How to Part Exchange Your Car
- Thread starter bum
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Lol i had to re read the prices a couple of times. £445 to change brake fluid, but £96 to change a cambelt?! 
What dealer was this? From your opening post, i thought the engine had completely eaten itself or something.
Please please please do not break that car because it needs some new brake fluid, brake pads, a coil spring and a bit of the exhaust welded.
OP, for everything apart from the gearbox, even the worst mechanics could fix for such a small amount of money.
What dealer was this? From your opening post, i thought the engine had completely eaten itself or something. Please please please do not break that car because it needs some new brake fluid, brake pads, a coil spring and a bit of the exhaust welded.
OP, for everything apart from the gearbox, even the worst mechanics could fix for such a small amount of money.
Lol i had to re read the prices a couple of times. £445 to change brake fluid, but £96 to change a cambelt?!
Normal for a Mercedes main dealer. I have single bills topping £8000 from Mercedes Benz on my SL500. You just need to avoid them for everything. Total rip off.
Caporegime
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Oh, no doubt MB are hugely expensive, but i was more laughing at the fact that a simple job like a brake fluid change was going to cost 4.5x more than a cambelt change, which is quite a complicated job (if the CLK320 even has a cambelt?).
Was that £8000 bill anything to do with air suspension by any chance?
No, windscreen wipers.What was that for?Coil packs and suspension issues?
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
I genuinelly do not understand Mercedes charging structure. I don't expect them to charge Kia rates but they are so much more expensive than even a rival such as BMW. I've looked into Mercs on a number of occasions and have always found enormously comically bonkers prices - a direct contrast to BMW and Audi.
Even the warranties are comedy gold - I've never found a Merc warranty that isn't some obscene 4 figure sum despite being administered by the same firm that does BMW, Audi etc?!
Menu servicing is also hugely expensive - I wonder what these people buying ultra-eco-super-diesel C220 things think when they take the car for a Service B or whatever and get charges more than the money they saved that year on fuel
It must surely cost them sales - fleets look at average total ownership costs which must be so much higher than BMW or Audi for similar market segment cars?
Associate
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get the dealer to do the gearbox and cambelt those prices seem ok for the rest any garage could do for a few hundred using after market parts.
It wont be a cambelt change, that car is chain driven. It'll likely be a serpentine belt change, which i would expect to cost around £100 at the dealer when combined with other work. (The belt itself is around £15 from ECP).
The large bill i was referring to in that case was an Active Body Control overhaul. The SL class uses active hydraulic shocks for its suspension so that you can choose suspension profiles. The air system is much cheaper but would be too soft for an SL.
[TW]Fox;23072185 said:I genuinelly do not understand Mercedes charging structure. I don't expect them to charge Kia rates but they are so much more expensive than even a rival such as BMW. I've looked into Mercs on a number of occasions and have always found enormously comically bonkers prices - a direct contrast to BMW and Audi.
Even the warranties are comedy gold - I've never found a Merc warranty that isn't some obscene 4 figure sum despite being administered by the same firm that does BMW, Audi etc?!
Menu servicing is also hugely expensive - I wonder what these people buying ultra-eco-super-diesel C220 things think when they take the car for a Service B or whatever and get charges more than the money they saved that year on fuel
It must surely cost them sales - fleets look at average total ownership costs which must be so much higher than BMW or Audi for similar market segment cars?
If i thumb through my service history there is not a single service B which has been performed for less than £2000 in its history. Little things such as changing an alternator are in there at £600-800. Its all just stupid and totally out of kilter with the true cost of the work. As you say, it MUST cost them sales when it comes to the lower models which compete with BMW and Audi etc, as the service and maintenance costs are so extreme at all levels.
To put it in perspective, i am thinking about changing out for a Bentley Continental. The service schedule for my usage actually works out to be cheaper (main dealer for main dealer) than my Mercedes.
This may be a silly question, but why do MB charge so much? They're kind of aligned with BMW/Audi, yet charge more than Bentley for servicing and repairs. I would have thought that MB, like most other manufacturers, realise that money is tight for many people, and to bring their prices down more in line with other German brands. It's not like BMW and Audi don't make huge profit on their servicing/repair prices!
Thank you guys. I am really glad that I put the question on the forum before proceed to anything. So far the inspection on my car at Mercedes service center already cost me £210 for a total of 3 hours of inspection.
I am planning to tow the car to another mechanic for check up. Do you guys use independing towing service or the ones from AA/RAC?
When the car broke down, RAC sent a towing truck over and it costed me £91
I'm planning to tow the car to a mechanic which was recommended by a friend. the only problem is the distance is 17miles away from Mercedes Stratford
I am planning to tow the car to another mechanic for check up. Do you guys use independing towing service or the ones from AA/RAC?
When the car broke down, RAC sent a towing truck over and it costed me £91
I'm planning to tow the car to a mechanic which was recommended by a friend. the only problem is the distance is 17miles away from Mercedes Stratford
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Getting it moved 17 miles shouldn't be too much, probably a similar charge or smaller than your first one (I'd say £40/50 but it is London). Just get it moved to the new guy and ask him to look over it for you. I'm actually surprised 3 hours of labour @ merc is £210 and not £2,100
[TW]Fox;23072185 said:
I can see your point, but in some ways MB are seen as a fair bit above BMW in terms of quality in some areas and perception. When I think BMW I think poverty spec 320D, when I think Mercedes I think of luxury vehicles in the same domain as Bentley. Obviously BMW 7 series and the like try and compete there as well, but image is a powerful thing.
To be fair i doubt money is too tight for most people buying new £100k+ Mercs - i get the high pricing on SL/S/CL models, BMW/Audi do not really compete with these.
Its the C-Class' and things like that which confuse me - the ones which Audi and BMW do compete with.
Reminds me of my workmates C36 AMG, he was quoted nearly £4k by Mercedes Benz of Stoke for work that was ultimately done by a Ford dealer(!) for under £800 all in!
Equally, my old man constantly moans about the prices Merc charge for his C180 Kompressor compared to his previous BMW's - He regrets buying it and is considering changing it already after about a year of ownership - he kept his previous e39 for well over 14 years and for the majority of that time serviced it at main dealers....
Equally, my old man constantly moans about the prices Merc charge for his C180 Kompressor compared to his previous BMW's - He regrets buying it and is considering changing it already after about a year of ownership - he kept his previous e39 for well over 14 years and for the majority of that time serviced it at main dealers....
Soldato
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those auto boxes are known for leaky bushes and dodgy sensors, the price quoted for that looks about right. Most of the rest is....well just ridiculous.