E55fanatic

Hi guys,


I have my car due for a B service...so far, I've been quoted for $600, inc. taxes. I'm located in Vancouver, Canada. Is this a reasonable price?

Does anyone have any suggestions for independent mechanics in Van.? Thanks for all your help!


All the best,
e55fanatic

micropower99

Is Service B the first service needed or is it after service A? (maybe thats a stupid question but I'm curious cause the first service is at 20,000km and the second is needed at 40,000km.) :p

e1000

Service A is the first service required (pretty much an oil change), Service B is after.

I'm not familiar with prices in Canada.

ShoremNJ

MB service isn't cheap, I had an ML350 before this and never had a service less than $400.00US

mac911

At 2 years or 26,000 miles they also do a brake fluid change that is like $100, so that may be part of the price they are quoting you.

QQQ

The ballpark B service is $500-600 including parts.

ACdude

Can anyone tell me what in detail what is performed in Service A and Service B, the cost associated with them and how often it is needed (in miles)?

QQQ

Refer to service booklet for work scope. In NA it is fixed schedule 20,000km or equivalent in miles (12,500?) alternate between A and B.

blastit

i think that 600 incl tax is about right. when i picked up the car, they told me that the b service was around that 5 bill range. i am assuming that they quoted me a price not incl the tax. i expected this car to cost me more on maintenance.

E55fanatic

Thanks for all your help guys! I've just booked my appointment -- wish me luck that I won't get a super-high bill.

norcal5

Keep us posted on price and service rendered

kaiju

it really depends on the wear and tear of the car, a good mechanic will let you know AND show you what is needed to replace / repair. Mine costed AU$2000 for Service B. Had the replace some bushes on the front suspension or something that was a common wear and tear issue with W203/W209 (share the same chassic). If not replaced it would have costed me more later down the track as other parts will need replacing. I will see my invoice and post what was done tomorrow.

Carsy

Hello Kaiju, Could you tell me how many Km your car has travelled before you needed to replace the suspension bushes? . Has it had a hard life on bad roads? If not what would cause the suspension bushes to fail. I have a Peugeot 405 that has done 250,000 km on country roads & the suspension is original.

kaiju

History of my services

20,000 km
Service A - around $300
oil change plus reset of the computer with star diag

35,000 km
Service B - around $500
same as Service A + more detail checks

50,000 km
Service A + front brake pad and disc - around $600

65,000 km
Service B + suspension parts - around $2000

Breakdowns of the major parts:

Labor:
front suspension arm bushes and stabilizer bar links on both sides - $240
Service B - $200
oil filter - $60
flushed cooling system - $60
replaced brake fluid and flush entire hydralic system including ABS/ESP - $60

parts:
air filter set - $103
fuel filter - $214
Antifreeze - $90
2 litres of transmission fluid - $50
2 litres of brake fluid - $50
2 x thrust arm bush - $153
2 x stabilizer bar link rod - $241
8 litres of full synthetic Oil - $116

Other issues that i had:

Wheel bearing failure on both wheels - $600
Should have claimed this under warranty but the stealership had no clue until too late... out of warranty now. They blamed it on my worned pads at the time which was crap because it still had 1/3 left. The failure sounded like a metallic rattle whenever i go over uneven surface, initially i thought my pads was loose in the calipers but upon inspection, it was not the case. My mechanic actually showed me how to check that by placing one arm at 12 o'clock and the other at 3 o'clock of the wheel and pulling back and forth towards yourself to feel if there are any free-plays... if there is, your screwed!

Noisy brakes:
Started having squealing brakes at around 30,000km which continued after it was replaced but that was due to the wrong pads the dealer delivered (wheel bearing failure was also part of the caused of the noise). Pads were "dust-free" type for cold climate (noticed that i didn't have to clean my wheels for month which made me suspicious). Once it was change to the normal dusty oem ones, it was fine (now i have to clean my wheels every week again ).


As mentioned before, all depends on the wear of the car but as the car has more km's, more thngs will need to be replaced, a good merc mechanic will know what to look for and what to expect. But I have to admit after that major service, the engine feels really solid and smooth, a good reset of the star diag always helps (good luck getting that done at your local stealership! let alone having a young apprentice servicing your car).

Carsy

Kaiju ,Very interesting, thank you for taking the time to list all the servicing. Cannot understand why the front wheel bearings would fail unless they were torqued incorrectly, the seal failed or faulty hard facing during manufacture. I think you have a case to question MB about this. Carsy.

micropower99

And this is for the W204? You already have over 60K km?

kaiju

hehe... no, its a W209 but they are very similar or at least the new CLK will be based on the new W204 platform.

micropower99

oooh haha ok

E55fanatic

Just got a message that my vacuum tubes were leaking....and that they replaced it because it was difficult to contact me..

