Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

driver100

imidazol97 said:

driver100 said:

Dino, I thought that was the point you were making.....not to start turning before signalling, and I agree.

In the video camera - guy did no defensive driving. If he had used my motto "think what the stupidest thing the other driver will do and then be prepared because there is a good chance he will do it" he would have been ready to stop.

If anyone is interested I thought this video was pretty good to show how to change lanes....it would be great for teaching a new driver. To change lanes he says 1. Check mirror, 2) turn on signal, 3) check over your shoulder, then move;
https://youtu.be/mUnfbiEJytA

The narrator never mentions about cutting in too closely to another car, taking up their assured clear distance they are trying to keep.

He should probably have mentioned that, but, hopefully if you do the steps as he describes, you would probably have enough common sense to realize you shouldn't cut someone off.

roadburner

I'd be driving a GT Premium with the Performance Package if things had worked out. In retrospect I think that a GT350 or-maybe-a Bullitt are the only Mustangs I'd really enjoy keeping long term.

abacomike

dino001 said:

First make sure you can make the turn or switch lanes, and when it is clear, you put on your signal. You do not, put on your signal, and then do a lane change.

ABSOLUTELY WRONG! You signal, so others know what you are attempting to do. You give them prior notice. Doesn't mean you can proceed, just means you show others what is your intent. Signaling after starting the maneuver is pointless and simply wrong. There is such a thing as signaling "too early", but the lady did the right thing by signaling. She just did the wrong thing by starting the lane change without making sure it was safe.

They do things differently in Canada I would imagine.

oldfarmer50

roadburner said:

I'd be driving a GT Premium with the Performance Package if things had worked out. In retrospect I think that a GT350 or-maybe-a Bullitt are the only Mustangs I'd really enjoy keeping long term.

I’d like the GT350 also even though I’d never get anywhere near it’s limits.

I’m currently frustrated because it’s going to be convertible weather this weekend for the first time but this constant rain has made the yard so wet I’m not sure I can get the Sebring out of the barn.

In retrospect maybe I should have gotten a convertible Mustang so I wouldn’t have to juggle all these cars.

fintail

I am sure @abacomike 's S changes lanes like my E on the highway - hit the signal, and the car does it for you.

driver100

abacomike said:

dino001 said:

driver100 said:

First make sure you can make the turn or switch lanes, and when it is clear, you put on your signal. You do not, put on your signal, and then do a lane change.

ABSOLUTELY WRONG! You signal, so others know what you are attempting to do. You give them prior notice. Doesn't mean you can proceed, just means you show others what is your intent. Signaling after starting the maneuver is pointless and simply wrong. There is such a thing as signaling "too early", but the lady did the right thing by signaling. She just did the wrong thing by starting the lane change without making sure it was safe.

They do things differently in Canada I would imagine

.

Mike, read further on....Dino and I are on the same page. Most driving laws are the same in both countries.

driver100

fintail said:

I am sure @abacomike 's S changes lanes like my E on the highway - hit the signal, and the car does it for you.

Fin, do you have that feature? It was about a $5000 option and I would have to get some other things with it. I used the auto parking feature twice in 2 years on my 2015 E before it became a write off....I thought I would use auto lane changing even less. Really, I wouldn't trust it, so I would have to change lanes the way I do now. If I am in an accident changing lanes myself I can blame my stupidity....if the car makes a mistake, then I would feel really stupid letting the car do a lane change that i could have done better myself.

If you have it do you use it? Do you like having it? Is it a must?

fintail

It's part of the semi-autonomous "Driver's Assistance" suite here, which stickers ~$2500, I think. As I picked my car off the lot, I didn't order it, it was on the car, but I did want to play with it, as I had never had a car with all of those toys. I leave it on, but I guide the car myself in lane changes - if anything, because it leaves the signal on for longer than I want. But it works, I have tested it. I am the same with the self parking feature in a way - I don't use it, as I can park faster.

However, I do use the radar cruise control and curve assist ("Distronic Plus") when on the highway. It's kind of a needless thing, especially the curve assist, but it can take an edge off stop and go grinds, and the curve assist still has some "wow" factor.

driver100 said:

Fin, do you have that feature? It was about a $5000 option and I would have to get some other things with it. I used the auto parking feature twice in 2 years on my 2015 E before it became a write off....I thought I would use auto lane changing even less. Really, I wouldn't trust it, so I would have to change lanes the way I do now. If I am in an accident changing lanes myself I can blame my stupidity....if the car makes a mistake, then I would feel really stupid letting the car do a lane change that i could have done better myself.

