Are $200 oil and filter changes for Mercedes typical or

>>14186190

Welcome to german luxury car ownership. Depending on your model and model year you actually got a good deal.

Assuming you dont need 10 qts, you got ripped off.

German cars are expensive and more expensive to maintain
you fell into the german cars are great and reliable and will last forever meme

>>14186198
>>14186199
>>14186200
According to the receipt I bought 8 quarts of synthetic oil, filter, and oil seal. The parts were $84and labor was $120

>>14186222
Wow thats a shit ton of labor for an oil change.

Parts sound correct though.

>>14186200
To be fair, there are plenty of German cars that'll last for a long time if you maintain them properly.

>>14186190
>Mercedes
You got ripped off, family

Depends on the engine and what filter you buy... my 2.4 has a capacity of 8 liters/8.4 quarts, so price can go up a bit if you use so-called premium oil, and filters like Bosch and OEM are more expensive than your chinese knockoffs or Frams

>>14186290
Why the fuck does your 2.4L engine need twice as much oil as my 2.5

>>14186318
can never have too much oil m8

>>14186318
It's designed for cruising on the autobahn near redline for hours at a time. Helps with keeping it from breaking down

>>14186190
they better be using full synth fucking race oil at that price
>mfw it only costs me $70aud dollarydoos to put race oil in my ls1
Kek

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>>14186318
Longer service intervals, and the 2.4 is also the smallest iteration of the M112 V6. It came in sizes up to 3.7, with the same amount of oil

>>14186190

It's a high markup for the parts, but that's expected for a MB (parts would be less if you bought it yourself). The labor is ridiculous $120? For an oil change? Absurd. Let this be a lesson, anon. Do your own oil changes. It's only second to air filter changes as far as how big of a ripoff it is to get done.

>>14186290

>2.4L
>8.4qt

Jesus. My 3.4L only uses 5.5qt. I assume more oil is better, but damn is that a lot for such a small engine.

>>14186340

Ah this helps explain it. Still a lot.

>>14186190
No.

My oil changes cost me ~50 in oil and 12 bucks for a filter. I do it myself because I'm not fucking retarded.

>>14186190
Pretty typical.

There is a shop in Durham nc that charges $800 for BMW oil changes and they are booked up weeks in advance.

>>14186190
Change your own oil you lazy fuck

>>14186318
see
>>14186334
this and
>>14186340
this.
>>14186681
My 3.0 takes 7.5 - 8 quarts - it provides multiple benefits:
-Engine runs cooler
-Not a big deal if you burn and are often a quart low like me
-Ridiculous service intervals (my 1990 calls for 7500 mile changes on conventional) - I still do it every 5000 but I do use conventional not synthetic because of the larger molecules. I have many gaskets on my car that need to be replaced, so if you use synthetic it will find any leak you have.

Also this may or may not be a side effect of the large capacity but my owner's manual claims that the car can, depending on temperature, accept pretty much any oil except the "might as well be water" shit you put into Hondas and stuff. I can take anywhere from like 5W-20 to 20W-50.

Once it warms up and I do my next change I'm planning on switching over to 15W-50 or 20W-50. I run 10W-40 right now as it's a good all season oil for this car according to the book, but it does burn a bit and now that I'm not driving it daily and I basically put it up in the winter, I'm thinking that higher weight will help get better pressure and burn less due to making blowby slightly harder (which is how I'm about 99% sure I'm burning oil, not piston rings) I know I know, fix the root problem but there's a laundry list of many other things that need fixed before that. Like my serpentine belt.

>>14186799
>calls for 7500 mile changes on conventional

Impressive.

C'mon now. Using dino oil to mask leaks is no good. I expect better of you!

Never seen a manual that says you can use different motor oils. Makes sense, since you can anyway (to a small degree - such as thinner oil in cold weather)/

Ah so DO plan on fixing things. All is forgiven. And seriously get that serpentine belt fixed. You don't want to stall out on the highway, do you?

>>14186799
Yeah I run 10w-40 in winter and 20w-50 in summer

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>>14186846
It's no rush, I almost never drive the car unfortunately. I want to keep the miles off of it (I can already get the 312kmi (500,000km) high mileage badge they give out - but I need to stop the rust from spreading - I plan on restoring it.

