I took my car in for a B service to one of the biggest dealers in the San Francisco Bay Area and got a bit of a shock. I wanted to check with people here to see if they were unreasonable or if I should just expect these kinds of charges:

The car is a 2000 S430 with 100k miles

Service B: $1595.99

In addition they wanted to fix the following items. I've included the estimates they gave me:

Front brake pads+rotors & rear break pads: $1117.80
Front left control arm ball joint boot torn: $366.92
Rear main seal leaking oil: $1733.73
Engine valve covers leaking on exhaust manifold: $785.50
Both driveshaft flax discs cracked: $657.08
Serpentine drive belt worn: $274.88
Powersteering flush: $175
Coolant flush: $120
Brake fluid flush: $135.88
Rear differential service: $150.00
Engine air and fuel filter replacement: $490.00

The total repair estimates come out to an additional $6000 on top of the $1600 i already paid them for the service. The car drives great and has no "malfunctions" listed.

My questions for all of you would be:
Which of these items seem reasonable?
Which of these items should be fixed asap and which ones don't really matter much?
Does anyone know of a good independent shop in the SF Bay Area that I could trust not to rip me off.

 

Welcome to the MB World: I got a similar laundry list when I took my 2004 E in for service recently. I am sure they mean well...

 

Some of those prices seem very high - I'd look for a good MB certified independent.

Several of the items are pretty important, and I'd focus on them first. The oil leaks, brakes, and especially the flex discs, can cause you a LOT of trouble. The rest of the recommendations are consistent with a high-mileage car, and frankly, I'd also replace the automatic transmission fluid if it has never been done.

Regarding the flex discs, take a look at http://www.benzworld.org/forums/r-c1...disc-info.html for info on what they are, and what can happen when they fail. These were on an R107, but they are used on many models; they can fail from age, or from hard driving and abuse. MB uses them in the drive train instead of U-joints (used most manufacturers) or CV joints (as Audi does, at least in their Quattro drive train).

Replacing the rear flex disc only in my '78 450SL cost $282 plus tax, so your dealer isn't too far off on that. Different models may have different costs. The replacement also may involve parts for re-centering the shaft sections, and could involve rebalancing your drive shaft.

You might check out the cost of Akebono pads and rotors - they're written up a lot, and most contributors who have used them seem to like them.

I don't know if you can get a replacement control arm boot - but see post #2 at http://www.benzworld.org/forums/r-c1...broke-bad.html. I did some Google searching and found several sources of replacement boots (but was not looking for control arm boots specifically). Didn't bookmark them, unfortunately.

 

First, could you post the line items for the service B, because that $1600 seems absurdly high.

1. Brakes. If the warning is not on the dash, you have at least 3k miles before it gets desperate. Plus, rotors are about $150, pads about $90 each front and rear. It takes maybe 1 hour per front rotor/pad, and about 20 minutes for each rear pad. Should be no more than $500 at a decent shop.

2. $366 for a ball joint isn't hateful

3. Every mercedes I've owned or worked on had a slight seep from the RMS. Unless its dripping, I wouldn't worry about it.

4. Is it really the valve covers or just the breather covers. Breather covers are an easy DIY. Valve cover gaskets are about $30 each, and replacement should run about $300 for labor.

5. Have the flex disks replaced asap. They are about $90 each I think, and replacement is fairly easy, but a pain to get to. Either way, labor should be about $300

6. Serpentine belt is a DIY for $40 for the belt

7. Powersteering flush is a DIY for about $40 for fluid

8. Coolant flush isn't a horrible deal

9. Diff service aint that bad either

10. Engine air filter is a DIY for about $35. Fuel filter should be about $200 at a shop.

 

These prices seem high to me because I take my cars to a inde shop. The only car I take to the dealer is our 05 C240 4Matic. That is because it has a warrenty on it.

