normally see in a Mercedes workshop.
So, as confirmed on the phone, this is a B service, which is a major service with a brake fluid change. And Mercedes servicing alternates between A service, B service, A service, B service throughout time. Now, in addition to these things, there's also some recommended additional items which are added on year 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, depends on the age of the car. So every two years, for example, brake fluid is changed. And obviously, this being the second service, brake fluid is scheduled to be changed today.
Now, it can get quite complicated because cars obviously have lots of gadgets and things, and some cars have more things to service than others. So if you go on to my Mercedes service.co.uk, that's how I can view this screen here. And you can clearly see B service with brake fluid change. And you might be wondering why it's zero cost me. That's because I have a Mercedes service plan. Although this is the last one. So that means next year I'll have to pay for it outright. So, yeah, we'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it unless I take out another service plan. Topic for another day.
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All right, guys. So I'm joined by Josh. Josh, good to meet you. Hi. So, um, could you explain to us like what we're doing today then? So, I know we're doing B service and, uh, brake fluid. And you mentioned about doing some lights checks first or something. Yeah. Yeah. So, included in the B service, we'll go through just check the entire vehicle over, really, just any warning lights, cover the dash, just check all the lights are working. Just anything like that, really. Wipers front and rear. It's all included as well as underside checks, tire pressures, brakes, and all the rest.
So, you do all that first before anything else is oil or anything? The underside and the brakes and stuff, we do as we go along. But the interior sort of checks as well. That's the first thing we would do. Cool. Let's get started then. Show us what you got to do. Okay.
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So, as Josh mentioned, the first part of the service is a whole load of checks, similar to a couple of things carried out on an MOT test, but these will be things like wipers, front and back indicators, lights, and including the rear fog light. Now, guys, what they do next after doing safety checks, they do a bodywork report. Now, I didn't know this. So, hopefully, there's no damage to it. So, let's see what he finds.
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Engine covers off. So, we've got a couple of safety covers on here for when the brake fluid gets changed. But, uh, yeah, engine oil will be out soon. Next, while the car is in the air, all the tire pressures are checked and corrected to the values indicated on the fuel filler cap. Suspension checks, brake pads, and brake disc checks are all part of the service, too.
All right, car's up completely in the air now to the point where I can almost actually stand under it. And now we have one of these which collects all the oil. It's the important bit.
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So, got the oil draining here. The filter just sits just next to it. So we'll loosen that off now to drain the filter out. And then we can do the rest of the checks underneath the car while the oil is draining. And while that continues to drain, Josh then does a couple of final checks on the tire tread depth. And of course, as I predicted, I might need some new ones soon.
So, as predicted, of course, my car being a front-wheel drive and two years of motoring, the front tires are going to need replacing somewhat. I could probably get till the end of the year. I don't know, maybe I should make a video about, uh, replacing front tires and how to get the cheapest price. Let me know in the comments below.
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Next up is a thing called a VHC, and Josh explains. So, VHC is just paperwork side of what we're filling in of anything we find wrong with the car, or even not necessarily wrong, but it's a report of the tires and the brakes as well, just to confirm everything's okay. One copy will go to the customer at the end of the service, and then we do a video around the car just to send to the customer as well and explain and show anything that we find a fault.
So, yes, Josh is doing a VHC at the moment. So this is, uh, what's known as a vehicle health check. So if you've ever had your car in service before and, uh, the guys send like a, what they call, see it now video. It's like, basically, what I'm doing like right now with this. Um, but yeah, they send a video through just highlighting to things under the car that you wouldn't normally see, uh, your tire tread depth and brake wear and that sort of thing. So, I'll get a personalized video that looks just like this.
Hello, my name is Josh. I'm the Mercedes-Benz technician working your vehicle today. Now, I carried out a complimentary vehicle health check as part of the booking. You've identified the following items like to bring to your attention.
Okay, Josh. So, VHC done. Uh, what now? So now we'll go around, do the brake fluid change and change the oil and filter, and then bring it back down again. Cool. So, not long to go now, I guess, then. No.
There we go. And once the new oil filter is in and everything is all sealed up, the car is brought back down again and new oil put in. And he was also kind enough to top up my windscreen wash, too.
So, Josh, what's next? Uh, we will start up the engine, check the oil level, and then go back up in the air, check there's no leaks from the oil filter housing or the sump. Just sure you put it on properly. Yeah, we'll find out. Let's try it out.
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Okay, so engine oil is done. Covers back on. There's no leaks, of course. Just triple, triple checking. And, uh, I believe there's one last thing now, which is the combination filter.
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Finally, the next steps are to reset the service light. And despite me asking, they wouldn't let me see this bit, 'cause obviously, it's a hidden menu that only Mercedes staff and technicians can see. From here, the engine is run for a few minutes, and allowing a bit of time for the new oil to recirculate. And then a final reading, which is the equivalent of the dipstick, because modern cars these days, if you didn't know, they don't have dipsticks. It's all registered on the screen. And that's it. The car service is done, but not quite done. It's, um, it's still a little bit grubby, so I'm hoping they're going to clean it for me.
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There we go, guys. Service complete. And the car is nice and squeaky clean, which is brilliant. And now just another year till my next service. And rightly so, because I've got a road trip to do in a couple of days. So, um, it's quite nice it's been cleaned. One of the perks of getting a main dealer service, I guess. But, yeah, I've got my digital service report there. So, if you guys didn't know, whenever you get your car serviced at a main dealer, they upload your service onto the digital service report. So you can access this in any Mercedes dealership, and they can print out a PDF with all the information on here. So, no service stamp like cars used to years ago. And then I've got my vehicle health check there as well.
Which reminds me, now that I've had a main Mercedes dealer service, my breakdown cover has been renewed for another year. Because if you didn't know, Mercedes offer 30 years breakdown cover for all models of Mercedes, providing it's been serviced by a main dealer each year, which is brilliant for peace of mind. If I had a tire blowout on this road trip I'm going to do in a couple of days time, I press that button up there, and it just phones them. That's it. It's such, such a good thing and such a huge selling point. And all the accessories and things, um, like the parts they fitted, like the oil filter and things like that, they come with a 2-year warranty, uh, as well. Even if, like, for example, next year my warranty ends, I know three years and it's going to have an MOT as well. Oh, you're getting old. Have to change you soon. No, I'm kidding, guys. Thank you so much. Huge shout out to Sandam for allowing me to film this video because of course, they supplied the car a couple of years ago, but to allow me to come in and film in what is a closed workshop, huge shout out to them 'cause, um, yeah, they don't normally allow filming in there.
So, guys, thank you so much for watching this video. If you enjoyed it, let me know in the comments. And if you have any future suggestions for other videos, let me know in the comments section down below. Guys, thank you so much. Until next time, see you then.
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