Well, good news! As I was praying, code came back for the crank case valve failing, which has a special extended 150k warranty. So I won't be paying....this time.
Thanks for all the feedback.
That’s not a lot for that. This could take hours or days especially if it’s some odd hard to trace electrical issue. Also not for nothing this is a luxury vehicle and they cost more. Hope you knew that going into this.
You don't mention what country you are in. USA auto parts stores will read your CEL for free. You can also buy your own code reader pretty inexpensively. A lot of independent shops will also read your CEL.
Basing a repair, on an MB, on a scanner that won’t have the correct protocol to read faults is a bad idea. Take your MB to a qualified indie.
Fault codes can be symptoms, not causes. Say it’s a mass air flow fault. That doesn’t tell you dick. Need to smoke test and go further.
This lol. Reading a fault code is not "diagnosing" the problem, it's step fucking one (arguably step 2, step 1 would be verify the issue but "Yup, CEL is on" is a very fast step) of the diagnostic process.
Important to remember pulling codes isn’t a complete diagnosis.
In my experience an MB dealer diagnosis is “we saw these codes, we followed these steps, we identified these components, we tested these components, you need a new X and a new Y”. My local dealer hasn’t yet got it wrong 🤞
We’re a 4-Merc family right now and I can tell you the local MB dealer is miles better than the local Ford and Hyundai dealer. We sold our Ford the dealer was that bad, and we take our Hyundai to the dealer in the next city (3 hrs away) because the local Hyundai dealer is a muppet. I’d buy another Merc in a heartbeat just for the local dealer.
Appreciate this isn’t everyone’s experience, though!
The biggest dealership around, I've been a customer for 25 years. Last visit ( I won't return), MBUSA told me to take my ML500 to any authorized MBUSA dealer for confirmation so that unrepaired recalls could be performed and an inspection made about an affected cracked part. The only reason that I took the vehicle in, a 400-mile roundtrip. They charged me for telling me exactly what I stated on the work order. Did zero. AND wrote on their "inspection report" that no new catalytic converters were available from Mercedes-Benz OR any aftermarket supplier in the world. State of California responded with twelve pages of certified aftermarket catalytic converters for the vehicle. They got fined and received a reprimand from the state agency for that. Owner of dealership ordered my payment refunded.
Pro tip: Before your warranty runs out... find a good independent shop that specializes in European cars. Best advice ever taken. Have not been back to stealership since.
And a lot less complicated to work on and diagnose. If you want Toyota prices, don’t drive a Benz. I don’t just hook up a scan took and automatically know what the vehicle needs, it points me in a general direction.
The diagnosis fee pays for the technician to figure out what is exactly wrong with the vehicle, be it a chaffed wire, a loose wire end not making correct contact, a bad sensor or any number of things. Mercedes pays the technicians to correctly diagnose the vehicle. Sometimes several hours worth to make sure they find the root source. Why shouldn’t you have to pay them to do the same? Why should the diagnosis fee be waived just because you chose to do the repair?
If you don’t want to pay for it, I would recommend having a lease vehicle you turn in, buying a new vehicle every couple of years, or buying a certified pre-owned vehicle which has a warranty that covers almost as much as the factory warranty.
So I had to do the diagnostic to the engine as it was “blocked”, they said they couldn’t figure out what happened and that they could not give me the diagnostic document as it is a ”company secret”. I still had to pay the 500€ for getting absolutely no answer. What about that?
There are a lot of people who will come to the dealer to get the vehicle diagnosed and then take it somewhere else to get it fixed. That is why you have to pay the diagnosis and they won’t give you the info on what is wrong. They have gotten screwed by people who are cheap and run to the dealer when others can’t figure it out. I am sure the dealer knows what is wrong.
The auto repair industry has gotten a bad rap for a long time. That dealers are only there to screw you, no they are not. The dealer spends thousands of dollars training their employees with factory training. MB requires dealers to have employees with certain certifications. The dealers are required to have the facility look a certain way and provide the customer with things like food and drinks and free WiFi. All of this costs money. The dealers are not owned by Mercedes either.
