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Stealership & honesty.

2K views 17 replies 11 participants last post by  doin12volt 
#1 · (Edited)
I know, I know... it is oxymoron.
But there should be exceptions when those $150/hr guys do their described jobs instead of lie to customers?
So to make the story short, I've got "invitation" for 27-point courtesy safety check.
My cars needed washing, and I had 1/2 day to spare, so I made appointments for 2 cars.
ML come with notes:
-brake pads down to 2-3 mm. I took a look and it is more like 5, but I'll take the wheels off next week and will measure that exactly.
-transmission plug leak. Whole transmission has oily "sweat" on it, but how those guys can be sure it is a plug? I washed it and check in few days. Never had to add the fluid.
Now better part. The 97 sedan with 234,000 miles come with:
-transmission plug leak
-transmission mount cracked
-front flex cracked
-rear flex cracked.
I put the sedan on ramps today to verify that. The tranny is wet from power steering leak (what passed the inspection) but can't tell about any transmission fluid leaks. Whole tranny, mount and front of the drive-shaft have huge shield. I am 98% sure the shield wasn't taken off in last 2 years (own the car for 6 months) so if somebody was seeing the leaks on transmission and cracked mount and f flex had to have x-ray vision. I took a camera and did high-resolution pictures.
Do those flex disks show any problems to you?
Should I do anything about it, or just get more donuts on my next visit?
 

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#2 · (Edited)
My skepticism of the Bay Area MB dealers runs really high.

MB of SF is despicable, in my experience.
RAB Motors is OK, but just.....they seem to find wildly extravagant repairs needed.
I have heard reports that Stead's in Walnut Creek is really bad, and the dealer in Pleasanton is even worse.
Aack K. (Boardmonger) doesn't like Smythe in San Jose and I respect and trus his opinion.
That still leaves Oakland, Fremont, Redwood City and a few more, but I would be careful of them, just buy parts if I had to

I have heard Karl's in Novato is good, and I have used Sal's Autohaus in SF,and they were OK. I spent a LOT of $$$$ over the years at Pete's Independent on Pacific off Van Ness, but they are a white glove shop and pretty expensive too, all right but barely. They will give you a ride to work though.

I used the Independent MB shop at 40th and telegraph in Oakland a couple of times, and they were pretty much all right, but no bargain either.

7 or 8 years in the SF area with a Benz and I felt like Diogenes with his lamp looking for an honest and really good place, never found one.:mad:

Maybe one is there, but the dealers stink generally around there. I hope your luck is better than mine was

Just curious, do you have a good shop you found?

I think at 234k your flex discs could be bad, though I can't see it, I had mine done at about 110k, it is a safety issue to keep them in good shape, a failure at speed would be a catastrophe

Jim
 
#4 ·
I guess my question would be why you even take a car with 200K+ miles to a dealer. You didin't say how many miles are on the ML but I would think the E320 would not have seen a dealer in at least 150,000 miles - especially at y'all's $150/hr rate. With the lift on parts I would have to wonder if KY Jelly was also included with any service.

And yes, if the flex disks have over 200k miles, it is time to replace them.
 
#5 ·
mcbear said:
I guess my question would be why you even take a car with 200K+ miles to a dealer. You didin't say how many miles are on the ML but I would think the E320 would not have seen a dealer in at least 150,000 miles - especially at y'all's $150/hr rate. With the lift on parts I would have to wonder if KY Jelly was also included with any service.

And yes, if the flex disks have over 200k miles, it is time to replace them.
+1...btw, which mb dealership did you go to? just so you know MB of SF & MB of Oakland charge $120/ hr labor.
 
#7 ·
As usually some answer to the topic without reading it.
Once again -it was free check, so all it cost me was the time plus couple bucks for fuel.
If you take a look on the picture you might notice, that front disk is a new one. I have no record when it was replaced, but you can see it in perfect shape.
Rear disk shows some aging, but I used to drive 83 model 3 years ago on all original disks (at least to my knowledge) so am not going to rush into the replacement.
I don't want to say the name of dealership, because the dishonesty is common problem. cascade listed them pretty well ;).
So if the technicians write you an $1000 estimate on fake jobs, what is it that we can do about it?
I do my own repairs, but I feel for those guys, that have to deal with professional thieves on regular basis.
 