For some reason after winter break and being back to work I'm actually really motivated to start getting an itemized plan together and putting "in my head" price estimates to everything, despite nothing really changing in my life. And no it's not new years resolutions, I didn't make any, I just suddenly feel less depressed and more motivated. Hope it lasts..

So, biggest costs for me, based on nothing other than feeling and some slight research will be, in order of most to least:
-Rust repair (I want it done right by someone who knows what they're doing, this is a long term project so I'm prepared(ish) to spend upwards of $8,000 on it and I'm just going to go with the mindset of "expect the worst and be pleasantly surprised"
-Nickel and dime repairs to interior and body bits that are harder to find.
-Nickel and dime repairs to mechanical components
-Repaint
-Getting tranny rebuilt
-Rebuilding engine and changing diff to limited slip
-Any mods I want to do
-Industrial quantities of Little Trees

I know it's a lot of work but I plan on doing all the mechanical work myself. I don't know everything but god damnit this is (now) 2016 and I love to learn so I'm confident I can figure it out in time.

And why, you may ask? Because it was my first car and I still love it. It gives me feels - I drive a different car daily but every time I see pics of a clean CE or any older Benz my heart does a thing and I just want it to happen to mine. Because it's my fucking shit heap and I want my financial mistake to be with me when I'm 80 and have put over a million miles on the fucker.
Benz is not just about luxury, it's a fucking way of life to love these cars.

>>14187321

Damn that is a lot of miles. I love seeing people let vehicles get up there. Most people scrap them too early (guilty) or never take care of anything and it dies prematurely.

>I just suddenly feel less depressed and more motivated

Best news I've heard all week. Glad to hear it. It'll last if you let it, probably. You've got a big handle on your own emotional state.

No better way to learn mechanical stuff than to try it out. That's how I learn stuff. I research and I try it out. It usually works out better than expected.

That list is long, but all seems worth it. If you get it all done, juts imagine the feeling.

I wish I'd kept my first car. But I had almost no money and nowhere to keep it and the tranny went. I really had no choice.

I admire the love you have for your car. Few people (at least that I know) like their cars that much. I hope to one day see you post a FINISHED! picture and blow us all away.

>>14186799
>blowby slightly harder (which is how I'm about 99% sure I'm burning oil, not piston rings)
Blowby is by the rings.

>>14187391
Thanks VINbro, wish I thought to have you check the VIN on it before I bought it, wouldn't have bought it if I had known and would have opted for a cleaner one rust-wise but I was dumb and it's still a pretty solid car otherwise... I'm starting to put things in a spreadsheet with calculations of potential parts costs of everything I can think of, personal labor hours, an estimated difficulty, and some of the descriptions of what needs done so I can take an overview glance at it and see what I have and what I need to do so I can slowly but steadily do the work it needs. I feel this is the best approach. There is some bodywork I may be able to gain the skills to do but I'm not sure.

It's just sobering seeing all the shit and the numbers laid out in front of you as to what it's going to take to bring this thing back to its former glory.

First stage will be to obtain part numbers for all the shit I could possibly need then start tackling - hopefully by the end I'll have an impressive spreadsheet of quite a few part numbers for my car that I can refer back to if needed.

>>14186190
5qt 0w-40 Mobil 1 full synth jug from walmart is 24 dollars. You need 2

Mobil 1 oil filter from Advance is 15 bucks

The rest is about an hour in your driveway

>>14187781

I'd love to have checked it for you, but unless you just recently got your car, I wouldn't have been around yet. Pre-VINbro era.

I fully support writing/typing it all out. That way you won't forget what needs to be done and you have a viewable reminder of the condition. Plus you can organize it by need and make sure you don't go spending time and money on minor stuff before getting to the important shit you somehow forgot about.
I don't know much about bodywork. My buddy had to replace his fender on a GMC 1500 pickup and that was a much bigger ordeal than I'd expected. Unfortunately, I didn't even help with it, so I got no experience.

The more exhaustive your spreadsheet is, the better. It'll only make it easier for you.

