Buellwinkle

Went to the big MB meet in Irvine yesterday, there had to be 300+ cars there. I ran into an MB dealer mechanic and learned the inside secrets. The mechanics are encouraged to find even the slightest things wrong, for example, a mechanic may note that there's some seepage at the head gasket even though it's normal and happens on every car. They don't feel it's dishonest because they are not saying to fix it, just that it's happening or they'll say the brakes are 20% worn (not 20% left, but 20% worn). The inside word for this is a "safety check". It's the SA's responsibility to turn that information into as much revenue as possible and sometimes it's legit, many times it's out and out fraud. So if an SA can turn a $50 repair into $3,500 repair by saying you have 20% left on your brakes when they are in fact have 80% left or you need a head gasket for no reason, they get more bonus.

This happened to me at MB of Laguna Niguel. My car was leaking oil from the oil drain plug, turned out the copper crush washer was reused and eventually leaked, a great independent mechanic in S.D. fixed it for the cost of an oil change. The dealer found $3,455 worth of work my car needed including head gasket, shocks, brakes, belt, etc, ironically, none of which would have fixed my problem. I took it back a week later to a different SA and specifically told him my drain plug is leaking. After 2 days and not even looking at the drain plug (I put putty over it to slow down the leak and it was still there afterwards), they told me a I needed a new oil pan for $865, ironically, this mechanic didn't find one thing wrong that the first mechanic found. This was total out and out fraud, for example, the brakes have about 1/2" of pad material left, both inner and outer pads.

So you may think, just get the extended warranty, then they have to fix everything they say is wrong, no surprises. Not really, he said that cars that come in for extended warranty repair (or any warranty repair) many times are returned to the customer with no work done because it's not as profitable. So he'll get a car in with an intermittent radio problem for example, they never actually look at the radio, they hold the car for the day and say they couldn't duplicate the problem. Or they get a check engine light and just reset it and they are done. So you see, an extended warranty is for the most part, useless.

I'm not saying don't trust your dealer, just verify that any recommended repairs are truly necessary if it sounds out of line. The SA's are their most profitable salesmen, these are professional people trying to sell you something. They are not mechanics and their only interest is commissions.

yellowrama

Great...now you tell me. I get my car serviced all the time at MB of Laguna Niguel. However my experiences have been good or lucky, they do what I ask them to do with no surprises. Plus Service A & B prices are pretty reasonable compare with other MB dealers. My only problem is that I never know if they actually changed my oil or do they just reset the maintenance computer.

EV0LVE

this is excatly the reason i do my own services on the car, because i know that I CHANGED the oil and filters. Plus when I used to take my other car to the dealer, they always seem to find something that I might need.

I only go to dealers for warranty work, service department will not get a dime out of me.

And id there is something I really need a professional mechanic to do, then I go to an independent that I know.

JDitlaia

that is true sad to say i work as a tech for chylser and you see a lot of shady things go down when your on the inside, but thats happends at alomost every dealer so your have to know your stuff and car, and know when your getting screwed!

Soon2bMB

how much do you pay for your A or B service?

wizkid

I think this kind of thing is common knowledge because the service department is what keeps MOST (i.e. GM, Ford, etc.) dealerships running. Not selling cars.

I will have to say that my service department in Knoxville is pretty good. They caught the crank shaft pulley coming apart and replaced it under warranty during a normal service (back when they paid for them). Gotta love that.

mleskovar

I hope this wasn't a surprise to you, or anyone. Unfortunately most people today have no knowledge of car symptoms/diagnostics/typical failures/mechanisms and are victimized by unscrupulous people who justify their actions with "it didn't hurt doing the work and I did my customer a favor". If you don't know how to verify what they are telling you is true then you are at their mercy every time they look at your car. They are rewarded for billing parts and labor, not making you happy. Independent mechanics know your satisfaction will prompt you to return.

sirenebekim

this is exactly what happened to me at "MERCEDES BENZ OF TAMPA"


Don't go there they are crooked

1. Ripped me off for Check Engine Light by greasing the Mass Air Meter (They wanted 1200 dollars to replace it when all it needed was cleaned of grease, that somehow got past the air filters.... HMMM)

2. Leave spikes in their parking lot, don't take responsibility for it, and say it will cost $40 for the plug. Magically, the bill turned into 80 at the checkout- FOR THE SAME SERVICE AS LISTED FOR$40

It gets better, they first suggested that my family and I drive 40 miles home with a 1/4 inch diameter BOLT stuck in my treadwall. It was around closing time so that's not surprising. I had to cause a scene to get a rental car.

3. They never changed my cabin filters, I still have the one from the 60k service; my car has been back 3 times since. SAME FILTERS (I put small markings on the underside of the filter to see if they change it.. NOPE!)

I filed a complaint with the BBB still to hear back. Can anyone help me?

czachari

Cz

BKLYN_C

Of course you don't get into this dirt. Your car is still under warranty, so they will not offer to replace header gasket, but replacing brake pads or rear tires for $500 is more expected

rtking

Sadly, this is very common in the auto repair business. It's called "up-selling" and Service Advisors are trained to make as much out of someone as they can. Your appearance and knowledge about cars really comes into play as the Service Advisor sizes you up and determines how far they can push you (or lead you on.) Ford does it, I'm sure all other brands do it.

It's for that very reason that I do these few things:

1) If I have to use a dealer, I try to ask a lot of "probing" questions. These make me look like a mechanically ignorant owner, but in reality, I'm trying to gauge their reactions. I'll say things like, "Hmm, I've changed my oil with synthetic and put 1000 miles on it, but that oil has been in my engine for 3 months. Should I change it?"

