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For a long time I've been able to avoid the stealership rates.
Since I have 4 cars being maintained the service manager always cut me a volume discount.
New service manager arrived on the scene and that wasn't going to fly anymore;
"All of my profits are flying out the door with all of the discounts customers were getting."
So my last B service on my 2010 E550 was $724.82 or 7.24 cents per mile falling just short of the cost of gas for the same interval. Nothing broken, no special problems to be resolved included, just the straight up B service.
No spark plugs or tranny flush, just the B.
$537.00 of pure labor.
I'm curious how this compares with other folks across the country?
Around me, they price the brake fluid separate from the B service. Local dealer wants $360 for B and $120 for brake. Indy are about $275-260 for B and $65-40 for brake.
So I would think a dealer would be just under $500 for both and an indy between $300-350. Off topic, the last Toyota I owned for 8 years, I may have spent about $500 for all the required services for regular maint.
Around me, they price the brake fluid separate from the B service. Local dealer wants $360 for B and $120 for brake. Indy are about $275-260 for B and $65-40 for brake.
So I would think a dealer would be just under $500 for both and an indy between $300-350. Off topic, the last Toyota I owned for 8 years, I may have spent about $500 for all the required services for regular maint.
I have noticed that all cars are increasing in costs for routine maintenance. My Nissan is getting close to MB prices.
Of course, you must always make sure any dealership does not do more than the Manufacturers Maintenance Schedule calls for. This also applies to indys.
One labor cost now is the "free inspection." Nothing is free. My Toyota cost $55 this month for an synthetic oil & filter change on special. Took over an hour, but included the multi-point inspection to try and find something else I needed. They didn't.
Have also found out that if you do not put a lot of miles on your car, the SA at dealership will concur in delaying some "B" services.
I have no trust in indys based on previous experience. On the other hand, the dealership has gone to great lengths to perform work under warranty or in good faith. Loyalty is rewarded.
As for cost, I think the current "B" rate at my dealership is about $450 and that includes the cabin filter and the brake service. Incidentally, the cabin filter is both a pain in the A$$ and labor intensive.
I also consider using the dealership as insurance. Annual visits to dealership for service also keeps my "free" Roadside Assisance in effect.
Geico provides my roadside assistance for about $6.00 per year, and they've towed two of my Benzes from one town to another so far. I don't see roadside assistance being worth dealer prices by a very, very long shot.
That being said, my indy is a Mercedes and Porsche master tech. It is my understanding he is the only person in this state that is qualified to change a clutch on a Porsche Carrera GT. He is brilliant and a huge help, often not even charging for extensive diagnostics with DAS.
I was going to use some of the indy shops but around here they were almost as expensive as the dealership (within $40-$50). My dealership (almost an hour away) will send a car to pick my car up, leave a loaner, perform the service/repair, and return my vehicle to me. I'll pay the extra $$$ for that type of convenience. I also received 4 years of Free Maintenance on my new purchase. Woohoo!
I quit using dealerships years ago because of the first post in this thread, it wasn't just the prices, it was the attitude also. Ask around you WILL find someone trust worthy to do the work at a reasonable rate.
I quit using dealerships years ago because of the first post in this thread, it wasn't just the prices, it was the attitude also. Ask around you WILL find someone trust worthy to do the work at a reasonable rate.
Prices and attitude as well as frequent incompetence from the techs, most of which are glorified part swappers. I like an indy who will actually do work to fix what is wrong, not a dealer tech who wants to throw expensive parts at the car until something sticks.
To answer OP's question, here in northern N.J. the B service runs between $650 and $700 at the dealership. Just had mine done last week. So you are in-line with what appears to be the cost. Obviously you can save a few bucks by going to a qualified indy shop, but I am not aware of any in my area that provide "free" ( nothing is really free as the cost of this is built into the price we pay for both A and B services ) loaner cars.
Yeah, I don't bother going to the dealership, I just have an indy do it. Mine works on all sorts of cars so I usually print stuff out of the forum for him to do. It's much less than dealership prices, he just works out of his garage with a full set of tools when he used to work at a dealership so his prices are way lower than most indys. Some stuff like brakes and oil I do myself.
When the service was $200-$300 I used to be able to justify that I didn't have the time to deal with it.
They would also pick on little things that I would not. And the dealer used to cut me a deal.
At over seven bills, no F'ing way. I bought a vacuum extractor, and it's not exactly rocket science to do.
