My 85 year old mother has a 2003 E320 that has racked up 110,000 trouble free miles. It was purchased new as a 50th wedding anniversary present. My parents have always insisted on the dealership for servicing religiously. Dad died a few years back and the car has been driven very little with no problems.
While driving it this weekend I noticed it was indicating oil change due. I noticed a slight burned oil smell so I surmised leaking valve cover gasket. Mom insisted I take to the dealership for service so I obliged her. Told them needed oil change and about suspect valve cover gasket.
Service manager called and told me it needed both gaskets as well as BOTH valve covers were "cracked!" Also left lower ball joint "was a little worn."
Guess the repair quote.
Normal dealership = normal rip-off.
High-end luxury techno dealership = Rip-off of galactic proportions.
Valve covers themselves are cracked? So new cast exoticium alloy parts?
Heck, I dunno. How about $3200.? I'm probably low.
My guess is $2190 all in...
$3,870.29
I was told the lower left ball joint price was $674.00. At that point I said "No mas...change the oil and I'll pick the car up."
OBSCENE.
hell...the car is wort what? $5-6k. Maybe on a good day
I was going to high guess $2,400 in parts and $2,400 in labor but the oil change and loaner car were "free".
when i got my first e30 I called to quote plug wires because a friend told me i'd get a kick out of it.
they told me $714
yeah no thanks
Out of curiosity, how much is that ball joint on Rock Auto?
I'm not suggesting MB dealers overcharge on parts............
Thank God she has you to save her from that place. There’s obviously many more (I hate to say gullible, I don’t mean it in such a negative way) people in her position that go through with the repairs.
In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :
Did a quick Google and HIGHEST price for a pair with kit was $49.99
But then again you are king of unobtanium mrecedes parts
How much are the valve covers?
Woody said:
How much are the valve covers?
RockAuto didn't list valve covers. Valve cover gaskets were 6 to $12 each depending on supplier. EBay listed valve covers from a Mercedes dealership new for 153
Snrub
Reader
11/14/17 5:10 p.m.
Someone I know replaced a valve cover gasket (I believe singular) on E90 M3 for ~$800 CDN or ~$650 US. I thought that seemed rich....
Ovid_and_Flem said:
$3,870.29
hell...the car is wort what? $5-6k. Maybe on a good day
I hear this, and say, "Yeah, thats right. So, do you want to fix it or not? The fact that your car is old doesn't make the job any different."
Did a quick search of interweb...Apparently not uncommon for small weeping gracks. And most common fix is JB weld in situ.
Streetwiseguy said:
Ovid_and_Flem said:
$3,870.29
hell...the car is wort what? $5-6k. Maybe on a good day
I hear this, and say, "Yeah, thats right. So, do you want to fix it or not? The fact that your car is old doesn't make the job any different."
But it doesn't make a ball joint a $600 part old or not.
Ovid_and_Flem said:
Streetwiseguy said:
Ovid_and_Flem said:
$3,870.29
hell...the car is wort what? $5-6k. Maybe on a good day
I hear this, and say, "Yeah, thats right. So, do you want to fix it or not? The fact that your car is old doesn't make the job any different."
But it doesn't make a ball joint a $600 part old or not.
It sure does on a car with a three pointed star.
So the replacement gasket is cheap if bought online, but how long does it take to replace it? On some of these modern cars it's an all day job.
I don't know about that particular model Mercedes and am not trying to defend the dealer's pricing, I'm just saying there may be two sides to the story. It may be time to find her a good independent Mercedes repair shop.
Good on you for extracting your mom from there. Service managers can be a breed apart in terms of extortion abilities. Years ago my uncle got fleeced on a similar transaction. The thing is that he is a modern-day Jeremiah Johnson: Rock-hard world-traveling outdoorsman and mountain climber. To this day I've wanted to know what spell was cast to suck all that money from him.
In reply to Streetwiseguy :
I know you're a shop owner and I don't fault you for making a living. But a part cost of $600+ for a ball joint that sells openly for $25? Some markup is fine but 27 times retail?
Dad was getting a flat fixed at a mechanic one time out west. While he was there an elderly lady came in with $2,000 in cash to have all the coil packs and spark plugs replaced on her Twenty Thousand Mile Toyota Camry V6. Her and dad got to talking and she said that she had been saving for a while because they told her she needed them all done at 15000 miles or she would have to replace the engine. There are dishonest bastards in this game. However there are also honest guys and we need to support them in honest labor and practices.
In reply to Ovid_and_Flem :
But that part isn’t going to have Mercedes on the box.
I almost E36 M3 a brick when my daughter drove home once in a Mercedes 4wd car. She is the cheapest person I know.
NEALSMO
UberDork
11/14/17 6:18 p.m.
Labor for the V/C gaskets is 3.5 hours and the ball joint that requires control arm removal is 1.6 hours. I would assume they are at least $150 or more per hour. So about $800 in labor alone.
Don't know what list on factory MBZ parts are though.
Being in the industry I'm not that surprised at the cost of repairs. With a 14 year old car it does make more sense to go to an indie repair shop to save considerable money as long as they use good parts.
