e55 addict

well after the drop took my car to local mb dealer to get trans service and to diagnose why the a/c doesn't work.....I already tried to put in more freon and checked the compressor....both were good so I wanted to know what part was bad on the star diag. cpu.....well they called and said they had bad news that they couldn't do a tranny service till they fixed the leak on the tailshaft and parking brake seal...460.00 and 385.00 respectively...and they said they tried to recharge the a/c and it didn't work that they need to keep the car for further diag. and they would have to charge me more money....well I knew that.....I told them that....so I flipped out and went right over there...now I was just under the car doing the suspension and know there are no tranny leaks....when I got there the car was outside and they said they did the tranny service anyway......but I looked first and know no one went in the tranny.....so I called their bluff and told them I was going over to my friends shop to make sure there is new fluid in the tranny....at this time they admitted they DID NOT do the tranny service they were trying to charge me 340.00 for but they did check out the a/c and I need a whole new a/c system because there is an unknown blockage and that would be 2650.00.....BS......so I took my keys after getting very angry....and paying 111.60 for a bs diagnosis of my a/c.....which I believe to be the temp control unit as everything else seems to be fine....when I get into my car to take off I realize that now my radio tape deck doesn't work so in turn will not play my ipod....funny that it was playing fine when I pulled in yesterday but today nothing so I rip a donut in their parking lot and go back to the service dept to see if they did anything but they said sorry there is nothing we can do because all we did was turn off the radio.....so no trans service was done......trans has no leaks as I was told....and nothing was done about my a/c......and now my radio is not working properly.....NEVER AGAIN will I go to a dealer....I will have to get a used star diag. tool and work on my car myself in my friends garage where I always do it......in NY.....not at the the MB dealer by my other house in Cary NC.....where I just got

Esh

Sounds about right for a dealer on a used AMG. They only want to fully service you if you are brand new and bought it from them. Always go to an independent shop if your AMG is out of warranty.

ivanj

No wonder resale values on used AMGs are so bad. Who would want to get ripped off every time one went in for service? To quote the philosopher "Man tends to avoid pain..."

A good independent or an honest dealer is hard and good to find.

The problem is if you do the work yourself the service does not show up in the MB VMI history. However, if you do the service through an independent who stamps the book at least that is a paper trail.

Although I am not recommending this, consider that, if you do the A&B services, and whatever is called for in the owner's manual, through the dealer, and the tough stuff outside, the car have a PERFECT service history in the MB system.

MBFLO

man im due for a b service and tempted to see if i can do it myself rather then take it to the dealer ..
OP .. thats my biggest worries takin my out of warrenty amg to the dealer comin back to find out other **** isnt working or they find new problems that seemed to work fine before it went in for somthing else ..Good thing you more mech inclined then most or else somone else would of just paid and left not knowing anything ..

saintz

Get an oil extractor for $70 and never go back to the dealer again. You could change your oil wearing a suit and tie and only need a few paper towels for your hands.

chicagotrini

Saintz,

Can you send me or tell me the brand of oil extractor that you have used that you would recommend? I asked about one at my local mom and pop autoshop and they indicated that the oil extractors leave metal particles at the bottom of the engine. Have you ever heard of this before?

Esh

An oil extractor is typically how most MB dealerships change oil.

saintz

Look for a Mityvac such as the 7400:
http://www.amazon.com/Mityvac-7400-L...7812861&sr=8-1

An extractor is the preferred method and actually recommended by MB, as Esh noted, versus draining from the pan bolt. On an MB, at least, an extractor should get more oil out (and leave less particulate) than draining from the bolt.

kevc43

damn that sucks. i hate the dealers. im lucky i have a friend who works for benz dealer for over 25yrs so he works on my car on the side either at his house or the dealer. they r very cool about him working on car on the side at the dealership.