$1100 (Canadian) for a tune up! - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

#1 01-19-2003, 08:26 PM

Took my 300E to a shop in Edmonton for a tune up. Bill for new rotor cap, spark plugs and new wires. Plus they removed and cleaned the fuel injectors. I was floored when they told me the price, comments?????

J.HIDALGO · #2 01-19-2003, 08:55 PM

That is something you can definetely DIY. I would ask for an estimate next time in a different shop.

#3 01-19-2003, 08:56 PM

I had a tune-up done about 3 months ago in Montreal;
Spark plugs, distributor cap, rotor, wires, oil and filter change, replace fuel filter, brake inspection, top up brake fluid, replace coolant, replace coolant reservoir cap, replace windshield wiper blade, install and balance winter tires. All with OEM parts, but not at the Benz dealer.
Total cost: Parts and labour:$652.36 including GST, PST,
JackD

#4 01-19-2003, 09:15 PM

This was not a a dealer either, but supposively a mercedes specalist. I would have done this all myself but was having difficulty getting the car to start so had it towed to them. Asked them for a price 3 times and never got a reply until my wife finally went in to ask directly. I never gave them the go ahead to pull the injectors but was waiting for the total price of their work up to that point, which they never gave me. Price in US funds is about $660.00

J.HIDALGO · #5 01-19-2003, 09:34 PM

Towed to the shop? Minor details we forget to mentioned

Do you have the breakdown of the charges?

#6 01-19-2003, 09:42 PM

$1100 does not include the towing. I have to go in tommorow and get all the details of the billing. Shop rate was $70 per hour. He did tell my wife that the plug wires were $225, of course I had to be out of town all weekend. What bothers me is that they did work on it with my direct instructions not to touch another thing until they give me a price.

#7 01-20-2003, 08:41 AM

Spencer 300E - you now know why I took up the secondary trade of auto mechanic for all my own cars 10 years ago. The money I have saved working on my family's 6 cars is unbelievable - not to memtion that I know my cars are safe! Why I started though was because of my now dead Ford Aerostar. I took it in to a Ford dealer for a tune up. They called back and said all it needed was 6 spark plugs - nothing else. They advised they would be putting in platinum plugs. I said OK. Remember - this was back in 1991. When I picked up the van the bill was $300 CDN. I was stunned. I was told they had to pull the engine to replace the back two plugs. So what can you do - the repair was already done. I paid. 2 weeks later I popped the hood to check the oil. I found four 2 1/2" bolts sitting on the top of the rad. I took the van back to the dealer to find out what they had forgotten to do. The mechanic (remember - Ford Dealership) said" if it is running good - don't worry about it" and refused to check anything. That was the straw that started me learning how to repair my own cars. To this day I have no idea what those 4 bolts were for- but it will never happen again. Forums like this are marvelous ways to learn things - people helping people.

blackmercedes · #8 01-20-2003, 08:56 AM

Spencer, where did you take it?

Zeus · #9 01-20-2003, 01:15 PM

Spencer -

How's the car running now?

The $1100 could be justified, if as mentioned, they had to spend time diagnosing everything before installing the parts. Wires are expensive and so are the rotor and cap. At a glance, it seems to be a little high though. Just my $0.02.

psfred · #10 01-20-2003, 01:30 PM

I paid $375 for OEM wires, cap, and rotor for my 300E a couple years ago, so you didn't get raped too badly on the parts, but the labor seems excessive.

I'd certainly never go back!

I've heard of a local shop that charges 2.5x LIST for parts, the owner "wasn't making enough money" at the regular list. For reasons I don't what to understand, people keep him busy......