You don’t have to own an out of warranty vehicle, as soon as you had the issue you could have traded it in. You also can lease a Mercedes and not have to worry about not having a warranty. I am sure if you look around online, you can find info on a good independent Mercedes repair shop. There is usually one in most good sized cities. To come on here and cry about how you think you are being screwed by the “big bad dealership” is crap. You made decisions that you are unhappy about and you want to blame someone else. Own up to your decisions.
If you want some help diagnosing your vehicle, find out what the fault code is and give some info on what the vehicle is doing. You can then find out what others have paid for that kind of repair.
No, you paid to have the vehicle diagnosed, they did that and probably provided you an estimate for repair. Did they tell you what they had to do to repair it? What did they say? Why not pay them to do the repair? A lot of the repairs on that vehicle you can not do yourself. They require a lift and potentially special tools.
I hope you find or have found a reliable tech outside of the dealership. Cause (i’m sure you know) it’s not worth it at all to keep going to the dealership when out of warranty.
My keyless entry on my 2019 S560 stopped working all the time and would only work 1/10 times. Brought it to the dealer and demonstrated the issue to the foreman who tried it himself and acknowledged it was a problem. Left the car there for a week only to come back and they tell me they couldn’t replicate the issue and issued me a $300 bill for diagnostic. When I went out and showed them it wasn’t working as designed they said that happens sometimes and pretty much get over it. On their flagship vehicle. Not very happy
At my previous dealership we were $325 per hour with increase per hour rates after every 6 hours.
And for us, Xentry, great as it is only tells us so much. And then we have to go digging and put it back together within a single hour.
Mercedes are not some mythical machine. Just take it to a local garage with a good reputation. The last time I took my Benz in for service, it was less then $300. I'm not paying over-inflated prices to a dealer.
I think people think that cars are so complicated that only the dealer can work on them. Not just Benz, but all modern cars are complex, but good mechanics have to keep up with that. It's a pain to take into the dealer too, my local mechanic will even take me to work after I drop the car off.
If it makes you feel better, the best success I’ve had with Euro cars is to service them religiously to schedule either at a dealer or an excellent indie.
If you don’t do this, you’re in for a very expensive world of pain and the vehicle turns into a lemon and there’s no getting it back.
I’m in extended warranty and they just taxed me 350 fee and some how it became 500 in total because there was no repairable item and it was a stores code and in addition they didn’t have enough vehicle history to just change something. Mercedes Richmond service Center told me spark plugs are not covered under warranty but when I took my car to North van they replaced 2 spark plugs and an injector without even calling me and told me when I came to pick the car up. Terrible service at Richmond
Sounds about right, maybe check and see if you have a Mercedes authorized mechanic in town. I live in Denver and we only have one it’s called Startech, they’re usually half the cost, but still give you guaranteed Mercedes parts and service. I would google your area and check for Mercedes authorized mechanics in your area.
Hey! So I had to do the same thing as my engine was “broken”, but I had to pay 500€ 🤗🤗🤗 it was an authorized dealer
And guess what!? they said they had no idea what happened, and when I asked for them to give me a document stating that they told me that the diagnosis of specific components such as the engine is not given out to customers! And that it is a company secret or something. I checked with the Italian client number and they said its true. How come you received an actual answer? I am still boiling about those 500€ and the cost to bring the car and take it back (as they couldn’t fix anything, just change the engine altogether)
$350 is absurd. Some auto stores or repair shops do it for free. I did a quick google search and found readers between $20-$60. Buy one, do it yourself, & have a reader for the rest of your life if you need it for $300 less.
It does tell you what's wrong. After the diagnoses a person can use google to figure out how severe it is & they can decide to get it fixed or fix it themselves.
You sound like a true rip off mechanic who would ask for $350+ for just a diagnostic then charge 5k extra for the repair.
Yeah “use Google to figure it out…” is the second half of the diagnostic process. The dealer techs can’t just google shit, they actually have to diagnose the fault.
Diagnosis literally means examine symptoms and identify the problem from one of many. That’s what you’re paying for.
