Before I left for So Cal a bit over a week ago, I was on my way to a Dance Club in Berkeley to see this girl I just met and had lunch with in San Francisco.
This was Gillman Street off I -80 and I was going about 40 mph on this dark and unlit street and BAM!!!!!!
I hit an un signed, (that I could not see if there was a sign, anyhow!!) raised section of road with rr tracks on it.
Even after this, the car did bounce down hard once after going across the rr tracks, and still ran normally.
God only knows what would have happened without the W126 factory skid plate (installed on this lowered car at the insistence of the Indie shop in Santa Ana, CA, back in 1995 !!!!)
So before my huge journey, (to begin a couple of days later) I took the car to the Mercedes Benz dealer in Rocklin, CA. for a oil change, and was given a "Lube Servvice".
Maybe it was *ME* that got the "Lube " Service, as well as the car, because the bill for this was $105 including tax!
I questioned this, and the Service writer (those guys at the dealer that stand between you and the actual techs that WORK on the car, the ones in those long white coats, you know?) said if you JUST had gotten a LOF, the tech would focus ONLY on the oil filter and the oil drain plug, and not even look at anything else under or anywhere on the car, and you would get charged less. Pretty good, pretty slick answer to a question like that....I guess.
(Maybe they rotate your hubcaps too)....
But with their Mercedes Benz "Lubrication Service" they check all fluids, and top off everything as necessary, (not a bad idea on the edge of a 1,000+ mile trip I was about to undertake to So Cal) and inspiect this, inspect that, etc etc, blah, blah blah, yadda yadda yadda.
SO I said, " So.....then most of what you did and charged me all that for, was just LOOKING at this, LOOKING at that, and LOOKING at something else, you hardly even *touched* anything;
Of course he had no answer to that. Anyway ----
Keeping in mind I don't have a hoist or HD jack at home, and was then unaware of this, at the time, he then said the Tech observed your oil pan is squashed, the oil sensor would give an inaccurate reading on the dipstick, you should have a new oil pan put in.
I then instantly remembered the Berkeley railroad tracks the night before this.....uh oh.
"Also the skid plate was badly dented but we think it can be hammered out and put like it was", the SA said to me.
And he said: "We don't have any W126 oil pans in stock, but we can order one for you."
"The cost is $560". ( I was so shocked by it I did not ask if that included labor, which I imagine was likely well over $100-$150 per hour at this Mercedes Benz dealer these days...)
But I authorised it on the thinking that even if they charged that high, for something as important as a new oil pan, that if they screwed up, like let's say not putting all the bolts back on, and missed some, at least they are a Mercedes Benz dealer and there is recourse, all the way up to Mercedes Benz HQ itself, if the engine got destroyed if the oil all leaked out fast and the engine seized or something....
With an Independent shop it could be a lot different, probably.
They said "We will call you when the part comes in."
They eventually did but by then, I was already down near San Diego, almost a thousand miles from there.
In fact when I got back here, there was well over a thousand miles on the car, so it least it ran, and still runs well.
(Thank heavens for the factory W126 skid plate, without it on this lowered car, this would likely be a LOT different of a conversation; Satish Tummala ran across a railroad track in his first car, a Signal Red 1977 240 Diesel, which had no skid plate, and lost his whole motor because of no skid plate, just tore up the pan and lost his the motor, instant major castrophe.)
Now I am ready to decide: Go ahead and authorize the dealer to replace this, (and why not put new oil in, too?), and straighten the skid plate, or take it to an Independent mechanic (Ernie's Independent in Sacramento is good and would probably charge less, Ernst Koch also knows the W126 cars really well and has worked on them for years...)
Your thoughts please...
This was Gillman Street off I -80 and I was going about 40 mph on this dark and unlit street and BAM!!!!!!
I hit an un signed, (that I could not see if there was a sign, anyhow!!) raised section of road with rr tracks on it.
Even after this, the car did bounce down hard once after going across the rr tracks, and still ran normally.
God only knows what would have happened without the W126 factory skid plate (installed on this lowered car at the insistence of the Indie shop in Santa Ana, CA, back in 1995 !!!!)
So before my huge journey, (to begin a couple of days later) I took the car to the Mercedes Benz dealer in Rocklin, CA. for a oil change, and was given a "Lube Servvice".
Maybe it was *ME* that got the "Lube " Service, as well as the car, because the bill for this was $105 including tax!
I questioned this, and the Service writer (those guys at the dealer that stand between you and the actual techs that WORK on the car, the ones in those long white coats, you know?) said if you JUST had gotten a LOF, the tech would focus ONLY on the oil filter and the oil drain plug, and not even look at anything else under or anywhere on the car, and you would get charged less. Pretty good, pretty slick answer to a question like that....I guess.
(Maybe they rotate your hubcaps too)....
But with their Mercedes Benz "Lubrication Service" they check all fluids, and top off everything as necessary, (not a bad idea on the edge of a 1,000+ mile trip I was about to undertake to So Cal) and inspiect this, inspect that, etc etc, blah, blah blah, yadda yadda yadda.
SO I said, " So.....then most of what you did and charged me all that for, was just LOOKING at this, LOOKING at that, and LOOKING at something else, you hardly even *touched* anything;
Of course he had no answer to that. Anyway ----
Keeping in mind I don't have a hoist or HD jack at home, and was then unaware of this, at the time, he then said the Tech observed your oil pan is squashed, the oil sensor would give an inaccurate reading on the dipstick, you should have a new oil pan put in.
I then instantly remembered the Berkeley railroad tracks the night before this.....uh oh.
"Also the skid plate was badly dented but we think it can be hammered out and put like it was", the SA said to me.
And he said: "We don't have any W126 oil pans in stock, but we can order one for you."
"The cost is $560". ( I was so shocked by it I did not ask if that included labor, which I imagine was likely well over $100-$150 per hour at this Mercedes Benz dealer these days...)
But I authorised it on the thinking that even if they charged that high, for something as important as a new oil pan, that if they screwed up, like let's say not putting all the bolts back on, and missed some, at least they are a Mercedes Benz dealer and there is recourse, all the way up to Mercedes Benz HQ itself, if the engine got destroyed if the oil all leaked out fast and the engine seized or something....
With an Independent shop it could be a lot different, probably.
They said "We will call you when the part comes in."
They eventually did but by then, I was already down near San Diego, almost a thousand miles from there.
In fact when I got back here, there was well over a thousand miles on the car, so it least it ran, and still runs well.
(Thank heavens for the factory W126 skid plate, without it on this lowered car, this would likely be a LOT different of a conversation; Satish Tummala ran across a railroad track in his first car, a Signal Red 1977 240 Diesel, which had no skid plate, and lost his whole motor because of no skid plate, just tore up the pan and lost his the motor, instant major castrophe.)
Now I am ready to decide: Go ahead and authorize the dealer to replace this, (and why not put new oil in, too?), and straighten the skid plate, or take it to an Independent mechanic (Ernie's Independent in Sacramento is good and would probably charge less, Ernst Koch also knows the W126 cars really well and has worked on them for years...)
Your thoughts please...
