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That's a shame. Are you serious about the $535 just for plugs and maybe topping up the washer fluid? Well, poor dealer owner has yacht, jet and multi home bills too! I would trust anyone to change them out. You don't need to be a master tech. And you are slightly over, so don't worry too much. When I changed mine around 50k miles they looked great.
 
That's a shame. Are you serious about the $535 just for plugs and maybe topping up the washer fluid? Well, poor dealer owner has yacht, jet and multi home bills too! I would trust anyone to change them out. You don't need to be a master tech. And you are slightly over, so don't worry too much. When I changed mine around 50k miles they looked great.
Yes.... just plugs. This is Mercedes of South Charlotte. They will only see me for ELW work. Other local Benz dealer quote was $475.
 
Mercedes of South Charlotte. That's Felix Sabatis...funny he does have yachts, jets and big houses....he lives in 7 Eagles. Same neighborhood as billionaire car dealer owner Rick Hendrick. Felix used to own and maybe still does, trinity yachts.
 
Just did mine with the NGK Japan 90654/SILZKFR8E7S plugs I got from Rockauto. This is the OEM plug. The old plugs looked pretty burnt and rough but came out nice and easy from the cold engine; my van just hit 91K miles. The replacement plugs looked identical only without the MB branding. I simply properly torqued them, did no indexing. The van runs as good as ever!

 
Hey y’all, I’m about to DIY spark plug replacement with OEM plugs at 75k. I found this video online that is another reference point What I’ve gathered from this tread is that I just need to get the right plugs and torque. What is the torque spec?
 
I just got a quote from the dealer to change the plugs - $1141.91

This is simply one item on a list of recommended services for my van with 93K miles. All of the items seem excessively high in price. I'm not sure what to make of it.
 
I just got a quote from the dealer to change the plugs - $1141.91

This is simply one item on a list of recommended services for my van with 93K miles. All of the items seem excessively high in price. I'm not sure what to make of it.
OMG, RUN from that place!! Look at the posted hourly rate and ask how many hours it will take? I can't imagine a teck taking more than a couple hours.. With a couple smoke brakes.. See what they say..
 
OMG, RUN from that place!! Look at the posted hourly rate and ask how many hours it will take? I can't imagine a teck taking more than a couple hours.. With a couple smoke brakes.. See what they say..
This dealer has treated me fairly well in the past. I just called another dealer (that is closer to me) and they are asking $850 to change the plugs. They have a wait list of about 3 weeks to get the vehicle in.

Transmission fluid and filter is almost $1000 at both places. Rear differential fluid change is between $300 and $400. Prices for this kind of service seem to have increased with a much larger jump than the basic inflation we've seen in the economy over all.

The first dealer talked about MB technicians being really hard to find and expensive to feed so their prices have gone up. I'm not sure if the dealer just wants me to pass so their overworked techs can work on the more expensive luxury cars or if these are their legitimate prices now.
 
This dealer has treated me fairly well in the past. I just called another dealer (that is closer to me) and they are asking $850 to change the plugs. They have a wait list of about 3 weeks to get the vehicle in. Transmission fluid and filter is almost $1000 at both places. Rear differential fluid change is between $300 and $400. Prices for this kind of service seem to have increased with a much larger jump than the basic inflation we've seen in the economy over all. The first dealer talked about MB technicians being really hard to find and expensive to feed so their prices have gone up. I'm not sure if the dealer just wants me to pass so their overworked techs can work on the more expensive luxury cars or if these are their legitimate prices now.
Not sure where you’re located, but those prices seem like twice as high as they should! Just because it’s a Mercedes doesn’t mean another good mechanic couldn’t do the work.
 
Here is a much better video showing how to change the plugs. It looks easy, if a bit annoying. Would be a good time to invest in an air or battery ratchet wrench if you don't own one, since it is a reach to the back ones and a lot of turns on the plugs and coil fixing bolts. It looks to me like if I could be paid $1000 to change them, I could make maybe $6000 a day. Even if only $4000 a day, $84,000 a month isn't a bad living.

 
I'm fascinated that they aren't blowing the dust out before removing the spark plug. I guess I have been imprinted to always do that from an early age.

It's probably up thread, but the MB quote probably includes indexing. I personally don't believe it happens when they do the job, but maybe it does.
 
To index, you would just shim each one? The other thread on indexing suggests that if you buy the right plugs and torque them they end up indexed. If not, the first time you did that it might take another hour, then maybe only 15 minutes: install and torque, mark, remove and reinstall with shim. I personally would not pay even $1 extra for indexing, someone will have to show me before and after dyno testing to change my mind on that.
 
To index, you would just shim each one? The other thread on indexing suggests that if you buy the right plugs and torque them they end up indexed. If not, the first time you did that it might take another hour, then maybe only 15 minutes: install and torque, mark, remove and reinstall with shim. I personally would not pay even $1 extra for indexing, someone will have to show me before and after dyno testing to change my mind on that.
Like so many things with brands like MB, the techs follow the shop guides and everyone follows the hours in the book. It's funny, plumbers are now doing it also. I had two plumbers spec a job using their software. They both came out to roughly the same number. I do a lot of my own plumbing, but outsource when I have too many tasks. When I asked them both about the (outrageous) quote they both told me the same thing "This is standard industry pricing and dictated by the system. I can't deviate from the quote". So it's more or less an angle to make more money. They use this software now to hid behind it. Its always been this way to some degree. Quote 5 hours and complete it in 1.5 and still charge for 5 hours. On that plumbing job I hired one of the guys to do it on the weekend for 20% of the price quoted. Unfortunately, the majority of people don't have the skills to understand and do all of the things. I have many skills, but there are still areas where I hire people and probably pay more than needed, but I don't have the interest or time and do the best I can to get the best rate OR the best outcome... Like I hire a tax accountant/attorney :)
 
I’m a general contractor, and I use my years of experience in the trades to guide me in pricing jobs. There are always tasks that are unseen so I put in a small contingency to cover myself in the event of extra time. But each and every one of my jobs are different. I won’t do time-and-material work because if always ends up in an argument.
How do dealers justify work that’s fairly cut and dried parts and fluids swapping?
 
My dealer charges $220/hr for labor. I fear my next Service B as it will likely include both a plug change and transmission service. I don't mind flat rate work as long as it is not fictitious, meaning includes tasks that don't get done. I do feel like the mechanic is the one getting squeezed at dealers.
 
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Way back when I was doing some of this work, the 'book time' was not overly generous. It assumed someone familiar with the procedure, and working on a clean new car. Not someone going in for the first time on a 75,000 mile dirty and rusted car. A good, fast mechanic could beat the time if everything went well, but if the bolts broke off and the pieces where rusted too much to reassemble, no.

Unfortunately, the mechanic does not get paid the $220/hr, or probably anything close to it. That rate is a result of very high overhead, frequent 'come-back' rate, and good profit margin. I can't afford to have anybody work on anything these days.
 
Way back when I was doing some of this work, the 'book time' was not overly generous. It assumed someone familiar with the procedure, and working on a clean new car. Not someone going in for the first time on a 75,000 mile dirty and rusted car. A good, fast mechanic could beat the time if everything went well, but if the bolts broke off and the pieces where rusted too much to reassemble, no.

Unfortunately, the mechanic does not get paid the $220/hr, or probably anything close to it. That rate is a result of very high overhead, frequent 'come-back' rate, and good profit margin. I can't afford to have anybody work on anything these days.
I justify some of the dealer expense because they own all the prior work on my van. So presumably they're not seeing sloppy prior work or stuck fasteners because they can't blame anybody else.
 
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