Mercedes Woes - Price List

One of the things that kept happening on the summer vacation involved the Mercedes - it kept breaking in little ways.  Oh, it always starts and runs fine and displays no mechanical gremlins.  Just several electric ones, including self-locking (not what you want in the morning on your coffee stop before the beach when you've left the keys in the car to grab the coffee and paper).  The MB reputation is fading, and I know why.

So I took it in today for service at Herb Chambers, where they dutifully listened to my descriptions of the problems, wrote them down, and promised to call me about the needed repairs.  I declined the $480 (!) Service B in favor of a simple oil and filter.  The B service includes new wiper blades (I get those myself for about 1/2 the price the dealer charges) and checking the belts and hoses (I do that) and a tire rotation.  That last thing would be helpful if our tires weren't self-rotating (my wife hits a lot of curbs) and if I couldn't get the same thing done for $80 at any tire place.

My guess: $800 for the A/C problem; $150 for the broken electric mirror; $140 for the new bulb in the dash cluster (this is accurate - he quoted it to me); $125 for the oil service; $40 for the steering column cover fault; and anywhere between free (they fixed it before under warranty) and $1500 for the self-locking and electrical problems.  I'll update when I get the sad numbers.

UPDATE:

compressor:    $1500 (warranty covers it)
mirror:            $650
brake pads:    $600 (I opted to keep the old rotors, another $600)
2 tires:        $350 installed (could save $40 at Tire Rack, but I don't have time)
column fault: $190 (to pull column)
electric:            unknown; covered under warranty
oil service:      $115

In other words, Holy Shit!  I am very happy that the extended warranty still applies.  In the old days, you'd spend a fortune for the Mercedes but know that you were buying a top-notch, durable product.  Now you spend a fortune buying it and a fortune repairing it.  Never again.

Comments

[DM Fox]

Sorry to hear about the MB woes but I too have experienced similar issues. Back in the 1980s I owned a 1984 and a 1986 190e and had a miserable time with both. Even had problems with the 300ES.

[rascalking]

You know what the sad part is? Those prices seem about what I'd expect for work done at my VW dealer. I must have spent at least half the original cost of the car on maintenance since I bought my Golf in 99, not counting work done repairs done for accidents. Like you said, never again.

[The Friendly Grizzly]

I guess I am doing something wrong. My crappy rotten no-good shabby (sniff) Chevrolet (horrors!) just refuses to break. One $42.00 repair in 87K miles. Tell me what I'm missing.

I've owned a lot of cars and pickups over the years. Some were worse than others, but in general, my American cars have been the most twist-the-key-it-goes reliable of the lot.

[carpundit]

Grizzly,

You may be missing nothing, except a good driving experience. I'd say you made a great choice with your Chevy. A choice I'm coming to understand more and more. There's just a few problems for me.

One, I'm a snob. I like expensive cars. Two, I like cars that perform well on the road - acceleration, handling, braking, general road feel. Three, I like cars with attractive styling and solid finish materials, absent on almost any American car I can think of. So Chevy isn't going to work for me, even as I bitch about the MB.

I hope your Chevy lasts as long as you want it to and I wish you many more good starts.

CP

[Tim]

Grizzly,

Nothing wrong with American cars. Except when the wheel falls off for some unknown reason in the middle of the busy highway. Which what happened to me. Funny story, but somehow we weren't too amuzed,
in fact that very day I made a pact with people upstairs that should we walk from this alive that would be the last Ford I would ever own in my life.

[Dave]

Tim,

Everyone has one of those stories. Even Toyota's not immune. Their new large car, the Avalon, was recalled because the welds weren't designed properly for the steering column, and there were instances of the whole thing coming off~!
http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2005/05/23/103249.html

If your wheel came off due to a manufacturing defect, then it's correct to be wary of that model. However, if it were due to the last person who put on the wheel not properly fastening the lugnuts, then it's not Ford's fault.

Anyway, on topic, a friend of mine worked at MB, and told me of owners coming in having to roll down the window and open the door from outside, or having major functions in their car not work. Tsk, tsk. So much cache, must be quite a letdown.

[carpundit]

Dave, yes it is a letdown, that started when the selling dealer lied to us about the car (long story for another day). But when it works, it's a pleasure. And I can honestly say there have been no mechanical incidents. It is mechanically very solid.

Too bad about the electrics, and the $119 an hour labor rate at the dealer.

[ed]

Grizzly could you send me an email why your ford wheels fell of Regards Ed send to ecraig@weldreality.com, ps if you guys are interested check out the bad weld section of www.weldreality.com

[louis vuitton outlet]

If only the 350 cities and towns could find the same political will. We can break the back of the police unions here, if people don't chicken out.

[MBT Shoes Uk]

Listen to music on the go with the built-in music player plus if you need to store.

[Bergen County NJ used mercedes]

What will be present price list of this model of used car in the current car market?

[Account Deleted]

Mercedes cars look hot though and I think spending on a good car for repairs is worth it! By the way, I think I saw a similar car in one of those nearby car dealerships. (Indianapolis-area). I wonder how much an average person spends nowadays on car repair. Indianapolis has a lot of good car technicians so even if my car's warranty expired three months ago, I'm quite at ease.