Reasonable or extortion!

[MWCLS]

I recently purchased a rather nice W220 S320 CDI 2005 MY. As per normal I have a independent MB specialist go over the car.

I knew of a couple of existing faults.. 2 glow plugs out and one of the horns dead .

He called me this afternoon with a cash paid bill price of £1,600.00

I know these were expensive cars when new and still are to maintain, I have a A4 binder full of invoices from the previous owner ( spending £7,500 in the last 3 years ) sort of prompted me to buy the car. Plus i bought the car pretty cheap for what it is.

Faults identified by my Indy.

2 glow plugs he said I may As Well change all 6 makes sense. Glow plug module kaput...

Water pump replacement and belt.. Leaking and kaput according to the Indy.

New dual horn

Rear boot lock! The cars battery light came on I guessed alternator he said the drain is coming from the boot lock it's electrically operated only way to remedy is new boot lock. Had a new oem battery Dec 17 plus full airmatic suspension replacement and inlet manifold along with turbocharger!

The previous owner purchased a Tesla.

All parts are MB oem apart from that he said the car was excellent and one of the cleanest he has seen...

Does this seem like alot of money for what is being replaced. I have no idea on labour times to replace items.

Any input greatly appreciated it's a smashing car and I am aware 13 years old things wear out. I intend on keeping the car for 3 to 4 years. Zero rust which is amazing on a w220.

 

[markjay]

Difficult one... you paid less for a card with a proven track record of needing to have money spent on it, as evident from the £7,500 the previous owner sunk into it... I would say that it could still be a good deal, depending on how much less you paid for it in the first place?

 

[MWCLS]

Difficult one... you paid less for a card with a proven track record of needing to have money spent on it, as evident from the £7,500 the previous owner sunk into it... I would say that it could still be a good deal, depending on how much less you paid for it in the first place?

Thanks for the reply.. I paid £2.5k for the car so sort of thought I'd need to spend a few quid getting her fully fit.

It's an exceptional clean car for its age and had been serviced at MB main dealer up to 2014 then 2 Indys there on annually. It's got a great history and condition. I'm just unsure on the the numbers re the repairs required.. it doesn't phase me as I will have a great car. Just wondering if the garage is being optimistic with their repair bill ( 470 for the water pump and belt fitted) ( 450 for a new rear boot lock ) ( 170 for a new dual horn ) the rest glow plugs and module...

 

[KennyN]

Without contacting a dealer for parts prices then i would imagine it would be around £600 for the bits (GPs + Relay - £200 , Pump + coolant £200 , horns + lock ??)

So £1000 in labour , at £80 p/h it is around 12.5 hours. A lot of hours to do four jobs , i would think the pump replacement would be the most time consuming but even then 12.5 hours is a little bit longer than i would have expected.

Kenny

 

[MWCLS]

Thanks Kenny, I'll have to contact the main dealer tomorrow 're prices.. I did think the lock and water pump seemed steep and as you say basing those rough prices 12.5 hours seems excessive.

I get everyone has over heads staff bills.. but spanking customers isn't the way forward. I have used this Indy before numerous times and haven't seen big bills like this. I'll just have to look at the parts costs and then ask them how long replacement takes per parts.

I don't want to come across mistrusting the Indy as I have always had a positive experience and they have plenty of work on and have a good reputation.

 

[KennyN]

I would imagine if you knew it was going to be so pricey you could have replaced the horns and boot lock yourself and left the oily stuff to the indy.

Kenny

 

[MWCLS]

Kenny, unfortunately for me number plate changing is about as good as it gets for me! I'm useless when it comes to anything like that! I'd probably end up costing my self more money!

 

[Deleted member 131833]

Second hand parts perhaps?

How long do you intend keeping the car? If you keep for a long time you will recoup the cost plus you will know the car has been repaired/serviced properly and hopefully be trouble free

 

[MWCLS]

Second hand parts perhaps?

How long do you intend keeping the car? If you keep for a long time you will recoup the cost plus you will know the car has been repaired/serviced properly and hopefully be trouble free

Thanks Romeo4, if I could source a boot lock that would be good the rest I would only go new as I wouldn't feel happy putting something on the car that maybe at the end of its service life.

I intend on keeping the car 3 or 4 years maybe longer. Kids and mortgage eat up most of my disposal income plus I like to save for days like this.. put a bit a away each month.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

S Class tax.

Mine cost the warranty provider £7k in my first year of ownership.

 

[kianok]

S Class tax.

Mine cost the warranty provider £7k in my first year of ownership.

WOW!

 

[MWCLS]

Wow indeed!.

 

[wu56Shoozz]

A couple of questions:

Did you go in and give him Carte Blanche on the car by just saying "Fix it"

Did he call you at anytime for authorization to install the extra parts that were needed?

Did he give you alternative prices on the extras i.e GSF/Eurocarparts etc..

If he hasn't done any of the above then you're well with in your rights t ask him to remove them as you didn't authorize them..but then that will open a whole world of pain..

