Suspect service history
 

A couple of months ago I took delivery of a pre-owned E220 Cdi (W211).

After delivery, I received the service history, which was not up-to-date. The service booklet was returned to the dealer, who assured me that a service had been carried out pre-delivery. The booklet was then returned to me with a new stamp.

I've just checked the car's computer and discover that a service will be due just 6,000 after I acquired it. I know that service intervals are variable, and depend on journey types and driving styles; but the car has been driven moderately, mainly on extra urban journeys.

I'm in some doubt as to whether a service was actually carried out and I would be very grateful for answers to two questions:

1. Does 6,000 miles between services seem short?
2. Is it possible to tell when the ASSYST service indicator was last re-reset?

6000 miles service may be oil change. Check the owners manual for what service they rec at what mileage.

Thanks for that. There is no recommendation. Motoring magazine reviews of this model suggest that services should be (on average) about 9,000 miles apart. Previous services for this vehicle were carried out at intervals of 10,000 and 12,000 miles.

Ask your dealer to print out a NetStar VMI (Vehicle Master Inquiry) for you. It shows everything that has ever been done to your car, as well as all Campaigns and Recalls that in any way affected your car. It is really an amazing document, providing a detailed history of your car.

Thank you very much indeed. I had no idea that could be done.

NetStar VMI (Vehicle Master Inquiry)

I would be very interested in getting one of these enquiries done for my vehicle. How do you go about it? Can any main dealer do it for you? Is there a charge?

Any MB dealer can provide a VMI. All that's required is a VIN. Keep in mind that a VMI does NOT include customer pay work, only work which was paid for by MB warranty. It also indicates if any Service/Recall campaigns need to be performed.

Following Ramp's very helpful reply, I did some checking. It seems that any M-B dealer can produce the report if you supply the VIN. When you think about it, I suppose the system allows M-B to check that a vehicle has a proper service history so that it qualifies for warranty repairs, but it also provides protection for a vehicle buyer. I suspect that if the existence of VMI was more widely known all purchasers of used M-Bs would insist on seeing a report.

When I used Google to get more information on NetStar VMI, all of the search results pointed to sites in the USA, so I'm not entirely confident that the facility is available here in the UK. I'm going to check this out with a dealer, but if in the meantime anyone has better information that would be appreciated.

I stand corrected by Iluvmils: had hoped that the VMI would throw up the whole paid-for service history.

Some used car buyers simply change all the fluids and filters after taking ownership to provide a guaranteed basis for future maintenance. This is something to consider if your car is out of warranty.

Whenever I ask the seller about fluid maintenance, they always give the blanket statement that everything has been done. I usually find that not everything was done, at least not to my standards. I sometimes find (or suspect) some of the fluids have NOT been changed prior to turning the vehicle over to me. In fact, sometimes only the oil was changed.