tee_tz

Ummmm...... yes.

Dude, a gas station right next to another gas station has different prices. It's about everything, not just rent and taxes they pay in their district. If a Mercedes-Benz dealership imports 100,000 parts per month and another imports 10, who do you think gets discounts that can be passed down to the consumer? Obviously the one with bigger volume.


Tee_Tz.

tee_tz

Quite frankly, there's some a lot of assurance going to the dealerships - even if they aren't the best technicians and mechanics: liability. If anything happens to your car like a huge malfunction or failure, if you car was not treated at a Mercedes-Benz Official Service Center, Mercedes-Benz USA will fight to the death not to even consider your case - even if it was a build issue.

At Joe's Auto shop, he may know more than some of the technicians, but he will not claim certain liabilities. If he scratches your bumper he'll probably say sorry, at best, paint it. Mercedes-Benz, brand new one (in accordance to MB USA rules). Therefore, as you buy more and more expensive cars, like a S-Class or SLR, or Ferrari, you realize that even if someone's a proven pro - it's just better to stick to the dealership, because the extra money spent is money well spent.


Tee_Tz.

Buellwinkle

Tee_tz,

Exactly, that's why I take all my cars to their respective dealers for their $19.95 oil change specials, free car washes and such and save the more difficult stuff for the independants. No sense taking a risk for something trivial, best to save it for something huge like $60 from an independant vs. $3,455 from an MB dealer.

Don't know about MB fighting to the death. The issue for me is too many people at the dealer touch your car besides the mechanic. You have the SA, the driver that moves cars around, the mechanic, the car wash guy. Also, the dealer handles at least a hundred cars a day and they are all stacked up in the back like a Manhattan parking lot. I think the risk of damage is much greater at an MB dealer than a small independant, specially one that lets you hang around while he does his work. But I can certainly understand your issue, living in NYC there probably aren't that many independants like there would be in the other boroughs.

C230 Sport Coup

This has all been discussed so many times.
Way back when then earned the name stealerships.

Shake

Its a bad thing that it has been discussed so many times because that means people have a lot of dealership problem stories to tell. haha

hawaiian

+1

powa

My dad's car's rear fender does get scratched after i did a service. I noticed the scratch 2 days later, and i call back and they deny to paint it back for me. It depends on which dealership u put ur car in, they all have different rules.

If your car is under warranty, probably yes service in dealership. But if it isn't, no point of going to the dealership IMO

tee_tz

Well look, let me put it this way - the dealership will always use quality products. Mom & Pop, Brother and Sister mechanics will use whatever works at the cheapest rate so they can make the most money. You see, the Mom & Pops need the cash more than the dealership - so while the dealership charges higher prices, it comes with using a certain quality that Mercedes-Benz approves.

If I was driving a Civic, I'd take it to any joe-smo, but because I'm driving a Benz, I take it to higher level services. Not to sound arrogant - I mean a flat-tire is a flat tire so whether Joe or MB changes it it doesn't make a difference, however, I just don't want to bother with Joe anymore... I mean, I just don't. And it's not a Ferrari, but until I get that Ferrari, he'll eat 93 Oil, be tuned at clean dealerships, get luxury hand washes, etc, etc...


Tee_Tz.

netboy

just got my Service B done at dealer for 399$, they havnt even checked my car yet! that advisor said your car is at 65,000 miles, u need the Service B+, that' the major, major service where we change spark plugs and other stuffs for 1600$. WTF? 1600$? and there' a Service B+ ?

2 hours later, the advisor called me and said i need to replace rear brake pads. doesnt the 2003 c320 coupe has REAR brake sensors? i know it' has brake sensors cus i just replace the brake pads last year, cant remember is that the front or rear. or is brake sensors only for front brakes?

also, they didnt even give me a car wash! dont know is that good thing or not. but i'm not that happy about it! they got my 400$ and dont even give me a car wash!

Shake

haha no car wash? The dealer is being cheap. What is a B+? I've never heard of it.