If you have it do you use it? Do you like having it? Is it a must?

abacomike

fintail said:

I am sure @abacomike 's S changes lanes like my E on the highway - hit the signal, and the car does it for you.

Yep!

abacomike

The Governor just signed into law anti emailing and texting laws here in Florida while behind the wheel of a vehicle.  Police can now stop you if they see you texting or emailing while driving.  If you are ticketed, it counts as points on your driver’s license.

When I am using CarPlay in the car with my iPhone, I can respond to and send emails or texts hands-free through Siri (iPhone voice activating feature).  The person I am sending an email or text to must be in my address book on the phone or I can give verbal instructions to Siri.  Don’t use it very much.

driver100

fintail said:

It's part of the semi-autonomous "Driver's Assistance" suite here, which stickers ~$2500, I think. As I picked my car off the lot, I didn't order it, it was on the car, but I did want to play with it, as I had never had a car with all of those toys. I leave it on, but I guide the car myself in lane changes - if anything, because it leaves the signal on for longer than I want. But it works, I have tested it. I am the same with the self parking feature in a way - I don't use it, as I can park faster.

However, I do use the radar cruise control and curve assist ("Distronic Plus") when on the highway. It's kind of a needless thing, especially the curve assist, but it can take an edge off stop and go grinds, and the curve assist still has some "wow" factor.

driver100 said:

Fin, do you have that feature? It was about a $5000 option and I would have to get some other things with it. I used the auto parking feature twice in 2 years on my 2015 E before it became a write off....I thought I would use auto lane changing even less. Really, I wouldn't trust it, so I would have to change lanes the way I do now. If I am in an accident changing lanes myself I can blame my stupidity....if the car makes a mistake, then I would feel really stupid letting the car do a lane change that i could have done better myself.

If you have it do you use it? Do you like having it? Is it a must?

For $2500 might as well have it....probably get a lot back when traded in anyway. Any safety device has to be of some help........but, it does make me wonder if one should be driving if you can't do a lane change or take a curve on your own.
Like you say, the automatic parking feature is more trouble and is more complicated than just doing it yourself. The one time I used it I was overly tired and thought it was better to let the car do it than for me to risk making a mistake.

driver100

abacomike said:

The Governor just signed into law anti emailing and texting laws here in Florida while behind the wheel of a vehicle.  Police can now stop you if they see you texting or emailing while driving.  If you are ticketed, it counts as points on your driver’s license.

When I am using CarPlay in the car with my iPhone, I can respond to and send emails or texts hands-free through Siri (iPhone voice activating feature).  The person I am sending an email or text to must be in my address book on the phone or I can give verbal instructions to Siri.  Don’t use it very much.

Thank goodness they finally got that into law....but, it should have included talking on a cell phone too.

imidazol97

What kind of distance ahead of a car in the adjacent lane does system require before your car will cut in fromt of the nearby car?





fintail said:

I am sure @abacomike 's S changes lanes like my E on the highway - hit the signal, and the car does it for you.

ab348

fintail said:

It's part of the semi-autonomous "Driver's Assistance" suite here, which stickers ~$2500, I think. As I picked my car off the lot, I didn't order it, it was on the car, but I did want to play with it, as I had never had a car with all of those toys. I leave it on, but I guide the car myself in lane changes - if anything, because it leaves the signal on for longer than I want. But it works, I have tested it. I am the same with the self parking feature in a way - I don't use it, as I can park faster.

However, I do use the radar cruise control and curve assist ("Distronic Plus") when on the highway. It's kind of a needless thing, especially the curve assist, but it can take an edge off stop and go grinds, and the curve assist still has some "wow" factor.

My ATS doesn't have that, but does have "Lane Assist" as part of its nanny package. I have it turned off now after leaving it on for the first 18 months of ownership. I discovered recently when my winter wheels and tires were exchanged for the summer-only performance tires that the car behaves quite differently between the two setups, no real surprise there. The performance tires make the steering much more responsive and while the car objectively handles better with them, it has the side effect of making it more twitchy to small steering inputs, whereas the winter setup is more forgiving. With the lane assist kicking in on the performance tires it becomes much more obtrusive as a driver and I realized it was causing me to feel like the car was tramlining sometimes, as a car with bias-ply tires used to when encountering ruts or whatever. I turned the feature off and I find it is now far more comfortable on the highway. I may turn it back on come winter when the other tires go back on.

graphicguy

Being the safe driver that I am, I didn’t take a picture of this incident, but couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it. Was going to dinner with friends last night when I saw a car in front of me swerving. I remember thinking it was a little early for the DUI crowd to be out in force.