#9 ·
But than in Chicago on 10-years old car you don't need to leave driver seat to see the drive-shaft. :D
Sure when you drive 10-years old E-class between all those $150k models your heart beats faster.
In my wooded village I see lot of W123 with painted wheel covers (pre 1978?) in pristine condition.
 
#10 ·
Here in Bluegrass Horse Country we have much the same thing as you have. Many older [70s-80's] benz' running around in 2+ shape as daily drivers but very few use the dealer for service even though they are "only" $91 per hour. There are six independents, including mine that deal ONLY with the older cars and most niche to certain cars so owners can go to the one that specializes in their car. I only deal with the 124 and 126 as an example [and Toyota Camry’s for some unknown reason]. None of the indies charge over $75 for Benz work and all have Certified Benz Techs. All shops, except one stay very busy.
 
#11 ·
Stealerships and dishonesty

Kajtek1,

Someone else posted something about the "free inspection" that you mentioned about a month ago. As I remember, their dealer also found a lot of expensive work to do.

As you have pointed out (in so many words), there are "have to do right now" repairs, as well as "these should be done but can wait" ones. I suspect yours are of the 2nd variety.

At least you have now discovered some potentially problematic areas, and the info did not cost you anything.
 
#12 ·
Musikmann said:
....and the info did not cost you anything.
Not quite. They gave me mis-info and they made me doing re-inspections, so I wasted my time to prove them liars.
You should know from other topics, that I prefer not to do "preventive" maintenance unless it is really necessary. Just as another example -I've seen bad hydraulic hose on my backhoe for at least 3 years, but didn't replace it till it blow up last week. That obviously happened on Friday afternoon, while I planned to work on it whole Saturday, while all the hose shops were closed till Monday. But Murphy's law is another story.
Than again how many MB owners fall for that scam?
 
#13 ·
Scam

Kajtek1 said:
Than again how many MB owners fall for that scam?
My guess is that a lot of them do. So far, my dealer has not sent me one of those, and I will decide what to do with the "invitation" if I get one in the mail.

BTW, do you know if MBUSA is sending those, or do they come from the dealer network?
 
#14 ·
Kajtek1 said:
Not quite. They gave me mis-info and they made me doing re-inspections, so I wasted my time to prove them liars.
You should know from other topics, that I prefer not to do "preventive" maintenance unless it is really necessary. Just as another example -I've seen bad hydraulic hose on my backhoe for at least 3 years, but didn't replace it till it blow up last week. That obviously happened on Friday afternoon, while I planned to work on it whole Saturday, while all the hose shops were closed till Monday. But Murphy's law is another story.
Than again how many MB owners fall for that scam?
It was your choice to "prove them liars" and your choice to spend the money/time to do so. They didn't make you do it.

Not doing preventive maintenance until something breaks falls into the "pay me now or pay me later" category and is simply stupid. It almost invariable costs more if nothing more than your already-desribed valuable time.
 
#16 ·
That would make another topic chris. What you call "preventive maintenance"?
Replacing flex disk every year? Replacing tires every 10,000 miles and brakes having still 5 mm of pads on them?
IMHO "preventive" doesn't exist. We just do "insurance" replacement because we don't want to end with broken serpentine belt 100 miles into desert, or run out of gas 15 miles from gas station. This way we minimize the risk, but still not prevent it. New belt can break as well because of factory defect, or small rock getting in it.
Look at farm equipment. It works much, much harder than our Mercedes cars, but seldom see any "preventive maintenance". If the V-belt on my tractor breaks, I walk the 100 feet to my shop and get new one. If I run out of fuel -the same story. Why would I spend the time and money to replace the belt less than 1/2 into it's life, or refuel having tank 40% full if all it takes is 100 feet walk?

Musikman the invitation come with local dealer address and was specifically for VIN number. Our "new" car is registered at MBUSA, but not at local dealer, so it didn't get the invitation, so I assume it is all local.
 
#17 ·
Invitation

Kajtek1 said:
Musikman the invitation come with local dealer address and was specifically for VIN number. Our "new" car is registered at MBUSA, but not at local dealer, so it didn't get the invitation, so I assume it is all local.
OK, thank you Kajtek1. I guess the question I had was this: Is it MBUSA trying to get more service business for their dealers, or is it the dealers themselves who are after our money with this thing? I think you have just answered that one.
 
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