Parts Catalog Accessories Catalog How To Articles Tech Forums
Call Pelican Parts at 888-280-7799
Shopping Cart Cart | Project List | Order Status | Help



Go Back   PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum > Mercedes-Benz Tech Information and Support > Tech Help

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 12-31-2001, 09:14 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Vernon, CT
Posts: 1,848
What is the difference between repair and maintenance?

Someone once asked me how much I had spent so far on my '80 SD, in way of repairs. This got me thinking about what exactly would be called a "repair" versus maintenance. I see some people here post that they have spent X dollars on thier cars. Are they including brakes, which to me is maintenance. I think something that is replaced "routinely" would be maintenance and wouldn't include that in a "total amount spent" answer. Now for my SD I replaced the rear coil springs and all 4 shocks, would this be a "repair" or maintenance. I know this is sort of a gray area, but I got thinking about this again when I saw someone here recently spent "so far" $3,000 on thier car.

__________________
1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 12-31-2001, 09:18 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Western Michigan
Posts: 1,080
I bet everyone has his or her own definition of repair and maintenance.

Here is how I look at it.

If the maintenance schedule calls for it, it is a maintenance. If it does not it is a repair. So I would look at springs and shocks as repairs.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 12-31-2001, 10:56 PM
CJ CJ is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Earth
Posts: 1,318
Maintenance is what you do to prevent something from having to be repaired.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 12-31-2001, 11:01 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 326
Items that are performed on a routine, oil, filters, tune ups, etc, are what I consider to be maintenance. Things that leak, break, wear out, disappear, etc, are what I consider to be reapirs.
HTH
__________________
Scott Diener
89 300E
93 300E
92 Volvo 740 Wagon aka "Mutt mover"
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 12-31-2001, 11:53 PM
Diesel Power
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
repair or maintenance

I think you're right. You're going to have as many different answers as replies.

My version of maintenance is routine type stuff like oil/filter changes, tires, brakes, etc. Some items depend on their age. Clutches, shocks, springs, tie rod ends would be repairs if done early in the cars life. Otherwise on a high mileage vehicle, they would be considered maintenance since these do have a finite life span that would not necessarily end the cars duty cycle. Anything that requires tearing down an engine or tranny would be repair regardless of age.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 01-01-2002, 12:07 AM
blackmercedes's Avatar
Just a guy
 
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: St. Albert, Alberta, Canada
Posts: 3,492
Repair = Broken

Maintenance = Hoping it won't be broken
__________________
John Shellenberg
1998 C230 "Black Betty" 240K

http://img31.exs.cx/img31/4050/tophat6.gif
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 01-01-2002, 07:24 AM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: New Bedford, MA USA
Posts: 1,583
Wink

It's really simple

Maintainence=Something that's necessary
Repair=Something that's necessary

There's no two ways about it
__________________
Jeff Lawrence
1989 300e
2000 Dodge Grand Caravan SE
No matter what you fix, there will always be something else to fix..
"Warranty" is just another way of postponing the inevitable.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 01-01-2002, 10:10 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Vernon, CT
Posts: 1,848
It's the high mileage stuff that starts the grey area of this definition of repair. I replaced the rear springs on my '80 SD, but that was when the car was 21 years old. They didn't break, they just weren't holding up the backend like I am sure they did when new, they just wore out. I guess anything that breaks prematurely would be a repair, like motor mounts, radiators, etc. Fluids and filters are definetly maintenance items.
__________________
1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 01-02-2002, 09:36 AM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Western Michigan
Posts: 1,080
tkamiya:

What makes you to replace the head gasket? At what mileage?
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 01-02-2002, 10:58 AM
G-Benz's Avatar
Razorback Soccer Dad
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Dallas/Fort-Worth
Posts: 5,711
On the definitions of repair versus maintenance:

Repair is pretty simple to define...replacing one or more broken components is definitive of a "repair".

