I just has the inner LCA bushings & ball joints replaced on my W-123 (same as you have) and the entire job was done for $350.00 labor , I supplied the parts . I'm sure if I'd been able to leave it for when the shop was slow it would have been less , as it was i drove it in the morning and picked it up right after lunch s I know he worked it into his busy schedule and flat rated it
~ the car was aligned too and now not only doesn't clunk , it drives like a dream again .

It's a quick job , as BigRed mentioned , using all thread and some pipe or big sockets is std. ' Flat Rate ' process for any Jorneyman mechanic . I can no longer do this typ of work due to my injuries but I have two different honest Mercedes factory trained Indies in Pasadena I use and trust , I _always_ go over the entire job to be done and total price before I leave the car ~ not because I don't trust them , but because sometimes the mechanic is thinking of a different job than you are and I cannot afford any $ errors .

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

vwnate1, don't know what your hourly rate is out there, but over here 95 seems about average. For 8 hours book labor, it would seem more like you got a good deal. There won't be a next time though, since I got the go ahead to just buy the next expensive tool I need.

Fair enough ~ I don't see this as an 8 hour job though .

I closed my shop some years back , I tended to work pretty much Flat Rate and passed the savings along to my customers , everyone was happy .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

I'm sorry you feel like you got a bad deal. I think you got a very good deal. I have built many of these front ends , they are very time consuming and I have the right tools for all the bushings and springs, if they pulled the lower control arms and the yoke and it sounds like they did you came out smelling like a rose, number one he spent bookoo time on your car i'm sure I have put in a 10 hour day on these front ends to come in the next day to finish it, something else what was his labor time even if it was 65.00 and hour times 10 = 650.00 + other ecentials ,I have had to cut most of the ecentric bolts out with a torch and they just don't come out that easy after 30 years lots of labor intensive work. if he was dishonest he would have charged you the norm and that would have been at least $2.000 so be happy . I think you got a great deaL Jerry

Jerry, I stated later that I didn't feel so ripped off anymore. I didn't know at the time that ball joints were 3 hrs a piece book rate, and I never asked before I told him to do the work.
Also, you may have to cut bolts off up there, but down here I haven't had to cut one off yet. But, being originally from Wisconsin, I am fully aware of the torch method of getting bolts off.
Peace, Tony

Heh, you want "rip off"? I stopped at one of those "Lube & Wash" places nearby my house, this weekend. Now.. I've been to several of these places, and usually end up getting a fairly good deal. I went to one I hadn't been to, pulled up in my 83 300D, and asked for the standard Lube & Wash deal. I can only guess they saw the tri-point star on my hood, and labeled me with a huge dollar sign because of it. Suddenly, the ~$35-40 lube service had:

*Extra $4 for vacuuming the carpet
*Extra $12 for a few quarts extra of oil (they only "cover" 5 qts)
*Extra $10 "Because it's a diesel" (This one made me laugh at them)
And now for the grand finale, which made me so dumbfounded that I couldn't think of a snarky remark to tell the guy (and I'm usually good at that!)..
...he told me "We need to charge you $10 extra for the oil filter". When I asked why, since the filter is supposed to be included.. he said "Oh, it's a "cartridge filter" for a Mercedes. We pay $22 for these things, our computer says so".

The only thing I could tell the guy (aside from "pull my car out of the garage, I'm not paying you") was "If you pay twenty-two dollars for an oil filter for this car, you're getting ripped off. I can go to a dealership, and even THEY won't charge me more than $12 or so."

I'm STILL dumbfounded.

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(Oo{=|=}oO) 1983 MB 300D USA, 212,000mi. 80's yellow/white. "Gunther"
(Oo{=|=}oO) 1984 MB 300D Euro, Turbo Added in Germany, 186,000mi [SOLD] Missing her dearly.
(Oo{=|=}oO) 1984 MB 300D USA Turbodiesel, 269,000mi. [SOLD]