Service Sticker Shock

czkidd

New member
Took my 2015 Sprinter in for transmission service only. I do engine oil change, fuel filter change and other maintenance. I have an extended warranty with Mercedes out to 125k miles. I use my truck for my air conditioning service company. 38K on odo.

Transmission Service I want done by dealership. New filter, Tube, Oil. $668.25. A Cargo Van?

Shame on Mercedes for this.

During the service I was told I needed brake pads. $1300.00 for front and $1200.00 for rear. Includes pads rotors and labor. $2500.00.

Just for kicks I inquired about the 40K service, at the level I was paying for the tranny oil change I figured another 100 or so and I would have the dealer do it. No way, came back with
$1,900.00.

Had I elected brakes, Service B and Transmission today it would have been $5,068.00.

Very sad this is happening. :drool:
 

Sprinter SS

Well-known member
Thats crazy on the brake prices. The rotors are about $125.00 each and pads are $75.00 front/rear.

Definately some dealers cater to the Sprinter clientel more than others. Call around.
 

lindenengineering

Well-known member
Took my 2015 Sprinter in for transmission service only. I do engine oil change, fuel filter change and other maintenance. I have an extended warranty with Mercedes out to 125k miles. I use my truck for my air conditioning service company. 38K on odo.

Transmission Service I want done by dealership. New filter, Tube, Oil. $668.25. A Cargo Van?

Shame on Mercedes for this.

During the service I was told I needed brake pads. $1300.00 for front and $1200.00 for rear. Includes pads rotors and labor. $2500.00.

Just for kicks I inquired about the 40K service, at the level I was paying for the tranny oil change I figured another 100 or so and I would have the dealer do it. No way, came back with
$1,900.00.

Had I elected brakes, Service B and Transmission today it would have been $5,068.00.

Very sad this is happening. :drool:
QUOTE!!!!
No shame on MB for this! Sorry!
Price gauging by a dealer YES perhaps!!

I often ask post originators like yourself to explain and present the charge out details but never yet has there been any MEANINGFULL response.
You don't mention whether this van of yours is a 6 or 4 banger variant.
I also begs the question were you advised by the service writer at the dealership where you presented your van as to what was going to be the estimate to do the tasks involved and did you authorize the R/O?
Basically in Anglo Saxon law there must have been an offeree offeror and acceptance of the contract no matter how simple
.

Let's move for moment to something which might also present pricing fury! Say Hotel lodging a bit like car repairs .

At Denver's DIA one hotel of the same chain charges $380 per night for a double room.
Three miles way the same chain hotel charges $110 per night!

In the restaurant at the first hotel, an evening a burger and fries starts at $27,50 per plate
Whereas if you want to walk a block there is a McDonald for the same at $5,20.

Or you go to watch the Denver Donkeys play a game and where the price of a slice of Pizza is 8 dollars (when it costs 2 dollars to make a 12/14 inch whole pizza!)
I won't mention the price charge of a small glass of American pi$$ water on tap which you all swig down while a bunch of overweight & overpaid guys chase a leather bag around !

So now I have some perspective going here, let's look at the average price for the basic trans service on 6 banger.

A filter is $15,00 a gasket is $17,00, washer is $4,00.
7 qrts of trans fluid is or should be about $140.
Total should be around $176 for parts /materials with maybe $25 for disposal sundries etc etc

.Labor normally for that job is 1,5 hours but your post doesn't mention their charge out rate.
So let's say charge out billable hours is $150 per hour or 1,5 hours being $225. So that should be about $381 plus tax!
So how did they get to your $668.25???:thinking:


My first reaction is that they have some very high overheads or that they are trying to maintain the intrinsic exclusivity of their service! By and by with that they are also MB dealers who in some circles also believe they are selling a product which also has an intrinsic exclusive value!
Which of course to me is absurd, cos boiled down its just a piece of bent iron just like a burger which is two pieces of bread with a lump of greasy mystery meat inside, with a few bits of garnish! ( won;t mention at the beer is made of :rolleyes:!!)
Give us a breakdown of the charges and what did they actually they do?

