Expensive Fix(s)!

HungryJoey

So the ould' lad brought the Mercedes e240 (new model) down to get a service while he was away. He came back to the expensive bill of 700 euro(not MB dealer either) due to several things having to be done. Who says owning a mercedes is cheap?

On top of that, he was greated by the good news that the auto (tip tronic) box is on its way out. The E-class has a split radiator apparently, and the pipe between the two, is known to leak and destroy (?!) the gear box. He has to go ahead and change that now with a pleasent price tag of 6,000 euro! Mercedes are agreeing to pay 3,000 of it as it is a known issue so he will be left with another 3,000 to foot himself.

Very expensive service if you ask me ! Although the lad that does it for him he knows him well enough, and it is a very reputable garage so there is no question of being ripped off here. I guess its what you pay for owning a W211 mercedes or in other words a mercedes between the years 95-08

Thats not all, so he notices the Coolant is disapearing or acting strangley in the 05' Passat TDi. Tops it up but the levels are all over the place, again being diagnosed with a water pump failure! So that is getting repaired tomorrow with a nice price tag I am sure.

I can see this thread turning into a " Mercedes Quality has gone rapidly downhill " and to be honest, I would be quite keen on agreeing! Also water pump failure in a passat with 60K (Not miles) on the clock, is probably another great example of VW's famous reliability. I guess its lucky the HG didn't blow or engine over heat, although it did heat up once or twice scarily initially.

:pac: Rant over :pac:

EDIT: Quoted from honest john.

"
What to Watch Out For

Can suffer electrical problems, so make sure all electrics work before buying.

The transmission oil cooler of automatics is sited in the radiator matrix, so failure can lead to coolant entering the transmission and destroying it, leaving the owner with a bill of £4k - £6k. MB responded that this fault only occurred in cars manufactured between 2000 - 2003 and only when a Valeo radiator is fitted, but has occurred in later cars. Two other well known faults which might cause expensive damage are failure of the oil seals to the wiring looms from the top of the cam cover and to the autobox which is electrically operated.

"

milltown

HungryJoey wrote: »

Who says owning a mercedes is cheap?

I give up. Who?

HungryJoey

milltown wrote: »

I give up. Who?

I probably should have phrased that differently.

" Running a mercedes isn't cheap "

Why would you bother at them prices.

f22

Expensive or not you are very foolish not to have premium car like that serviced by a MB service department in the first place.

It will seriously affect the resale value down the road.

Guy:Incognito

HungryJoey wrote: »

I probably should have phrased that differently.

" Running a mercedes isn't cheap "

Why would you bother at them prices.

So you would rather buy an expensive car fitted with cheap parts?

Del2005

Just consider yourself lucky your father had the sense to steer clear of the main dealers.:D

Del2005

f22 wrote: »

Expensive or not you are very foolish not to have premium car like that serviced by a MB service department in the first place.

It will seriously affect the resale value down the road.

Once it has a stamped service history from a garage it shouldn't make much difference.
I know a main MB dealership that had 1 mechanic and ~20 apprentices, which garage would you rather serviced your car?

bazz26

Unfortunately these type of cars are very rarely cheap to maintain.

HungryJoey

f22 wrote: »

Expensive or not you are very foolish not to have premium car like that serviced by a MB service department in the first place.

It will seriously affect the resale value down the road.

The car its self was bought fairly cheap anyway, was a great deal at the time nearly 2 years ago. He was planning on running it to the ground anyway as he normally does until it becomes not worth repairing.

Its not going to be serviced or repaired with cheap parts, i'd put more trust into this crowd then a MB dealership that I have heard nightmares about.

Its a garage out by naas, some of you's may know it.

ANYWAY, moral of the story is, Yes I would have to agree on mercedes image, has gone down the drain.

Eoin

f22 wrote: »

Expensive or not you are very foolish not to have premium car like that serviced by a MB service department in the first place.

It will seriously affect the resale value down the road.

