rustman

Described vehicle is a 2003 S430 outside the factory warranty period. I have been having some intermittent problems with my passenger side seat belt. Intermittently the seat belt will only extend out one or two inches at a time. In some cases I have to pull and retract the damm thing only inches and so very gently about 50 times just to extend it fully around my body before I can buckle it (no I am only 175 lb at 5'10") I took it to the dealer to have them look at this and they want $800.00 to replace the belt ($600.00 parts $200.00 Labor). Before I shell out $800 bones can any of you comment if this is something MB should cover under warranty because it's a safety related issue or do I bite the bullet?


Thanks in advance for your comments,
Rusty

sosh

You most likely have a bad retractor and that is what they want to replace. I am not aware of any extended warranty on these items. You do need to get it fixed if you have people in that seat. Just spring for the repair and ask the dealer to see if MB will eat any of the cost.

mleskovar

It's hard to believe they charge that much for a seat belt.

sosh

Most likely not the actual belt thats expensive but the retraction device and the labor to install it. Look the guy has an S Class and by now you might have figured out the more expensive the vehicle the more expensive the maint/parts/etc. Its all a function of the original, new, price of the car.

mleskovar

Sorry Sosh, A seatbelt retract mechanism is not a complicated mechanical device and no way worth $600. I am always amused by the analogy that because something costs more it's worth more to have it fixed. That's like saying the same set of tires should cost more for a Mercedes than for a Ford. Unfortunately, reality says you're correct.

sosh

You seem to be dealing with wishful thinking, its a shame that the world does not operate like that. I tend to deal with reality and that gives me a much more accurate view of things. Look at it this way, suppose Ford buys 6 million retractors at a clip, they get a better price than MB who buys say 100000 at a clip. That difference is magnified in both cases when you add the dealer and MFG profit. In addition, I am not so sure that the retractor is so simple anymore particularly with all the govt safety certifications that it has to go thru. I remember paying about 6000 bucks for the shoulder strap retractors that are for the pilot seat is a Hawker Jet. Basically the mechanism is the same as a car. Certfication is most likely more stringent and it has to meet the 9G FAA requirement.

mleskovar

Like I said..."reality says you're correct". I spent a career working in service and dealing with replacement parts costs. There's a limit to how much volume will reduce the cost of any part. Also, my guess is the identical mechanism is used in other cars with lower (and higher) sales volumes and don't cost as much to buy as a replacement part. Look, when I can buy the same part, with Mercedes packaging logos, online at 1/4 of the cost my local MB (is it Daimler now?) dealer is charging me I can safely say they are charging too much.

sosh

Yes its true that you can usually buy a part for less on line, reason is that the overhead of the seller is lots less, usually a guy working out of his bedroom. In addition suggested parts prices are set by MB and the dealer is allowed by law to sell at whatever price he chooses. Parts are a large profit center of a dealership as opposed to new cars which are a user. But, try to figure this out, MB parts are sold by MB only to franchised dealers so how do these guys get the parts to sell on line?? Are they surplus parts? Are they parts that have been superceeded by a later part?? Are they stolen?? Are they warranty returns that have been stolen?? Are these on line operations owned by a dealer?? I do know of a dealer who had a large quantity of warranty returns stolen only to have them appear on E Bay. Of course all of the parts were no good. I agree with the line of thought that E Bay is the largest stolen goods fencing operation in the world.

Wolfgang

Model year 2003 introduces PreSafe into the W220 S-Class which uses a reversible active control retractor (ACR) on the front seatbelts, version 1, supplied by TRW. Picture:



http://www.trw.com/productsandtechno...E28188,00.html

Duval Motors lists the ACR for $274.00, slightly more than the ETRs in previous years.

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...?siteid=213951

mleskovar

Trying the FUD angle? My guess is they buy them directly from the manufacturer...not from MB. There are very few proprietary parts in any car today. Even the Veyron uses common parts (not as many though!). As well, many of the parts that are proprietary aren't even made by the car companies. The point is that these online parts sellers are still making money selling the same part at a MUCH lower price. I don't blame MB though. It's good business to sell one part at 200% markup rather than five of the same part with 20% markup. Unfortunately most people don't realize this and MB is taking advantage of this "captive audience". But that's capitalism.

mleskovar

Case closed.....although I didn't realize the ACR is that compicated. Still not $600 worth and this proves it. Doesn't it bother you that MB marks up the parts that much? With their volume and buying power (discounts) MB should be able to offer the part even lower!

Wolfgang

MB parts pricing seems reasonable to me. It's just some local dealer parts departments, while very friendly, jack up prices unreasonably, sometimes way above list pricing. That's where Duval Motors, Germanstar, AutohausAZ, Caliber Motors etc come in handy.

deviilsadvocate

Shouldn't the seatbelts and any mechanism related to it be under some sort of lifetime warranty because of the safety issue? I believe almost all companies have this policy, I am amazed MB doesn't have it... Are we sure?