They want to bill me for 15 hrs of Labor?! :confused:
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 32
Likes: 0
From: Rockville MD
2006 CLS 500
They want to bill me for 15 hrs of Labor?! :confused:
Ok, so here's the honest truth, I bought my car, the central air vents stopped working. I took it to a local, small town shop, and they 'tried' fixing the issues. So then I decided to take my car to the MB Dealership here in VA. After some 2-3 days of 'looking' for the problem they came down to the followng.
1. A broken pin connector is the problem. Since it is broken, no communication is being transfered from the central air vents to the stepper motors below that control the airflow.
2. They want 15 hrs of labor + parts, = $2,200 plus tax since they can tell the small shop tried working on the "connector pin."
3. I know I messed up, should have taken it straight to the dealership, ALL I WANT TO KNOW is, should I call other dealerships to get a quote or is this reasonable?
1. A broken pin connector is the problem. Since it is broken, no communication is being transfered from the central air vents to the stepper motors below that control the airflow.
2. They want 15 hrs of labor + parts, = $2,200 plus tax since they can tell the small shop tried working on the "connector pin."
3. I know I messed up, should have taken it straight to the dealership, ALL I WANT TO KNOW is, should I call other dealerships to get a quote or is this reasonable?
Member
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 242
Likes: 0
From: NJ, USA
2004 E500 4matic
Ok, so here's the honest truth, I bought my car, the central air vents stopped working. I took it to a local, small town shop, and they 'tried' fixing the issues. So then I decided to take my car to the MB Dealership here in VA. After some 2-3 days of 'looking' for the problem they came down to the followng.
1. A broken pin connector is the problem. Since it is broken, no communication is being transfered from the central air vents to the stepper motors below that control the airflow.
2. They want 15 hrs of labor + parts, = $2,200 plus tax since they can tell the small shop tried working on the "connector pin."
3. I know I messed up, should have taken it straight to the dealership, ALL I WANT TO KNOW is, should I call other dealerships to get a quote or is this reasonable?
1. A broken pin connector is the problem. Since it is broken, no communication is being transfered from the central air vents to the stepper motors below that control the airflow.
2. They want 15 hrs of labor + parts, = $2,200 plus tax since they can tell the small shop tried working on the "connector pin."
3. I know I messed up, should have taken it straight to the dealership, ALL I WANT TO KNOW is, should I call other dealerships to get a quote or is this reasonable?
If it was still under warranty voided the it by have any one working on it. I was watching people court a few weeks ago. I man bought a brand new Jaguar after 3k took it to local shop for a for tire rotation. a few weeks later he notice a rubbing sound and to it back to the local shop again
and the shop told him that the rear support was broken, and to take to the dealer. so the guy finally took his 3 month old jaguar to the dealer and the dealer ask if the car was look at by any other shop and the guy said yes a local shop...
. the dealer slapped him with a $2k bill.however do you have to still pay a diagnostic fee if you decide to take it to another shop? bc may be if you take it to another dealer and play dumb you may get away with may a bad move.
Junior Member
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 51
Likes: 0
From: braselton ga
96 c36
15 hours seems high. was it a ocnnector in the stepper motor harness? even if so, 15 hrs would still be too high even to pull the entire dash and repair the connector. i would say 8-10 hrs max, but that may even be on the high side. it all depends on where the connector is.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 3,254
Likes: 15
From: Louisiana
03 E500 and Corvette
Sounds like you are paying for training time. What is the Shop manual time for repairing this problem. (The book I used in the 60's was the Flat Rate Manual that gave time and $$ for each job). If you finished early you were ahead,, late you lost but it gave a fair price for the "job".
This should like you are being billed for time and materials. If they use people that need training it could take a long time and $$ to find the problem. You are paying for skilled/trained people. Best of luck. At least you have it repaired.
This should like you are being billed for time and materials. If they use people that need training it could take a long time and $$ to find the problem. You are paying for skilled/trained people. Best of luck. At least you have it repaired.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,104
Likes: 0
From: San Antonio
2008 C350
I man bought a brand new Jaguar after 3k took it to local shop for a for tire rotation. a few weeks later he notice a rubbing sound and to it back to the local shop again and the shop told him that the rear support was broken, and to take to the dealer. so the guy finally took his 3 month old jaguar to the dealer and the dealer ask if the car was look at by any other shop and the guy said yes a local shop.... the dealer slapped him with a $2k bill.
and the shop told him that the rear support was broken, and to take to the dealer. so the guy finally took his 3 month old jaguar to the dealer and the dealer ask if the car was look at by any other shop and the guy said yes a local shop.... the dealer slapped him with a $2k bill.Just tell them it hasn't been touched and the problem just happened. The dealer gets paid by MB for warranty work anyway, so they probably are just charging you more because they can get more out of you then what MBUSA pays them for doing it.
Newbie
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
MBUSA will not reciev a part under warranty damaged by another shop. The local shop probably did something wrong and messed up the connector
any mb tech that looks at the part being replaced and notices that it has been played with, and no history of warranty work that had been performed regarding the damaged part will not replace it under warranty. MBUSA would charge back the technician parts and labor for replacing a damaged part not something that failed.
MBUSA before didn't care about the old parts being replaced, now they are looking for any little excuse not to pay for repairs, becoming dealer/technician responsibility.
any mb tech that looks at the part being replaced and notices that it has been played with, and no history of warranty work that had been performed regarding the damaged part will not replace it under warranty. MBUSA would charge back the technician parts and labor for replacing a damaged part not something that failed.
MBUSA before didn't care about the old parts being replaced, now they are looking for any little excuse not to pay for repairs, becoming dealer/technician responsibility.