I don't know about that - the extra labour cost over a few years of ownership could make up the difference in resale value. A good independent mechanic service history can often be more of a plus than a franchised dealer history to a discerning buyer.

bazz26

HungryJoey wrote: »

ANYWAY, moral of the story is, Yes I would have to agree on mercedes image, has gone down the drain.

In fairness they are begining to turn it around again but still nowhere near as good as they used to be.

Anan1

f22 wrote: »

Expensive or not you are very foolish not to have premium car like that serviced by a MB service department in the first place.

It will seriously affect the resale value down the road.

On the contrary, once a Mercedes is out of warranty one would be very foolish to bring it anywhere near an MB service department. Quite apart from their prices, their work tends to be nowhere near as good as that of a good independent.

mike65

...and the w211 is a step up from the w210 for reliability belive it or not.

Mike.

galwaytt

f22 wrote: »

Expensive or not you are very foolish not to have premium car like that serviced by a MB service department in the first place.

It will seriously affect the resale value down the road.

Rubbish. Franchise stamps add nothing to resale, and, as OP points out, doesn't cover you when the car has a design fault,either.

Eur 35 for a v.good independant down here, with ex MB dealer mechanics.......

sorry to hear about the gearbox, though - that's a bummer. Quite how MB (and others) are allowed to get away with only paying some of the cost of a (known) design fault, escapes me.....

E92

I would say once the car is out of warranty is to get any premium badge car like a Merc, Audi, BMW etc serviced by a specialist in the marques.

One with a good reputation amongst enthusiasts of that brand.

And yes Merc quality has gone down the tubes. Sit into a W211 and you will feel the cheapness of one straight away.

A W124 felt like a tank(the late 80's/early 90's E-class), and was as reliable as one too, but the W211(the current E-class), like all modern Mercs, is rubbish for reliability. I don't remember the W210(the E-class in between!) being bad, at least they felt as solid as a Merc should. Mercedes have gone rapidly downhill since the W140 S class(the early to late 90's S-class). That was the last Merc that was built to last. Merc dealers have a reputation for being a pile of w***ers too. The new "better built" ones are too new to say, the first one that is a "better built" Merc is the ML and that only came out 2 or 3 years ago, hardly a meaningful time frame to see if things have improved.

I used to be a big Merc fan, I used to even prefer them to BMW at one stage, but the modern rubbish has eliminated my interest in the brand. Most depressing of all is how sh1t the A class feels like. A Skoda Fabia feels like a more solid car than it, even a Fiat has a higher quality interior, and I can't think of anything worse to say than that about a Merc. The old ones felt so much better than their non premium badge rivals, now all you're paying for is to have a three pointed star on the bonnet. There's just nothing they do that any Seat or Mazda or Toyota doesn't, apart from being about twice as expensive and going wrong all the time. Where's the appeal in that?

Don't take my word for it, go to the continent, and you will see very quickly what make the overwhelming majority of old taxi's are and what make the majority of new ones are NOT. Here's a clue: my whole post is about this make.

There was a time when "Made in Germany" was a sticker of perfection and quality, oh how times have changed since the 80s, and for the worse.

Merc aren't alone though, just ask any VAG enthusiast about modern German "quality" and "engineering":rolleyes:.

bangersandmash

E92 wrote: »

Merc aren't alone though, just ask any VAG enthusiast about modern German "quality" and "engineering":rolleyes:.

vag enthusiast eh? that's me! (btw i hate VWs/Seats/Skodas/Audis...)

colm_mcm

Stekelly wrote: »

So you would rather buy an expensive car fitted with cheap parts?

stop promoting Renaults!

HungryJoey

E92 wrote: »

Merc aren't alone though, just ask any VAG enthusiast about modern German "quality" and "engineering":rolleyes:.

Well thats why when the news of the water pump failure on the passat also came, it really didn't say much for german quality.

Back to the W211, I have to say I love getting into it my self I think it does feel pretty cool. Being the avantgarde spec he has it very very well spec'd and doesn't feel cheap to be in. But with the mechanical costs and things going wrong with it, doesn't say much for MB.