The bad side about these guys that do "cash" bills is that there are no job cards or time cards to log time against and more often than not its just a figure that they pluck out the air. I had this recently where my indie said I needed a new windscreen and I'm like "wait a minute it was fine when it went in.." it was in for the wiper motor to be replaced.. so all the trim had to be removed.. what I think happened as I did this on a far larger screen was that the mechanic put the ratchet down on the windscreen hitting the edge and creating stress into the glass then it just went ping! Anyway - a new screen was £75 notes through my insurance.. and I told them that he was paying for it which he agreed..so my repairs were done and over the conversation a bill was quoted for the repair of £150 all in.. so I get the call my car was ready and.. the bill escalates to £225 as "he had problems" now without a time card or speaking to the mechanic I can't argue, but then he rubs it in saying that he's had to pay £75 notes for something he didn't break.. so where do you go from there other than round in circles...

 

[chrisk2010]

I hope you don't mind me asking but what's the name of the indy ? I live in Essex so it's always good to have an extra number to call.

Re the pricing i think Kenny is probably pretty close with his estimate. I have never looked at these engines but the only thing that would take the time maybe the waterpump if the radiator has to come out depending on the clearance. I'm 80% sure that's not the case though.

Maybe they're rounding up the hours? GP = 1hr, Relay = 30mins (so 1hr), boot lock = 1.5hr (so 2hr), Boot lock = 1hr, Horn = 1hr, which leaves 6 odd for the water pump assuming the radiator and some other gubbings have to come out which again i don't think but am on the bench a bit without googling it.

Try giving Merc Aid in Basildon a call for a quote once you have the prices for the parts from the dealer, there not the cheapest but are pretty resonable. There is one other guy i use everynow and again in Brentwood, Tony at TKS motors he used to be a Merc Mechanic but set himself up years ago he's a fair bloke and his work is good, very thorough but very blunt with it. The only thing i find with him is it's hard to get a booking being a one man band.

 

[MWCLS]

Hi wu56Shoozz, it went in for a free vehicle check I told him what I was aware of.

He then called me a day after I dropped the car off with his summing up of additional works. I don't or have ever used pattern parts on any car I have owned.

Some might say it's a false economy but using genuine parts I will get a guarantee on that particular part for 1 year against failure.

I negotiated his cash price down from £1,784.00 to £1,600.00 I have him authority to fix what he told me the car needed yesterday at the discounted " goodwill" price.

I'm not mechanically minded nor do I know how long it takes to change a boot lock, horn, water pump and glow plugs and relay... I have read glow plugs can be Pita to get out without breaking off.

So all I have done is put my trust in the garage as you have to especially with my knowledge on all things mechanical. Sure I could probably purchase all the parts from MB and request a local Vat registered garage fitted them but I would be doubting their ability to work on what was at the time and still is a fairly complex electrically vehicle.

I have used them before and my father does. I was just expecting a Bill probably around the 1000 mark there were bound to be other things I couldn't see or envisage that needed replacing/repair.

Ironically the car was last serviced by another Indy 12/17 who left a works reqd nsf ball joint dust cover spilt and they also listed the horn and GP and module.

No mention of water pump or boot lock. My Indy said the ball joints were fine no issue.

It's a over a barrel situation... I'm sure if i went to another Indy they would find something else or that's ok for the time being.

I just want a mechanically sound car ... seemingly at a cost. End of the day it is a S Class albeit 2005 vintage and I knew when buying they.arent cheap cars to fix if or when they have issues.

 

[MWCLS]

I'd say your right chrisk2010 .. i used Merc Aid many years ago and had a negative experience so I wont be returning.

I'd rather not mention the Indy on an open forum but they are Well known and respected.

I don't want to be waiting another month to fix the car I have alot going on house move kids in new nursery job relocation.. car is pretty low down the list.. All the same it needs repair.

 

[Smart320]

At the end of the day there is probably nothing to be gained by trying to agonise over the final bill, might be a bit high but not worth stressing over. At least you have used them before and should be able to drive away knowing the job has been done to a good standard with MB parts. If it were me I would pay the bill and get on and enjoy the car. Next time work is needed on it just do your research before you book it in to a garage, then you will be in a better position to query the costs

 

[chrisk2010]

Would you mind dropping me a PM ? I don't need anything doing at the moment apart from an alignment once i have done the the arms and bushes on the steering myself but it's a mercedes so no doubt i may need something this year.

 

[Skd884]

Extortionate!
Try these guys for a quote

Independent Mercedes Specialists - Keys of Bexleyheath

Mercedes Benz Service Repairs and Tuning Romford Essex

Let us know how you get on.

 

[MWCLS]

Thanks Smart320, I just called MB Sytner Newcastle for prices...

BOOTLOCK £297.00

DUAL HORN £138.80

6 X GP £85.86

GP MODULE £265.00

WATERPUMP £159.10

Prices inc Vat total £ 945.76 parts alone.

That's without coolant and water pump belt. So in the scheme of things £1,000 in parts the Labour figure doesn't seem horrendous.