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>>14187804
>The more exhaustive your spreadsheet is, the better. It'll only make it easier for you.

That's exactly what I did with my ML 430 when I bought it, full spreadsheet on everything that needed to be done, with my cost contrasted against the M-B dealership cost

>>14187834

Damn. That's genuinely impressive.

Would you be willing to do that for me if I paid you? I don't quite have everything researched yet, but I'd happily pay to have it outlined like that.

>>14187834
I think I asked this earlier, but what was the deal with the ABS-pump on your ML again?

>>14187834
What the fuck kind of rotors are you buying mate.

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>>14187872
shit you don't have to pay me man, I could try and knock it together in my free time.

What Benz are you doing work on?

>>14187886
Haha the windshield washer fluid bottle had a leak at the bottom. It had dripped fluid down on the top of the ABS pump and shorted a relay. Cleaned leads, replaced relay, flex-sealed the bottom of the washer bottle.

What was so funny is the super shitty job the sketchy dealership I bought it from had done at trying to black out the ABS/ESP warning light (pic related)

>>14187903
advance auto plus 30% off coupon from retailmenot

>>14187927

Not a Benz. That an issue? It's my '04 Tacoma. Doesn't need a lot of work, but there are a lot of things I'd like to get done to it over time.

Also, I really like that dash pic.

>>14187903
That's what MB rotors cost. Though that's a bit high my '90 was 80 bucks apiece for OEM rotors.

>>14187804
I think I'm almost done writing my sheet...I'll post a screenshot when I finish. It will include:
-All repairs, maintenance items, and modifications to get my car to "perfect" status
-A bullshit made up price based on my perception of reality.

Though, VINBro, you did help me buy my ZX3 Focus, you check its vin for me and so far it's been pretty good.. Had to replace alternator and exhaust but I knew about those going into the car and otherwise it's in great shape, makes an awesome little DD so thanks for that again.

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Alright. I finished my sheet. And the grand total, even with me being what I thought was extremely conservative I came up to a gut wrenching total of.....

About $30,000.

...Which is about $20,000 less than I was expecting it to come out to so I feel like I'm in a good position. This is everything I can think of right now there might be more and there's surely a few smaller things, and the rust repair might cost more but...Damn that's actually attainable...That's....Do able...

About $30,000 and about 340 hours into it and I think we might have a semi-realistic estimate.

Someone give me their thoughts.

>>14187967
I would have to see if I could pull Toyota labor hours next time I am at work, but I am pretty sure I can

>>14186222
Sounds about right. Owned a BMW for a few years and I remember simple servicing would be in the mid high hundreds. Really with those kinds of cars it's better to have the dealer do it because it helps with slowing depreciation.

>>14187834
How is the ABS pump $1,500+ more expensive at the dealer?

>>14188485
Because the dealership was going to make no effort to repair it, just replace it. And the ABS pump is one of those parts that a M-B dealership charges an obscene amount of money for.

You can get get rebuilt/refurb'd ones online for between 200-400 dollars if you actually need to replace one

>>14186190
>did I get ripped off?
Bingo.
Dealerships make shit tons of money off retards who don't know anything about cars and have money. Cars are fucking magical perpetual motion machines to normies and shops can do whatever they want to these retards. It's like how geek squad charges a hundred dollars to install a router.
tl;dr you decided to put yourself in the normie box by taking your car to somebody else to have the oil changed.

>>14188437
I'm currently doing the head gasket on my own 91 300E (also, coincidentally the first car I bought) and am saving up for valve guide seals and a visit to the machine shop. This will take a lot longer than you're expecting, not necessarily man hours but in vehicle down time, in between shipping parts, weather, willpower, and general frustrations. But there is nothing more satisfying than driving a vehicle you have caressed every inch of and poured your heart into. Good luck man, keep that fucker on the road.

>>14186190
If you're in Europe that's a good price l m a o

>>14186190
You got ripped, dude.

>>14188137

Oh very nice. Glad to have helped out. Nice to see anons have done well for themselves.

