Servicing

Concho

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Ok, I'm going mad here with my posts. Next question...

What would be the harm in not going to a main deal or a specialist Mercedes garage for my next service? We have a mechanic that we have always used on most of our other cars for servicing and repairs, he is honest never ripped us off and always does what is needed and no more, and he is obviously cheaper.

My next service is a "B" service and its getting near the time for a transmition fluid change as well.

Cheers

(car is 2007 CLK 220 Diesel)
 
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brandwooddixon

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Probably no problem at all other than familiarity with the marque and some of the quirks that can trip people up.

Your service book will detail all of the items that should be looked at during the service, some items are time related, others are governed by mileage.

I can't say how easy it is to reset the service indicator, but I'm sure that someone will come on soon and tell you.
 

st4

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I'm not so sure here. Depends on the quality of the mechanic and that he uses the correct oils, uses correct torque settings for bolts etc and fits correct merc parts.

In saying that a 646 engine isn't terribly complex but id rather an MB experienced guy worked on my car.
 
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Concho

Concho

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Just phoned the guy I was on about who has fixed and serviced loads of our cars over the years and he quoted me £180 for a major service including brake fluid change and air and pollen filters and that includes a full transmition fluid change, that's inclusive of vat as well. The local specialist wanted £500.

I will be booking it in with him soon, I cant argue with £180 its a damn good price, and he works on BMW's and Merc's all the time he said, and I've known of him for at least 20 years, so he has no reason to lie!
 
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Concho

Concho

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All that for £180, something doesnt add up to me. But you pay your money and takes your chance as they say.

You would say that, seeing as your a specialist mechanic!
 

ThinkPad

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No it definitely doesn't add up. He clearly will not be using mb parts. Or even oem at that price. Has to be cheap parts at that price. Cheap oil. Cheap everything. I wouldn't go near a garage charging that much. Including atf change!! No chance.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
 
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Concho

Concho

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No it definitely doesn't add up. He clearly will not be using mb parts. Or even oem at that price. Has to be cheap parts at that price. Cheap oil. Cheap everything. I wouldn't go near a garage charging that much. Including atf change!! No chance.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

No your right, I must pay a lot more in these hard times , it makes complete sense. Blow it, why not just go the whole hog and use a main dealer! :confused:
 

AMGeed

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No your right, I must pay a lot more in these hard times , it makes complete sense. Blow it, why not just go the whole hog and use a main dealer! :confused:

I don't think that is what the other posters are inferring. Take an ATF fluid change. With filters it's around £150 inc filter & gasket from a competent indy who is used to doing this work. The ATF fluid alone is around £70!

To be quoted £180 would make me wonder if your mechanic is using the correct fluids as recommended.

An oil change using Mobil1 with filters must be £60+ labour.

Ask yourself how he can do this so cheaply.
 

S.Speed

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You would say that, seeing as your a specialist mechanic!

To be fair to Steve (Avantgarde) it does seem an amazing amount of work for not very much money.
Don't get me wrong I am all for NOT using main dealers but there is a happy medium..
Why not phone your guy and ask him if he will only use MB parts?
If he isn't using MB ask what is he using?
Some indys don't mind you watching them at work.. I always love to do this.
1. it shows they are confident in their own ability.
2. You can see for yourself that they treat your car respectfully..
 

Pathfinder

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A good example of this is, most "other" mechanics are not even aware that Mercedes use a unique ATF in their transmissions and use the standard from the 45 gallon trade drum in the workshop.

The lack of a dipstick also usually stumps them and the replace the amount that drains off situation is the default when confronted by this. Happens daily.

I know many mechs from when I served my time who work to this principle. It works for them !
 

V6Matty

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that price is a little to good to be true, like you my 211 is coming up for a b service and my tame mechanic (not and indy) is says he will be £350-£450 depending on what deals he can get at the time (he does go looking for bargins and loves phoning round all his contacts beating the price down :)) he has services our familys cars for 15-20 years ish and always uses OEM or manufactures parts on cars, as he says "if its good enough for it when it was built then it is more than good enough to keep it going"
 

Pathfinder

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...and after the service, the car owner is none the wiser and happy that his car was fixed !
 
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V6Matty

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exactly, he also said if we get the timing right he should be able to get the price down even further as there is someone else with a W211 320 that is up for a b service at about the same time so in theory we could both be quids in :D
 

Naraic

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No your right, I must pay a lot more in these hard times , it makes complete sense. Blow it, why not just go the whole hog and use a main dealer! :confused:

Why so upset...you asked a valid question and got valid responses...if you ask the question, make sure the next time you tell us the answer you are looking for...then no one will waste their time responding. As has been said...YOU CAN'T BUY THE PARTS FOR £180.
 
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Frontstep

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Careful shopping around will get Fluids etc probably better than MB but their filters are good, but again you could get cheaper alternatives.
All the above choices though are better made by someone with some MB experience.
Still you know him, its your car, your money, its just as said a bit too cheap.
 

Steve@Avantgarde

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You would say that, seeing as your a specialist mechanic!

Thats what you may perceive, but I also give good value for what I do and use genuine parts and decent oils and everything is done to the manufacturers spec and procedure and of course product knowledge is also worth something.

A thorough service and a ATF change (and I mean a proper change where you flush the torque converter not just drain the sump) takes around 4-5 hours.

Ive worked out that using genuine parts and decent oil at a rate of trade +10% which is the lowest discount any garage would realistically go to to make it worth them opening its doors is £151.55 + VAT. So unless he is charging £7.11 per hour for labour then I would suggest he is using crappy factored chinese parts and the cheapest bulk oil he can find.

Will it do? probably. Would I sell that kind of service? Definately not. Would I do it to my own car? Absolutely not.
 
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Concho

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So give me a list of parts and I will get them myself and he can fit them, he has done that in the past before. Or I can ask him to fit genuine Merc parts and oil. My wife recently had a B service on her 2006 280 estate came to £353 at Mercedes of Brighton, main dealer. The parts on that service came to £142 inc vat and that included brake fluid, fully synthetic oil, filter element, combi filter seal ring, the rest was labour, so surely those parts if not MB parts aren't going to ruin your engine there mainly filters and I can ask him to put in mobil1 oil, and £85 for a brake fluid change is insane as a main dealer just quoted me, brake fluid is brake fluid surely!
 

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