I've had unscrupulous dealers try to upsell me for all sorts of stuff - like transmission fluid changes at 15K miles, differential fluid changes "because it's really dirty" (when I just changed it myself the previous weekend using Redline Synthetic), etc. I've only found a handful of dealer service centers that I think are honest and reputable, but sadly, not one for Mercedes. (But if you have a Nissan, the Service Manager (Stephen) at Douglas Nissan in HB is great!)

2) I typically try to look for the independent mechanic. They typically have to work harder and at narrower margins than the dealer to attract and keep customers. I found Automax (www.automaxservice.com) in Irvine/Tustin area that works on German cars. They seemed pretty honest to me and did a great job working on my C230.

Bob

14cue

interesting thread.
i just had my service B done which cost me $500 CND. oil change/filters, safety check etc...they finished my car in just over un der 2 days. is that too fast? what are some of your experiences with service B. i'm a little worried they didnt really do all the checks but the car is driving great! (knock on wood).

mleskovar

[QUOTE=14cue;1952449]they finished my car in just over un der 2 days. is that too fast? QUOTE]

If done properly service B couldn't take more than two hours.....besides oil and filter(s) change and replacement of windshield wiper blades the rest is mostly visual checks.

yellowrama

You are right.

yellowrama

Services were done in MB of Laguna Niguel in CA.
Service A was US$143.56 total, June 2005
Service B was US$356.13 total, April 2006

14cue

thanks, i didnt think so. they did a pretty good job but they did not replace my wiper blades! and believe me they need replacing. i'm going to call them back and see if i can pick up a set after work.


anyone know if replacement rotors are covered? my buddy told me warrany covers one set of rotor replacement. is there any truth to that?

mleskovar

Not that I'm aware of in the US....but it's possible to talk your dealer into anything from what I can tell. I wouldn't count on it.

benze-ply

here are some stealership ads that i scanned in. i hope fellow members find it useful as references or sumthin

benze-ply

i get my servicing done by an independent as well. if your really frugal (driving a benz ) and/or a student, you can check with parts to see the prices of the parts (or do a search) to buy and have an independent do the service. you'll have a good idea of how much your dishin out.
you could also get the part numbers and buy the parts at a non-dealership parts store and do the service yourself...

yeuchau

totally agree
and somethings there is a part failure, dealer will quote you with all the surrending parts need to be replaced.
for example, over heat, dealer will prob quote you need to replace(radiator, therostate, expensaion tank, etc)..

but it all really depends on the mechanic, some sucks badly

patrick_y

Holy cow, servicing is much cheaper in LA than it is here. My dealership Fletcher Jones of Fremont (the Northern California Fletcher Jones, not the one in Newport Beach) charges $290 for service A up here (for all cars 4 through 8 cylinders) and $450 for Service B.

Also that ad from Benze-ply scanned in for us; those prices seem very very reasonable.

I wanted to do a coolant flush in the summer of 2006 since on one of the cars in extremely hot weather had the radiator temperature go to nearly 100 degrees C; but my service advisor said that it would be a waste of money; this makes me feel somewhat more confident of his honesty. Then again, even if your service advisor is the same way, I wouldn't be lulled into a false sense of security.

Buellwinkle

Wow, $290 for an oil change and some fluid and brake pad check, that's just insane.

As for MB of LN doing OK on newer cars, I can understand that, MB sends our surveys that they fear only to new car purchasers and anything they find wrong they have to justify to MB. The people they really take advantage of are people with cars out of warranty. Like I said, if you have a warranty or extended warranty they will tend to do what's minimally required to get you out the door because there's no money in it for them, MB pays poorly for repairs compared to you and I.

As for oil changes not being done, they claimed they changed the oil as part of Service A but when I took it to an independant after about 300 miles of driving it to get the oil leak fixed, the oil looked black, like it was never changed so I had to pay for new oil to make sure it was done properly. Who knows if they even changed the filter.

patrick_y

Yes, I'm very skeptical if they actually do all the things they claim to. Maybe they just check it off the check list and don't actually get around to doing it. I know my first Service A was such a case. My spare tire pressure was not checked because two weeks later I got a nail in my rear passenger side tire and although it wasn't seriously leaking, I checked my spare just in case if I'd have to use it, the pressure was one half what it was supposed to be (30ish instead of 65). Come to think of it, I never mentioned it to my service advisor and I don't think I mentioned it on my survey.

For things like oil changes, I truly wonder how will people like us ever truly know unless we look, and it's not necessarily easy for us to look either. As for the money; yes they do charge that much and I think they get away with it most of the time (I get a small discount sometimes); I just need to be assured that they actually do what they claim to do. If they charge me $1500 for a 60,000 mile service and they don't actually do it, then that'd be robbery; if they did a really terribly incomplete job of it then that's just a scam.

BKLYN_C

$200 for A and $500 for B here in Manhattan. But the good thing is they did all they were suppoesed to do plus some other little checks. It is expensive, but I knew what I was getting into when buying the car. Every time I pay for service I wish I had a BMW, but 5 mins later I catch myself on thoughts "To hell bimmer!"

slammedcclass

I have to do Service B in 3 days so how much do they charge and what do they do for service B and u think they will change every thing they are suppose to?

and do i have to do it in 3 days cuz i have 16500 miles and i did service A on 5000 miles dont u have to do 13000 miles to get oil change? why r they doin it so early?? so dont i have to do 1500 more miles n then service B?