M-B dealerships by state... different prices?

[Delibes]

How much does your local Mercedes-Benz dealership charge per hour?
Let's find out how steep the differences are state-by-state!

[PARSHOOT1]

$130/hr

[TylerH860]

Wichita is $170. Monopoly as the next closest dealer is 2.5 hours away.

[E150GT]

I don't know the hourly rate at ours here but the alignment on my car was cheaper at one vs the other.

[MTI]

Guess this shows how many members have been to a dealership service department for service.

There are three MB dealerships in PHX, one of whom has two stores. All of them honor a 10% discount for MBCA members. The one closest to me had an hourly shop rate of $125.

[engatwork]

I don't know what they charge. Only time I have taken one in was when the SBC unit was timed out on the 05 E wagon. Resetting its clock was covered under warranty.

[MTI]

Originally Posted by Skid Row Joe

Some MB dealerships will give a 10% discount on labor when you show them your MBUSA Membership card. ALL of them will give a parts discount of 10% or so with the card for to-go parts sales only.

My Mercedes-Benz dealer just emailed me a brake job discount of up to $150.00 per axle set, good 'til the end of March on brakes and rotors.

Is there an MBUSA card? The Mercedes Benz Club of America (MBCA) gets a discount at many, but not all dealerships in the country, as participation is optional. All the PHX dealers honor it, but it varies by city and state.

[Skid Row Joe]

Some MB dealerships will give a 10% discount on labor when you show them your MBUSA Membership card. ALL of them will give a parts discount of 10% or so with the card for to-go parts sales only.

My Mercedes-Benz dealer just emailed me a brake job discount of up to $150.00 per axle set, good 'til the end of March on brakes and rotors.



The 10% discount on parts was/is a little low, but would cover you. My B2B discount was a lot higher in years past.

$140.00/$145.00 hr. is what one of my MB dealers were charging recently. I doubt it would be any less today.

[KarTek]

How are you all getting these labor rates? Is there a way to see them on line?

[MTI]

It's on the service invoice.

[TylerH860]

My dealership in Wichita is the highest I know of at $170. They only have a few senior techs left getting paid in the low $20s an hour level. The rest are new people getting paid under $15 an hour.

[97 SL320]

Originally Posted by TylerH860

My dealership in Wichita is the highest I know of at $170. They only have a few senior techs left getting paid in the low $20s an hour level. The rest are new people getting paid under $15 an hour.

And some want to raise the minimum wage to $15 for completely unskilled labor. No wonder those with the intelligence to be a modern tech are fleeing the field.

[Skid Row Joe]

Originally Posted by TylerH860

My dealership in Wichita is the highest I know of at $170. They only have a few senior techs left getting paid in the low $20s an hour level. The rest are new people getting paid under $15 an hour.

Seems reasonable to me. I'd imagine the cost of the mandatory healthcare expense to the dealer per employee is astronomical these days.

[MTI]

Originally Posted by Skid Row Joe

Seems reasonable to me. I'd imagine the cost of the mandatory healthcare expense to the dealer per employee is astronomical these days.

Is healthcare in Wichita particularly high compared to the rest of the U.S.?

[TylerH860]

Originally Posted by MTI

Is healthcare in Wichita particularly high compared to the rest of the U.S.?

Of course it is. They use any excuse they can to dramatically raise it every year.

Things are getting much worse for the techs, not better. They are paid on book time versus regular hours. If they are doing a job and the "book time" is 3 hours, they are only paid for 3 hours of work even if it takes twice that time. For complicated jobs, book times are not realistic. For easy service jobs, it favors the tech.

Unfortunately the way our dealer is going is to have a dedicated quick lube type person, taking away the easy money service jobs from the more experienced techs, who get the hard jobs that don't pay well. Even the Mercedes dealers are considering a dedicated quick lube type lane.

The company that owns the Wichita Mercedes dealer recently bought the BMW franchise. When they copy/pasted their program over to BMW, it was a mass exodus. Service manager, one Service adviser, and all but 2 of the techs walked out.

Then there's the salesman side of it, where two thirds of their commissions selling $50,000 and up cars net them the minimum $200 commission. This is because they pack on BS costs on the car to cover overhead so the invoice appears much higher. The salesman can't deal very much before his commission evaporates.

This time of year is pretty slow. Techs and salesman are lucky to break $10 an hour based on their actual time working.

I'm out of the business completely and now opening up/ operating fast food restaurants. We start every crew member at $8 an hour. The ones that actually work will get a raise and more hours. The ones that don't we cut their hours until they hopefully find another job... Most of the crew members are high school/college age just needing extra money. $15 an hour would completely turn that world upside down. We wouldn't be interested in employing many kids.