Peter

#11 01-21-2003, 09:24 AM

Black Mercedes, Ive seen quite a few postings from yourself on the forum and was hoping that someone local would eventually ask the question you did, thank you. Being new to the Mercedes ownership group I was uninformed as to where to take my vehicle for service with a trustworthy shop. Your recommondations would be greatly appreciated. The shop is called Karmac, located west end. As to the status of my vehicle now, from what I understand it still not preforming up to standards, they tell me it runs fine at higher rpms but is still rough at a idle. Plan on getting a detailed list of work done and calling a few independents to compare costs and return to them to dispute their charges.

blackmercedes · #12 01-21-2003, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Spencer 300E
The shop is called Karmac, located west end.

I haven't taken any of my cars to Karmac, but the word on the grapevine is that they are not too hot at Mercedes service. I had some other dealings with them, and found them condesending and slightly arrogant. They often have used Mercedes for sale, and would seem to have some knowledge of the cars, but I'm not sure I would trust them.

Eurasia falls into the same category.

Alnoor at Prestige Auto Repair is where we take the 190E. He's on the south side, not very handy for you, or for us. That said, his MB knowledge is good, especially with 201, 124 and 126 models. He was an MB tech and service manager who struck out on his own.

Ken Miles at Mile Import Car is way out east near 50th street, and he's a good mechanic, and has worked on quite a few MB's, but his MB specific knowledge is limited compared to Alnoor.

If you're taking the car to a dealer, be careful about going to David Morris. Karl is very knowledgeable, but has no idea of what the word "budget" means. He has no concept of the fact that not everyone wants to spend their last dollar at his shop.

Rob Knight at Weber is easier to deal with, but Weber is no more competent than anyone else at diagnostic work. That said, they're not worse, either. The nice thing about dealers of course is the extras like loaner cars and detailing, but you pay for it in their labour rates.

We take the 190E to Alnoor, the C230 goes to Weber, and the Mazda 626 to Sundance. If you're a Mazda owner, I recommend Sundance highly. They have a very knowledable staff, and do greta work on older models.

#13 01-21-2003, 03:19 PM

Thanks John, I wish I would have asked you your opionion before I ventured out to the Yellow Pages, I should have remembered the power of communication that this forum offers me. I'll let you know where I wind up with dealing with these Yahoo's, what I have said to them and what they seem to have heard is 2 different things.

#14 01-24-2003, 09:35 AM

Managed to talk them out of 1 hour of labour cost, yipee! Their excuse for not giving me a price on work already completed when I asked for it 3 times was a virus in their computer system, how convenient. Hopefully the nightmare is over. It's been so long since I've had to take a vehicle to a mechanic which I did'nt know that I neglected to protect my interests to the full extent I should have, o'well lesson noted and learned.

xp190 · #15 01-25-2003, 08:56 AM

I gotta say $1100 Canadian is steep as hell, so I thought I'd toss in my 2 cents as well since I'm in Canada too

I got my wires for $140, spark plugs, distributor cap and rotor arm I got for about $100 all together oredered online, prices here are ridiculous.

I went to a parts dealer near by my house and was quoted $250 for just the wires, no way I'm spending that much.

I got the fuel filter at the dealer for $30.

I got my timing chain, guides, tensioner and sprockets, as well as main front seal and oil pan gasket done for $500, but this was cause of connections, normail price I hear is around $1400 for a job like that.

I just orderd the front and rear flex discs online for less then half the price (all in Canadian $$) then what I found at the dealer, I think it was $120 for front and $80 for rear, plus another $70 for bearing and support. I got both discs for around $100, and bearing for $13 at a parts place.

I fix everything I can myself too, and I love doing it, right now I even hesitate to take my car to my trusty mechanic, cause he messed up a bit while doing the chain, but he's human too you know.

I got the car for 9 months, I resotred it to top notch condition so far and spent $1500 all together, if I had a shop do this for me, the car would never run as good, and money, well, I'd have none.

Rough idle? Stalling? hard starts??? I had all of those, but not anymore, and this is an 18 year old car too. I was told that it will never run the way it is running now, but look at it now.

Oh yea, and whoever said that the 190E 8vlv is slow, I dunno why, but I don't think so, if you compare it to something that was built for speed then maybe, but on the street, man I leave everyone behind

xp