MB Driver Experience - my last MB?

[television]

Recently, I had to have my E220CDI repaired in France - the MB dealer charged €52 per hour. If a MB dealer in France can charge under £40 per hour, what justification is there for dealers in the UK charging £95+ per hour?

PS As I own an 2002 E class, I need to keep Mobilo-Life up to date.

In Sweden Volvo has reduced the price of spare parts and service cost on cars more than 7 years old. In all fairness, I would would much rather work on something that I have done 100 times before, at least I can earn on it, OK I can learn more on something new, but it does not pay the bills or buy me an MB.

malcolm

 

[psmart]

...so two satisfied customers!

Two birds .... agreeing... sounds like Christmas Jingle time :grin:

 

[Birdman]

When I ran vehicles through the business I never paid much attention to the garage bills. They represented a tiny fraction of company income and were tax deductible with the VAT element wholly recoverable. They were just a cost of doing business. Once I sold the company and was meeting garage bills through my taxed income I looked for a specialist indy. Mind you, I'd have liked to charge my staff out out at £100/hour too but don't think the customers would have gone for it.
Another thought: UK merc dealers are part of a larger regional or international business with bigger overheads: training and compliance costs, boards of directors, accountants, IT managers, liason staff, delivery drivers, pension pots and shareholders. A small indy will cut all his costs to the bone, live nearer the edge, and pass the savings on to his customer. Understandably, DCUK would rather go with the big boys on the basis they will likely still be around in ten years.

PSmart - how could you mention the c-word? In September?

 

[psmart]

PSmart - how could you mention the c-word? In September?

Quite easy... only time of the year Im happy, when its dark and dismal early, cold and damp..... but come sunrise, crisp cool air, glistening of ice and snow, planks on your feet, wind in your hair, sun rising, just you, a mountain, and 6000ft+ of decent

On the Merc dealer side, there is a niche in the market for a fully DCUK approved workshop, completely void of paraphanalia which goes with a dealership, where your only paying for the work done. Its a shame that Indies cant get approval, something akin to ISO standard approval.

 

[Rory]

On the Merc dealer side, there is a niche in the market for a fully DCUK approved workshop, completely void of paraphanalia which goes with a dealership, where your only paying for the work done. Its a shame that Indies cant get approval, something akin to ISO standard approval.

They exist already! Mercedes Authorised Repairers - they're even listed on the MB UK website.
They're generally the independant dealers who lost the MB franchise in MB's big reorg a few yrs ago.

 

[hawk20]

They exist already! Mercedes Authorised Repairers - they're even listed on the MB UK website.
They're generally the independant dealers who lost the MB franchise in MB's big reorg a few yrs ago.

Never knew they existed; please tell us more.

 

[Birdman]

Under the menu title 'Our Best Kept Secret' Mercedes begins: ": If you live within 25 miles of the Authorised Repairer ...."
When searching their site for these splendid beasts I got the response (in eight languages):

"Dear user, The service you require is not available at the moment. Please try again later. We apologise for any inconvenience caused."

Ah well, a best kept secret then.

But I would like to know if there's one near me. Rory, can you shed light on this?

 

[hawk20]

Yes I get the same if click on nearest retailer.
But where do you find route to Authorised Service people please. I can't find that.

 

[Rory]

Yes I get the same if click on nearest retailer.

Do you mean 'find a retailer'? it works fine for me, but it opens another window - perhaps your security seetings are blocking that?

But where do you find route to Authorised Service people please. I can't find that.

They're merged in the list with the 'normal' MB dealers.

For instance, if you type in Macclesfield, top of the list is McLean and Appleton, who used to be the MB dealer in Macc before the big re-org. Same for Preston - you'll get Ciceley Continental.

 

[hawk20]

Do you mean 'find a retailer'? it works fine for me, but it opens another window - perhaps your security seetings are blocking that?

They're merged in the list with the 'normal' MB dealers.

For instance, if you type in Macclesfield, top of the list is McLean and Appleton, who used to be the MB dealer in Macc before the big re-org. Same for Preston - you'll get Ciceley Continental.

Yes. OK. For some reason it's now working. Route is Merc website; passenger cars; find a retailer.... BUT where is the list of Authorised Service garages, please???

 

[Rory]

BUT where is the list of Authorised Service garages, please???

They're merged in the list with the 'normal' MB dealers.

For instance, if you type in Macclesfield, top of the list is McLean and Appleton, who used to be the MB dealer in Macc before the big re-org. Same for Preston - you'll get Ciceley Continental.

 

[hawk20]

They're merged in the list with the 'normal' MB dealers.

For instance, if you type in Macclesfield, top of the list is McLean and Appleton, who used to be the MB dealer in Macc before the big re-org. Same for Preston - you'll get Ciceley Continental.

Got it. Thanks.

 

[grpar]

Back to the CLS nightmare

Not surprised by the original post on the CLS nightmare.