So you pull codes and find cylinder 1 is misfiring. Do you replace the spark plug, replace the coil, are the exhaust valves burnt causing low compression, is the injector leaking, oil in ME, or rodent damage?
I can tell why you guys aren't rocket scientists... you can't even read. I said if you decide if it's fixable by yourself then do it, if not TAKE IT IN. Imagine spending $350 to find out you have a loose gas cap or a faulty O2 sensor. You guys are the types that are like yeah I tightened your gas cap that'll be $550 total.
Master Mercedes tech. You think some $30 scan tool is going to run you through all the necessary steps to diagnose a car? You must not work on cars. Like I asked earlier and you never responded, what happens when you have a misfire code, is it the plug, the coil, burnt valves, oil in ME, leaking injector, shifted pulse wheel, or rodent damage? All could possibly cause the same misfire fault to occur.
Dude.. you’re so lost. Let’s not get into the fact that THERE IS A REASON why xentry is stupid expensive… because it has the right protocols to properly communicate with modules and pull ACCURATE codes, soft codes, program, etc.
You expect shops to pay 100k plus a year for software, computers, special tools, training, NOT EVEN INCLUDING TECH COSTS, and diag it for free? Are you paying my rent?
Your generic j1850 scanner can’t accurately communicate or pull soft codes. Full stop.
Well, good news! As I was praying, code came back for the crank case valve failing, which has a special extended 150k warranty. So I won't be paying....this time. Thanks for all the feedback.
That’s not a lot for that. This could take hours or days especially if it’s some odd hard to trace electrical issue. Also not for nothing this is a luxury vehicle and they cost more. Hope you knew that going into this.
You don't mention what country you are in. USA auto parts stores will read your CEL for free. You can also buy your own code reader pretty inexpensively. A lot of independent shops will also read your CEL.
Basing a repair, on an MB, on a scanner that won’t have the correct protocol to read faults is a bad idea. Take your MB to a qualified indie. Fault codes can be symptoms, not causes. Say it’s a mass air flow fault. That doesn’t tell you dick. Need to smoke test and go further.
This lol. Reading a fault code is not "diagnosing" the problem, it's step fucking one (arguably step 2, step 1 would be verify the issue but "Yup, CEL is on" is a very fast step) of the diagnostic process.
Important to remember pulling codes isn’t a complete diagnosis. In my experience an MB dealer diagnosis is “we saw these codes, we followed these steps, we identified these components, we tested these components, you need a new X and a new Y”. My local dealer hasn’t yet got it wrong 🤞
You are VERY lucky! With six plus Mercedes-Benz, the dealer stories of $225@ hr. incompetence I can tell...
We’re a 4-Merc family right now and I can tell you the local MB dealer is miles better than the local Ford and Hyundai dealer. We sold our Ford the dealer was that bad, and we take our Hyundai to the dealer in the next city (3 hrs away) because the local Hyundai dealer is a muppet. I’d buy another Merc in a heartbeat just for the local dealer. Appreciate this isn’t everyone’s experience, though!
The biggest dealership around, I've been a customer for 25 years. Last visit ( I won't return), MBUSA told me to take my ML500 to any authorized MBUSA dealer for confirmation so that unrepaired recalls could be performed and an inspection made about an affected cracked part. The only reason that I took the vehicle in, a 400-mile roundtrip. They charged me for telling me exactly what I stated on the work order. Did zero. AND wrote on their "inspection report" that no new catalytic converters were available from Mercedes-Benz OR any aftermarket supplier in the world. State of California responded with twelve pages of certified aftermarket catalytic converters for the vehicle. They got fined and received a reprimand from the state agency for that. Owner of dealership ordered my payment refunded.
I did use my own code reader first and it could not read the code.
Pro tip: Before your warranty runs out... find a good independent shop that specializes in European cars. Best advice ever taken. Have not been back to stealership since.
I guess I should just work for free.
Yup, we have to fight for our diag here everyday. (Mb dealer/ USA)
5 complaints, 1 hour of diag.
