Hi all,
I'd like to share my bad experience with a Dallas MB dealership (
Park Place Motorcars , 6113 Lemmon Avenue, Dallas, TX 75209) and great experience with this forum.
My car (W124 300CE, 1989) has been recalled for changing the throttle cable, without charge of course. After the job the MB service man told me that the EHA had been leaking and they needed another hour to change it; the cost would be 517.28 for part and 698.- including labor and tax. Since I was not prepared for another hour of service I said I had to go to the office because of a meeting and I would bring the car back another time; The service man then told me that because everything was opened now they could do it in 30 minutes; Still I did not have the 30 minute time; again they said that the job can be done in 15 min since they had not re-assembled the parts which normally make the EHA inaccessible. At that point I wondered why would they charge over $120 in labor for a 15-minute job, so I insisted on coming back other time.
At home I reseached first on line and found several offers for the EHA, new, between 179.- - 219.- . Then I came across a thread on this forum about adjusting the EHA and somebody mentioned that after removing the air cleaner box, the EHA can be removed by loosening 2
(two) screws; in another follow-up some MB "Samaritan" said that the seal tends to be leaking. I decided to give it a try, ordered the seal (1.20 each) and voila` my EHA is not leaking any more.
What I resented the MB dealership
that they have not even tried to look at the seal. I know that MB service is not there to save us money but charging 517.- for some part which others sell for 179.- is outrageous enough, not to mention the fact that the part itself needs not be changed at all, but only the seal, and then charging 140.- for a maximum 5-min work (even if the air cleaner had not been already out, they would have done it in 10 min; because it took me 20 minutes with no experience and no good tools) would be first-class rip-off.