Fung63

so really, this is almost 2 things in one. The B3 and a tranny service. Tranny services are quite expensive so the 650 actually isnt too far off in terms of stealership levels. My wife's GLK's tranny service was quoted for 500. Then the question is why do you have to do it now when you are no where near the mandated miles... unless there is a time restraint as well.

m a x i m u s

well, this is from the same dealership that said i needed to change my brakes rotors and pads a few months ago (can't remember the quote, but it was of course in the thousands of dollars). i checked them last week and the rotors are still more than good and i have like 50% pads left. so why do i keep going back there, you may ask? they are the closest to my house. maybe they are trying to make up for the fact that ive only had warranty work done there and nothing more. in any event, i have and will continue to have my car serviced only by my independent MB tech.

late_bloomer

Thanks for sharing.. Makes me feel better pre-paying maintenance 5 yr/ 50k for 2600. Probably still got shafted, but eases my mind on looking for an indie shop..

jvanbrecht

WTF!!!!!

The filter you can replace yourself, and it costs like $30 for both, and 15 min worth of work.. if that.. You need to call them out on that.

Tranny fluid change cost me $450, but my dealership likes me, so that may have been discounted.

I have 80k miles on mine right now. I think I did the tranny at around 50k, but that was due to hard shifting problems, the fluid changed resolved this for me.

jvanbrecht

Not sure why your dealership is padding the prices.

Warranty work is not done for free, MB USA pays the dealers to cover the costs of warranty work. Generally the set hourly rate is the same across all dealers (at least that is what I noticed in VA MD DC area). So the dealership is getting paid regardless of whether its in or out of warranty. The only difference being they cannot gauge MB USA on repair bills like they can a customer.

I suggest you reach out to MB Corp (you are in Canada right??), and lodge a complaint against the dealer.

I realize most dealers do not do partial hours, so, in theory, the air filter is not that outrageous when you take into account the cost of the part which ranges from $30 to $80 depending on how much the dealer likes you, my parts guy gives me a decent discount, and the going rate of about $140 an hour. I still think its a rippoff charging an hour for what the dealership technician can do in less then 10 minutes.

I recommend you do the basic stuff yourself, it really is not that hard.

motoman

Maximus, puffery indeed, embellished with meters of outrageous banditry. Do the Jiffy thing and watch 'em.

m a x i m u s

incidentally, my indie shop charged me $505 to do the B3 service, plus the trans service, diff service, changing the coolant, changing the brake fluid and changing the filters. we left off changing the engine oil and filter bc i had serge at benzworks do the oil a few days before since i was there for something else. all tolled, it cost me less than $700. far cry from $1700. like i said, this is my indie shop that i've been taking my cars to for years.

_timothy

righteo. thats a good chap.

landsteam

My local dealer MB of Huntington charged $415 for service A.

bushburninc63

Do you guys get charged for windshield wiper fluid when you specifically ask for an oil change only at the dealership?

I called them out on it and she said it was part of the service they do. I will be doing my own oil change from now on.

Fung63

i'm surprised they didnt take off the cost of the fluid after you inquired.

chainani

i got quoted $1050...

can anyone tell me if this is correct??

LakeShow23

This is my dealer as well. My next service is B, wonder how much that's going to cost.

LakeShow23

When does service B1,B2,B3 need to be done. Does it go from service A>B>B1....? I'm not quite sure how these intervals work, also heard there's an A2 as well. Just not sure the order and I'm assuming every 10k.

jvanbrecht

The car has a built in Magic 8 ball which decides which service it is going to throw on the display. The dealer has a matching Magic 8 ball which decides how badly they are going to bend you over a barrel and charge you through the ***

m a x i m u s

lol

D C

My 60k mi "B" service was $350. Most of that was labor. The prices they charged for parts was reasonable.

All in all, it is just a glorified oil change, but since this was the first major service I've done since acquiring the car as a CPO, I thought of it as goodwill.
I can do pretty much everything myself, and can get all the parts at cost.

glennhl

Man, that's over $8400 worth of work. I guess it's lucky I do my own work. I estimate I could do all of this work for under $2000. Of course, the hardest one is the rear seal, requires removal of the transmission. Everything else is pretty easy.

I would expect an Indie shop to charge around $4000 for this same work.

Ingenieur

Do the air and cabin filters yourself
Keep receipts and note date/mileage

My oil service A1? And tranny was $600 total with tax
Bear in mind it's mileage OR years whichever comes first
I think tranny is 4 years/40k miles per my maint book
That's why I had it done: car has been in service 4 years
Brake fluid evety 2 years regardless of mileage
Mine was only 1 year old

The $535 is crazy for basically an oil change and inspection!

Ingenieur

Edit: replied to wrong post
Your car is a 2004
That is a screw job

solekeeper

dealers, need to make "x" to stay in business. And as long as there are uneducated people out there, they will continue to do as they please.


On the flip side, we can't expect most owners of new cars to know where to go for service/repairs..so they feel obliged to take it to the dealer.

Oh well, their loss.

glennhl

Whose car is a 2004? My car us a 2011.
Edit...I see that you responded to the wrong post. Never mind.

Ingenieur

I wouldn't say 'uneducated', some take it to the dealer by conscious choice, an 'educated' informed decision.

I have always (over 30 years) done my own maintenance (and still do most of it) but for the tranny I negotiated a price that made it worth having the dealer do it...my time (spent on my consulting work or even just screwing off) was worth more than they charged, plus since the tech had done several before a better end result was likely. I basically got the oil change thrown in since the car was up on the lift anyways, basically charged me for the materials: <$600 out the door for both.

Also service records on the car have 'value': especially if going back to MB USA for something like an out of warranty head bolt repair .

Also the likelyhood of getting good (or bad) work from a dealer vs. indie is probably the same, the dealer just charges more.

BRV518

The hard shifts you speak of, I notice that sometimes when going from 3rd to 4th in "M" mode. I picked the car up with 52k miles so maybe its needed.



Btw This thread is full of good information esp since I have yet to take my car in for its first service since I've owned the car.

jmueller

That is high for Service B. Additionally I think your spark plugs are good for 60K miles. I'm not sure which Service B you are getting though. 40K? 60K miles? 80K miles?

Over all those prices seem steep no matter what. You should not let them do half of that work. Actually, at $8400 dollars I'd be unloading this car on Carmax and buying a newer C63.