>>14188437

Wow. That is reaallly specific. I don't have it in me to do that, but I am damn impressed. I'm sure this'll make such a big project a bit easier.
I can't speak on behalf of the costs and such, since I haven't a damn clue. But I will assume they're close to accurate.

>>14188463

If you want. I can't honestly say I'd end up taking you up on the offer actually. Knowing me, I will just have a basic list of things I want to do and then buy what I need at that time. I was never much for huge plans ahead (though maybe I should be...).

I mean not to sound like a boomer but you should always take a German made car to the dealer for changes because that is the only way it will last forever.
These are cars that are meant to push that 230 Kph mark for multiple hours on an autobahn so I prefer to let the professionals work on mine.
The plus side is I can be near my red line multiple times a week and my car still runs perfectly.

>>14190707
What does the dealer do differently that you cannot do yourself?

>>14190707
>I mean not to sound like a boomer but you should always take a German made car to the dealer for changes because that is the only way it will last forever.

Stop talking bullshit.
Find a competent independent garage. I am talking from experience.

Besides, if you have an older car, they usually (there are very few dealership mechanics who actually give a shit about non-most-recent models) do a lot less careful and good work.

>>14190707
>the dealer knows how to twist a bolt and pour liquid into a funnel better
You sound exactly like a fucking boomer.

>>14188437
>$200 battery

You're fucked in the head, son.

>>14190707
Well written bait, I applaud the shitposter

>>14186222

How long did it take them to change the oil? That's like an hour's worth of work, or really close to it. Surely it couldn't have taken more than 15 minutes to change the oil, so that means they either overcharged you, or their hourly labour rate is about $480/hour.

Both are plausible 2bh m8.

Parts sound about right, especially for synthetic. Still, I can get a full synthetic oil change and filter on my Toyota for like $75, including labour.

You would've been better off buying something like a decked out Solara.

>>14186799

>tfw RAV4 takes convetional 5W20
>only 5 quarts
>8,000km intervals
>163,000km and still going strong
>starts every single time
>unaffected by cold weather

>buying oil the other day
>swaggot bro behind the counter tells me I should be using full-synthetic 0W20
>Toyota says it will run fine on this as well
>tells me my car won't start in the winter without synthetic
>ignore him and proceed to pay
>keeps telling me all this shit as I'm entering my debit PIN
>keeps telling me this shit as I'm picking up my bag with oil and filter
>keeps telling me this as I'm walking out the door back to my car

Are the people at autoparts stores genuinely this stupid, or was he trying to upsell me because he's a real keener and wants to get that 12 cent raise?

You can get 10 quarts of Mobil1 for $50 & a filter for $10. Buy it and take it somewhere that will do the labor for $30 or less

My dealer charges $99 for oil + filter but nothing else that is included with the service A. My car is old enough IDGAF and buying the oil alone costs me $50 so I just have them do it

>>14186799
Until people/mechanics became retarded, all manuals would spec a certain weight for certain temperature ranges. Now a days its, general use and cold use which is usually 5w-x for general and 0w-xx for cold.

i don't get why you people are not doing your oil change yourself it's so easy and simple and cheaper and takes less time usually
you want to keep a record for resell ? otherwise i just don't get it

costs me 75 dollars to replace oil and filter in a 2000 e46

>>14190768
you're a fucking retard bro.

What is included in the labor?

Modern cars have a lot of panels under the engine that need to be removed to get to the drain, and oil filter, and I can see this taking up time.
But when a car goes on a lift, its like 10 minutes to remove the panels, and start draining the oil.

Oil changes are usually a flat rate, includes vehicle inspection.
Unless these dealers charge you for everything.

>>14191457
Do you pay someone to pay someone to do it? Costs half that, done it literally 20 times

only oil and filter change?
yes, most definitely.

>>14191457
I paid 40$ to do it myself on a 540i.

I work at Walmart and change oil for people all day.


Not surprisingly, we have a ton of mongs stumble in and pay silly prices for an oil change because they legitimately do not know how, its mystical. Granted, our labor and stock prices are much cheaper. We have a few management members and regulars who bring in their eurotrash to save money, and they do compared to most dealerships.