Caught up to the car at the next red light on a 4 lane. Pulled up next to the car. It had a “Baby on Board” sticker on the rear windshield, It had a baby seat with a baby in it in the back seat. And, what I’ll assume was the mother texting away feverishly on her phone.

I’m guessing she was probably early-mid 20s.

I beeped at her. She rolled her window down while I reminded her she was texting while driving with her child in the car, and that is dangerous.

She flipped me the middle finger, rolled up her window, and continued texting while driving away when the light turned green.

sda

I remember replacing the bias-ply tires for radial tires for my grandmother’s 68 Cutlass. What a huge difference. The car no longer was affected by every expansion joint or change in road surface. It tracked with greater stability and required less steering correction. My grandmother even mentioned how much better the car drove.

houdini2

sda said:

I remember replacing the bias-ply tires for radial tires for my grandmother’s 68 Cutlass. What a huge difference. The car no longer was affected by every expansion joint or change in road surface. It tracked with greater stability and required less steering correction. My grandmother even mentioned how much better the car drove.

sda said:

I remember replacing the bias-ply tires for radial tires for my grandmother’s 68 Cutlass. What a huge difference. The car no longer was affected by every expansion joint or change in road surface. It tracked with greater stability and required less steering correction. My grandmother even mentioned how much better the car drove.

Yes, us older guys remember the huge difference radial tires made.

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

fintail said:

It's part of the semi-autonomous "Driver's Assistance" suite here, which stickers ~$2500, I think. As I picked my car off the lot, I didn't order it, it was on the car, but I did want to play with it, as I had never had a car with all of those toys. I leave it on, but I guide the car myself in lane changes - if anything, because it leaves the signal on for longer than I want. But it works, I have tested it. I am the same with the self parking feature in a way - I don't use it, as I can park faster.

However, I do use the radar cruise control and curve assist ("Distronic Plus") when on the highway. It's kind of a needless thing, especially the curve assist, but it can take an edge off stop and go grinds, and the curve assist still has some "wow" factor.

driver100 said:

Fin, do you have that feature? It was about a $5000 option and I would have to get some other things with it. I used the auto parking feature twice in 2 years on my 2015 E before it became a write off....I thought I would use auto lane changing even less. Really, I wouldn't trust it, so I would have to change lanes the way I do now. If I am in an accident changing lanes myself I can blame my stupidity....if the car makes a mistake, then I would feel really stupid letting the car do a lane change that i could have done better myself.

If you have it do you use it? Do you like having it? Is it a must?

For $2500 might as well have it....probably get a lot back when traded in anyway. Any safety device has to be of some help........but, it does make me wonder if one should be driving if you can't do a lane change or take a curve on your own.
Like you say, the automatic parking feature is more trouble and is more complicated than just doing it yourself. The one time I used it I was overly tired and thought it was better to let the car do it than for me to risk making a mistake.

I understand the auto lane changer feature although I would never want it in a car I owned. Blind spot monitors would accomplish anything you’d ever need.

Now what is the curve assistance function? You can’t tell me people are so lazy or impaired that they can’t handle a curve in the road? If you don’t want anything to do with basic driving why not take an Uber?

oldfarmer50

graphicguy said:

Being the safe driver that I am, I didn’t take a picture of this incident, but couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it. Was going to dinner with friends last night when I saw a car in front of me swerving. I remember thinking it was a little early for the DUI crowd to be out in force.

Caught up to the car at the next red light on a 4 lane. Pulled up next to the car. It had a “Baby on Board” sticker on the rear windshield, It had a baby seat with a baby in it in the back seat. And, what I’ll assume was the mother texting away feverishly on her phone.

I’m guessing she was probably early-mid 20s.

I beeped at her. She rolled her window down while I reminded her she was texting while driving with her child in the car, and that is dangerous.

She flipped me the middle finger, rolled up her window, and continued texting while driving away when the light turned green.

You should have called the cops and reported an aggressive drunk driver. In NY driving drunk with a kid on board is a felony.

