My father-in-law is 92 years old and had been going to this guy for the last 25 years. This mechanic located in Temecula, CA was always working on his cars.

Question on a 1986 420SEL -

1) Was it unreasonable for him to charge my father-in-law $650 for an oil change, replacement of spark plugs, oil filter and fuel filter? Oh, and had to "idle adjust" which I am assuming is a fuel/ratio mixture adjustment to pass smog. The cost just seems really high. All including parts. Labor 5.4 hours. I was thinking about 3 hrs.

2) $950 for a transmission leak? Replacement of filter, gasket, front gasket and rear main seal. Labor 9 hrs.

I have researched the parts which seem to be high and because that part is high I am assuming overcharges on the labor but am unclear on the amount of labor that it took. When I called for my dad about the pricing the shop owner and mechanic told me "to bad, he already paid and we aren't giving any money back".

Of course we are not ever going back to this guy. Fast talker and my dad doesn't know anything about the cars.

Please post comments.

__________________
Norm K.
'97 E420 Sport
'06 E350 Sedan
'67 Mustang Coupe
'70 F-250
'15 VW Jetta

Outrageous pricing. Oil change runs about $100 bucks here for these cars. The remaining $550 for spark plugs and idle adjustment is just plain robbery. If it took them 5.4 hours to change the oil and spark plugs, then they aren't a competent shop!

__________________
_______________________________________________

1987 560SEL (210,000 miles)

This shop has clearly taken advantage of him. Considering he has been going there for 25 years you think they would try to serve him better. Please advise us of the name of this shop so others can avoid it. I would go back and raise hell with them face to face.

__________________
1989 300CE

Name of shop is Franz Mercedes BMW and Repair in Temecula, California.

It's sad.

__________________
Norm K.
'97 E420 Sport
'06 E350 Sedan
'67 Mustang Coupe
'70 F-250
'15 VW Jetta

Good way to get a trespass warning, it's private property and the op isn't the owner of the vehicle in question.

__________________
"I was a dirty bird, Carol's not grungey - she's *****in" John Milner....American Graffiti

If I went back in with the owner to clarify the bill and voice concerns about the bill and was told to leave I probably wouldn't ever bother doing business with that shop again. Dealing with customers that want clarification and aren't satisfied is the nature of doing business.

__________________
1989 300CE

That's a long way from "I would go back and raise hell with them face to face".

The nature of doing business means that indy owned shops don't have to deal with people like you that raise hell, or demand refunds for a job well done like the op. I can be sekective about what the shop takes in, my time is worth money. Spending my time defending myself to skinflints is not good for the bottom line. Good bye and good riddance.

This is the reason why I don't work on older MB models for new clients. It's no different than whining that the local diner charges $6.99 for breakfast that has $1.78 worth of eggs, bacon and ham. You wouldn't take you own eggs and ham to a diner and ask the cook to fix them up for you, but I guess it's ok to raise hell with the poor grease monkey who has to make a living.

Not only that, the op is a third party who doesn't have any business asking for a refund or questioning what a private business charges someone else for work done.

__________________
"I was a dirty bird, Carol's not grungey - she's *****in" John Milner....American Graffiti

I have no problem with using an independent shop for a job that I need done if my time is limited. I did not ever say the job was not done well. As I said before, the first service of the oil change and tune-up seems quite a bit high as that service in my area at a good indy is about $400. But, you have to see that there is going to be a variation in prices from region to region, which I stated as well. Depending on the local economy of the state and region, the shops reputation, how busy the shop is etc. may dictate the price you will end up paying. The OP is looking after his father in law who is 92 years old. I don't see the problem with helping him out.

__________________
1989 300CE

The prices seem a bit high, but not outrageous. I imagine that the cost of doing business in over regulated California is quite high.

No matter the state, the shop has to PAY to dispose of the fuel filter, oil filter and oil. It also has to pay for uniforms, building lease/mortgage, shop equipment, tools, an Alldata type of service, shop supplies, rags, fender covers, electricity, phone service, payroll, workmans comp, and possibly health insurance. So the shop simply didn't make an obscene profit by charging 5.4 hrs to do an LOF service, fuel filter change, sparkplug change, and CO setup.

Changing the fuel filter on these cars wasn't a gravy job when they were new. Today with deteiorated fuel lines and hoses, the task must be done with the utmost care. I could see it being billed out as an hour of labor to be fair to the shop.

A proper service takes an hour to do on these cars, they also take a hair over two gallons of oil and a somewhat expensive filter. It's Mercedes, not a Kia. I can see an hour of labor there.

We are left with 2.4 hours of labor:

The man paid for the knowledge in addition to the above mentioned items. His car is fixed isn't it? Most shops wouldn't know how or have the equipment to set up a CIS fuel system. I assume the car was running poorly and that is why the plugs and fuel filter were changed. Consider yourself luck that they didn't condemn the $$$ plug wires and/or equally $$$ cap and rotor. Figure 1.4 hours to inspect the ignition system and replace parts as needed. Most euro shops use a scope before and after changes to make sure the secondary igntion is up snuff. How many of you shadetree guys have one of those in your garage?

