Anyone have a good guide for this? The reason I ask is because I posted earlier an estimate I got for various repairs to my 1998 E320, one of which was replacing the spark plugs for $410. This includes parts and labor. Now I'm not planning on having this done at the shop, but several people commented they thought they price was ridiculous.

I've asked around people in a few different cities and the average labor cost I came up with was around $130 per hour. Sound ballpark right to people? I was charged about $90 for labor for B service recently but the hours spent and/or rate is not shown on the bill.

So that got me to wondering why $410 was such a bad price. The labor portion of that would total out to a bit more than 2 hours at $130 per hour. Any feedback on that? Doesn't seem that bad, then again I've never changed them so I don't know how long it should take. Many thanks in advance.

should take a hour at the most.Here in Tennessee a indepent charges $60 a hour

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran, deutschland deutschland uber alles uber alles in der welt

You can replace the plugs yourself if you have the tools and the patience. The M112 is a dual plug setup so you do have 2x the plugs to replace. Labour rate for indies in my area (Vancouver, BC) are around $100-120 per hour.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtYkontNpY4

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1989 300CE

In my area indies usually charge in the ballpark of $100/hr. The dealer is a bit more. Last I heard was $125 a few years ago.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

Dealer labor rate is $125.00 an hour for me.

I wouldn't pay anymore than $100.00 an hour for an Indy otherwise they are overcharging.

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Only diesels in this driveway.
2005 E320 CDI 243k Black/Black
2008 Chevy 3500HD Duramax 340k
2004 Chevy 2500HD Duramax 220k

Austin area is $80 for low overhead shops or $100-120 elsewhere.

$125-135 in north Jersey. Wash n' vac and loaner car included.

The Mercedes specialist around here (indie) was 120/hr a couple years ago, I assume it has gone up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

Southern California rates vari from county to county.
San Diego county, maybe around $140 +
Doesn't help you much to know what the rate is in San Diego, but can give you an comparison and a feel.

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Mostly, I don't know notin, I just know where to look.
I am looking back, to over 30 years in Electronics Design.
Electrons don't care if they move in a car, computer or relay!

95 W124 E320 M104.992 - Because, I love to repair, naaaah!
Over 221,000 Miles
Cheers,
Norbert

In Seattle area it runs from 90 to 110 and you can probably pay more some places. I charge my friends 30 and they are happy to pay it!

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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra