I know I'm new to the board and will probably get run out of town for this one but here goes anyway. I am amazed by the number of people who complain about the cost of parts and labor for their Merecdes. Come on guys, this isn't a Chevy or Ford. These are true luxury cars manufactured & shipped from Germany. This product has never been marketed as an "affordable" automobile that I am aware of. To me. its like buying a Hummer and then bitching about the price of fuel. I currently own a BMW & Land Rover and I can assure you that they are no less expensive to have serviced than a Mercedes. I have also owned an Acura and it was MORE expensive. I purchased the extended warranty because I reserached the repair cost before I purchased and realized that one semi-major trip to the service department could easily eat up the $2,500.00 that I paid for the warranty. Let's face it, these are expensive machines and Mercedes has kept them that way. The repairs will always be expensive as well.

 

Myself, I have never complaind about the cost of parts for my Mercedes. They are god damn expensive, but I understand the enginering and quality that goes into them.

What I continue to complain about is Labor cost. At my local Mercedes dealership its close to or over $100 per hour. I know these mechanics are not making that much money, so why must the dealer profit this much /hr when were already breaking the bank for the high cost of parts?

 

In a way your correct, However, service is where the money is made in any dealership. Also, to your point, the techs are trained at special schools set up by Mercedes, which is my understanding the dealers pay to send their techs. But there is something that this country has lost is ethics, in business and most other things. If the dealer can sleep at night, knowing what they markup parts and etc, good for them I guess. I had a battery problem and called three different Mercedes dealers, and their prices for the same battery varied from a high of $60 to a low of $25. msrp, doesn't exist in the car business as it is strickly ruled by the rules of supply and demand. Also, Mercedes is not the as luxuries as some other cars out their, within the same price range on many models. Also, the old saying if you have to asked the price you can't afford it, is stupid. I have known and know some very weathly people and they asked the price of something they are buying. A fool and his money are soon parted. Let the buyer beware, etc. One last point back in February I bought my wife a 2004 Hundyai XG350L, which was rated higher in quality and performance then a equal C Class Mercedes in 2003. The car extremely nice, solid, has a lot more convenience features then 99 C280, plust TC slip control head air bags, door bags, larger wheels, the interior trim is plastic but of a high quality. fit and finish are excellent and it has about 50HP more then my V6 runs on regular gas. Oil change last Saturday, including air filter $40.00.

 

There are few cars that are "cheap" to maintain nowadays (at the dealership). IMO, if you are looking to save $$, you perform the repairs on your own and buy maint. parts on-line. Otherwise, even a GM costs a fortune to repair at the dealership today.

 

I more or less agree with C280 Wizard. It’s pricing that’s all over the map that is disturbing. Plus, I believe some shops boost the price simply because it’s an MB. Perhaps they figure, "heck, he's used to spending lots for things”; or some such "distribute the wealth" logic. Obviously, if parts cost more; I pay more. If the job takes more time because of MB engineering-I pay more. I get that. But to charge more simply because my car has the star is unethical. [sm=guilty.gif] (Oh, they are welcome to charge whatever they want, but won’t see my business.)

I recently priced the repair of a straightforward job. A shop that caters to European luxury cars wants $235. Another shop, which works on all cars, wants $175. Both would use the same part and complete the same work. $175 is inline with my manual’s suggested repair pricing. But get this; the local MB dealership wants $360!
(I’ve since leaned I can buy the Bosch replacement part for $103 and do the job myself in 30 mins. Guess which route I’m taking.)