As in all things though it has to be this guy Mr Cavet Emptor who is wagging his finger at you for the moment!
Dennis
Shop Owner and Mechanic
 

Graphite Dave

Dave Orton
My 2002 BMW 330ci has about 120,000 miles and will need brakes in another 10,000 miles or so. Local BMW dealer quoted $1800 and my local BMW independent who does my service quoted $900 for the same work. BMW dealership is new building and very fancy with nice waiting room with good coffee, snacks and a wide screen TV. Independent service has a hard chair. You do pay for the surroundings. Suspect that the dealers overhead is significantly higher than the independents. The dealer also washes the car and with the independent what you bring in is what you drive out.

I do miss the Mercedes facilities with the fancy coffee and deserts. The Ford waiting room is not as plush. The oil/filter change cost for the Transit is about $60.00 compared to the Sprinters $350.00. Since I have a gas engine in the Transit I certainly do not get the same MPG but I do get some of the difference back in lower regular maintenance costs. Also expect the non regular maintenance costs to be significantly less. We will see if that is true. The transmission gets serviced every 150,000 miles instead of every 30,000 miles.

Hate to know how much the service will cost on my new Porsche Boxster. That place is very snooty. Enjoyed going in to pick up the new car in my Costco tennis shoes, old Levies and a sweat shirt. They tried to hide me and get me out of there as soon as possible. Seems I did not fit the image. Hilarious.
 
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lindenengineering

Well-known member
Took my 2015 Sprinter in for transmission service only. I do engine oil change, fuel filter change and other maintenance. I have an extended warranty with Mercedes out to 125k miles. I use my truck for my air conditioning service company. 38K on odo.

Transmission Service I want done by dealership. New filter, Tube, Oil. $668.25. A Cargo Van?

Shame on Mercedes for this.

During the service I was told I needed brake pads. $1300.00 for front and $1200.00 for rear. Includes pads rotors and labor. $2500.00.

Just for kicks I inquired about the 40K service, at the level I was paying for the tranny oil change I figured another 100 or so and I would have the dealer do it. No way, came back with
$1,900.00.

Had I elected brakes, Service B and Transmission today it would have been $5,068.00.

Very sad this is happening. :drool:
WELL!!!!
Are you going to tell us how the bill was broken down into it base elements or post it on this forum?
Or are you just going to gripe and need shoulder to cry on because the van needed more work than you divulged.?
Breathless in anticipation in Golden Co.
Dennis
 

Rob S

2018 Navion 24G IQ on 2016 Sprinter
As I read the OP's post, I don't think he proceeded with any of the work other than the tranny service. I hope they at least drained the converter for that!!

I too would like to know how the 2500 estimate was broken down in parts and labour.

Please post the invoice and/or estimates if you can, it will save others any trips they might have been planning in that direction.
 
Oh yeah!!! I do mobile auto repair on the side. One of my customers went to Midas, with his daughters 2011 Ford Escape. The front rotors were warped, they quoted him $1300.00 for front rotors, pads, and brake fluid flush... again $1,300!!!!!!! WTF!!! I did it all for $225 parts and labor!!! And still profited $125 for an hours worth of work.
 

RT.SS

Active member
Here in California, we have many Mercedes dealers that work on Sprinters, service prices varies wildly between dealers. Even the dealer that I used to take my Sprinter charges different amount every time I take my Sprinter for the same maintenance service, it’s like they look at the moon and if its bigger they charges you more.

My DEF heater have failed lately and one dealer was charging me 10 hours of labor to replace it (this does not include removing the RV tanks/ steps to clear the DEF tank)…my gut just couldn’t agree that it would take them that long to replace the heater, but how can you argue if they charge you *** labor time, it is not like they are universal across dealers and everyone post it on the wall for clients to see- bargaining usually does not work, all you can do is move to the next dealer which does same practice.

I don’t know why Dennis hasn’t decided to move his shop here in California; he will make much more dinero here. I see many many Sprinters on the road here as compared to other states. I would not hesitate in a heartbeat taking my Sprinter to someone like Dennis, but finding that competent trustworthy someone is not easy.
 

