I have a dealer estimate to replace a rear brake line in a 2000 C230 sedan for $3,700.00. The dealer says the gas tank must be removed along with other stuff to access the line. Only $200.00 of this estimate is for parts. Can this be true?

His Daughter must be getting married.

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A Dalton

I would get a piece of brake line steel tubing and a double flare coupling and a new end fitting.. borrow or buy a flare kit and fix it myself for less than 20.00

It took 20-30 seconds to realize you did not post on the wrong thread, now I'm rolling on the floor

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1993 190E 2.6 135k
1989 Ford Thunderbird SC 5 Spd 79K

Yeah, Custom calls for the Daughters Father to foot the Wedding bill and pay the Band ..I guess this guy was planning on having Aero Smith do the tunes....

Anyway, for the poster..go to an Indie and tell him you need a brake line..

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A Dalton

$3700 sounds ridiculous, but don't place all the blame on the dealer. The price you were quoted is almost certainly for replacing the entire brake line, as opposed to repairing it.

Due to liability issues, dealers are sometimes limited in what they can do when it comes to performing certain repairs. In this case, there isn't an approved repair method for steel brake lines, so even if they wanted to fix it, they can't.

Try going to an independant shop. Maybe they'll splice in a new line in place of the damaged section. If it were my car, that's what I would do. I've done it before, on my '91 Buick Roadmaster wagon, and the repair has lasted for years.