At Mercedes-Benz of Kansas City's new service center, don't expect to see an E class having its oil changed or a GLC getting its tires rotated.
The Missouri dealership's 10,000-square-foot center was designed and built just for commercial vans.
The $2 million-plus center opened in April with six service stalls, each with its own garage door. An alignment bay was designed with a high ceiling to accommodate the vans.
"This makes it much easier to work on the vehicles," said Kevin Killilea, COO of the company that owns the dealership, Soave Automotive Group. Soave has three locations in Missouri and Kansas, handling Alfa Romeo, BMW, Jaguar, Land Rover, Maserati, Mercedes, Porsche and Volkswagen vehicles.
Before the center opened, Mercedes vans were serviced alongside all other vehicles, Killilea said. That proved to be a challenge as some of the vans were too big and heavy to put on hoists designed for cars, or in the case of conversion vans, too bulky with accessories.
"As a business, we started to feel the pinch of having a facility that wasn't designed for our vehicles," he said.