Around here, the B service with a brake flush is about $500. Indy will do it for about $400, but the indy doesn't provide a loaner car, or a car wash.
The dealer also gets a 15% discount coupon from costco members, so overall my cost is about the same to go to the dealer vs any of the local indy's.
I'm in Kansas City area and looked through my past service receipts. I paid about $1080 for service B and about $230 for service A at aristocrat. this is for 2010 e350
Around me, they price the brake fluid separate from the B service. Local dealer wants $360 for B and $120 for brake. Indy are about $275-260 for B and $65-40 for brake.So I would think a dealer would be just under $500 for both and an indy between $300-350.
Same at my stealer. Seems like they're trying to provide less expensive options to keep the cars coming in there instead of the indys...
I'm currently enjoying Merc's 3-pack of pre-paid maint pkg (and am maximizing the value by using them on a B-A-B cycle that includes plugs coming up thanks to sound advice that I rec'd here). My car goes in and just gets the works with no questions asked; the stealer doesn't nickel and dime me. And I saved a couple hundy by buying it upfront. Smiles all around.
Originally Posted by thefisch
Off topic, the last Toyota I owned for 8 years, I may have spent about $500 for all the required services for regular maint.
Same outstanding experience here excluding the major t-belt service, of course. So how did I repay my gratitude to my Lexus? I sold it. I feel like a dummy at times, but I love my "new" biturbo awd soccer mom Merc (fingers and toes crossed that I can afford to keep it running!).
...you must always make sure any dealership does not do more than the Manufacturers Maintenance Schedule calls for. This also applies to indys.
Good advice. I experienced this for the first time at a stealer outside of Boulder a few years ago. They had a "good, better, best" service menu and were very persuasive at getting you to think that you we're shortchanging the critical service needs of your expensive / fancy / super technical / investment / automobile by cheaping out. I knew what they were trying to do and didn't bite, but they still made me feel a little bad for my auto - seriously. They were a savvy bunch indeed. (Yes, the lowly "good" menu was the mfg service recommendations!)
For my wife's car, we occasionally use an Indy. Man alive are they all about over-servicing, too! Like you wrote, it's not just the stealer anymore. This one just isn't nearly persuasive as the stealer's SA staff that are paid on whatever they can write up.
Originally Posted by El Cid
I also consider using the dealership as insurance. Annual visits to dealership for service also keeps my "free" Roadside Assisance in effect.
Good advice on the roadside service, too. It also sets you up for potential "goodwill." By utilizing the stealer for most repairs (and buying two cars from them didn't hurt either), I've benefited numerous times from the stealer and Lexus corporate. It's a business trying to make $ and their staff are empowered to a certain degree on who they're going to bend the rules for...
Around me, they price the brake fluid separate from the B service. Local dealer wants $360 for B and $120 for brake. Indy are about $275-260 for B and $65-40 for brake.
So I would think a dealer would be just under $500 for both and an indy between $300-350. Off topic, the last Toyota I owned for 8 years, I may have spent about $500 for all the required services for regular maint.
Similar experience here on the FL Spacecoast: My dealer charges $500 for B service + $120 for brake flush. My indy charges $280 for B service & $60 for brake flush. I constantly complain and loudly demand that he needs to put in 4K TV, soft leather chairs, and serve cappucino. I keep going back there hoping one day it will get better; last time I brought him a fresh cappucino. He smiled and said: "Guess you can afford a higher price."
Hey guys...I'm little confused about service B. I'm due for service B at 60k miles. I called my dealer and she quoted me $1200+ for 60k service. Is service B the same as 60k service? Or is this just recommended service she wants me to do on top of service B? I included a pic of the doc she emailed me a few days ago. If you see there, spark plugs need to be replaced??
That's a B service plus brake flush plus spark plugs where are recommended at 60k.
You might want to see if you can purchase a 3 pack of pre-paid maintenance. Should be about $1200 as well but cover your next 3 services including this 60k service. So basically you get the next two services (A and B, plus a transmission flush at 70k and brake flush at 80k) for free.
What I'm seeing on the MBUSA website in regards to prepaid maintenance is that the transmission service is not included unless you have a 2015 or newer model.
Spark plugs at 60k is normal. Pre-facelift models have the old version of the spark plugs and the new ones are a step colder and should get you better MPGs, if you're into that kind of thing.
12-18-2016, 08:16 AM