 

I was quoted $500 for the B service and I thought that was high! I think I'm going to make that appointment real fast now! (I still have 12 days left on the dash message)

 

-Rotors are around $75-100 if you find a good source, check Auto Parts Warehouse for cheap stock brembo rotors.
-Akebono brake pads as skylaw said have a good reputation
-The ball joint price seems a bit high
-Depends on how much oil is leaking
-Flex Discs are important, but check prices with an indy
-All the rest are cheap DIY's

I had my car quoted with a 6k repair bill 6 months ago for a bunch of pedantry things, none were important and none have been done, doesnt affect the cars driveability or value one bit. I was quoted stupid things like $600 bucks for spark plugs and wires (my car has 43k miles haha), $1000 for front rotors and pads (rotors are fine, pads still have a good 5k to go), $3500 for both front airmatic shocks (one was already pretty new and the other shows no signs of failure). A bunch of stupid things plus the generic fluid flushes. Pointless waste of money.

 

I've had a trusted mechanic in the Tampa Bay area for years. ProStar Automotive on Davis Island. My 2001 S500 has been great - bought with 50k in 2008 on it an now 160k. The dealers, in my opinion, lie and cheat and tell you things that aren't true in order to suck the money out of your pocket. For instance, after I moved a hundred miles away to the Orlando area, my A/C wasn't working after I hit the EC button by mistake (common issue on the head unit). Pressure was at 300 and unit was full. Took it to Mercedes Orlando and they said the evaporator was trashed and it would be $6500 to fix and there was no coolant in the AC system. I then told them I read the pressure with my gauges just before and the system was full and only brought it in for the $149 service fee so they would reset the head unit, but let them diagnose the issue anyway. The service advisor, in my opinion looked freaked out, as he said the compressor was running...so I got the car back with the compressor running and only heat, because as I recall he said the evaporator was leaking but there was no ac gunk in my car because it's invisible, don't you know...lol...I was fine with that as they had also probably sucked any crap out that was causing a blockage. I went to an auto parts store and filled it with 134...that was 2 years ago and it's still blowing Ice Cold. I now gladly take a vacation day or pay to have the car delivered to Tampa. Bottom line - if you don't know a lot about cars and have a lot of money, go to the dealer and **** your money away. If you have money and want to keep your money, find a good certified Mercedes mechanic at his own shop or at a non-dealer shop and stick with him. Especially if he is as honest as my guy has been for 20 years. We became good friends, not because he services my car, but because he's a great guy and as honest as the day is long. In my opinion STAY AWAY FROM MERCEDES DEALERSHIPS unless you really know and trust them.

 

Definitely Akebono pads. You will have to wipe your wheels off about once a month if it doesn't rain. For some of the items mentioned there are very good videos on youtube on how to do it yourself. Overall, they are charging you more money than the car would sell for.

 

When I took My W211 in for service they did the same BS to me.

Then my buddy that works there knocked some sense in them.

 

You know what's funny, that is more than I paid for my CL,


came with new brakes, no valve leaks, oil changed, I changed the coolant and ABC myself, and filters for about 400 on everything so far. That's crazy, There is no point bringing these cars to the dealer. It's suicide for your wallet.

 

I'll second, third, or fourth the comments made above. The only reason I go to the dealer is because one of my cars is still under warranty and is leased. My '02 S500 goes to an independent. The rear airmatic structs were leaking and the dealership wanted some ungodly amount of money to replace them, along with saying the fronts were bad. Took it to the independent and had some replaced for less than half what the dealer wanted and was told the fronts were perfectly fine.

My mother-in-law has an '06 E320CDI. It was pulling to the right on the freeway, so took it in for a front end alignment. Was told the tires had to be replaced and that there was a bunch of stuff wrong with the front suspension. I took it to a local tire place and found out the front tires were in need of replacement, but the rears were fine. Replaced the front tires, took it to my independent guy and had the front end aligned. He couldn't fine anything needing replacing.

I complained to the general manager of the dealership and told him what his service department was trying to pull was borderline if not outright fraud.