Hi,

i bought my first Mercedes (my first car actually) in Feb 07 from the original owner. It's a 2003 C230 coupe with 31k miles. I got a flat tire the other day and said, what the heck, i'll bring it to the dealer (Mercedes Benz of Manhattan) since i never had before, and also to run the service B on it (it was almost time for it anyway). my brakes are also squeaking a little and my transmission is a bit jumpy when upshifting from 1st to 2nd.

anyway,
this is what they're chargin
Service B -$450
Diagnostic on Trans - $125
New Tire - $199
Brakes and Roters - $1400

they also told me i should change the rest of the tires (175 each) and haven't heard anything about transmission yet.

am i totally being taken for a ride?

from reading these forums, it seems like taking the car to the dealership is always the wrong thing to do. but how can i find out if there is honestly something wrong with my car? at what point should i get the brakes and rotors replaced? what's a fair price?

does anyone know anything about Rheinland Motors? is it better for me to go there?

any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Again, this is my 1st car ever and i know very little about them, so please forgive my rookie questions.

thanks!

Gabe

Sounds about right. That dealer has a good reputation.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Buy some tools, go to Tech section, search.

You yourself can do the brakes and rotors for around $200.

You should be able to pull off "B" for less than 100.

Tire - go to Tirerack.com. Have them deliver the tire to your local tirerack affiliate. Probably cost you less than 100 each, delivered, mounted and balanced.

Trans, I'd ask a bunch of questions in tech before I fork over 125. But you may have to fork it over anyway, so let the dealer do that.

__________________
Thank You!
Fred
2009 ML350
2004 SL600
2004 SL500
1996 SL600
2002 SLK32
2005 CLK320 cabrio
2003 ML350
1997 C280 Sport