Defining maintenance is hazy at best, but typically, maintenance involves "adjustment", not "replacement" of tangible components. What makes this definition hazy, is that you have to exclude "fluid" and WORN parts as "tangible" components.

If, during a typical maintenance routine, one discovers a "tangible" component that has failed or is at the point of failure, then the "maintenance" switches to a "repair".

What makes the definition hazy, is that there are different views of what "non-tangible" components constitute maintenance.

Most of us can determine this by looking at what manufacturers cover in a basic powertrain warranty. Although, MBs are pretty reliable beyond 100K, the powertrain list was probably developed early on looking at statistics of a typical ownership lifecycle, which ended at on or less than 100K. During that period, anything that was found to "wear out" before that period, was considered a "wear" item, and thus fell under the "maintenance" category.

If for example, piston rings would wear down every 20K miles or so (but of course, engines would have been engineered to make that repair as easy as changing oil), doing a ring job would be considered "maintenance".

That said, maintenance includes replacement of tangible parts that fall under the "wear" category.

To add to this confusion, if a part that falls under the "wear" category fails prematurely (or what the manufacturer considers premature), then it is a repair. Replacing worn tires is "maintenance"...replacing a prematurely worn or blown tire is a "repair".

Labor intensity is not a factor. Timing belts, while time consuming to replace, fall under the "wear" category under most powertrain warranties (thank God MB doesn't use them). Therefore, replacing a broken timing belt is a repair...replacing a WORN timing belt is considered "maintenance".
__________________
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
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 01-02-2002, 07:34 PM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Vernon, CT
Posts: 1,848
Takimaya, actually it was your "3K" that prompted me to start this thread. It just got me thinking about how much I have spent on my '80 SD. From there I started looking at the records and thought "well that's not really a repair, that's maintenenace". I didn't realize how much of a bee's nest I stirred up with this. For my SD, I replaced the driver's side spring frame. To me that's a repair, whereas replacing glowplugs would be maintenance. Granted there is no interval for glowplugs, but I look at them like sparkplugs, they wear out and get replaced.
__________________
1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 01-02-2002, 09:11 PM
benzat
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
maintence= be prepared to spend money

repair= I found out you have more money spend it on me



benzat
1982 380 SEC
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 01-02-2002, 09:46 PM
Lebenz's Avatar
backwoods member
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: In the fog
Posts: 2,862
Isn’t a new car, well anyway, “new” to its owner, a kind of maintenance? If so isn’t everything until the next “new” car one form or another of repair?

__________________
...Tracy

'00 ML320 "Casper"
'92 400E "Stella"

Last edited by Lebenz; 01-02-2002 at 10:23 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 01-03-2002, 10:11 AM
G-Benz's Avatar
Razorback Soccer Dad
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Dallas/Fort-Worth
Posts: 5,711
I like the term "ownership expenses"...just ambiguous enough to work.

That way, you can even include fuel costs and wear and tear without being definitive!

Kind of levels the playing field when comparing different cars and the "cost of ownership"...
__________________
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
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 01-03-2002, 10:14 AM
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Western Michigan
Posts: 1,080
Then you need to add insurance, licence plate, storage, and it gets expensive.

Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Extended Warranty, Preventative Maintenance Musings shertex Diesel Discussion 3 12-26-2004 10:53 PM
Found a reliable source of MB Data CD's repair and maintenance Mike Stone Diesel Discussion 1 03-28-2003 04:01 PM
Found a reliable source of MB Data CD's repair and maintenance Mike Stone Tech Help 0 03-28-2003 03:46 PM
'72 220d repair manual Antony Mercedes-Benz Used Parts For Sale & Wanted 0 12-11-2002 12:29 PM
Repair Manual Ron Brooks Tech Help 0 11-18-2002 12:08 PM



All times are GMT -4. The time now is 04:37 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0
Copyright 2018 Pelican Parts, LLC - Posts may be archived for display on the Peach Parts or Pelican Parts Website -    DMCA Registered Agent Contact Page