yeahdickey

Went to the dealer yesterday morning (Mercedes of Pompano, FL) because my Red warning light "Visit Workshop" with a picture of the battery came on. So, I called the dealer, and they told me to come in immediately.

In the afternoon, they called me and told me my car was ready, that they had to replace the Aux Battery.

So, when I get there, i am thinking OK .. maybe $100 for the battery and $100 for labor at most? ... WRONG!!
___________________________________________
A54999 Electrical Misc Repair $262.50
4715 COT
1 211-541-00-01 Battery $184.90
1 Batt Batt Disposal 1.50

* 46618 AUX Battery Defective. Short Test Battery Control Module Reprogram Fault 9092 Aub Battery Defective. Fail Battery Test. Remove and Replace AUX Battery 2.0 Hrs
___________________________________________
262.50 Labor + 184.90 Battery + 1.50 Battery Disposal = $448.90 !!!!!!!!!

They didnt even ask for my approval before replacing the battery!!

Has anyone had to replace there battery at the dealer and pay this much??
Is there anything i can do at this point???

Jakpro1

That's the one that's jumping out at me.

????????

Hate to throw salt on the wound, but have you ever seen the Aux Battery. Looks like a tractor battery. on Benz for the rape.

yeahdickey

that is basically the Labor, diagnosticts, actual labor etc .. or at least thats what they explained to me

Yeah, I have not seen it, but, I figured that. Its located in the trunk too right?

CWW

I'd throw a $h*t fit.

That's absolutely ridiculous. If you bought the battery and just drove home, you could have put it in yourself in 5 minutes.

As to what you would do:

1: Call the service advisor and ask point-blank what book time is for replacing a battery. It will probably be .5hr

2: Ask for a refund.

Other than that, I dunno. You're hamstrung because you already paid them. The time to complain is BEFORE you pay. Payment signals acceptance, unless you specifically indicate that you are paying under protest.

regor60

12 volts is 12 volts....

bp95gsx

The funniest thing is that they charge you $1.50 to dispose of the battery. I get PAID to give my old dead batteries away. My auto parts store GIVES me $4 for each one, and it's not a core charge either. They resell it for probobly $7-8. Sorry about your problem though.

MB Fanatic

Get the service manager involved. This is bloody rape here. $450 bucks to replace a battery is ridiculous. I have had the TeleAid guys (Roadside Assistance) replace batteries for $130 to $160 bucks at my HOUSE.

Yacht Master

Wow, I guess your car is an 03 and out of warranty?
They (different dealer) replace mine no question no charge, and I had no Red warning light "Visit Workshop". The dealer just said the tech did not like the condition of the battery's replaced both and up dated software under warranty.

The service writer should have you sign the work order to approve the work at a price not to exceed $xxx.xx or call for approval. Never give them an open work order, even if they smile real pretty.

TopGun32

my batter died 2 months ago and road side assistance wanted to charge around $280 to replace. My voltage is sitting on the fence of being considered low.

I said no thanks and I'll look around.

My keyless go is not working and but the car is running ok.

Any good options out there.

Our batteries our Gel Cells, which according to the road side tech, are harder to find.

yeahdickey

thanks for the replies.

Yeah I have an 03' warranty expired in Sept. ... however, I have an Extended Warranty thru Mercury, but, as expected, batteries are not covered.

Armed, with your suggestions, I am going to go talk to the Service Manager today and hope he does something for me if he ever wants my business again.

.. I now know why there called "Stealerships" .....

jrcart

They didn't even use any KY either.....ouch!

DarkStar

Aux battery is different than main battery....correct? It may not be a drop in like the main battery.

waxking1

Aux battery is different. Its under the hood. They just replaced mine under warranty on my last service. I never had any indication that it was bad.
This is probably something they check at every service and replace if it falls out of spec. I would guess the dealer makes a good profit when they replace one even under warranty.

Yacht Master

The OEM battery is a "Varta" or can be marked "Johnson controls" same company.

http://www.varta-automotive.com/eng/...plication.html

And they call it an AGM abbreviation for Absorbent Glass Mat. This is a mat of micro glass fibers which is used for fixing the sulfuric acid in lead accumulators.

ProV1

damn u got pwn3d..

komp55

Hate to read stuff like this. My car is actually at the dealer today for a Service B, and I just got called by the dealer to let me know they are keeping my car overnight because they are replacing both of the car's batteries (car starts fine but apparently failed the electrical tests) and both valve cover gaskets (seeping) under warranty. I didn't ask them to check either item, so they're either really on top of it, or else looking for at least semi-legimate stuff to fix so they can bill MBUSA for the repairs. Either way, I'm pleased they're taking care of these items.

NGS_E55

Makes front brake pads for $450 sound reasonible. sorry. good luck

BrianS

It's directly under the fresh air intake which is held on by one nylon nut. VERY easy to remove this battery.

prince_30144

I just replaced my AUX battery on my W211 at the Mercedes Benz stealership in Atlanta- The battery cost 137.00 and was replaced in the drive through bay. Called road side assistance and they indicated to me that I needed and AUX battery which is different from the main battery.

Main battery is ~ 280.00
AUX Battery is ~ 140.00\

Blacksport350

The AUX battery is under the hood on the passenger side up against the firewall. You remove a plastic 10MM nut that holds the climate control filter housing in place, lift the housing out, and there is the batter.

It takes 15 minutes to do a swap for this battery and it is a $150 battery.

There is nothing special about it and it is not a Gel Cell but may be a maintenance free (I honestly didn't look that closely).

On a different topic...anyone know what this battery is used for?

TopGun32

same here.. Aux batter is used for?

when the road side tech performed a battery test, it was on my main battery, under neath the trunck floor.

I never understood why my Key less go would stop working, but everything else works fine.

yeahdickey

Just got off the phone with the service manager ... Gave him the whole blah blah .. $460 for a battery is ridiculous .. blah blah ..want my business in the future blah blah ...

so, after some b^tching, he offered me the cost of an synthetic oil change ($129) for future credit towards any service.

I agreed .. i know i prob should have asked for more .. but, I suck.

He was really pushing the diagnostic crap on me about how they have to run test and check all the codes .. I know its all BS ...sigh..

Yacht Master

#1 Back up for SBC (electric brakes)
I think it is used for power conditioning on the command (that is a guess by me ) cause during a start cycle the command never skips a beat. I think the car will run in limp mode on the small battery, but that small battery will not start the motor.

yeahdickey

They told me it runs most of the user friendly electronic stuff like seat functions, mirror adjustment, radio etc.

Vader55

Interstate Battery, great free warranty replacement, around $130 and more cca then your stocker, they sell the AGM too, never go to the dealer for a battery.

http://www.interstatebatteries.com/e...H7N16CRTC&js=1

AGM PDF

http://www.mercedestechstore.com/pdf...2011-29-02.pdf