Corroded brake pipes cost!

[Filternozzle23]

Today I took my 2004 CLK240 TO nearest MD, due to recall on sunroof. Sunroof turned out to be okay. However, a health check was carried out which resulted red marks for passenger front and both rear brake pipes being corroded. The price quoted to sort £907.82. Do forum members think this is norm for this work? I 'm still in recovery from shock!!

 

[vtaylor78]

Typical, so you think they are doing you a Huge favour, recalling a 16 year old vehicle. Then they try and sting you, must be short of work ?
Sounds Very expensive, but I have No knowledge of what this work costs , when was it last MOT’d ?

 

[Conor]

I'd be up for a second opinion if I were you.

I just MOT'd my SL and there were no advisories on the brake lines, but last year a different centre warned that they were corroded - I don't think they would have been changed either as I bought the car shortly after previous MOT.

Brakes are probably easy game for garages well because... if your brakes fail!

 

[bembo449]

knowing how they like to generate work id say your brake pipes are probably just fine but if they have put the wind up you ? do as conor says and get a 2nd opinion , its not specialist work and any decent garage can do them a damn site cheaper than that quote anyway

 

[KennyN]

Pop into Merparts in Port Glasgow and ask them for a second opinion ,they are decent guys.

K

 

[Dean Fletcher]

I got mine done for around £350. MB carlisle quoted me £1300 for the c207. I was still laughing down the M6.

 

[Manc Rick]

Wow, that seems very expensive to me. I’m talking in general car terms (I’m new to owning a Mercedes).

You don’t want the brake lines to start leaking, but I’d certainly be getting a second opinion. A not too dissimilar thing happened to me with a previous car (rear spring was corroded and ‘needed replacing’). I appreciate springs aren’t as important as brakes, but I left it another 3 years and it never got mentioned on an MOT.

I’d get a second opinion and am pretty confident you’ll find a much bettter price than £900!

 

[onefortheroad]

You can have the bad bits cut out and new section joined in for around £200. No need to run the length of the car.

 

[daveenty]

Whilst not advocating the cost of the main dealer, which does seem excessive, a lot of rear brake pipes can only be replaced in full by removing the rear subframe so does start to add up the time spent on the car. Having said that, it's not really a main dealer job and would probably be out of their comfort zone anyway so the suggestion of an independent inspection would possibly be a way forwards.

Pop into Merparts in Port Glasgow and ask them for a second opinion ,they are decent guys.

K

Agree with the above, excellent people to deal with and very helpful, even to a Lancastrian.

They did work on one of my old cars before I bought it and offered me lots of positive advice.

 

[peterws1957]

Today I took my 2004 CLK240 TO nearest MD, due to recall on sunroof. Sunroof turned out to be okay. However, a health check was carried out which resulted red marks for passenger front and both rear brake pipes being corroded. The price quoted to sort £907.82. Do forum members think this is norm for this work? I 'm still in recovery from shock!!

I've lost count of the number of health checks I've had on cars where very expensive work has been quoted for. When ever I take a car in now I make it clear that a health check is not required. Mine get inspected at other times anyway.

 

[JBell]

Whilst not advocating the cost of the main dealer, which does seem excessive, a lot of rear brake pipes can only be replaced in full by removing the rear subframe so does start to add up the time spent on the car.

The W204 needs the sub frame dropping, adds massively to the replacement cost and if they use OEM brake pipes they are not cheap

Having said that, it's not really a main dealer job and would probably be out of their comfort zone anyway so the suggestion of an independent inspection would possibly be a way forwards.

I will be using a friend of mine, he makes them so the cost is massively reduced on parts alone never mind the labour

 

[Rory]

Typical, so you think they are doing you a Huge favour, recalling a 16 year old vehicle. Then they try and sting you, must be short of work ?
Sounds Very expensive, but I have No knowledge of what this work costs , when was it last MOT’d ?

Mine last went to a dealer about 4yrs ago and they quoted work, inc brake pipes, that was about the value of the car! Indie said it was all fine!! I know the brake job (rears on my car) which they quoted £1200 for can be done at an indie for £5-600. I've seen posts on this or the other forum where main dealers have done the work for a similar price - I think some discount the labur rate on older cars and it's a job that's mostly labour.

 

[peterws1957]

The W204 needs the sub frame dropping, adds massively to the replacement cost and if they use OEM brake pipes they are not cheap



I will be using a friend of mine, he makes them so the cost is massively reduced on parts alone never mind the labour

Can the brake pipes not be rerouted to avoid the necessity of removing the subframe?

 

[bc100]

I was advised by my local independent that my S203 brake pipe corrosion was superficial and was easily cleaned but MOT inspectors don't evaluate the rust they just "auto fail" the car.

 

[JBell]

Can the brake pipes not be rerouted to avoid the necessity of removing the subframe?

Yes

 

[Jason63]

The W204 doesn't need the subframe dropping if you are talking about the rear hard brake lines. I know this because I've read the WIS for the W204 and I've personally replaced the rear steel brake line than runs across the car. Mine was actually in quite a bad way and the car is only 6 years old.

On the W204 (which I'm not sure is the OP's car) the rear brake line is very easy to do. Mercedes themselves say it's acceptable to add up to 2 joints to deal with difficult sections, or just to remove the bad section.

The parts cost is something like £15 the rest is labour. If Mercedes do it they will use steel brake line which will rust again. If you do it yourself or have a different garage to do the work you can upgrade to copper nickel alloy (at no extra cost).

The cost will all be down to which lines have failed and where they run to and from.

 

[Rockron]

Cupro Knickel or so called Kunifer can be easily bent and formed in situ in many cases, enough so as to be able to install without removing components, I've managed to fit the nuts and form bubble flares quite easily, on the job as it were, on a few vehicles, and I'm no pro.
I presume the quote is for steel OEM pipes, and a hefty labour "coverall circumstances" charge for removing potentially difficult to remove components (as in rust caked fasteners).

An important consideration is to make certain the Cupro Knickel meets a minimum
burst pressure standard for vehicle braking systems. I believe some tube sold has thinner than
ideal wall thickness to achieve this.

 

[Donald McPherson]

Be careful very careful.

 

[Filternozzle23]

Thanks to all for your comments.

I have taken on board recommendations from KennyN and daveenty for Merparts in Port Glasgow and am booked in later this month for a technical check over.

Cheers.

 

[Kev555]

Ive cleaned up rusty brake pipes umpteen times for MOT as I'm sure many on here also have done. If they are not deeply pitted they are fine. I always either Waxoyl them or copper grease them after cleaning to help keep them to the next year. The sounds really extortionist for brake pipes from Mercedes considering easy get arounds with copper piping and joints