Gearbox Oil Change Rip Off?

[jlb22]

Hi all I just had my gearbox oil changed in my W211 auto. I provided the oil and filters. I was just expecting a labour charge but have also been charged for 'diagnostic system scan and reset'!? Has anyone had this before? Why is this necessary after changing the gearbox oil?! Many thanks

 

[Bri]

Never herd of that before, had gearbox services done on all 3 off my mercedes and its usually around £200 at my local indy.

 

[geoffus]

The only time they need to scan is for the ATF temperature when setting the correct level.
Labour seemed cheap, did they drain the torque converter ?
How much ATF did you supply ?

 

[fifermerc]

I think on at least some Mercedes gearboxes Star or similar needs to be connected to check the level after the box has been refilled - YouTube videos can show you this.
By the way, I see the labour charge was £48 per hour and the diagnostic charge £40. I take it you didn't use a main dealer? If you did, you got yourself a bargain!!

 

[OneForTheRoad]

Bit of a money make up because you supplied the oil etc . Maybe ?

 

[Petrol Pete]

So you paid around £135.00 labour for a full transmission service , and ...? Sounds perfectly reasonable to me as most Indies will charge between £250 /£350 all inclusive depending on where you live.

 

[Peter103]

Had my auto box oil change with my mb dealership, they didn't reset the computer to clear any probs, I went to a local garage when up popped a message relating to a replaced exhaust sensor, the fitter plugged it in, cleared and reset all parameters in about 10/15 minutes, I gave him ,£10, he was happy, me too.
He Said a lot of mercedes come in where the local dealer has not reset the computer even though they çharge hundreds for auto trans refill. I have a service contract with M B dealership, .

 

[m80]

W211 2.1 should be the 5 speed,
ATF service and drive.
Reset what?
Level is by dipstick when up to temp, Star can be good for that as it saves time driving it.
Labour is cheap for an Indie.
Even so knowing the prices of the parts it doesn't seem you've saved anything.

If it's the 7 speed that's a different story.

 

[jlb22]

The only time they need to scan is for the ATF temperature when setting the correct level.
Labour seemed cheap, did they drain the torque converter ?
How much ATF did you supply ?

I supplied 8 litres

 

[jlb22]

I think on at least some Mercedes gearboxes Star or similar needs to be connected to check the level after the box has been refilled - YouTube videos can show you this.
By the way, I see the labour charge was £48 per hour and the diagnostic charge £40. I take it you didn't use a main dealer? If you did, you got yourself a bargain!!

Hi no was an indie, I think my main dealer is £150 an hour or something ridiculous

 

[jlb22]

Thanks very much for all the replies guys

 

[geoffus]

W211 2.1 should be the 5 speed,
ATF service and drive.
Reset what?
Level is by dipstick when up to temp, Star can be good for that as it saves time driving it.
Labour is cheap for an Indie.
Even so knowing the prices of the parts it doesn't seem you've saved anything.

If it's the 7 speed that's a different story.

Its a 2013 E220 so its the 722.9 7 speed box,
Nothing would need resetting unless they check and clear old codes as a matter of course.

 

[markjay]

Did you get a quote before booking in the car? If so, then as long as the total price is what has been agreed, it shouldn't really matter what the invoice breakdown says.

Or did you just agree an hourly rate 'for how long it will take'?

 

[jlb22]

Did you get a quote before booking in the car? If so, then as long as the total price is what has been agreed, it shouldn't really matter what the invoice breakdown says.

Or did you just agree an hourly rate 'for how long it will take'?

Hi no I just took it in and supplied the Titan ATF fluid myself. I just didn't realise anything would have to be 'reset' after it

 

[markjay]

Hi no I just took it in and supplied the Titan ATF fluid myself. I just didn't realise anything would have to be 'reset' after it

I see - so you never asked how much it will cost? A bit difficult to argue after the event. As for rip off... the total labour cost seems reasonable enough for an indie. Regarding the 'diagnostic scan and reset charge', you can just ask the garage what exactly is it that they did? Perhaps they scan the car for fault codes before commencing any work as a matter of course, to ensure that they are not replacing the ATF on a faulty transmission (and then have the customer complain that the trouble started after the ATF change). I.e., if the transmission has fault codes that come-back after having been erased, then they won't touch the car. But I'm guessing here.

 

[Tuercas viejas]

Just a comment from the USA.
The labor charge is cheap as chips ,what does this shop pay their staff with? Flat washers !
With a labor charge of 48 quid that's about 63 bucks an hour.
With me paying a transmission tech or senior Master Tech earning a basic 40 bucks an hour on that task, my base overhead is approximately 80 bucks including employment tax etc and some benes.
So my rate is $150/hr, or 116 quid /hr.

We do not accept customer materials, and only in very exceptional situations will we use customers' own materials but it attracts a 15% corkage fee in any case . Profit margins is not a dirty word!

All vehicles are road tested prior to service recording live date & looking for codes etc . Good reasons enough for that!
The service is preformed using genuine MB products ONLY including fluid all charged out at MB retail prices .
Any reset is performed post service during a final road etc, and is included in the service tariff.
So the job was done very cheaply and equivalent more or less to pricing tariffs in Mexico City and you can supply your own materials in most cases! Caramba!
Thinking how can I employ Brit mechanics on the cheap, but how can they afford to eat in the UK is the question?
Tuercas viejas

 

[geoffus]

I see - so you never asked how much it will cost? A bit difficult to argue after the event. As for rip off... the total labour cost seems reasonable enough for an indie. Regarding the 'diagnostic scan and reset charge', you can just ask the garage what exactly is it that they did? Perhaps they scan the car for fault codes before commencing any work as a matter of course, to ensure that they are not replacing the ATF on a faulty transmission (and then have the customer complain that the trouble started after the ATF change). I.e., if the transmission has fault codes that come-back after having been erased, then they won't touch the car. But I'm guessing here.

I agree, I can only imagine this has been the case with a previous customer, so now do it as a matter of course.
Still wonder if the TC was changed as I used around 9 litres of genuine Mercedes ATF and parts cost me £155 with filter, new bolts etc when mine was done.
Then if they do it every day, they could easily do it in 1.5 hours so bargain for around £115, definetly no rip off.

 

[Riva811]

Its not uncommon for the geabox to throw a diagnostic error if its due for servicing. When the oil is bad the bearings might drop metal particles in the oil which end up on the solenoids resulting to faults with conduction. They might had to clear those out.