Mercedes garage - servicing quote

Johnny_Fontane

The boom times are back!

Rang up two garages (both reputable Benz garages in D7 & D15) about a service. Car is telling me its due a B3 service. Its a 141 E300 with 40,000 miles.

Tough enough to get quotes out of them, but eventually I did.
Garage A - €640
Garage B - €305

Like wtf!

Is this normal?

Toyotafanboi

Did they explain what you are getting for each price?

goochy

try Annesley Williams , former main dealer and still service dealer - they tend to be competitive on anything they do - sales / servicing.

biko

It is a B service, 3rd time it has come up.

What is included you ask?
https://mbworld.org/forums/attachments/c63-amg-w204/411161d1502790531-b3-service-mercedes-b-service.pdf

Approximate repair time is 3 to 5 hours.  Total costs vary depending on vehicle.

Henry Ford III

Compare what they are proposing to do (shouldn't it be the same)?

bazz26

Were the parts and work quoted the same from both garages?

Johnny_Fontane

Yes, both quotes are very similar (bar price). Both Mercedes Garages, both a B Service.

I'm sure MB themselves, wouldnt be too happy with this sort of variance.

Toyotafanboi

Get a 3rd quote. That'll give a bit more clarity.

Johnny_Fontane

got a third quote for €479. Plot thickens......

Seems like they all do the standard B service, but charge completely different amounts.

Might ring the dealers in Northern Ireland to see what they say.

goochy

annesley Williams ? or try Den is mahony in Finglas

don't forget to factor in fuel going up north

Wailin

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

got a third quote for €479. Plot thickens......

Seems like they all do the standard B service, but charge completely different amounts.

Might ring the dealers in Northern Ireland to see what they say.

Well it's a no brainer then really isn't it? Just go with garage B?

Caliden

If it takes 3-5 hours labour alone could be 120-200.

Voodoomelon

Labour rates at Mercedes are easily €150 an hour, but service packages tend to have it all built in with parts, at a lower rate.

What's included in a B service?

biko

biko wrote: »

It is a B service, 3rd time it has come up.

What is included you ask?
https://mbworld.org/forums/attachments/c63-amg-w204/411161d1502790531-b3-service-mercedes-b-service.pdf

Approximate repair time is 3 to 5 hours.  Total costs vary depending on vehicle.

Voodoomelon wrote: »

What's included in a B service?

I was too fast it seems

Toyotafanboi

Caliden wrote: »

If it takes 3-5 hours labour alone could be 120-200.

120 per hour you mean :pac:

Caliden

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

120 per hour you mean :pac:

Ah right. I thought he rang independents.

iomusicdublin

Get a quote for all the parts needed for B service from 3 MB garages

Then get quotes only for Labour separately from the same garages using the MB parts.

iomusicdublin

1.7 hours labour for B service @130 per hour ex vat


oil filter 21.87
washwer 1.196
air filter 118.28
pollen 84.59

+ 8 litres oil

coylemj

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

Its a 141 E300 with 40,000 miles.

Just to get this into perspective......

Assuming it's an E300 Elegance, the SIMI list price for March 2014 says that that car had a list price of €64,575 which means you're upset because they're asking you to spend about 1% of the original value of the car on an annual service.

I understand that you want to know where your money goes but you should have asked yourself that before splashing out on a six-cylinder Merc.

You might factor service costs into your calculations before your next purchase and spare us the 'beal bocht' BS.

Brian Scan

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

The boom times are back!

Rang up two garages (both reputable Benz garages in D7 & D15) about a service. Car is telling me its due a B3 service. Its a 141 E300 with 40,000 miles.

Tough enough to get quotes out of them, but eventually I did.
Garage A - €640
Garage B - €305

Like wtf!

Is this normal?

coylemj wrote: »

Just to get this into perspective......

Assuming it's an E300 Elegance, the SIMI list price for March 2014 says that that car had a list price of €64,575 which means you're upset because they're asking you to spend about 1% of the original value of the car on an annual service.

I understand that you want to know where your money goes but you should have asked yourself that before splashing out on a six-cylinder Merc.

You might factor service costs into your calculations before your next purchase and spare us the 'beal bocht' BS.

OP posted querying discrepancy in prices. He didn't say that he couldn't afford either price. No Beal Bocht, no BS.

coylemj

Brian Scan wrote: »

OP posted querying discrepancy in prices. He didn't say that he couldn't afford either price. No Beal Bocht, no BS.

So why is he talking about getting a quote from a place in NI? Seems like he wants a €150 service by the sound of it.

Brian Scan

coylemj wrote: »

So why is he talking about getting a quote from a place in NI? Seems like he wants a €150 service by the sound of it.

How did you arrive at that conclusion?

Andrewf20

Alot of that stuff are inspection checks that could be done at home in seconds. I'm guessing it needs doing for warranty reasons. 640 / 479 euro is a bit of a joke alright.

GerryDerpy

coylemj wrote: »

Just to get this into perspective......

