Good morning,

It has been a while since I have gone to the dealer since I mostly have done everything on my vehicle myself. My parents, on the other hand rely on the dealer to perform all the work on their vehicles.

So this question pertains to a my mom's 97 E320 which I am not near and do not have access to. Recently the check engine light came on and my mom took the car in to the dealer to have it checked out. She gave them a max amount of money to charge and told them not to fix it; just to give an estimate. They determined that the car needs a new MAF sensor. Reasonable enough. However, my problem here invilves the billing practice of the dealer. From having my mom explain to me what is on the reciept and personally calling the service advisor myself and talking to him, I gather that the diagnosis consisted of nothing really more than just pulling the codes.

She was quoted $750 total for the replacement and diagnosis. But this is where it gets hairy. They charged her $350 labor on the first visit for the diagnosis without fixing a thing. If she chooses to have them fix it, it would take an additional $400 (they would deduct the $350 from the total cost of the replacement). Does it seem reasonable to charge $350 to determine through on board diagnostics that the MAF sensor needs to be replaced? That amounts to just under 4 hours of labor at their shop rate of $95 an hour or so. And nothing was fixed at all. I am missing something here, or does this sound unreasonable? I just wanted to get some outside input before I come to a final conclusion on whether they are ripping her off or not.

Thanks for any input.
-Ali

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Ali Al-Chalabi

2001 CLK55
1999 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Diesel
2002 Harley-Davidson Fatboy
Merlin Extralight w/ Campy Record