28firefighter

I’d have called the police. No tolerance for that let alone with kids in the car. 

roadburner

The newer BMWs can also parallel and perpendicular park; the first few times I demonstrated it for customers I was more than a little nervous. The first time I tried it was for a customer who wanted to learn how the system in her 7er worked. While I was letting the car park itself between a new X5 and an M4 I kept thinking I'm depending on a car not to damage over $250,000 of equipment.

fintail

I actually don't know - but it has blind spot monitoring (as many MBs have had for the past decade or so), so I suspect there is a minimum distance. It's not a BMW, so the signal will activate and I am sure it's at least a car length

I may have bouts of laziness, but I can still change lanes and park for myself (although I will admit I love surround view for tight urban parking), so I will probably not use those features much,

imidazol97 said:

What kind of distance ahead of a car in the adjacent lane does system require before your car will cut in fromt of the nearby car?

fintail

I've experienced those. My prior cars had "lane departure warning" which would vibrate the wheel if the car sensed it was blundering out of its lane. The new car also has lane assist, which will nudge the car back into its lane - both of these can sometimes bug me as now and then I take an aggressive stance on winding roads, crossing over the shoulder line a little. This will upset the car, causing chimes and vibrations and making the car brake for itself. This and radar cruise can be disabled with a button.

ab348 said:

My ATS doesn't have that, but does have "Lane Assist" as part of its nanny package. I have it turned off now after leaving it on for the first 18 months of ownership. I discovered recently when my winter wheels and tires were exchanged for the summer-only performance tires that the car behaves quite differently between the two setups, no real surprise there. The performance tires make the steering much more responsive and while the car objectively handles better with them, it has the side effect of making it more twitchy to small steering inputs, whereas the winter setup is more forgiving. With the lane assist kicking in on the performance tires it becomes much more obtrusive as a driver and I realized it was causing me to feel like the car was tramlining sometimes, as a car with bias-ply tires used to when encountering ruts or whatever. I turned the feature off and I find it is now far more comfortable on the highway. I may turn it back on come winter when the other tires go back on.

fintail

As time goes on, it will all become standard I think, just like MB is moving towards the full digital gauges on everything. I think the intent for the steering and parking is just to be something cool to justify the price of the car, while offering a supposed benefit. I'll admit I sometimes take my hands off the wheel for a short time to see the car "drive itself", easily amused.

The place where I park my old car is a relatively narrow spot with a concrete wall on on side and a 66 Olds on the other - not a lot of room for error. The surround view camera make backing in fairly easy, that's a feature with a practical use, also for parallel parking with less worries about curb damage.

driver100 said:

For $2500 might as well have it....probably get a lot back when traded in anyway. Any safety device has to be of some help........but, it does make me wonder if one should be driving if you can't do a lane change or take a curve on your own.
Like you say, the automatic parking feature is more trouble and is more complicated than just doing it yourself. The one time I used it I was overly tired and thought it was better to let the car do it than for me to risk making a mistake.

fintail

More reason for a dashcam.

I jog on city streets a few days a week, and see some astounding stuff when it comes to phone use. Just this morning, I saw a "driver" I won't describe in a CX-7 blunder out of a parking garage, not look right (near where I was approaching), then stumble on to the road - left hand on the wheel, right hand holding a phone and apparently texting. I yelled for this fine specimen to put down their phone.

All of these anti-phone anti-text laws are cool, but worth nothing if not enforced, and I don't think I have seen much solid data showing that they are being enforced - not with the amount of phone addicts I see on the road every day. Make the penalties harsh.

graphicguy said:

Being the safe driver that I am, I didn’t take a picture of this incident, but couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it. Was going to dinner with friends last night when I saw a car in front of me swerving. I remember thinking it was a little early for the DUI crowd to be out in force.

Caught up to the car at the next red light on a 4 lane. Pulled up next to the car. It had a “Baby on Board” sticker on the rear windshield, It had a baby seat with a baby in it in the back seat. And, what I’ll assume was the mother texting away feverishly on her phone.

I’m guessing she was probably early-mid 20s.

I beeped at her. She rolled her window down while I reminded her she was texting while driving with her child in the car, and that is dangerous.

