ALLOW ME TO DISTILL THE ISSUE....

for the preservation of a starmark warranty, must a m-b dealer conduct the maintenance?

for the preservation of a starmark warranty, must all aspects of a scheduled maintenance be conducted?

lastly, if one uses an indy, is the starmark warranty invalidated?

oh, and just so you will know, i own a number of benzes. and other vehicles. all of them exquisitely well-maintained. all carrying acres of maintenance records.

i just have this thing about some maintenance tasks being performed that i consider irrelevant. spark plug changes at a scheduled interval for instance.

and atf changeouts at scheduled intervals. even my old friend, a benz dealership service manager thinks that routine atf changing is not a good idea. i tend to agree. only tranny failure i ever experienced occurred within miles following such a scheduled fluid change.

and i would never sell one of my benzes on this board. hell, i have never sold one of my benzes. oh, i gave my 220 to my mom in 1976. and i traded my 1976 450sel for my 1986 560sel. and i gave my 1986 300e to my dad.

i continue to own and operate these cherry benzes: 1979 6.9[52k], 1986 560sel[260k], 1987 560sec[90k], 1995 e320cab[12k], 1997 s500c[35k].

with the exception of someone having keyed the 6.9 and the 560sel, these vehicles appear virtually new. cosmetically and mechanically.

maintenance is not a question of money. it is an issue of what really is required. see my name? i know something about spark plugs. a maintenance schedule that mandates spark plug changes at 15,000 mile intervals is a joke. and if that joke characterizes the rest of the recs, then can you see where i am coming from?

all ears...