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#1
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Alignment turns into $430 estimate?
So I take my 97 E420 in for a 4 wheel alignment at a specialty shop and they tell me that the Tie Rod End $90 and Lower Ball Joint $54 is bad with $180 labor (2 hrs.) plus the $100 alignment comes out to a whopping $430! Can I do the Tie Rod End and Lower Ball Joint myself? His parts prices look too high. BTW, how are the 4 wheel alignment jobs at Mavis for $80? Anyone has experience with Mavis?
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85 300CD Signal Red/Tan sold 83 300D Manganese Brown 109K 97 E420 Midnight Blue 197K sold 98 BMW 328i Vert White 100K, sold 95 BMW 525i White 125K, sold 93 BMW 525iT Red 193K, sold 95 E320 Green Wagon 125K, sold 94 E320 White 127K, sold 85 300SD 156K Grey (Annie), sold 84 300D Lapis Blue 170K (Judy), sold 99 ML 320 Black (lease), 1998 C230 White (lease) 00 Honda S2000 Red (lease) 86 Mercedes 300E (sold) 84 Porsche 911 Red (sold), 1965 Porsche 911 White (sold) |
#2
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Yes you can do both. I would get the align done buy someone with newer mercedes experience. The dealer is normally not a bad deal on align. They are normally competitive on align and tire work to keep you at the dealer.
I left the dealer about a year ago and have been quoted more for work at tire shops and alignment shops than it would cost at the dealer. The prices on the parts are not bad. Don't get junky parts. The labor is too high on the parts repl. |
#3
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Local dealer charges $250 so they're out.
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85 300CD Signal Red/Tan sold 83 300D Manganese Brown 109K 97 E420 Midnight Blue 197K sold 98 BMW 328i Vert White 100K, sold 95 BMW 525i White 125K, sold 93 BMW 525iT Red 193K, sold 95 E320 Green Wagon 125K, sold 94 E320 White 127K, sold 85 300SD 156K Grey (Annie), sold 84 300D Lapis Blue 170K (Judy), sold 99 ML 320 Black (lease), 1998 C230 White (lease) 00 Honda S2000 Red (lease) 86 Mercedes 300E (sold) 84 Porsche 911 Red (sold), 1965 Porsche 911 White (sold) |
#4
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'Call around to other dealerships (They're not all stupid)
We've got a Stupid Greedy Franchisee here...But both of the contiguous dealers
(Modern Classic Motors in Hilton Head,S.C. and Brumos in Jacksonville,FL) are very reasonable. You really want to have an Authorized Mercedes Dealer align your car... It's very difficult to find an Independent Merc Shop that's invested the tens of thousands for the equipment necessary. AND anybody else...Even if they have the Alignment machinery necessary ... 'Do Not Understand how to align Mercedes. (I fully agree $200.00 would be too much ...$250.00 is just insulting)
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'84 300SD sold 124.128 Last edited by compress ignite; 10-23-2008 at 12:57 AM. |
#5
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Whoever does the alignment needs a spreader bar.
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Regards Warren Currently 1965 220Sb, 2002 FORD Crown Vic Police Interceptor Had 1965 220SEb, 1967 230S, 280SE 4.5, 300SE (W126), 420SEL ENTER > = (HP RPN) Not part of the in-crowd since 1952. |
#6
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Dealerships can be brutal at time but it's they have got the tools and equipment to do the alignment correctly. Don't forget to check out the dealers website and MBUSA for specials! They most always have coupons.
COUPONS
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BENZ THERE DONE THAThttp://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...c/progress.gif 15 VW Passat TDI 00 E420 98 E300 DT 97 E420 Donor Car - NEED PARTS? PM ME! 97 S500 97 E300D 86 Holden Jackaroo Turbo D 86 300SDL (o\|/o) |
#7
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Quote:
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To see my 129 parts for sale visit: http://stores.ebay.com/The-Mercedes-SL-Store John Roncallo |
#8
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Price actually sounds reasonable to me.
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08 W251 R350 97 W210 E320 91 W124 300E 86 W126 560SEL 85 W126 380SE Silver 85 W126 380SE Cranberry 79 W123 250 78 W123 280E 75 W114 280 |
#9
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Tie rod ends are DIY if you have the time. I don't know about the ball joints on the W210, but on the 124 they needed a puller.
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Prost! |
#10
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Lower ball joints are simple.
Jack it, get a stand under the control arm, undo the nut on top and nut in back, a quick tap on the stud heads seperates them, put back together in reverse. I believe one nut requires a 20mm wrench and the other 22mm. Or maybe 22 and 24.
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Thank You! Fred 2009 ML350 2004 SL600 2004 SL500 1996 SL600 2002 SLK32 2005 CLK320 cabrio 2003 ML350 1997 C280 Sport Last edited by waybomb; 10-23-2008 at 10:38 PM. |
#11
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Quote:
Quote:
To be fair it does help to have a Bachelors in Aerospace Engineering and a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering. It's sort of like cheating the system.[url]
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To see my 129 parts for sale visit: http://stores.ebay.com/The-Mercedes-SL-Store John Roncallo |
#12
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With the economy in the tank independent service shops will still have pretty much the same flow of business with people maybe holding off on some work, but dealers are hurting because people are not buying the cars like they did when the cash credit was free flowing. I'm sure dealer general managers are telling service managers to make up some of the slack from the sales managers. Call the dealer service manager and negotiate. You might encounter a higher degree of flexibility.
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http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/l...aman/Fleet.jpg Peach Parts W124.128 User Group. 80 280SL 85 300SD 87 300TD 92 300D 2.5 Turbo 92 300TE 4Matic |
#13
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sounds about right. The shop doesnt want to waste your time. bad ball joints and tie rods will affect your alignment and change the angles causing un normal tire wire.
you could replace the ball joints and tie rods and make it a $100 repair bill instead of a $430 repair bill
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1986 300SDL, 211K,Dealership serviced its whole life 1991 190E 2.6(120k) 1983 300D(300k) 1977 300D(211k) |
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