Don't know how much that will cost me yet. However, it was interesting how they said that I had 20% brake pad left when the low pad wear indicator kept lighting up every time I pressed the brakes. After telling them that my wear indicator kept coming on, I got a pricing for $500 to replace the front discs and pads. Does this sound reasonable? I'm not quite familiar with the pricing. Thanks in advance!

E55fanatic

A quick update:

So I paid $1150 for the b service + front pads and rotors. 1 day later, my check engine light went right back on. I brought it in again, but the SA said that it was not their fault and they would charge around $200 to check it again. I said fine, being all too nice, and now, as I expected, he said that the MAF sensor needs to be replaced for a whopping $700. So now, I'm waiting for my car to be fixed, and lighten my wallet when I pick it up later today. Any advice, guys, or am I pretty much screwed? :S

Btw, I had it serviced at the MB dealership at Boundary Road in Vancouver.

micropower99

First of all their taking advantage of you. Aren't you covered by the new car warranty? Secondly, MB Boundary is the worst. They have the worst sales team and even worse service team. I would recommend MB North Van. Its a little farther out but they treat you a little better.

E55fanatic

Darn it! If you'd only tell me earlier...I've already signed an authorization form, so I think I'm pretty much screwed. *sigh*


I bought my MB from the Vancouver dealership, but I thought Boundary road might have had better service. Guess not.

micropower99

Sorry I didn't know until I read your last thread that you took it to Boundary MB.

RLE

<<History of my services

20,000 km
Service A - around $300
oil change plus reset of the computer with star diag

35,000 km
Service B - around $500
same as Service A + more detail checks

50,000 km
Service A + front brake pad and disc - around $600

65,000 km
Service B + suspension parts - around $2000

Breakdowns of the major parts:

Labor:
front suspension arm bushes and stabilizer bar links on both sides - $240
Service B - $200
oil filter - $60
flushed cooling system - $60
replaced brake fluid and flush entire hydralic system including ABS/ESP - $60

parts:
air filter set - $103
fuel filter - $214
Antifreeze - $90
2 litres of transmission fluid - $50
2 litres of brake fluid - $50
2 x thrust arm bush - $153
2 x stabilizer bar link rod - $241
8 litres of full synthetic Oil - $116

Other issues that i had:

Wheel bearing failure on both wheels - $600
Should have claimed this under warranty but the stealership had no clue until too late... out of warranty now. They blamed it on my worned pads at the time which was crap because it still had 1/3 left. The failure sounded like a metallic rattle whenever i go over uneven surface, initially i thought my pads was loose in the calipers but upon inspection, it was not the case. My mechanic actually showed me how to check that by placing one arm at 12 o'clock and the other at 3 o'clock of the wheel and pulling back and forth towards yourself to feel if there are any free-plays... if there is, your screwed!

Noisy brakes:
Started having squealing brakes at around 30,000km which continued after it was replaced but that was due to the wrong pads the dealer delivered (wheel bearing failure was also part of the caused of the noise). Pads were "dust-free" type for cold climate (noticed that i didn't have to clean my wheels for month which made me suspicious). Once it was change to the normal dusty oem ones, it was fine (now i have to clean my wheels every week again ).


As mentioned before, all depends on the wear of the car but as the car has more km's, more thngs will need to be replaced, a good merc mechanic will know what to look for and what to expect. But I have to admit after that major service, the engine feels really solid and smooth, a good reset of the star diag always helps (good luck getting that done at your local stealership! let alone having a young apprentice servicing your car).>>

Some of these prices are seriously out of whack.

$214 for a fuel filter?
$90 for one gallon of antifreeze? Let's hope it was the MB approved stuff and came in a crystal decanter at that price.
$50 for 2 liters of trans fluid? Why only two? Changing the trans fluid takes far more than that and I don't see a filter listed which is always changed.
8 liters of oil at $14.50 per? Twice the US dealer price which is also a ripoff.

I know this is Australia but, come on!

And wheel bearing failure? Not until high mileages. And if this should have been warranty and the dealer screwed this up, they should eat it. Not you.
And, brake pads have absolutely no connection with the bearings.

BTW, the CLK is on the W202 chassis, not W203. Front suspension bushing failure was not exactly unknown on both the 202 and 203.

RLE

<<Just got a message that my vacuum tubes were leaking....and that they replaced it because it was difficult to contact me..>>

Vacuum tubes? What in God's name are vacuum tubes, automotively speaking.