Just buy the extra, it's NOT that expensive per meter. :rolleyes:

MB Dealerships Parts Sales
 

It just boils down to customer happiness...do you want the person back as a customer or not...MB Dealer parts does not care...
They would not last long without the sales arm...
Not many businesses can operate like MB dealership parts counters...

Sorry dude, not the return hose, at least not at the 2 dealers I surveyed for it...MB prices and lists it being offered by the meter and that's how they sell it.

At $15 per meter it is pretty costly for what it is. And, yes, I do hate wasting money...I don't mind spending money on cars, parts and yes, fuel, but I don't like wasting it.

Frankly I was more irritated with them telling me I only needed 1 meter even though I knew I'd need more. I kinda felt like them saying they were charging me for 2 if I wanted anything more than 1 was punishing me for thinking I knew more than they did...when the fact is I did know more than they did.

Not true at my dealer. Ford dealer, maybe, but not Mercedes Benz. Either you buy a meter, or nothing at all. The only exception is the coolant bypass hose, sold by the inch. Some online parts vendors even sell that by the meter!!! Ouch!!!

And the parts stores want to sell you a SAE 3/8" hose to replace a 12mm, in the case of the power steering hose.

True at which dealer? Not any MB dealership I know of.

bummer. 3/8" ain't even close to 12 MM...
John

But that is what I am saying. And you want them to enter fractional values into the computer. Garbage in garbage out. Lets keep it simple for the guys there. If they can look out the correct part and give it to me in whole meters, I don't want to rock the boat and have them do it in inches or half a meter or whatever. I'm scared of the results. You might be presented with a bill because they transposed a decimal place.

Not true. 3/8 = 0.375 inches = 9.525MM. so, A little grease and a lot of shoving and viola. Hose fits in. :D Only 2.475 MM difference. What is that between friends. :D

When it's a return hose in a hydraulic system, the difference can be huge. A 3/8" hose has a cross dection area of approx. 71 sq. mm. A 12mm hose has a cross section area of approx. 113 sq. mm. That means that the correct hose is 59% larger than the 3/8" hose.

Your point that numbers can be challenging is well made. Very well made, in fact. And you are to be commended for being such an easily satisfied customer. I know that the store clerks appreciate the fact that you are willing to accept whatever part causes them the least amount of inconvenience. Whether it fits or not.

It was a joke, by the way.

As to that, well, not true. I am willing to accept it in dimensions that cause ME the least inconvenience. I don't want to go down there and find that they have cut the part to their lack of understanding of my directions. Case in point, I called a shop and had them cut me out 4.5 feet of hose since they have a cutter and I don't and it was SS brainded hose. What did I get in the bag when I came home? 4 pieces of 1/2 feet hose. Yet I got billed for a stretch of 4.5 feet. That is why I make it easier on them. So it is easier on ME in the end. Call it resignation on my part to bang my head against the wall. Now I have it as easy as I can for them so they can make my life easier. That or teach them how to do their job. No thanx. I am NOT a teacher.

If you have the dealer replace the return lines, do they charge you for 2 meters and keep the remnant? Someone who gets his/her 606 serviced at the dealer should get a firm job quote for the sake of the discussion.

Sixto
93 300SD

I can tell you from the receipts that the PO of my car used to pay his dealer for 9 qts of oil at every oil change even though the car only takes 8 to get it up to full....what does that tell you about the way dealers charge?

It tells me they are not above stealing $7 from every customer for every oil change they do...it does add up! :D

If they use bulk oil, maybe. Why maybe? Well, because I have seen many techs dump in all that the manual specifies. IOW, if it takes 8 according to the manual, 8 gets dumped in even if it reads full at 7.5.

It also tells me that you need to be next to the tech when he is working on your car. Every time I don't do that, I regret it. Case in point. I had a 91 190E 2.6. I said I needed a coolant flush to get all the oil out. 4 months later I was back wondering if that was all MB's coolant lasted. SA just looked around and mumbled something. This time I asked for Gilly. Guess what, oil never came back. Finding out later that that tech was famous for his brake flushes where he replaced the fluid in the reservoir but not flush the lines. Needless to say, I never used that tech again. My jobs at the dealership were done ONLY by Gilly nor nobody. Currently it is 210OLEMOTOR. When I go there, I specify that he does the work. They work on a 4 day 10 hr/day shift so I call and ask if Nick O is working on the said day. Also, I am there when the work is done so I get to BS with him and maybe pick up a few pointers. My Ford? Same. Chevy? Same.

What I was saying and implying was there's no way to get anywhere near 9 quarts of oil into the car unless it is one quart overfilled so they were either charging for 9 and using 8 or overfilling by putting 9 in...either way it is wrong. Maybe they put 8.01 quarts and charge for 9, like the guy who needs 1.2 meters of hose but gets charged for 2.

My bet would be they charge for 9 quarts and use 8 (or fewer) though.