Rodent damage - £10,000 repair quote

[Finbob]

Back in February, I went to start my A238 E53 which had been parked in our garage for nine days. It wouldn't start and displayed "Cruise control and limiter inoperative". The technician from Mobilo/RAC diagnosed rodent damage to the wiring loom.

The car was transported to the Mercedes Dealership where I had it serviced. After an inspection they confirmed the rodent damage diagnosis and said that it would require the engine and gearbox to be removed to allow the wiring loom to be replaced. The bill for this would be over £10,000.

Being a little wary of this estimate, after paying the dealership £199 for their investigation, I had the car transported to my local Mercedes specialist - Winchester Auto Barn - who look after my W221 S-class. They performed their own inspection and reported that five wires had been chewed along with a sound-deadening panel. The wires could be repaired and the panel replaced. This was confirmed by an engineer from my insurer.

The total cost of the repair was £1,350 – replacing the panel was a tricky job needing four hours of labour.

The car's fine now, but this was a chastening experience for me. Firstly this is the first time is 26 years that we have had rats anywhere near the house let alone in the garage. I suspect that the problems we have had with sewerage in our village may be to blame. Engaging our local pest controllers has fixed that problem.

Secondly, what faith I had in the Mercedes Dealership I was using has evaporated. I have two years left on my Mercedes service contract and tomorrow the E53 will be going to another dealership for its next service. Ironically, this new dealership was recommended to me by Winchester Auto Barn - it is where they source their parts, and they get excellent service from them. Whether I keep servicing it at a dealership in two years time is a moot point though.

 

[Skd884]

Not like for like, one quote was to replace and the other to repair.

 

[SmartAmg]

WOW, robbing b@stards. But unfortunately some might well have paid.
£1,350 was a bargain, by comparison.

 

[ALFAitalia]

@Skd884
True.....but the point was it did not need replacement.

 

[SmartAmg]

Not like for like, one quote was to replace and the other to repair.

Yeh, but it didn't need replacing. Why didn't the Merc dealer, tell him it could have been repaired. I'll stick with my Robbing B@stards, comment.

 

[Finbob]

The justification given to me by the dealership's customer service agent for removing the engine and gearbox was that "we've had problems with wiring issues like this before, so we recommend replacing the entire loom". It's a viewpoint, but one that the insurer's engineer didn't agree with - he was closer to "Robbing B@stards", in fact

 

[ioweddie]

Would that have been an insurance claim?

 

[Finbob]

Yes it was.

 

[SpikyMikey]

The justification given to me by the dealership's customer service agent for removing the engine and gearbox was that "we've had problems with wiring issues like this before, so we recommend replacing the entire loom". It's a viewpoint, but one that the insurer's engineer didn't agree with - he was closer to "Robbing B@stards", in fact

We had a company car written off after an accident; not because of the bodywork and trim, but because part of the engine loom sustained damage. A complete replacement front end loom and the associated work "tipped it over the edge" in terms of insurance repair.
We bought the car back and had it repaired; which included an easy splicing in of about 8 inches of wiring and 4 connectors. With a proper application of the correct looming tape, you couldn't even see the joins.
6 years later it's still going strong.

 

[SmartAmg]

We had a company car written off after an accident; not because of the bodywork and trim, but because part of the engine loom sustained damage.
We bought the car back and had it repaired; which included an easy splicing in of about 8 inches of wiring and 4 connectors. With a proper application of the correct looming tape, you couldn't even see the joins.
6 years later it's still going strong.

There you go. They where obviously trying it on.

 

[whitenemesis]

There you go. They where obviously trying it on.

Not "obviously trying it on", just the culture of we don't repair (anything), just replace, which seems to be the way these days with most things

 

[ALFAitalia]

That's because dealers don't employ mechanics or engineers anymore....just "fitters".

 

[SmartAmg]

Not "obviously trying it on", just the culture of we don't repair (anything), just replace, which seems to be the way these days with most things

That's because dealers don't employ mechanics or engineers anymore....just "fitters".

Goods points.

 

[SpikyMikey]

That's because dealers don't employ mechanics or engineers anymore....just "fitters".

Yep.
Unbolt the old bit, bolt on new bit, chuck old bit in bin. Job jobbed.

 

[Petrol Pete]

I can't see any main dealer garage making a (perfectly sound) repair to any wiring loom these days , they simply do not have the skills on site or the desire to have to potentially re visit the loom in the future.

As said . 'New parts fitters'

 

[Bellow]

repaired; which included an easy splicing in of about 8 inches of wiring and 4 connectors. With a proper application of the correct looming tape, you couldn't even see the joins.
6 years later it's still going strong.

I did the same for my upstream O2 sensors. Even if I'd done all four and it had been for someone else, I'd have felt bad taking even £50 for the task.

 

[SmartAmg]

Yep.
Unbolt the old bit, bolt on new bit, chuck old bit in bin. Job jobbed.

I can't see any main dealer garage making a (perfectly sound) repair to any wiring loom these days , they simply do not have the skills on site or the desire to have to potentially re visit the loom in the future.

As said . 'New parts fitters'

Yep, probably right. What a Bloody shame, though.

 

[st13phil]

I can't see any main dealer garage making a (perfectly sound) repair to any wiring loom these days , they simply do not have the skills on site or the desire to have to potentially re visit the loom in the future.

The bit I've boldened explains much of the "replace the whole thing" attitude.

I'd say that's partially due to the "lack of skills" and partially due to the high labour rates meaning that in some circumstances (clearly not the case with the OP's issue) a component swap out is actually cheaper than a remove, repair, replace process.

 

[markjay]

We occasionally have similar issues when a customer expects us to repair their old laptop.

If the laptop is still under manufacturer's warranty, then it will be repaired for free.

If the laptop is no longer covered by manufacturer's warranty, then we will obtain a repair quote from the manufacturer. And yes, the manufacturer will only replace complete modules, they will not repair or solder anything etc.

In either case, we will manage the repair under the maintenance contract that the customer has with us.

If the customer finds the manufacture's repair quote to be too high, we advise a new laptop. If they do not want to buy a new laptop, then we advise them to take the laptop themselves to a local mobile phone and laptop repair shop, but we won't get involved.

It's called a business model. We are in business to turn a profit and pay our staff their wages.

I fully sympathise with a customer who wants to have their old laptops repaired, but we are not a laptop repair shop and this is not a service that we can commercially offer.

Laptop repair shop have their place in the market. And so do we.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

The car's fine now, but this was a chastening experience for me. Firstly this is the first time is 26 years that we have had rats anywhere near the house let alone in the garage. I suspect that the problems we have had with sewerage in our village may be to blame. Engaging our local pest controllers has fixed that problem.

It's not obvious that the problem was your local rat population.

There's been a huge problem this last decade or more with "Eco" plastics being used for car wiring and engine panels. "Eco" as in particularly tasty for squirrels, rats and other vermin. I'm aware of more than a dozen cars within 200 metres of my house that have lost wiring and panels to such rats.

The most painful example being new Porsche Cayenne that was off the road for three months while new obscure parts were chased down from the factory, at a cost of several thousand.

I've lost two sets of Mx5 ABS cables to the critters.

So, pest control is good. But it's not necessarily that your area is any worse than it has always been. Modern wiring is simply more "succulent."

Google around for more details. It's well documented, across many makes and many countries.