sailquik

Well-known member
My solution to all this price variability has been to select one authorized Mercedes Benz Sprinter dealer that has a Sprinter specific shop area (6 bays that can handle the tall RV's) and charges a commercial rate for repairs/maintenance services on Sprinters.
I buy my Sprinters there, I drive ~ 3 hours to get up there for service (or anything else) they will come with their Sprinter specific tow rig (long low trailer on a heavy duty pickup truck) and pick up my Sprinter if it's wrecked (they did this after my last major deer crash when the Sprinter was pretty much un driveable as there were no lights on the front and the vacuum tank for the brake booster was knocked lose and leaking).
So, I have a established relationship with this dealership (sort of like Dennis's relationship to his local MB dealers) and I get stable pricing, they go to the extra effort to get the regional rep involved when it can save me some $$.
The DPF bracket snapped off at the DPF on my current Sprinter @ ~ 70k miles.
At my next service, they replaced the broken bracket under warranty.
The broken bracket was the start of a chain of events having to do with the DPF.
Just before my emissions warranty ran out I took it in for a funny clatter noise.
The problem was the broken bracket had allowed the DPF cannister to vibrate around
unsupported, and it broke the flex pipes on both ends of the DPF.
The replaced the entire DPF under warranty.
On my last service, the tin can clatter/rattle was back.
The technician found that the bell housing between the engine and transmission had
cracked right where the DPF bracket bolts on (right between the 3 bolts that hold the
DPF support bracket) so they called the area rep and all the parts to remove the transmission
and the cracked bell housing and replace the bell housing and transmission were covered.
I just had to pay about $400 in labor since I was past the 100k emissions warranty, but it
was pretty clear that the original broken bracket was the cause of the bell housing cracking.
So, when I need another new Sprinter (waiting for the inline 4 cyllinder/7 speed transmission in
a 4x4) I will purchase it from this same dealer.
They have some of the best technicians in the eastern USA, and the shop facilities to really handle the larger Sprinters and Sprinter based RVs.
So, see if there is an authorized MB SPRINTER dealer near you, that does commercial Sprinter work, has the upgraded/up sized Sprinter specific service area, and establish a relationship with them.
It will result in the least cost per mile in the longer term.
Roger
 
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RT.SS

Active member
That is how I did it, took my sprinter to same dealer for the past 5 years to build up that relationship with them, and frankly, I was quite happy with their service for the most part except for the varying prices of maintenance. Full maintenance service and warranty services were done at same dealer. But once I was near the end of my warranty, their service changed. They started to deny warranty coverage, even citing the van origin stating that the van was originally bought by Roadtrek in Illinois and is not covered under California emission warranty…what??? The RV was bought new here in CA with less than 100miles. I have to rectify it to MBUSA to straighten things out, but once MBUSA was involved, that relationship is down the drain…I can sense it.

Maybe they were feed up from tons of warranty service that was done in my RV as most emission parts has been replaced: NOx sensors, NOx sensor modules, SCR Cat, DEF injector, EGR valve, multiple glow plug failures, glow plug module, and lately the DEF heater (done by different dealer), and others I can’t recall. I’ve never seen so many CEL in one vehicle before except this one.

Sometime last year when I was checking the RV undercarriage, I found out that the temperature sensor at the exhaust pipe was loose and you can actually unthread it by fingers from the pipe; I also noticed that the orange turbo seal was more visible and found out that it was put on backwards…all this happened a day after the dealer did B-service and replaced the Glow plug module and this was a few miles before my warranty runs out…a coincidence? Maybe…or it’s a deliberate malicious act? I don’t know. Do I trust them with my Sprinter being out of warranty? the answer is no. I don’t mind paying a premium for a trustworthy mechanic. Sorry for being out of topic.
 

spark949

New member
I just had the oil and fuel filter changed at the local Mercedes dealer. Yes mine is badged a Dodge, but the Dodge dealer here has the most inept bunch of chuckleheads in the area. Ask me how i know...Mercedes charged me $487...It went up quite a lot...i hadn't been there in 2 years as i got my changes at Dodge because they were doing some warranty work to fix the mess they made the last time they did warranty work. I was always afraid that Dodge would put in the wrong oil given the problems Ive had with them. Mercedes also wanted to charge me to fix 2 bolts that were loose in front of my DPF .At least they called to get an OK...they would tighten them for $137.50. Would have taken less than a minute. Also they wanted to repair the broken clip on the fuel filter that Dodge must have broke the last time they had it. Another $137.50 plus parts. I bring it there because of the warranty I have and wanted proof that the service is being done. Methinks I will be doing my oil changes and fuel filters from now on.
 

avanti

2022 Ford Transit 3500
I bring it there because of the warranty I have and wanted proof that the service is being done. Methinks I will be doing my oil changes and fuel filters from now on.
You are wise to maintain good documentation of your maintenance operations, but going to the dealer is a very expensive way to accomplish this. Parts receipts, a log book, and perhaps a phone picture or two will suffice.
 

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