M-B Dealer Service cheaper? - not so fast my BMW friends

[jgerock]

Took my wife's 2002 M-B C240 in for schedule "B" service today (current mileage is 95K). Ouch @ $ 400+. The car doesn't have a dipstick, so I must entrust the work to others.

Along with the normal service items, they recommended I do the following (I declined until the funds are replenished and I can use a coupon):

Auto Transmission service: $ 425.00 (drain, refill and change filter)

Replace fuel filter: $ 285.00

Replace spark plugs: $ 525.00

L/F foglight lens is cracked: $ 225.00

I did have the brake fluid changed ($ 92.00 P&L).

While I waited, I chatted with a nice older woman (born in Stuttgart, Germany) told me about her long-time VW, Fiat and M-B ownership. I shared my V@V pics from the laptop and she was very complementary of the fine German cars. She has a 2009 C300 sedan that only has 6K miles on it. No "free" maintenance program came with it, so the first oil change and series of inspections ("A" service) was going to cost her about $ 225.00! She has taken delivery of several M-B cars in Germany, so you can bet she will speak to someone at M-B about the cost of ownership.

[robspeed]

Took my wife's 2002 M-B C240 in for schedule "B" service today (current mileage is 95K). Ouch @ $ 400+. The car doesn't have a dipstick, so I must entrust the work to others.

Along with the normal service items, they recommended I do the following (I declined until the funds are replenished and I can use a coupon):

Auto Transmission service: $ 425.00 (drain, refill and change filter)

Replace fuel filter: $ 285.00

Replace spark plugs: $ 525.00

L/F foglight lens is cracked: $ 225.00

I did have the brake fluid changed ($ 92.00 P&L).

While I waited, I chatted with a nice older woman (born in Stuttgart, Germany) told me about her long-time VW, Fiat and M-B ownership. I shared my V@V pics from the laptop and she was very complementary of the fine German cars. She has a 2009 C300 sedan that only has 6K miles on it. No "free" maintenance program came with it, so the first oil change and series of inspections ("A" service) was going to cost her about $ 225.00! She has taken delivery of several M-B cars in Germany, so you can bet she will speak to someone at M-B about the cost of ownership.

$525 for spark plugs? id laugh, but what good would that do? ok to hell with it: bwahahahaha!

the foglight lens is probably worse...

[jgerock]

Those prices are for parts and labor and the car only has the "small" V6! There are a few things I can do to the car, but don't have a service manual to dive into the more involved operations. I've asked the service dept. about a manual, but they aren't available (yet). The car even has fiber optic wiring, rain sensing wipers, headlight washers, heated seats, auto climate control, 5-speed auto trans. and other advanced features that the tii can only dream of having.

[robspeed]

Those prices are for parts and labor and the car only has the "small" V6! There are a few things I can do to the car, but don't have a service manual to dive into the more involved operations. I've asked the service dept. about a manual, but they aren't available (yet). The car even has fiber optic wiring, rain sensing wipers, headlight washers, heated seats, auto climate control, 5-speed auto trans. and other advanced features that the tii can only dream of having.

yeah, i keep in touch with a BMW master tech (hes actually the shop foreman now) and hear all his stories and kind of peripherally keep up with the technology changes. he is a master's master who does all kinds of off-the-menu work like nav/video mods, engine electronics recodes, etc. all the hairy electronics jobs that the other masters cant figure out, he takes care of....

my advice for any new car owner dealing with ridiculous dealer service costs is to try to talk to the techs themselves and see if they will take work as side jobs. my master's master friend still does this even as shop foreman, often talking about taking customer cars home to work on them etc. id say 95% of the dealer techs would jump at the chance to do side work and the obvious advantage to that is you get the factory tools and training at lower costs, sometimes lower even than indie shops who often lack these tools and training.

i dont envy your newish mercedes ownership... mercedes stopped building good cars about 1989... ;-p

[jgerock]

[quote="robspeed

i dont envy your newish mercedes ownership... mercedes stopped building good cars about 1989... ;-p

Interesting. The car is actually my wife's. Back in May of 2002, she selected it over the Jaguar X-Type (NLA), Acura TL, Lexus IS300 and BMW 325i. Our local BMW dealership was very snobbish toward my wife so I didn't even get the chance to follow-up with my own test drive.

I was hesitant to purchase the M-B, but it has been a good car to us. Free maintenance was included for the first 4 years/50K miles and I bought the extended warranty (7 years/100K miles) due to the fancy electronics. The warranty has paid for itself after the rear suspension link bushings failed, the fresh air flap broke and the alternator went out in May. Thanks to all the construction work here, the windshield has been replaced twice (in 1 year!).

The dealership (American Service Center in Arlington, VA) made this car purchase the absolute best buying experience we have ever had.

[robspeed]

[quote name="robspeed

i dont envy your newish mercedes ownership... mercedes stopped building good cars about 1989... ;-p

Interesting. The car is actually my wife's. Back in May of 2002' date=' she selected it over the Jaguar X-Type (NLA), Acura TL, Lexus IS300 and BMW 325i. Our local BMW dealership was very snobbish toward my wife so I didn't even get the chance to follow-up with my own test drive.

I was hesitant to purchase the M-B, but it has been a good car to us. Free maintenance was included for the first 4 years/50K miles and I bought the extended warranty (7 years/100K miles) due to the fancy electronics. The warranty has paid for itself after the rear suspension link bushings failed, the fresh air flap broke and the alternator went out in May. Thanks to all the construction work here, the windshield has been replaced twice (in 1 year!).

The dealership (American Service Center in Arlington, VA) made this car purchase the absolute best buying experience we have ever had.[/quote]

admittedly the ones i used to work on were 70s, 80s, up through the mid-to-late 90s ones. there was a severe dip in quality once you hit the 90s models, maybe they improved in the 00s... the mid 90s engine wiring harnesses liked to crumble to dust just after the warranty expired, about five years out. if yours is out of warranty now, whatever you do dont check it, as touching it leads to crumbling... hopefully they eventually got around to fixing the problem before they built your 02...