I'm lucky (I think) to have 5 Mercedes dealerships in the area where I live. For a while I had a current Mercedes suggested retail price list. One of the dealers was charging almost 25% over SRP and it varied from part to part.

Motor mounts are fresh in my mind. Seven years ago, I bought two mounts from the dealer (actually got some sort of discount - don't remember how much) for $24 each. The same motor mount now retails for $133 at the dealer and I can no longer get a discount. I got Lemfoerder motor mounts instead and you could see where they ground the tri-star emblem off of the part. They even had the Mercedes marking of two blue paint dots. They were $21.67 each.

I use the dealer when I have to, but I always look elsewhere first.

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Tom Evans
69 280SE 91K (wish I still had it)
73 220D 98K
78 300D 134K
78 300D 185K
81 300SD 301K (still have)
82 300SD 321K (still have)
84 300D 268K
84 6.2 Diesel GMC Suburban 225K (a whole different story!)

I was quoted $600 for a rebuilt starter from the dealer this morning for the 95 E300.

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Jim

Holy cow. I wouldn't pay more than $200 and even that might send me junkyard hopping instead.

Used (no guarantee) starter at pull-a-part: $14.25

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~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

In the past 25 years I have not got any parts from a dealer. Since online sales have been about, I get parts from all over the world. strangely I can get genuine MB parts from a parts seller cheaper than MB can land them in Australia & they have the emblem on them. I sometimes inquire on prices. The local dealer wanted $48 for a secondary fuel filter a year ago & $160 for a headlight lens for a w123 (euro). I just laughed at the prices. I got the filter for $7.60 & the lens for $62 . I know some one who has got parts from the dealer & I have good reason to believe that they are obtaining them from the same place that I use here in Australia.

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Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving

I find it worth a call to the dealer in most cases. Some parts are very reasonable. Some are not at all reasonable. I just paid $35 for a vacuum actuator today in fact as well as a few meters of vacuum hose. Online places are selling vacuum actuators for $31-$35.00. The vauum line/hose was actually cheaper than the online stores I checked recently.

When I asked the dealer parts guy to look up the price for the little plastic trim for manual window cranks I was floored that they sold for $25 each. I passed on those and will continue looking and being patient.

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1982 240 D, 308,000 - 321,127 miles (sold)
1982 300 TD,166,500 - 226,000 miles
1998 E 320, 120,000 - 144,000 miles
2005 C 230 K, 26,000 - 77,000 miles (sold)

I only have one local dealer, and the parts guys have been super. They will spend time looking for what I'm trying to request (sometimes I don't know what to call it), but it really works nicely if I have the parts book (fleabay) and give them the old part number from the appropriate book. That usually gets me a discount.

Like some in this thread, I do look at other vendors, but when it comes down to some of the parts, M-B is the best place to go - especially trim. For example, in the W115s, each side has a "card" that covers the underside of the dash. These cards are different for auto or manual for left, and the right side has no openings in it. They are vinyl on one side, and foam backed for the other. They are always missing or very ratty, if there. They were $20-$30 each, shipped from Germany to here. You can even get the little clips that hold the cards in place!

And other example: my '71 220D daily driver has a 4 speed shifter on the column. The linkage has ball and socket connections, the sockets are plastic lined. The originals were shot, M-B had them NOS, very reasonable, and they make the linkage work perfectly.

My dealer also sells the Chevy line. The parts people agree, there's no way you'll get parts for a 39 year old Chevy like you can for my lowly 220D - at any price.

This thread reminds me, I buy the counter guys (2 of them) some beer at Christmas. My car's been so good lately, I haven't seen those guys recently. I need to get some beer and drop by.

Ron

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1971 220D, daily driver, new paint, 142K
1973 220D, low compression
1975 300D, back on the road! 166K
1971 220D, salvage, rear hit, engine excellent
1972 250, bad cam, but runs!
1971 230, engine stuck
1971 220D, low compression, rusty
1976 240D, salvage, engine excellent
1966 230SL, water in oil after rebuild

There are many good guys working in parts places, both at dealers & indi part suppliers.
If you watch this forum, you will see when some one needs something & they are not sure what, some one like whunter soon posts a very concise message. To suggest that any one at your local dealer was on par with the support we have on here from other members in finding out what we really need would be very rare.
This thread was started so that members could express their experiences with regard to prices for parts at dealers. Lets do those comparisons. I believe there are other threads in other parts of PP for alerting every one to good Mercedes shops. If you know of such places or work for one, please place a post on the thread about that.

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Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving

There's one dealer in Houston I use frequently for parts. The parts guys all know me and the car, and it helps that one of them is a W123 owner. I use them for mostly small things like exhaust hangers and such, because in many cases it's cheaper to buy from them than to buy the part online and have to pay more than you paid for the item in shipping costs!

This same dealer doesn't offer MBCA discounts, but they're pretty sane when it comes to parts pricing. I've gone to other local dealers and used their MBCA discount, only to find out that my usual dealer's regular retail price was still lower than the "discount price" that the other dealer gave. You live and learn.

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'81 MB 300SD, '82 MB 300D Turbo (sold/RIP), '04 Lincoln Town Car Ultimate

Sooner or later every car falls apart, ours does it later!
-German Narrator in a MB Promotion Film about the then brand new W123.

Not surprised. I bought a rebuilt starter for my '96 E300D (same engine as your '95) for $189.97 [plus $75.00 core] a year ago from an on-line supplier in a nearby state. I suspect that even lower replacements (not to mention junkyards) may be available but I wanted to make sure I got a Bosch. BTW, the same starter from the same supplier is today $182.10.

Another comparison: I bought a set of valve stem seals for my '87 300D Turbo (W124, OM603) from the same supplier for $15. Because I wasn't sure that the exhaust seals in this set were Elring, I then ordered a set from the local dealer for comparison. With my MBCA discount, the factory set will cost me about $60 plus tax.

This factor-of-four pricing seems to be typical. I don't mind paying a little more for stuff at the dealer but 4X is way beyond my tolerance. What happens to people not-like-us who can't do their own repairs?

Jeremy

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

They find a good independent shop that knows how to source parts.

Often, local autoparts store get greedy, especially when pricing parts for a 'premium' car like Mercedes, so I still call the dealer sometimes.
A few years ago I needed a set of donut exhaust-hangers for my first 240D and the cheapest price was about $2.50 each at a local parts store. Last year I needed another set for my latest 240D, and all the local parts stores wanted $4 to $8 each. The cheapest price - $2 - was at the Mercedes dealer!

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW