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.