1001

i just got my car from the service center. it was there for the psat 4 days. they said the engine has carbon build up on a valve on cylinder 2 so they changed it and test drove and the check engine light came on. they then said it lost compression on cylinder 2. they changed a whole bunch of stuff but luckily i still have warranty for the next 4 months. my SA said it'd be around $4,000 if i didn't. did this happen to anyone else???
BTW..i have a 04' 230k

powa

it's possible they do this changes so that they can ask MBUSA for the cost of warranty. Think of urself being the boss of the dealership, there are lots of way you can make money from some way.

powa

Quality product? i think the whole world's Mobile One oil are the same? Do you think a Bi-xenon really cost $2500 for a pair while we can find some places for around $1000? Are you really sure about the Mercedes quality parts? If you are saying they are high quality, can you garantee that they don't break as easy as the Japanese parts? Come on be real, MB to me is totally not reliable. You have stuff that needs to be replace every so often consider your car is new and on the road for less than 2 years. My dad's car and my car's Bi-xenon headlight, both of our car's Ballast was burnt. Quality? BS, even the cheapest after market HID kit, the ballast wouldn't burn as easy.

MB jeck up prices because they think their brand value is so high. You think Louis Vatton's Bag really worth that much? do you think their quality really is that much? or it's the brand to make a $50 bag to sell for $1500?

powa

Sorry not to be an *** being on MB forum, as i drive benz myself i know their quality. Why MB doesn't hold their car value as good as japanese car? Biggest reason is their reliablity issue. Toyota is the most reliable car in the world. They can even make a commercial to state their car is impossible to have problem. Can MB do that? i doubt that. Everyone knows Euro car has lots of problem, hence their resale value is crap.

Shake

Right on dude.

C230 Sport Coup

You can do the rear pads yourself in about 1/2 hour.
Seriously, it's soooo easy. Just pull the wheel, pull pin that hold pads in place, use your fingers to push the pistons back in, they move that easy,
put new pads in, put pin back in, and put on wheel, repeat.
Pads cost about $50-70.
And honestly, I doubt your rear pads are toast.
I did mine at 75K, and it turned out I probably coulda got another
20-40K miles NP. But I had the wheel off and pads in my hands, so
wtf. Spark Plugs same thing, 30 bucks.
The other items are likely belts, air and cabin filters etc.
Did you get new wiper blades and air filters for your 400 bucks?
Exactly what does B+ include?

Search around here, and you'll find a service sheet that tells you what to inspect.

Do everything easy you can do yourself, just let dealer do oil change and inspection.
Oh BTW, no sensor on the back brakes. Just pull a wheel and inspect.

What dealer was this?

powa

the general auto mechanics will do change the stuff that needs to be change according to how many miles, how long the car has been on the road. They will inspect what needs to be change as well, but they will judge wheather it's needed to be change.

From my example, my mechanic told me the rear brake pad just wear off a little bit, but it's no big deal. Mercedes will ask you to change it when it's wear off down to 60-80% (used 20-40%).

Bascially IMO, MB's workmanship works on people that's really rich, wouldn't care so much about $$, the people that order lots of food in restraurant but only eat a few pieces and then throw them away. This kind of workmanship has been embedded to MB for many years. For me, I only drive a C-class, as MB becomes more popular towards to the middle weathy population, I would not waste my money on unnessesary changes unless they are needed.

just my 2 cents

PrsnBenz

whos your SA at Pleasanton?? Talk to Lance, he's great.

netboy

my 400$ include replacing wiper blades and "dust" filter. is "dust" filter the same as air filter? i havnt checked yet if they really replaced it. haha
i know something is wrong when the advisor said your car is at 65,000 miles, u need the Service B+ for 1600$ when they havnt even looked at the car yet! Service B+ is "we change spark plugs and other stuffs". haha
u sure about no REAR brake sensors? cus last year i change brake pads when the brake light comes on (cant remember is that front or rear brakes).
and the F! they dont even wash my car for 400$! haha

Mercedes of Oakland