Had a CLS 320 CDI hire car last year in France, with all the extras (leather, comfort seats, Command, electric blind, etc). Only 3,000 km on the clock (sorry 2,000 miles) but the engine sounded like a bag of spanners under acceleration, and it finally gave up the ghost by dumping its engine oil all over the hotel car park. Was glad to see it towed away by Mobilowhatsit.

Nearly 50 grand of your own money for that ! Thankfully for me it was Sixt's problem, and not mine. Still wouldn't have a CLS if someone gave one to me for free (well, on reflection, I probably would, and then flog it quicko).

 

[hawk20]

Not surprised by the original post on the CLS nightmare.

Had a CLS 320 CDI hire car last year in France, with all the extras (leather, comfort seats, Command, electric blind, etc). Only 3,000 km on the clock (sorry 2,000 miles) but the engine sounded like a bag of spanners under acceleration, and it finally gave up the ghost by dumping its engine oil all over the hotel car park. Was glad to see it towed away by Mobilowhatsit.

Nearly 50 grand of your own money for that ! Thankfully for me it was Sixt's problem, and not mine. Still wouldn't have a CLS if someone gave one to me for free (well, on reflection, I probably would, and then flog it quicko).

Yes, whatever happened to Muggins the original poster. Any news??

As for grpar's point, it doesn't really add up. If you'd hired a BMW that had been a bad one would you never buy one of those? And then if you met someone who had had a bad Volvo or Bentley would you rule those out? It makes no sense to judge mass produced items on a sample of one or two. You need to read the JD Power survey of thousands of owners to get a fair view. And there you will see Mercedes E and C class ahead of all Audis but one, miles ahead of the BMW 5 series and so on. See the Reliable Mercedes thread for details.

Or look at What Car's survey of 30,000 fleet cars which showed that the Mercedes C class had the least breakdowns of any car.

Or look at the German statistics of call outs by breakdown services -again the C class came out top.

No make is perfect. They all have their share of lemons.

 

[jberks]

As for grpar's point, it doesn't really add up. If you'd hired a BMW that had been a bad one would you never buy one of those? And then if you met someone who had had a bad Volvo or Bentley would you rule those out?
No make is perfect. They all have their share of lemons.

I have to agree.
Contradictory Anecdote:
When things became good, I thought I'd treat the Mrs to a brand new car to replace the old wrecks we'd always run. We finally settled on an Audi A3 Turbo sport. The car was delivered and parked in our garage on August 31st and at midnight we went out for a spin to show off our new reg. First ever new car, and what a car. Boy we were chuffed. First thing we noticed was that the CD changer didn't work but it didn't spoil our enjoyment too much. Next day she took it back to the dealer and after most of the day messing about, it was sorted. That night she went out to show it off to her friends. 10 mins later I get a call. It had conked out. In actual fact, it had thrown a con rod so it went back on the truck and after a few more weeks was replaced. We continued to run A3 T's for another 5 years and in that time, they were the paragon of reliability (actually the cd changer in the next one died so maybe Audi have a problem with CD's!). Anyway, never judge anything on one example.
The CLS is simply an E in drag and the E320CDI is a pretty reliable beast these days - or am I missing lines of them on the hard shoulder?.

 

[benzo]

The CLS is simply an E in drag and the E320CDI is a pretty reliable beast these days - or am I missing lines of them on the hard shoulder?.

Saw an 03 W211 E (can't remember the engine size) being towed by a Volvo S80 on the A4 yesterday morning. Not a comforting sight....

 

[hawk20]

Saw an 03 W211 E (can't remember the engine size) being towed by a Volvo S80 on the A4 yesterday morning. Not a comforting sight....

One!!!! Out of how many million????

I saw a Rolls Royce being towed yesterday but I didn't leap to any unwarranted conclusions because of that.

I also saw a horse being towed in a trailer. And they're usually reliable.

 

[benzo]

One!!!! Out of how many million????

I saw a Rolls Royce being towed yesterday but I didn't leap to any unwarranted conclusions because of that.

I also saw a horse being towed in a trailer. And they're usually reliable.

Here we go again MR Hawk"defender-of-the-marque"20. My post was a simple observation. I did not inform you I had jumped to any conclusions - unwarranted or otherwise....

 

[alexspurs61]

I put 100 thou on a diesel Citroen BX replacing only the oleopneumatic spheres to the front (70 quid) and regular consumables in four years.

THEREFORE - The Citroen BX is the most reliable car in the world. Ever.

I think not

Remember there are lies, damned lies and reliability perceptions. Even the well respected JD Power survey has the word 'satisfaction' at its core. Almost an intangible, no?

 

[grpar]

But hang on Hawk20

..... the CLS 320 CDI I had sounded like a bag of spanners when you put your foot on the floor. It gained speed at a fair old lick, but what a terrible racket ... ! Can't be right in a 50 grand luxury car, surely ? Even for a diseasel (sorry a diesel).

(p.s the fact it broke down was merely incidental, it's the noise I couldn't stand, hence I wouldn't want to live with one for more than, well, one breakdown let's say.)