MB dealer Oil charges!

[Paul.T]

I recently took my C270CDI in for a "b" service with which I was reasonably pleased. The car was, at least, clean when returned.
On inspecting the bill in detail when I got home I noticed the charge of £93 (including VAT) for 8 x 0.5Ltrs of oil. This seemed a little high and so I contactedmy local Halfords who advised me that their price for 4.5 Lts was £39.99 (including VAT) Bearing in mind that Halfords price was retail and, therefore, includes what they consider a decent mark up, can anyone suggest how the MB dealer can possibly justify this charge? I have asked them the same question and, so far, the silence is deafening!
This is my first posting so apologies if I've breached any protocols!

 

[squealinneil]

Mate, it's not you who has breached any protocols, it's the dealer! Please name & shame them so the rest of us can avoid being similarly bent over & hosed down.
You've got to assume Halfords operate on a minimum 100% mark up & many auto factors sell the same oil for about 25 quid for 5 litres, so the dealer is really taking the p*ss.

 

[nasher]

I think every litre is blessed by Norbert Haug.

 

[99clk02Ebreak]

I'm sure the oil comes out of a drum and costs MB garages precious little.

In Belgium, I noticed being charged around £50 for the 8 litres or so of oil recently put into my engine.

The dealership I use sells around 500 new cars a year and the manager already told me they make more money from servicing than they do at car sales, work that out.

Surely this comes as no surprise, oil has always been charged way over the top.

I lived out in the Middle East and the oil there was half the price it is here.

 

[Paul.T]

Whilst I'm happy to "name and shame" the dealer, I think it only right and propper to give them the opportunity to respond to my letter in which I suggest there seems to have been some mistake!
Watch this space!

 

[peterchurch]

A mistake :roll:
£90+ sounds about right to me. My mother-in-law took a Polo into a VW garage and was charged £60 for oil when queried, she was told that this was to cover environmental disposal (<insert some swear words here>) so given that your engine is almost 3 times the size of a polo you might find they say "oh sorry your quite right we meant to charge you £180" :lol:

but to be honest you should consider changing your own oil then having MB do the rest and stamp the book, then you know what oil really went into the car.

 

[wagger]

normally 5w40 full synthetic is about £2 per litre (trade) when bought in 25 litre drums. if you buy in greater quantities eg 205 litre drums the price is even less. so the mark up is quite considerable to say the least.
my local mb agent had shell on "special offer" lately for £10.40 per litre!!

 

[landover]

This is a total rip off. 5lts of a decent oil is about £25 and the biggest engine in a 4cylinder merc only holds approx 6lts .Change your own oil it will only take 5mins :wink:

 

[190surgen]

This is a total rip off. 5lts of a decent oil is about £25 and the biggest engine in a merc only holds 6lts .Change your own oil it will only take 5mins :wink:

Must have to much money either that or he doesn?t know how to change his oil :lol: If you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all."

 

[sclass]

I think every litre is blessed by Norbert Haug.

No i dont think so Who is norbert haug. Oil is not expensive It is your own fault if you are willing to pay these prices to get a rubber stamp on your service book.All service stamps should be headed .[I HAVE BEEN SHAFTED BY] dealer name

 

[190surgen]

Any chance of getting some oil from your country it must be cheap over there. Do you have Mercedes Dealers there if so how much do they charge for 5ltrs of oil. :lol:

 

[sclass]

Any chance of getting some oil from your country it must be cheap over there. Do you have Mercedes Dealers there if so how much do they charge for 5ltrs of oil. :lol:

Yes it is not expensive About 10denar for 5ltr £2 in your money.You are getting shafted my friend. :lol:

 

[robbo]

This is a total rip off. 5lts of a decent oil is about £25 and the biggest engine in a merc only holds 6lts .Change your own oil it will only take 5mins :wink:

Actually, mine takes 8 litres

 

[landover]

This is a total rip off. 5lts of a decent oil is about £25 and the biggest engine in a merc only holds 6lts .Change your own oil it will only take 5mins :wink:

Actually, mine takes 8 litres

:wink: What type of car have you got ?

 

[230K]

8 litres for mine also


230K

 

[JimmyTD]

6.8 litres for mine.

I agree it sounds expensive but you are also paying for waste disposal, overheads, shiny clean garages and showrooms, courtesy car etc etc. Where would you rather take your car, a nice clean main dealer or a dirty back street garage.

Yes, I change my oil every 6000 miles, use the most expensive oil and stamp my own book.

 

[webby]

Do MB put liquid oil in our engines?

I've just had the same experence,

I took my car to the local MB garage and they charged me 92.00 EUR for 8 litres of oil...........now I'm feeling ripped off!
next time I'll change my own.
For the record it was MB Europa in Brussels, I put my car in for one day and I got it back tonight after 12 days and the problem with the roof is still not fixed dispite having to pay over 3000 EUR.........B****ks!

Good luck with finding alternative places to service your car because it's the first and last time I use an MB garage!

 

[sclass]

8 litres for mine also


230K

Are you boasting or appoligising? I bet you put a litre in it every day

 

[mlc]

Im not defending the dealer - but!

Sorry to be the one to do it - but someone has to put the other side to the story.

We can all agree that the price charged for the oil at the dealership is very high, but our friend didn't just buy the oil, he bought into the "service" provided by the dealership. We even call the maintenance product provided by the dealership a service! so why do we expect it to be provided at Halfords pricing!

So what did he get for his money: He got staff on site at the crack of dawn to book in the car, in a clean reception area. He may have got a loan car, he got a trained operative to examine the car, make adjusts as required etc. etc. etc. The dealership had tools and spares that may be required, they even knew which oil and how much of it was required. And finally if they have made a mistake they will put it right.

MB dealers are not special in charging high fees for their services and goods. I have just been staying in a hotel for business where the house wine was £17.95 a bottle or £5.95 a glass. My local pub charges nearly £3 a pint or £1.75 for a bottle of water. I work in IT, we charge upto £1400 a day for our staff - sadly this is not the "cost" price, simply the rate that reflects all the costs to the company and provides a reasonable profit.

Finally, a confession, I dont send my cars to a dealership for servicing, I do it myself to save money.

 

[robbo]

What type of car have you got ?

Its a C320 with a M112 engine