I’m not buying it

Letter of the week wins this Valetpro exterior protection and maintenance kit

worth £48

I have run Mercedes cars for close on 30 years and currently have a C300 Cabriolet and a GLC

Coupé. James Attwood’s news story on Mercedes’ plans for artificial intelligence (20 May) was of great interest, mainly because I like the features

AI offers but also because I’ve since 2000 owned cars fitted with Mercedes’ Comand systems.

The C300 has just reached its third birthday and in early March went in for its service. At the same time, I was asked if I wanted to renew its Vehicle Monitoring and Vehicle Setup functions. These won’t continue to be available after the warranty period unless a fee is paid. In this case, it was £79 for the Monitoring and £79 for the Setup: including VAT, a total cost of £158. This ‘registration’ lasts three years.

Now I see what Mercedes is doing. You get a car for the list price, pay extra for accessories, pay for the annual service and pay a fee to keep all the functions of the £2000 infotainment system operational. I’m glad I don’t (yet) have to pay a fee to keep the air conditioning working!

This additional cost wasn’t made clear when I purchased either car. Although it may have appeared in the small print, I consider it a rip-off.

When it was stated in the article that “Mercedes has no plans at present to charge owners for using in-car services”, I believe that is being disingenuous. These additional service charges will certainly make me take stock before buying another Mercedes car, loyal owner though I am.