Assuming it's an E300 Elegance, the SIMI list price for March 2014 says that that car had a list price of €64,575 which means you're upset because they're asking you to spend about 1% of the original value of the car on an annual service.

I understand that you want to know where your money goes but you should have asked yourself that before splashing out on a six-cylinder Merc.

You might factor service costs into your calculations before your next purchase and spare us the 'beal bocht' BS.

What an absurd view. Just because you have lots of money doesn’t mean you don’t look for value.

coylemj

Brian Scan wrote: »

How did you arrive at that conclusion?

The OP has a quote from a 'reputable' (his description) MB service centre for a B service on a six-cylinder Merc. for €305 and he starts a thread under the smokescreen of 'OMG, look at the variation in prices'. And he's still not happy so he wants to get a quote from NI.

Not buying it. This is about the cost of the service, nothing else.

jelutong

That's not the impression I got from the ops post. You could call it a market survey I reckon.

Brian Scan

coylemj wrote: »

The OP has a quote from a 'reputable' (his description) MB service centre for a B service on a six-cylinder Merc. for €305 and he starts a thread under the smokescreen of 'OMG, look at the variation in prices'. And he's still not happy so he wants to get a quote from NI.

Not buying it. This is about the cost of the service, nothing else.

Assuming you are correct in your assumption, are you saying the OP shouldn't look for the best value available?

pippip

Maybe the reason the Op can afford the car in the first place is because they're careful with their money.

Toyotafanboi

Let's leave the OP's personal finances discussion alone please.

The OP was wondering why there was such a variance in quotes.

coylemj

Brian Scan wrote: »

Assuming you are correct in your assumption, are you saying the OP shouldn't look for the best value available?

Yes, he should definitely look for the best value and at €305 for a B service on a six cylinder E class, I'd say he should look no further.

The wild variations are peculiar but I'd go for the lowest quote in this case.

Andrewf20

Id be asking the garages why they are more expensive as well as boards.ie. Would be interesting to hear what they say.

Johnny_Fontane

Johnny_Fontane wrote: »

The boom times are back!

Rang up two garages (both reputable Benz garages in D7 & D15) about a service. Car is telling me its due a B3 service. Its a 141 E300 with 40,000 miles.

Tough enough to get quotes out of them, but eventually I did.
Garage A - €640
Garage B - €305

Like wtf!

Is this normal?

Yes, it’s normal.

3-5 hours labour. One went with 3, the other with 5. You got a third quote based on 4 hours.

coylemj

coylemj wrote: »

Yes, he should definitely look for the best value and at €305 for a B service on a six cylinder E class, I'd say he should look no further.

The wild variations are peculiar but I'd go for the lowest quote in this case.

Too cheap at €300 to be fair!

mickdw

E300 is a hybrid diesel so may have some additional service actions. Looking at the list, there is nothing major included.
I would have thought such a service would be around 300 at main dealer. It a 4 cylinder , a little over 2 litre so won't be needing a large amount of oil or anything.

mickdw

Coylemj, your attitude is nuts. And it's not a 6 cylinder at all.

B service will include 8 Litres of 0w30 full synth, oil filter, cabin/pollen filter, brake fluid change, ad-blue fill, crazy detailed inspection (not NCT, Mercedes model specific watching for identified issues etc), core s/w updates, digital service book updated etc. Possibly air filter too. Go price the parts in an MB dealer and then see how you feel about the range of prices for the service when you factor in the labour element. Is it expensive? Yeah, but if that’s objectionable you bought the wrong car. It’s a long enough list and with the best of respect to others, it’s not an astra or a focus.

The dealer isn’t giving you a fixed price either. They start draining the oil and begin the inspection and I’ve watched it done - they’re very specific and check things that you might want them to check if you’re keeping the car for a bit and don’t want too many surprises.

coylemj

mickdw wrote: »

E300 is a hybrid diesel ...

mickdw wrote: »

Coylemj, your attitude is nuts. And it's not a 6 cylinder at all.

OP never mentioned hybrid and the non-hybrid E300 is a 6 cylinder.

Just saying.

bucketybuck

coylemj wrote: »

The wild variations are peculiar but I'd go for the lowest quote in this case.

If its just about the cheapest price then why would he go near a main dealer, I'm sure there are plenty of lads would do it cash in hand for far cheaper again?

Like most sensible people, perhaps he would like to know why one quote is half that of the other, and what implications there might be regarding the quality of service.

Do you know what I think when I see the same item offered at half the price: "Whats the catch?".

mickdw

coylemj wrote: »

mickdw wrote: »

E300 is a hybrid diesel ...

mickdw wrote: »

Coylemj, your attitude is nuts. And it's not a 6 cylinder at all.

OP never mentioned hybrid and the non-hybrid E300 is a 6 cylinder.

Just saying.

I'm not aware of an e300 of that age except the hybrid. Certainly the 6 cylinder diesel is an e350.