She flipped me the middle finger, rolled up her window, and continued texting while driving away when the light turned green.

ab348

One of the things that is arguably much more entertaining and less lethal (though not always) is watching pedestrians in busy downtown areas not looking where they are walking while having their head buried in their phones. Having someone totally oblivious to their surroundings walk into a telephone pole, newspaper box, hydrant, or another person can be quite entertaining and in some cases pure comedy gold. In others, not so much as when they wander into a busy intersection.

driver100

So we took the GLK in for the $700 A Service and Mrs D asked if all the fluid things like brake fluid should be changed. Service rep said oh yes, they depend on mileage and time, fluids can naturally lose their power.
OK, makes sense to me, so I said we only put about 4000 miles a year on the car, surely it doesn't need a new cabin filter (that has no fluid in it).
He answer was, you would pay the same if we leave it out, you are getting an A service and the price stays the same.
After this, the GLK and the C250 will go to an indie garage and I will specify what work they should do on my schedule. It would be nice to have a custom made schedule that you could design, based on mileage and use of the car.
The system is designed to make you pay a lot more...not designed to suit the customer.

henryn

oldfarmer50 said:

graphicguy said:

Being the safe driver that I am, I didn’t take a picture of this incident, but couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it. Was going to dinner with friends last night when I saw a car in front of me swerving. I remember thinking it was a little early for the DUI crowd to be out in force.

Caught up to the car at the next red light on a 4 lane. Pulled up next to the car. It had a “Baby on Board” sticker on the rear windshield, It had a baby seat with a baby in it in the back seat. And, what I’ll assume was the mother texting away feverishly on her phone.

I’m guessing she was probably early-mid 20s.

I beeped at her. She rolled her window down while I reminded her she was texting while driving with her child in the car, and that is dangerous.

She flipped me the middle finger, rolled up her window, and continued texting while driving away when the light turned green.

You should have called the cops and reported an aggressive drunk driver. In NY driving drunk with a kid on board is a felony.

As I read the story, she wasn't actually drunk, just texting while driving. And the police are not going to do much of anything about that if they don't see it themselves. Thus reporting it to the police would be pretty much an exercise in futility.

jmonroe1

driver100 said:

So we took the GLK in for the $700 A Service and Mrs D asked if all the fluid things like brake fluid should be changed. Service rep said oh yes, they depend on mileage and time, fluids can naturally lose their power.
OK, makes sense to me, so I said we only put about 4000 miles a year on the car, surely it doesn't need a new cabin filter (that has no fluid in it).
He answer was, you would pay the same if we leave it out, you are getting an A service and the price stays the same.
After this, the GLK and the C250 will go to an indie garage and I will specify what work they should do on my schedule. It would be nice to have a custom made schedule that you could design, based on mileage and use of the car.
The system is designed to make you pay a lot more...not designed to suit the customer.

Surprise, SURPRISE.

jmonroe

tjc78

The system is designed to make you pay a lot more

Did we not tell you that!   

fintail

MB dealer service is made for people with money to spare and new cars to maintain. Unless there's some insane special where they are undercutting an indy (it can happen on routine services now and then), or you are under warranty/have prepaid maintenance (which can be a bargain on leases), I don't see a reason to visit the dealer. They make enough as it is, they don't need my patronage. I have a great indy who is honest and will save real money on larger jobs - if you needed an alternator/starter or AC work or something, I think the savings would be significant.

driver100 said:

So we took the GLK in for the $700 A Service and Mrs D asked if all the fluid things like brake fluid should be changed. Service rep said oh yes, they depend on mileage and time, fluids can naturally lose their power.
OK, makes sense to me, so I said we only put about 4000 miles a year on the car, surely it doesn't need a new cabin filter (that has no fluid in it).
He answer was, you would pay the same if we leave it out, you are getting an A service and the price stays the same.
After this, the GLK and the C250 will go to an indie garage and I will specify what work they should do on my schedule. It would be nice to have a custom made schedule that you could design, based on mileage and use of the car.
The system is designed to make you pay a lot more...not designed to suit the customer.

fintail

I live in a relatively densely populated area with many young workers and trendy employers (Microsoft and Expedia among others). When jogging, I often have close calls with someone buried in a phone playing pokemon or facetiming. Just this morning, a woman engrossed in her phone wandered in front of me. I am 6'1" ~200, and when in motion, I call myself a blunt weapon - if I plow into someone, it won't be pretty, and I probably won't feel bad about it.

