Are dealerships the wrong choice for older Mercedes?

[dannytoone]

I have an 88 300E, which I absolutely love, however I have been running into problems as of late. I have gotten quotes in both dealer and non-dealer shops and the dealer is consistently 50% more expensive than the non-dealer for the same service.

On top of that...it seems like the dealers are more specialized in the newer cars, and sometimes they dont even know what I am talking about. They also like to recomend services on a whim, without in depth diagnosis, or even without asking questions (eg. "I have a wobbly feeling in the rear end of the car when it shifts gears...", "You need to replace the flex discs!")

I am starting to wonder if dealerships purposely try to screw people over.

[page62]

Dealers want to work on the newer cars. Stick with the indies -- they're better at working on the older cars anyway!

[occb2]

Where are you located? There is Xavers in NY (Newburg) area that rules. They are reasonable as far as price goes and they love to work on older Benz. All they work on are mercedes and I have had 123's 126's all diesels, and 124's both diesel and gas. They are great. Later,
Robert

[G-Benz]

It's not profitable for a dealership to service older vehicles for anything but routine service (fluids, brakes, belts, etc). More often than none, a typical repair for an older car winds up taking far more time than the book time dictates.

It would also seem that servicing one aspect of the vehicle has a way of disturbing the "karma" of said vehicle, and other problems crop up...at least that's what the owner says, when he/she returns with a different complaint using the time worn adage "it was running fine before you guys did so-and-so!"

There are some extremely loyal customers who return time and time again for service for their aged vehicles. Those rare few get a bit more preferential treatment and favored pricing, since the techs are already familiar with its service history.

By and far, though, it would be best to start searching for your own local guru...and as stated by the previous posters, most would rather not go near the newer models...too much investment in specialized tools and diagnostic equipment.

My favorite indie will work on my W124 (and my W163 only because he also owns one)...but won't go NEAR the CLK!

[nhdoc]

I agree, the dealers I have gone to clearly want nothing to do with any cars that are more than just a few years old. They quoted $2500 to replace the timing chain on my SL, a job a local indy did for $600. Clearly they didn't want or need the work and discourage it by pricing it so high only a lunatic would take their older car to them.

[Two560Two]

I would not go to a dealer to have my w126 fixed. The dealers in my area dont even have the sufficent part numbers for some parts I need which tells me that the service center must know jack about my car. Anyway, I have an excellent mechanic who charges cheap! and all I most for is the parts. Labor is very inexpensive with him and he does the job correct everytime with no problems. I am very thankful I found him! LoL

If any MB owners in the NYC area needs a mech, contact me! My mech will go to your home and work right in your driveway so you can see what he is doing and you can learn a few things too! He just doesnt fix MB, he can fix mostly any make and model as long as there are parts avaliable for it

[davestlouis]

In my limited experience most of the tech's at a dealership are fairly young, and may have never seen anything older than mid-90's...it seems like there is always one dinosaur in the service department who knows the older cars. If you can get to that living relic, you may be in luck, but an indie mechanic will likely save some $$$ vs. the dealer.

[Hatterasguy]

I am confident that my local dealer can fix anything that I need them to on my W126's. But then why bother driving old cars? At $90 an hour stuff adds up fast. I can lease an E350 for $600 a month. Surely if I were to take my car to the dealer for everything I would be way over that figure.

I'll say it again if you want to own an old MB you should view it as a hobby and do most if not all of the required work yoruself. If you are not inclined to get your hands dirty and need a reliable car I hate to say it but buy a newer one.

[johnson]

I just aquired a 1988 260e and a 1990 300e. We have a horse farm and driving 1ton duellys for everything had gotten old,

Does anyone know of any good MBenz mechanics in the Dallas/Fort Worth area?

[nhdoc]

Originally Posted by johnson

I just aquired a 1988 260e and a 1990 300e. We have a horse farm and driving 1ton duellys for everything had gotten old,

Does anyone know of any good MBenz mechanics in the Dallas/Fort Worth area?

There's a section on this board dedicated to good shops, I found this current link there:

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=99338

[johnson]

Thank you, I haven't had time to drill into this forum very much yet.

[yal]

Yes stay away from dealerships with your old car. Buy some parts from them and run! Unless, as said, you have a long time relationship with one. Most of the people who know the little tricks to fixing your car no longer work there and have retired or become independents themselves.

[lizem100]

Thanks

[manny]

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

I'll say it again if you want to own an old MB you should view it as a hobby and do most if not all of the required work yoruself. If you are not inclined to get your hands dirty and need a reliable car I hate to say it but buy a newer one.

Best answer so far!

@ buckwheat
They are MERCEDES NOT Merc's.
Merc's are Mercurys.

[Hatterasguy]

Unless you are in the UK, then they are Mercs!