BMWs, Benz are both commonish, and even a Porsche here and there. They're a pain in the dick to work with sometimes, I dunno, not 500$hr labor charge bad though.

>>14186190
Got ripped off. I got my 8 quarts of Mobil 1 0W-40 for $58, Bosch filter for $12. It took my about 20 minutes to do it. Could have done it yourself for $70.

>>14191575
Synthetic 0W-40 is ~$8/qt, which means about 56 dollars. Add in the cost of a filter and that's pretty reasonable if a bit over.

>>14191666
its always fun when some nig comes in with their new to them bmw 7 series with more warning light on than a vw car meet in moscow and they find out it needs full synthetic and holds a shit load of oil, and the filter cost the shop 40 bucks

>>14188809
It's literally my second "toy" car. I totally have another car to drive, downtime is no issue. And I should be able to have a garage wherever I go, so weather isn't a big deal. I don't prefer working in the winter but I absolutely can.
So I hear, slow and steady wins the race.

>>14190768
$200 is a rough estimate. I estimate high and come in low and pleasantly surprised. I realize it's actually probably closer to $150 for a GOOD battery in one of these cars.

>>14190801
Yeah my Focus takes 5W20, 5 quarts worth all year round. Never burns a drop. Filter and drain are right up front and 100% reachable without jacking car. I do 5000 mile intervals though using Motorcraft synthetic blend as it's pretty good stuff and not super expensive. Benz I have decided to run either Valvoline or Shell Rotella.

>>14191424
I don't think the Benz would like either of those weights unless it was a high 5, but definitely no 0W. 10W is generally as low as I go and 10W-40 is my "winter" oil. These cars take very thick oil and have no issues with it.

>>14187763
Well fuck, maybe I'm using the wrong terminology then. I can see oil in the "PCV" tube (I put it in quotes cause it's really just an oil breather there is no PCV valve on this car I'm told) and in the air filter box. I think it's slightly sucking some oil over and burning it or it's just staying there. I'm not too concerned it's not debilitating and I'll definitely do the rings when I rebuild the engine.

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Got myself this today, total price for oil & filter was 170 USD

$135 for the oil, $35 for the filter

>>14196477
$17.50 per liter, you got schlonged, bruv

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>>14196540
Stuff is expensive here....

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>>14196477
>>14196625
>mfw fellow yuropoor
>mfw my oil changes cost €25

>>14196639
Burger here: $15 per oil change but my sump only holds 4 quarts

>>14196477
>$135 for 2 gallons of mobil1 0w-40

what

you don't have walmart? That would be $50 here.

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Lol mercedes

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>>14197319

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>>14197328

>>14197319
>>14197328
>>14197334
>German """"""""superiority""""""""

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>>14197328

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>>14197334

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>>14197342

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>>14197334

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>>14197342

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>>14197352
>mightyBenz
>helping
What?

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>>14197364

>>14197364
voice of experience

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>>14197370

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>>14197376

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>>14197378

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>>14197385

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>>14197364
What, just because I drive a rusty Mercedes I should deny them having issues?

They really were shitty on that area...

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>>14197392

>>14197378
What do dirty carpets indicate?

>>14197393
is that you? i've always imagined a 40yo guy behind that trip, it just boggles my mind to see some teenager driving an old man's car

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>>14198023
Nah, thats my best bud, both of us born in '93... and we both drive W202's

>>14198045
It's a shame Mercedes fucked over the Euro market with rust because of 'muh water based paints!'

>>14197968
They show dirt more easily, are harder to clean, and deteriorate more quickly.

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>>14198102
Yup, and it was not helped by the shit metal and ill-fitted trim & bumpers that would chew through. They did a lot of repairs and repaintings here for the first years, but they repainted with the same paint....

>>14198127
That's fucking nuts. I can count on one hand the number of Mercs I have seen in the states with rust issues.

>>14198141
I could count the opposite regarding W202's and W210's, even after shoving my hand down the meatgrinder

>>14197348
This is exactly where my CE is rusting, and it's not QUITE this bad but it's close..

>>14197364
Rust sucks but they more than make up for it elsewhere.
>>14198141
Mine's one of them! :D