These types also dawdle at a crawl in crosswalks, where I hurry across in self-preservation.

ab348 said:

One of the things that is arguably much more entertaining and less lethal (though not always) is watching pedestrians in busy downtown areas not looking where they are walking while having their head buried in their phones. Having someone totally oblivious to their surroundings walk into a telephone pole, newspaper box, hydrant, or another person can be quite entertaining and in some cases pure comedy gold. In others, not so much as when they wander into a busy intersection.

henryn

fintail said:

I live in a relatively densely populated area with many young workers and trendy employers (Microsoft and Expedia among others). When jogging, I often have close calls with someone buried in a phone playing pokemon or facetiming. Just this morning, a woman engrossed in her phone wandered in front of me. I am 6'1" ~200, and when in motion, I call myself a blunt weapon - if I plow into someone, it won't be pretty, and I probably won't feel bad about it.

These types also dawdle at a crawl in crosswalks, where I hurry across in self-preservation.

In downtown Houston, we have a fairly large homeless population. Many of them are mentally ill, and diagnosed as such, but there are no publicly funded facilities for dealing with the problem. So they wonder around, sleep on the sidewalk, etc, etc. And some of them are aggressively hostile, they will get in the middle of the street and purposefully halt traffic. I'm not sure whether they want to be run over and killed, or just desire to get arrested and be off the streets (at least temporarily). But it does make driving downtown a lot of fun. NOT.

roadburner

driver100 said:

So we took the GLK in for the $700 A Service and Mrs D asked if all the fluid things like brake fluid should be changed. Service rep said oh yes, they depend on mileage and time, fluids can naturally lose their power.
OK, makes sense to me, so I said we only put about 4000 miles a year on the car, surely it doesn't need a new cabin filter (that has no fluid in it).
He answer was, you would pay the same if we leave it out, you are getting an A service and the price stays the same.
After this, the GLK and the C250 will go to an indie garage and I will specify what work they should do on my schedule. It would be nice to have a custom made schedule that you could design, based on mileage and use of the car.
The system is designed to make you pay a lot more...not designed to suit the customer.

What a racket- and with a clueless SA thrown in as well. Brake fluid doesn't lose its "power"- it is hygroscopic , which means it absorbs water and thus lowers the boiling point of the fluid. That's why brake fluid is changed on a time rather than mileage basis. As for paying a fixed price no matter what- that is a major league scam; I have never dealt with a dealer that does that. Every BMW dealer I have dealt with lets you select individual service items. Ditto for Mazda and Mini.
I would have told them to go pound sand. Can you provide the dealer name so I can warn any of my MB owning friends in the area to avoid them?

ruking1

It sounds like what is being described (service b) IS the MB dealers’ business model. Many have said & I agree, shop around. Perhaps the one asking the question, in the first place was not really ready to hear the truth. It might have taken several $700.00 bills. He may be ready now .

So for example, the change of the OEM battery @ the dealership was $20 more expensive than the excellent & 4/5 star Yelp rated Indy Shop, 1 miles from home. The dealership gave a complimentary hand car wash, vacuum ($20 to $40), loaner car ($20 to $40,) fresh Starbucks coffee, pastry $7.00) In this case, I went with the dealership.

oldfarmer50

ab348 said:

One of the things that is arguably much more entertaining and less lethal (though not always) is watching pedestrians in busy downtown areas not looking where they are walking while having their head buried in their phones. Having someone totally oblivious to their surroundings walk into a telephone pole, newspaper box, hydrant, or another person can be quite entertaining and in some cases pure comedy gold. In others, not so much as when they wander into a busy intersection.

NY is proposing to make texting while walking illegal and subject to heavy fines. I think the money is their real motivation. How will they enforce it, have a cop run up along side you? Most people I know would start running...or fighting.

https://nypost.com/2019/05/16/new-yorkers-on-proposed-street-texting-ban-im-still-going-to-text/

imidazol97

driver100 said:

So we took the GLK in for the $700 A Service and Mrs D asked if all the fluid things like brake fluid should be changed. Service rep said oh yes, they depend on mileage and time, fluids can naturally lose their power.
OK, makes sense to me, so I said we only put about 4000 miles a year on the car, surely it doesn't need a new cabin filter (that has no fluid in it).
He answer was, you would pay the same if we leave it out, you are getting an A service and the price stays the same.
After this, the GLK and the C250 will go to an indie garage and I will specify what work they should do on my schedule. It would be nice to have a custom made schedule that you could design, based on mileage and use of the car.
The system is designed to make you pay a lot more...not designed to suit the customer.

The dealer has to pay for the cream cheese and flavored bagels somehow.

The brake fluid does not 'lose its power." After years it can adsorb water through the seals at the wheels. But Toronot doesn't strike me as having lots of very humid days where permeation of water vapor is more likely. Middle Florida would fit that bill, so after 3 years or so maybe a brake fluid change.

