What is with dealer part prices?

[Tinker]

Just venting.

While replacing a ball joint on my wife's 190e (parts purchased through FaslLane and I will buy again as their prices and customer service are first rate), I discovered a bulge in a front brake hose. I looked at FastLane and the price is $16.95. Sounds reasonable, only she needs the car NOW, so I can't wait to have the part shipped. Call a few dealers:

First one in an affluent part of town. Spoke with someone yesterday and said he would call me back. No call. Called two other times and was transferred to voice mail. Forget that one.

Call the second one. Sure he's got em.......$64!!!!

Call a thrid one that gives me a whole sale price.....$32.

I can't believe the price spread. Poor (I guess its relative if you can afford a Benz) consumers are paying these crazy prices?

Off of my soap box.

Tinker

[bhatt]

Meray Motors in Oakville (just outside Toronto) is rumoured to be charging MB List plus 15%. That's right, 15% OVER the amazingly high MB list prices.

I've been there for a few small items and can confirm their prices are amazingly high...

I really needed front brakes at one point and couldn't wait for Fastlane to ship them. I bought a set of front W126 brake pads at Meray Motors (including sensors) and paid CDN$115. That worked out to just over US$80 at the time. Haven't been there to buy parts since..

Neal

[yal]

Hmmm sounds like a job for federal law!

[mpolli]

15% over list sounds reasonable compared to what I have been quoted. I think I have been quoted double of list price recently on some bushings. I think the dealers get their prices out of a bingo machine. Why do they charge these prices? Because they can. I don't think a jury will sympathize with anyone who thinks the price of parts for their MERCEDES is too high.

Mike

[DaveL]

I recently had to replace the vaccum line (that goes across the top of the motor, w140 500).

FastLane had it for about $35.

I have a shop (motorcycles, not cars), so I get "dealer courtesy" pricing.

One dealership quoted me $89 retail, $69 "dealer".

The closest dealership quoted me $109 retail, $89 "dealer". Hmmmm. It's nice to know they are extending me a "courtesy". Ha.

-David

[mctwin2kman]

Yeah I do all my parts shopping online because the local dealer gives no breaks what so ever. Charges just what the book says to. Although I do sometimes have to get parts through them just because I can't find them online. So far only bought parts from the dealer twice. Once before I found online parts places and once because I could not find the part listed on any online reatailer.

[Q]

I was quoted $18 each for some Bosch Platinum plugs at the dealer. When I balked at the price, he dropped it to $13 each. Told him to keep them.

What's really sad is that this just adds to my "I'll never buy another Mercedes as long as I live" feeling. It grows every time a stupid light comes on in that ML dash or I'm asked to pay 900% more for parts than my Chevrolet driving bretheren.

[Hatterasguy]

Wait a sec dealers mark up some things way to high but not everything:
Online $341 for a vacuum pump for my SDL, dealer $339
Water pumps about the same price around $100.
Radiator online $395 dealer $571.
Filter prices are all reasonable.
Interior parts are cheaper then what my local Toyata dealer was charging me for crap plastic Camry parts.

You just have to shop around, some parts they are way over some they are about the same or maybe even cheaper.

[Phalcon51]

I was buying some small parts for my car at the dealer yesterday and while I was waiting at the counter a parts runner from a local auto supply house walks in with a box of semi-metallic brake pads and two large brake rotor boxes. He set them on the counter and I caught a glance of them before the mechanic picked them up and walked back to the shop with them. On the side of disk boxes was printed "Made in China"!! Bear in mind that this is a shop that can have just about any genuine part in stock by the next morning, so I can't imagine that the owner couldn't wait at least that long and I didn't see anybody waiting in the customer lounge. I have no idea whether they were charging the customer MB prices or not, but I thought that was pretty shabby, to say the least, downright dishonest at worst if the customer didn't specifically ask for the cheaper parts.

[Strife]

And you think this is a problem with MB alone. I had my wife's PT cruiser in for an oil change at a Chrysler dealership. There was, as you may know, a recall involving a power steering hose and an exhaust manifold. Apparently, some PE cruisers had REAL flames, not painted on ones, shooting from their wheelwells. Anyway, we get it back. Next morning: horrible noise. I look, no power steering flluid. I call up the idiots and they said "air bubbles, may take 500 miles to go away". I had to go to a nearby dealership for ATF+4 (to maintain warranty, "special" Cyrysler flluid (...). $6.30 a quart! (Advance Auto: ~1.80). The resevoir was dry - 1 3/4 qt of "air bubbles"...called again, and they denied everything. wouldn't even offer to pay for the fluid...then I got into a "discussion" with my wife about getting work done at a dealer...

$6.30 a quart. Really.

[lyonstexas]

I recall an article written years ago about a group that added up the cost of each part that went into a finished auto (american model) and the result was that the total was 4 times the MSRP and that didn't include any labor!! Just hard parts! Wonder what the multiple would be with a S600?