Charges for FREE Roadside Assistance.

[Mike's ML]

There have been many discussions on the “FREE” Roadside Assistance program replacing Batteries for just the cost of the battery. The only FREE lifetime Roadside Services are as follows:
1) Arrange to bring you some fuel if you run out
2) Replace flat tire with your spare
3) Jump start dead battery (Jump start only – not replace battery)

The Roadside Assistance policy reads as follows:
GENERAL CHARGES AND LIMITATIONS
“Although the sign and drive services described elsewhere in this brochure are provided free of charge by Mercedes-Benz Roadside Assistance, there will be charges for other non-warranty Roadside Assistance repairs. The fees are as follows: $25 service fee plus labor at 1-1/2 times the participating center’s normal rate (minimum charge: 30minutes, plus towing and any parts used).
There is a surcharge of $40 for a service call between the hours of midnight and 7:00 a.m.”

I called Roadside Assistance to replace the battery in my 98ML and got stuck with a $90 charge OVER the cost of the $130 battery.
Mike

[dahappybanana]

Well, yea, I mean that would be like I went in for a free oil change and they charged for replacing the hoses, charged labor too. I mean I'd expect to pay for that type of work.

[Mike's ML]

Originally Posted by dahappybanana

Well, yea, I mean that would be like I went in for a free oil change and they charged for replacing the hoses, charged labor too. I mean I'd expect to pay for that type of work.

Well I guess you didn't get my point. There have been many people on these forums advising people that getting a battery changed at the dealer will cost you labor in addition to the battery but if you get the battery changed by Roadside Assistance there is no labor, just the price of the battery, which is NOT true. -- That's my ONLY point. I'm sorry that I was not clear. Please accept my apology.
Mike

[azinn]

Goes to prove that NOT all dealers are created equal. My 2 cents.

[pointman]

Originally Posted by Mike's ML

Well I guess you didn't get my point. There have been many people on these forums advising people that getting a battery changed at the dealer will cost you labor in addition to the battery but if you get the battery changed by Roadside Assistance there is no labor, just the price of the battery, which is NOT true. -- That's my ONLY point. I'm sorry that I was not clear. Please accept my apology.
Mike

You should have asked how much it was before authorizing the work done.

[mlfun]

I paid $130 total.

Originally Posted by Mike's ML

There have been many discussions on the “FREE� Roadside Assistance program replacing Batteries for just the cost of the battery. The only FREE lifetime Roadside Services are as follows:
1) Arrange to bring you some fuel if you run out
2) Replace flat tire with your spare
3) Jump start dead battery (Jump start only – not replace battery)

The Roadside Assistance policy reads as follows:
GENERAL CHARGES AND LIMITATIONS
“Although the sign and drive services described elsewhere in this brochure are provided free of charge by Mercedes-Benz Roadside Assistance, there will be charges for other non-warranty Roadside Assistance repairs. The fees are as follows: $25 service fee plus labor at 1-1/2 times the participating center’s normal rate (minimum charge: 30minutes, plus towing and any parts used).
There is a surcharge of $40 for a service call between the hours of midnight and 7:00 a.m.�

I called Roadside Assistance to replace the battery in my 98ML and got stuck with a $90 charge OVER the cost of the $130 battery.
Mike

[AC_ML]

If your ML is under the normal warranty (< 50,000 miles and 4-5 years?), there will be no charge for the battery or labor.. I tipped the roadside assistant very good though..

This year my 2005 ML 500 died on my driveway because of a dead battery (only 1.5 years old). Roadside assistance came, and at the beginning, he wanted to charge around $180.00 or so, I mentioned that the battery, as a part, was under the general warranty and he did not charge anything..

I guess maybe when it is out of warranty ("non-warranty Roadside Assistance repairs"), then parts/labor is not completely free..?

AC

[Mike's ML]

Originally Posted by AC_ML

I guess maybe when it is out of warranty ("non-warranty Roadside Assistance repairs"), then parts/labor is not completely free..? AC

AC The Mercedes RA statment above does refer to "non-warranty". In warranty items are still Free as far as I know but as you experianced they tried to charge you. It looks like the $180 was about $130 for the battery, $25 service charge plus $25 for labor.
Mike

[sam_ml500]

I replaced my battery out of warranty on my driveway. Just $112 for the battery no additional labor. Service truck showed up in 45 minutes after the call. Serviced by Ray Catena, NJ.

[Kajtek1]

I had 2 batteries going bad in my sedans this season. The first one was replaced by FREE roadside assistance, where the battery cost was about $240. They reset everything without any charge and took the old one out.
Second, I bought replacement for $70 at Costco, where I had to return the old one to get $5 core back. Took me about 10 minutes on the driveway to replace it and reset everything. The bad news was, that during reseting the window regulator broke and I didn't have radio code on freshly purchased car. So if I would be busy, I would rather pay somebody $150 extra for dealing with all this.
Costco is giving 100 months warranty on the batteries, when MB only 24, but the 2 MB batteries in sedans were 8 years old and the one in our ML is entering the 10-th winter.