A Mercedes-Benz is still, basically, a car. It shares similar components and assemblies with many other cars varying only in details. Those that obsess over allowing only "Mercedes trained" mechanics touch their cars are foolish I think. There is no mysterious MB karma to most jobs. Exhaust, brakes, suspension/steering and other systems can be adequately repaired or serviced by any professional that takes pride in their work.

Many of us on this forum do the simpler servicing and repair jobs ourselves. Except for the few who are pro/retired MB mechanics with an extensive tool collection the jobs requiring a lift or other pro shop-only tools we sometimes find ourselves faced with can be a job too difficult to attempt. In those cases, many head for the MB dealer for help. My friends, I'm here to tell you that is seldom to never necessary and as some have found it is counter-productive.

Those of us with old cars often find the dealer will offer an outrageous price estimate for a seemingly common repair. I think that the dealerships don't want to repair the old cars and the estimated cost is intended to discourage. They often don't have the experienced old techs, parts and sometimes the tools. They don't want to tie up a lift, the space and a tech to service our old junk.

In the eight years I have owned my 1983 300CD daily driver, I have never gone to a dealer for repair or parts. Those jobs I don't want to tackle (basically anything requiring me to lie on my back under the car for a long time) I take to a trusted independent general repair shop with whom I have developed a working relationship over many years.

My newer Benz, a 2008 E320 that is my wife's ride, goes to the Benz dealer we bought it from. We are blessed with a competent, honest dealer shop that has never overcharged or tried to upsell us for work not needed.

To summarize this overlong post. my advice is to find a good independent shop and develop a working relationship with them. Don't obsess over "MB-trained" and don't worry if you see a Ford on the next lift.

We had a 97 Saturn that wasn't being used and I was giving it to a friend. I priced (at full retail) all brake parts (pads, calipers, hoses, disks, hardware) and struts then asked the local Midas for a quote. It came back at ~ $1,000 over the price of the parts for brakes ONLY. Shop rate is $100/hr. I declined as simply doing brakes was more than the car was worth.


Strangely, there are people that LOVE those cars and treat them like we do our old diesels. I never got the same joy driving the Saturn as I do the SD.

__________________
85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

Midas and Meineke have to pay for advertising which adds to the cost.

Once upon a time a local MB indy replaced a tranny in a 300D. For some reason he never informed me that the exhaust pipe was rusted and on the verge of literally falling out of the car. He had the car up on the lift while replacing the transmission so the rust problem was easy enough to see, right?

I then took a trip 800 miles from home when the exhaust pipe let go and began dragging on the ground. Here I am in a strage city, I don't know one shop from another with rusted exhaust pipe dragging on the ground. Not a good spot to be in right?

I quickly looked in the local yellow pages and found a shop specializing in european cars. I took the car to them, they put it up on their lift and then took me out into the shop area to see the damage with my own eyes. They informed me that they didn't have the means to repair the exhaust pipe and referred me to a local Meinike muffler shop around 4:00 PM.

The local Meineke shop agreed to stay open late JUST FOR ME. Their top notch welder welded in a new exhaust pipe. I never had another problem with the exhaust system on that 300D for the next ten years I kept the car. I never went back to the indy who had failed to let me know about the problem......

No one can predict how long a pipe will last in a rusted state. If the trans guy told you the pipe was rusted, needed replaced but it lasted another year, would you say the trans guy was trying to rip you off?

I wish I had taken photographs of it so you could see the extent of the damage. The entire exhaust pipe was full of rust and had obviously been in that condition for quite some time. There were other issues with this particular indy which I won't go into here which is why he is short one less customer.......

I'm still waiting for a link to this vid.


I'm still waiting for a reply to my post 17

When I looked for the video again it appears to have been pulled. What transpired for this to happen is any ones guess. I saw it as damaging to that dealership as it was linked to the dealerships customers comments on the net.


I know if I had owned the dealership I would have paid him to pull it.

I'm still waiting for the results of the $ 3,800 AC repair listed in post 11 and copied here.

I hope you're not holding your breath .

__________________
-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

Only to avoid the stench of unsubstantiated $ 3,800 claims.

Well, we are pushing 2 1/2 months since strelnik posted a tale of how someone took their 1980 240D into a dealer with weak AC , left with a $ 3,800 bill ( see post 11 ) and then supposedly went to the state's Bureau of Automotive Regulation.

Strelnik stated he would have told the dealer that they did work not required and requested but has offered zero proof the dealer did work not required / requested. I want to know how strelnik is so sure the work was not needed , requested and the AC bill was actually $ 3,800.

So far strelnik has not responded to my posts asking for more details to substantiate the the claim. I call bs since he nor the owner have made any attempt to follow through.

Welp, I have to replace the alterenator in my 300SDL. The belt tensioner assembly, shut of valve, and remove a broken extractor in my E300. I have to re tap because I'm sure the threads are ruined.

It's getting extremely expensive for me.

__________________
1998 Ford Escort ZX2 5 speed - 279,000 miles My Daily

1992 Mercedes 300D 2.5 202,000 - Pure junk
2000 Mercedes E320 Black - 136,000 miles - Needs repair

Don't forget to grease the screw and threads on the spring compressor.

Just bite the bullet and pay two ATE calipers and install them with fresh hoses, brake pads,discs and fluid. Most of the w123 calipers has lived way over the life of any car in that Era.

If you are doing new calipers, might as well order the gen2 w126 stuff and get vented rotors with bigger diameter up front. You do need 15" wheels though, so you could add some wheels to the bill :-)

I don't see how maybe $60 per caliper after core refund can be considered spendy. The pads and rotors needed replacement anyway. Very economical compared to virtually any car out there. Even the chinese bundt 15" wheels are pretty cheap on ebay.

What I think is nuts are people who only put OEM parts from the dealership on their cars .

Jeeze, talk about F U money!

One of my dreams is to own a shop where one bay I do a YouTube channel on cars other shops screwed up. We determine if the shop was trying to rip off the person, incomperent, or both. Name and shame.

Southern California mechanics are the worst.

The best part is, I'm comfortable working on old and modern cars. The troubleshooting gets easier with the right computer equipment.