for dealer prices these aren't really out of line. keep in mind that any part with the three pointed star on the box is going to be more than the same part in a box without. i just looked up the flat rate times for the above jobs; pretty much accurate.

some of the jobs are a bit high even for the dealer but overall, that's the price one pays for owning one of these. flat rate time for changing plugs, (there's 12 of them at $18 a piece,) is three hours. the shop where i work, (an indy) would charge 3 hours x $135.

if one cannot afford to pay someone to fix their car, one either has to learn how to fix things themselves, or buy a Lexus.

owning a mercedes is not cheap and price shopping for a mechanic is asking for trouble. a good indy shop is going to be pricey because they pay their techs well and employ good techs. you can go to econo-lube-n-tune and pay less but then you're just asking for trouble.

my 2 cents

Agreed. These are pricey cars to maintain, especially at dealership prices. Once the warranty runs out, expect to pay a king's ransom for maintenance.

That said, even if the quotes are within reason, the amount of work needed seems a bit overboard. Were you in for an "A service"?

I inclined to believe the used car department needed some fine examples to add to their inventory, and the scare tactic used might persuade you to get rid of the car post-haste.

Still, it's a good time to either learn to do some of the simpler tasks yourself, or start looking for a good indy. Or both!

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

Just curious about, "some of the jobs are a bit high even for the dealer but overall, that's the price one pays for owning one of these. flat rate time for changing plugs, (there's 12 of them at $18 a piece,) is three hours. the shop where i work, (an indy) would charge 3 hours x $135.
".

About how long does it actually take to change the 12 plugs on that engine? I understand they may be hard to get at, but 3 hours is a very long time? I would say I can change the 6 plugs on my M104 in 30 minutes easily.

One of my indy's with 25 years experience on MB charges $40 per hour, another charges $70. Obviously geographically dependent.

Steve

I've changed the plugs on an M112 twice and I can tell you its a non-trivial job. That said 3 hours is a bit much, but if you ever managed to cross thread a plug on this baby you would be screwed - it would be almost impossible to get a heli-coil in place without removing the head.

As I recall it took me over an hour to RR the plugs.

labor times can be inflated and/or unrealistic. 3 hours to change 12 plugs seems high until you try to do them. if things go well, a seasoned tech can do them in less time. if things don't do smoothly, they can take longer. conversely, there are some jobs and marques, (Audi being one of them,) where the labor times are grossly underrepresented.

to complicate matters, a shop that pays their techs "flat-rate," can be dicey because a flat-rate tech just wants to get the job done as quickly as possible. a flat-rate tech would get paid three hours for the above job no matter how long the job actually takes; if he does it in 1.5, he still gets paid for 3. if every plug is virtually frozen and it takes him 6, he still only gets paid for 3. i personally don't like the flat-rate method of paying techs for i think it emphasizes speed more than anything else.

labor rates are heavily dependent on demographics and geography. i live and work in the san francisco bay area, ( home of the highest gas prices in the nation,) and our shop labor rate is $135. dealers are even higher as are some other independents. it all boils down to what the market will bear. a side benefit to having high hourly labor rates is that you weed out the "price-shoppers," a tremendous benefit.

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W108
W116
FJ60

Thanks for the info. Makes me appreciate the maintenance ease of the inline 6 engines.

Steve

There are places for people that charge $ 135.00/hr.,..............they're called prisons.

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2007 C 230 Sport.

Dealer - "We charge $135/hr."

Customer - " What !!! - 135/hr ??? ..my Doctor doesn't charge that much !!! "

Dealer - "Yeah, I know....That's why we gave it up ..."