I'd ask around for an independent MB garage starting now. Keep receipts as needed to prove correct services until warranty ends.

imidazol97

fintail said:

where I hurry across in self-preservation.

LOL

oldfarmer50

henryn said:

oldfarmer50 said:

graphicguy said:

Being the safe driver that I am, I didn’t take a picture of this incident, but couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it. Was going to dinner with friends last night when I saw a car in front of me swerving. I remember thinking it was a little early for the DUI crowd to be out in force.

Caught up to the car at the next red light on a 4 lane. Pulled up next to the car. It had a “Baby on Board” sticker on the rear windshield, It had a baby seat with a baby in it in the back seat. And, what I’ll assume was the mother texting away feverishly on her phone.

I’m guessing she was probably early-mid 20s.

I beeped at her. She rolled her window down while I reminded her she was texting while driving with her child in the car, and that is dangerous.

She flipped me the middle finger, rolled up her window, and continued texting while driving away when the light turned green.

You should have called the cops and reported an aggressive drunk driver. In NY driving drunk with a kid on board is a felony.

As I read the story, she wasn't actually drunk, just texting while driving. And the police are not going to do much of anything about that if they don't see it themselves. Thus reporting it to the police would be pretty much an exercise in futility.

I don’t think she was drunk but as you said the cops won’t do anything unless they think it’s serious. Maybe just say you “suspect” she was drunk. After all, isn’t texting while driving like drinking a six pack?

driver100

tjc78 said:

The system is designed to make you pay a lot more

Did we not tell you that!   

You did, but after the appointment was made. And I thought I could leave out the cabin filter when I got there.....they would just deduct that from the A Program.
Live and learn, it has been a long time since I actually had to pay for maintenance.

driver100

fintail said:

MB dealer service is made for people with money to spare and new cars to maintain. Unless there's some insane special where they are undercutting an indy (it can happen on routine services now and then), or you are under warranty/have prepaid maintenance (which can be a bargain on leases), I don't see a reason to visit the dealer. They make enough as it is, they don't need my patronage. I have a great indy who is honest and will save real money on larger jobs - if you needed an alternator/starter or AC work or something, I think the savings would be significant.

driver100 said:

So we took the GLK in for the $700 A Service and Mrs D asked if all the fluid things like brake fluid should be changed. Service rep said oh yes, they depend on mileage and time, fluids can naturally lose their power.
OK, makes sense to me, so I said we only put about 4000 miles a year on the car, surely it doesn't need a new cabin filter (that has no fluid in it).
He answer was, you would pay the same if we leave it out, you are getting an A service and the price stays the same.
After this, the GLK and the C250 will go to an indie garage and I will specify what work they should do on my schedule. It would be nice to have a custom made schedule that you could design, based on mileage and use of the car.
The system is designed to make you pay a lot more...not designed to suit the customer.

I agree. The service rep makes it sound like you have to have an "A" Service...you either get A or B. Now I know how it works, so I will go to the indie, and if I do use the dealer I will specify what I want done.

Since dealers make their money on service this is how they do it, and most people probably go along with it.

driver100

roadburner said:

driver100 said:

So we took the GLK in for the $700 A Service and Mrs D asked if all the fluid things like brake fluid should be changed. Service rep said oh yes, they depend on mileage and time, fluids can naturally lose their power.
OK, makes sense to me, so I said we only put about 4000 miles a year on the car, surely it doesn't need a new cabin filter (that has no fluid in it).
He answer was, you would pay the same if we leave it out, you are getting an A service and the price stays the same.
After this, the GLK and the C250 will go to an indie garage and I will specify what work they should do on my schedule. It would be nice to have a custom made schedule that you could design, based on mileage and use of the car.
The system is designed to make you pay a lot more...not designed to suit the customer.

What a racket- and with a clueless SA thrown in as well. Brake fluid doesn't lose its "power"- it is hygroscopic , which means it absorbs water and thus lowers the boiling point of the fluid. That's why brake fluid is changed on a time rather than mileage basis. As for paying a fixed price no matter what- that is a major league scam; I have never dealt with a dealer that does that. Every BMW dealer I have dealt with lets you select individual service items. Ditto for Mazda and Mini.
I would have told them to go pound sand. Can you provide the dealer name so I can warn any of my MB owning friends in the area to avoid them?

