car brakes question - cost to fix

[Mark S]

170 for parts? I'll post what they charged me. guess I'll have to hang out and watch their plasma TV more often. do you think they'd mind if I brought movies along? ar ar ar

That is about what I come up with. You will get a dealer markup for those parts, plus you will need pad sensors $32 total. Sounds like they are charging you too much.

DO NOT go to a aftermarket brake shop and get your brakes redone. They will install rotors that will warp and cause braking trouble later. Use only Mercedes parts for this. As someone else mentioned, Mercedes uses a soft brake pad and also allows the rotors to wear as part of the braking system. Do not turn the rotors on a Mercedes either. Get new rotors when they wear down to minimum specs. They are not all that expensive and the labor to change them out is low considering it is time to repack the wheel bearings also at the same time.

Mercedes are incredibly reliable (especially the mid 80's to early 90's models) and if you can work on them yourself, quite affordable.

Independent shops can do good work on Mercedes. Try the Mercedes Mailing List and see if someone has a good shop in the DC area. http://mail.mercedesmailinglist.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes

There are very knowledgeable folks on the list willing to help.

'83 Mercedes 240D 254,000 miles
'85 Mercedes 300D 354,000 miles
'86 Mercedes 300SDL 163,000 miles
'89 Mercedes 300E 157,000 miles (the new one) $3,400 - like new

 

[Ghery]

In any case, I decided to have the entire brake system replaced. Cost me around a thousand dollars. The prices you are being quoted are what caused us to cross the Mercedes C class off our list of second cars, despite there being an abundance of them available for under eight grand.

Think of them like a C-310. You can buy them cheap, but the maintenance will kill you.

 

[Henning]

Hi all

my car is at the dealership. it's getting the brakes fixed - they want 650 bucks for it. it's a Mercedes so I am sure there's all sorts of computer/sensor mumbo jumbo to go along with it.

does that sound normal? I don't want to take it to any Mom and Pop shop unless they know Mercedes...

Per Axle Pricing:

Pads = $60

Pads + Turn Rotors = $120

New Rotors + Pads = $400

ABS ??? To many variables.

Any prices higher than the above and you're getting hosed as those prices leave a nice margin of profit.

 

[woodstock]

thanks ya'll. if it is even moderately ballpark, I'm saving time by having it fairly close, and they give me a free Mercedes/Jag loaner so I'm likely better off in that aspect, a shop wouldn't give me anything. I've had the loaner since Saturday. so I'm doing ok.

I wouldn't take it to any place that didn't know Mercedes very well, and actually prefer the dealer for that reason - unless a good shop as mentioned above is reco'd.

but thank you for the insights!!

 

[Brian Austin]

I wouldn't take it to any place that didn't know Mercedes very well, and actually prefer the dealer for that reason - unless a good shop as mentioned above is reco'd.

A bonus when using the dealerships for everything (including oil changes): they'll look it up when it's time for you to trade-in to a newer model. Full maintenance records are a bonus, however small. Plus your loyalty to the dealership helps. At least it did in my wife's case for her Toyota. She refuses to go elsewhere and can call them on the phone, tell them what kind of car she wants and have it waiting for her when she arrives. They'll even give her a trade-in value on her car over the phone because our service rep knows it so well.

 

[DeeG]

Which model is it?
50K and time for a brake job? Holy smokes! That just seems so quick. Unless, of course, you were like me when I got a Corvette: I had to race to each red light.

I think my Benzoidal had a pad replacement and rotor turn at some point in its life, but I know it wasn't THAT much! Only spendy thing I had done with the brakes is the ABS light came on at 165K and that required getting a new ABS pump. Couple hundred, but nothing out of line. That was done at the dealer.

Ask around, there have to be some local shops that can do the job for you. The nearest Benz dealer for me is over 150 miles away.

 

[DeeG]

A bonus when using the dealerships for everything (including oil changes): ........ Plus your loyalty to the dealership helps.

Yes, there is that! The dealership I bought my Benz from knew everything about my car to begin with, and they knew who I was every time I walked in the door, I always got a free loaner ride if the car was going to be in the shop more than an hour, and even got a brand new free loaner Benz for a week when I brought in my old 'classic' benz for some much needed work. And that car I didn't even buy there. Unfortunately, that dealership is 1700 miles from me now. Oh well, the dealership I use now treats me pretty good.