A woman went viral on TikTok after sharing the exorbitant amount she paid for an oil change at Mercedes-Benz.
Nelly (@nelllyyyy1) said that he “love[s]” her Mercedes. However, she suggested that she didn’t know how expensive maintenance for the car would be. So imagine her shock when she saw her routine oil change cost $800.
“$800 for an oil change at Mercedes Benz,” Nelly, who recorded her video while at Mercedes-Benz, said.
“You can keep the car,” she quipped. As of Sunday, Nelly’s video had amassed more than 134,700 views.
Are all Mercedes that expensive to maintain?
In 2018, a Mercedes owner asked in a Quora thread why oil changes for these cars, in particular, cost an arm and a leg.
While answers ranged, the consensus was that so-called luxury cars will always cost more to maintain.
“You are not buying efficiency and value, you are making a statement,” one Quora commenter said of Mercedes owners.
Still, $800 is steep, even by Mercedes’s standards. And research and anecdotal evidence suggest Nelly overpaid.
One YouTuber said in 2017 that they were quoted $320 to get new oil in their Mercedes SL55 AMG.
According to CoPilot, an AI-powered car shopping app, you should expect to pay between $150 and $400 if you get your Mercedes’s oil changed at a dealership. It’s possible that going to a local car dealer will decrease your price, it said, but not by that much.
It added, though, that Mercedes are expensive for a reason. Firstly, the cars tend to have a larger design. Plus, since these vehicles typically have various drain pans and locations where the oil can go, that makes servicing the car more work-intensive.
“Combine that with the fact that most people prefer premium motor oil for a Mercedes… and you have a recipe for more expensive maintenance,” the CoPilot blog post read.
The upside for Mercedes owners is that they don’t have to get their oil changes as frequently as other cars do. The general recommendation is to get your car’s oil changed for every 3,000 miles driven, but Mercedes can wait up to 5,000 to 7,500 miles, CoPilot reported. Some Mercedes models, it said, can even wait until the 12,500-mile mark. Nelly, for instance, said she only gets her oil changed once per year.
Viewers encourage the Mercedes owner to shop local
In the comments section of Nelly’s video, several users questioned why she went to the Mercedes dealership for her oil fix.
“Don’t use the dealership!! Find a local who is certified,” one recommended.
“That’s why you should not go to dealers, always costs you more,” another said.
“I take mine to a certified luxury shop,” a third user wrote. “I pay $120 for an oil change.”
Other Mercedes drivers encouraged Nelly to buy the prepaid maintenance plan, which includes scheduled oil changes.
“Next time get the maintenance plan and you wouldn’t have to pay that,” one woman advised.
“I just buy the maintenance package,” another shared.
“That’s why you buy the pre-maintenance package when purchasing a Mercedes,” a third user said.
Meanwhile, some luxury car owners said the price of maintenance led them to learn how to fix their cars on their own—or to rely on someone they’re close to.
“My dad does mine y’all be safe,” one user quipped.
“I change my own oil,” a second woman said.
“I became a mechanic so fast when I got mine,” a third viewer wrote.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Nelly via TikTok comment and to Mercedes through email.
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