Agree, the fixed price part is a scam....you are supposed to alternate an A Service or a B one. I could probably do 2 or 3 Bs and then an A because of the low mileage....about 4000 a year. Or, in the future I will specify what I want done, and either go to the very good indie in the area, or if I go to the dealer will specify what I want done. I am sure 90% of the people think they have to go with the program.

The closest BMW dealer is known for its scamming and selling at MSRP, if I had or wanted a BMW I would go to a dealer further away.

In a way it isn't the dealers fault, they have to make their money on service these days. This is the first service we paid for, so I wanted it to be right so the car will last, from now on I'll just order what it needs based on my knowledge....forget A and B Service Schedule - that is the scam.

imidazol97

Judging by the picture you posted of your dealership when you bought one of your cars, they make money both on the sale and the service. Very fancy.

ruking1

No, service A/B are not scams! You continue to mischaracterize & misunderstand this. (for your own reasons) Most of service A/ B items are inspections, albeit @ much HIGHER dealer labor rates, i.e., $100.+ per hr plus+ . So any to all DIY ers, Indy shops can significantly decrease labor costs. Indeed the Indy shops actually follow Service A/B. They survive with LOWER labor rates. Indies get OEM parts @ the local Mercedes Benz dealer, wholesale parts.

So yes, if one either cannot or does not want to DIY, by all means shop service A/B & individual items & Indy shops. While I sense non belief, items like air filter, oil & oil filter changes, brake fluid, etc., can safely be extended. But really the decision is does one want to pay higher/lower shop rates?

ruking1

imidazol97 said:

Judging by the picture you posted of your dealership when you bought one of your cars, they make money both on the sale and the service. Very fancy.

Yes, that true, and that’s the way it’s always been. Fancy? No! Most of the time it’s plain basic survival. So called “independent brand dealers” are actually being (financially) strangled to death.

roadburner

ruking1 said:

No, service A/B are not scams. You are mischaracterizing & misunderstanding this. (for your own reasons) Most of service A/ B items are inspections @ much higher dealer labor rates, i.e., $100.+ per hr plus+ . So any to all DIY ers, Indy shops can significantly decrease labor costs.

So yes, if one either cannot or does not want to DIY, by all means shop service A/B & individual items & Indy shops. While I sense non belief, items like air filter, oil & oil filter changes, brake fluid, etc., can safely be extended.

My gripe is with the refusal to deduct unnecessary items. For example, on my Mazdaspeed 3 I had installed a Mazdaspeed intake with a conical washable filter. At 60k Mazda called for a new air filter. My dealer removed the labor and parts charge when I brought it in for the 60k service. Ditto for when I brought the ti to my BMW dealer for an Inspection II; I had already changed the final drive oil at the beginning of track season, so that service cost was subtracted from my bill.

jmonroe1

tjc78 said:

The system is designed to make you pay a lot more

Did we not tell you that!   

Kinda like, "don't confuse me with the facts...my mind is made up".

jmonroe

ruking1

roadburner said:

ruking1 said:

No, service A/B are not scams. You are mischaracterizing & misunderstanding this. (for your own reasons) Most of service A/ B items are inspections @ much higher dealer labor rates, i.e., $100.+ per hr plus+ . So any to all DIY ers, Indy shops can significantly decrease labor costs.

So yes, if one either cannot or does not want to DIY, by all means shop service A/B & individual items & Indy shops. While I sense non belief, items like air filter, oil & oil filter changes, brake fluid, etc., can safely be extended.

My gripe is with the refusal to deduct unnecessary items. For example, on my Mazdaspeed 3 I had installed a Mazdaspeed intake with a conical washable filter. At 60k Mazda called for a new air filter. My dealer removed the labor and parts charge when I brought it in for the 60k service. Ditto for when I brought the ti to my BMW dealer for an Inspection II; I had already changed the final drive oil at the beginning of track season, so that service cost was subtracted from my bill.

YES! Do that ALWAYS UPFRONT! I’ve done that with all car vendors, local MB/Toyota, VW, Honda dealers/Indy’s, etc. Anyone, dealer, Indy, etc who will/ can not work with you on this, that is the signal to move onto another vendor.

sda

I went to the local car wash with cloth brushes and ran all three vehicles thru.  Time constraints prevented me from washing at home which I prefer.  I wonder how many fail to follow these instructions.

explorerx4

I usually go to the carwash to get the underneath cleaned off in addition to the top. If only cleaning the body/tires/wheels, I do it myself.