A good shop would inspect the secondary ignition and replace parts as needed before moving on to a fuel mixture adjestment. That is what they did.

An hour of labor to set up the fuel injection is pretty fair, considering the car has to pass smog and should be done with a four gas analyzer that again, none of you shadetree guys own. They cost thousands of dollars.

I think the real issure here is about the economics of spending almost what the car is worth in repairs, not what the shop charged.

__________________
"I was a dirty bird, Carol's not grungey - she's *****in" John Milner....American Graffiti

Sounds like this is coming from a mechanic in a shop. While I do believe in business for profit, I find it apolling that mechanics do this. I hoping that you guys do your homework and set up you cost plus overhead to arrive at a shop rate that works for you. Not just "guess" because of your expenses and thats what the guy down the street charges. So, I find it funny that you are saying these things.

A separate smog shop did the smog check (every two years in Calif.) and came up with a high idle situation. The shop told me he had to remove the throttle body to adjust the idle. What? I thought the idle is set by the computer.

It scares my to think you are using AllData when it should be based upon experience. All of us "shade tree" guys do our own work because we like it and do save money, in addition, to keeping guys like you honest.

Shame on you for thinking this is fair to a guy that has been coming to your shop for 25 years and now you think you can take advantage of him. How many other times did the shop over charge in that time??

__________________
Norm K.
'97 E420 Sport
'06 E350 Sedan
'67 Mustang Coupe
'70 F-250
'15 VW Jetta

Obviously you like to denigrate mechanics, it's obvious.

Not a mechanic, I own a shop and a parts store. What do you do for a living?

Experience does not mean that my guys can remember the head bolt torque specs on a M20 BMW motor, that's why we have AllData.

You obviously share your FIL's regret over spending too much money on a old clunker, next time you should have him ask for an estimate as required by law for repairs over $100.

I charge an hourly rate, and also use a labor guide to arrive at my labor charges. Just like the dealer or any other indy does. What you and others don't want to admit is that sometimes on an old car it takes longer than what the labor guide quotes for a job. For example, the fuel filter on a gas W126 takes much longer than when the car was new or else one can damage the other related components. Hence, I charge 1.0 hrs, if the customer doesn't like it they can go somewhere else.

I don't need to work on older cars and do it as a courtesy for established customers. Honestly, most people that drive an older MB have your penny pinching attitude and it's not good busness to deal with your kind.

Shame on me? Lol, shame on your FIL for not asking for an estimate. Sounds like his car was a good candidate for cash for clunkers.

Just because you can do repairs in your driveway doesn't mean you can dictate what a shop should charge based on how much a set of plugs cost at Wal-Mart and how long it took you to change them.

If you know so much about the auto repair industry, why didn't you do the work for him? Lol, because you don't have the proper tools and know how.

Go ahead and price out a four gas analyzer and a scope and get back to us.

__________________
"I was a dirty bird, Carol's not grungey - she's *****in" John Milner....American Graffiti

The idle speed is not adjustable on the car in question, if the idle speed is too high chances are that there is a vacuum leak. If the shop spent time chasing vacuum leak to fix the idle situation you have no leg to stand on.

Why don't you post a copy of the repair order instead of naming the shop in question. For all I know there is another side to this story. If the charges were so outrageous and unfair call your credit card company and your case hase merit they will do a chargeback.

I guess it's better to bash the shop in question without letting them defend themselves right?

__________________
"I was a dirty bird, Carol's not grungey - she's *****in" John Milner....American Graffiti

This is the age of the internet my friend. It is called freedom of speech. Time to wake up and smell the coffee...

__________________
1989 300CE

WOW, I have never seen anyone as bitter as this Edward Wyatt guy based upon this and all posts by him. Glad not to be in his area, what ever that is.

First let me clarify by saying I would have loved to have done the work however, with me working and located temporarily in LV and my father-in-law in California I would have difficulty in doing the work.

I am happy to post work order and paperwork from smog shop and will do so later today.

__________________
Norm K.
'97 E420 Sport
'06 E350 Sedan
'67 Mustang Coupe
'70 F-250
'15 VW Jetta

Yea he is full of S#!t and just makes up stuff to try to justify his way. When you use the contractor bags to catch the oil or transmission fluid or coolant then you just take it to the local autoparts store or Walmart to recycle.

He would have you think with a recommendation to catch the oil like that means that you necessarily dump it in a lake. Again he is really FU(#ed up.

Maybe after the next 3 or 4K miles you will be closer and can help your father in law out; everyone is busy and trying to make it work and it probably kind of sucks having to be remote right now.

Hope you are home for Thanksgiving and able to spend it with your family.