Tired of High Dealer Service\Repair Costs

[Andy]

Hi Shude

I know Monorch quite infact very well. The senior mechanics at both dealership I have either tought as apprentices or they have tought me. Most of the dealerships in B'ham and the surrounding areas have guys I used to work with. Which comes in handy every now and again.

As for treking down to B'ham, well If your happy with your "stealership" then there not much I can do. But If you change your mind. Give me a shout. There may be something we can do to make the ARDUOUS journey a little more agreable.

Regards

Andy @ www.mercedesservicing.com

 

[fuzzer]

It must be the Blower on your 230 K thats causing the problems.

My car is hitting A services all the time according to the wee doobie on the dash.

I paid £179 for my last service which i throught was good , sounds even better next to the price you are paying.

I remember an £800 service on my c180 , but that was on the old charge as much as they like fixed services.


Ill knock a 230k off my list then. Im just dreading changing the 12 spark plugs on mine  tho :-(

 

[steveperry]

I only found out the other day that C240 is "twin-sparked" which was news to me hehe. The likes of Alfa emblazen the fact all over the rear of their cars "156 T.Spark" and what to MB do? hehe "C240".

Jason, I've been told that changing the spark plugs on a C240 is a real pain in the @$$ because of location, perhaps Andy could confirm this?

S.

 

[fuzzer]

The good thing is they are only changed every 60k tho.

I still got 30k till i need to change mine ...

 

[fuzzer]

Just as an afterthrought . The sparkplugs don't both spark together . The spark in sequence on diferent strokes as far as im lead to believe .

But , i recon about 2,800 - 3,000 rpm , somthing happens in the engine ( almost like the spark plugs are going in tandem ), because it changes and then the car sprouts wings.

 

[steveperry]

Mines on 58 and a bit K and telling me I need a service in 500 miles is there any way for the display to tell if the car is requesting an A or a B service?

S.

 

[steveperry]

Jason,

hehe you make the car sound like an ad for Redbull

"Buy a MB C240... it gives you wings"

S.

p.s. I was sat in a brand new (new type) 500SL yesterday, gorgeous car shame the dealer wasn't doing test drives and I didn't get the chance to test out the SLK style folding hard top either.

(Edited by steveperry at 12:11 pm on April 7, 2002)

 

[fuzzer]

Hi steve , on the dash , the service assist will display one spanner for an A and two spanners for a B.

I liked the SL55K AMG too , but , then i discovered for half the price you can get an SLK32 K and be at 60 MPH in about the same 5 or so seconds.

Interesting .....

 

[steveperry]

Ahhh thanks for that Jason

Heh I've had the car since January and I'm still learning new things about it.

Phew! uno spanner, that'll be an A service then, my wallet won't be as thin as I thought it would.

I do like the lines of the new SL tho' Mind you I drooled over the SLK when that first came out, have you seen the Brabus version of the SLK? they dump in a 4.2 V8 instead of the standard 2.3 I4. Awesome.

S.

 

[Andy]

Hi All,

Plugs on a V6 twin spark. Yes they are a pain in the b*t. MB give you 1.5hrs to change them. The problem is.
1.The caps seize onto the plugs. I had to get a crow bar would you believe on to one of them, to get the plug cap to move.

2. Acessability. One minute your on top of the car. Next your underneath. Strugling to get your hands in to get at the plug caps never mind removing them.

3.The plugs are as tight as they come. They been in a minimum of 50k and some of them are seized. MB have already brought out a repair kit. So I think its only a matter of time before some body either cross threads them or pulls the thread out when removing the things.

I do not suggest trying to replace them on the side of the road!!!!!!!!!

4. The plugs are expensive. Due to the three pronged electrode plugs they use. Don't skimp on the plugs if you decide to do the job your self. As you won't want to change them again if there is a problem.

Regards

Andy @ www.mercedesservicing.com

 

[dave elcome]

Andy.

Do MB put this under the general heading of "Progress"?

 

[steveperry]

Thanks for that Andy,

Someone else had told me exactly the same. It sounds weak but I think I'll leave it to the professionals, and to think I used to think nothing of whipping off the spark plugs off my old 190E if it needed it.S.

 

[Matt Crooke]

Steve,

Im glad i own one after reading all this!!

 

[Andy]

Hi Dave

Thats what they tell me. But look at it this way. You don't have to change them for 50-60k. Then it may cost plug caps,cylinder head removal, or if your lucky just an spark plug insert. But if your really really lucky. Then it will go fine and after sore knuckles your baby will be ticking over fine. Thanking you for your dedication. And giving you another 50-60k of reliable service.

Upps sorry I nodded of there must of been dreaming.

Regards
Andy @ www.mercedesservicing.com

 

[steveperry]

Matt,

I may have lost the ability to be able to change my own spark plugs or check my own auto gearbox oil but there are some upsides to compensate these losses

S.

(Edited by steveperry at 10:03 pm on April 8, 2002)

 

[steveperry]

Andy,

Sorry to talk about dealer prices when your after business yourself....

but

I got my local franchised dealer to quote me for doing an A service and B service, they quoted £108 and £229 respectively. They do charge extra for other stuff like changing fuel/air filters, spark plugs, coolant, brakes etc which I got figures for.
Does that not seem too good to be true? Reading other posts on this forum about MB franchised dealer costs I was expecting to quoted a whole lot more. Oh well, here's to being pleasantly suprised.
If my car has covered approx 58.5k miles would there be a list of actions I should expect them to perform? For example, from our posts earlier changing the spark plugs?

Thanks for your input.

S.

 

[dave elcome]

Now i will readily admit to being a bit of a Dinosaur, but if these dealers are quoting nearly £250 for a service, AND then want to charge extra to change filters, (excuse my ignorance of modern servicing, but isn't filter changing one of the primary objectives of servicing??). Then what in fact are they doing??

Certain things do spring to mind.

1) Cleaning the car, (tad expensive, £4.75 at my local Tesco)

2) Charging you £250 to test drive the loan car, (bet you can hire a Merc for a day for less)

3) Charging you for a twice yearly rant, when you have to confront the pimple faced youth, that these days masquerades as a service receptionist!!

Or did i just lose the plot years ago???????????

 

[fuzzer]

You forgot the stamp in the service book  

 

[Andy]

Hi Steve

Its the add on extra's that make the difference. Check the labour rate. A couple of extra hours work can make all the difference between and acceptable bill and unaceptable. Make sure you have all the facts.

Regards

Andy @ www.mercedesservicing.com

 

[Stewart Smith]

I thought I'd asked this here- must be going barmy.  What makes the £36 and 72K services so expensive on a 96 C-class? - There's no belt to change so why the extra cost?