As to the cost - I agree the parts cost is way out of line, but I was at the dealer expecting warranty consideration for a defect within the warranty period so I am stuck with using MB dealer supplied parts.

I don't know what to think of Starmark. It doesn't seem to do me much good. I need to carefully read the warranty since I also have a passenger seat with play (it clunks back and forth) and was told warranty would not cover it.

The main take from this experience I can defer to my wife who was standing beside me through all the discussions at the dealer which was that we were treated like second class citizens - like we were idiots. They only ate the labor because they agreed they didn't handle the situation properly. I still ended up with a large bill. Of note was another service writer in the office that added his comments when everyone else was out of earshot. He said he had come from a Pennsylvania dealership and could not believe these kinds of things were happening. He looked at the bearings I had in my hand and said they were obviously going bad but these people lack the professionalism to do the right thing.

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'99 E300
'01 F250 PowerStroke