Yep, unfortunately, a dealer I used to work at pretty much flipped their shit if you asked for 1 hour per concern, especially if they weren't related
Paying a technician is totally worth it! You want stuff for free?? Go work on it yourself, and see how much you can figure out.
Toyota diagnostic fee is $120.
And a lot less complicated to work on and diagnose. If you want Toyota prices, don’t drive a Benz. I don’t just hook up a scan took and automatically know what the vehicle needs, it points me in a general direction.
Don't buy a car if you can't afford to maintain it. Luxury price and all
I just think it's a bit high.
Here in NZ $350 would be a $75 diagnostic fee + 2 hours of tech time. Seems reasonable.
Yeah it seems cheap
It’s a luxury vehicle…. It’s not supposed to be cheap. Take it to an Indy next time since you are now out of warranty.
The diagnosis fee pays for the technician to figure out what is exactly wrong with the vehicle, be it a chaffed wire, a loose wire end not making correct contact, a bad sensor or any number of things. Mercedes pays the technicians to correctly diagnose the vehicle. Sometimes several hours worth to make sure they find the root source. Why shouldn’t you have to pay them to do the same? Why should the diagnosis fee be waived just because you chose to do the repair? If you don’t want to pay for it, I would recommend having a lease vehicle you turn in, buying a new vehicle every couple of years, or buying a certified pre-owned vehicle which has a warranty that covers almost as much as the factory warranty.
So I had to do the diagnostic to the engine as it was “blocked”, they said they couldn’t figure out what happened and that they could not give me the diagnostic document as it is a ”company secret”. I still had to pay the 500€ for getting absolutely no answer. What about that?
There are a lot of people who will come to the dealer to get the vehicle diagnosed and then take it somewhere else to get it fixed. That is why you have to pay the diagnosis and they won’t give you the info on what is wrong. They have gotten screwed by people who are cheap and run to the dealer when others can’t figure it out. I am sure the dealer knows what is wrong. The auto repair industry has gotten a bad rap for a long time. That dealers are only there to screw you, no they are not. The dealer spends thousands of dollars training their employees with factory training. MB requires dealers to have employees with certain certifications. The dealers are required to have the facility look a certain way and provide the customer with things like food and drinks and free WiFi. All of this costs money. The dealers are not owned by Mercedes either. You don’t have to own an out of warranty vehicle, as soon as you had the issue you could have traded it in. You also can lease a Mercedes and not have to worry about not having a warranty. I am sure if you look around online, you can find info on a good independent Mercedes repair shop. There is usually one in most good sized cities. To come on here and cry about how you think you are being screwed by the “big bad dealership” is crap. You made decisions that you are unhappy about and you want to blame someone else. Own up to your decisions. If you want some help diagnosing your vehicle, find out what the fault code is and give some info on what the vehicle is doing. You can then find out what others have paid for that kind of repair.
not giving out information I PAID FOR should be illegal :)
No, you paid to have the vehicle diagnosed, they did that and probably provided you an estimate for repair. Did they tell you what they had to do to repair it? What did they say? Why not pay them to do the repair? A lot of the repairs on that vehicle you can not do yourself. They require a lift and potentially special tools.
I hope you find or have found a reliable tech outside of the dealership. Cause (i’m sure you know) it’s not worth it at all to keep going to the dealership when out of warranty.
My keyless entry on my 2019 S560 stopped working all the time and would only work 1/10 times. Brought it to the dealer and demonstrated the issue to the foreman who tried it himself and acknowledged it was a problem. Left the car there for a week only to come back and they tell me they couldn’t replicate the issue and issued me a $300 bill for diagnostic. When I went out and showed them it wasn’t working as designed they said that happens sometimes and pretty much get over it. On their flagship vehicle. Not very happy
At my previous dealership we were $325 per hour with increase per hour rates after every 6 hours. And for us, Xentry, great as it is only tells us so much. And then we have to go digging and put it back together within a single hour.
Damn 325? Where the fuck was that shop.
Greater Seattle Region. Another Dealer in our region is at either $350 or maybe $360 now? Last I heard anyway.
Holy shit man. Wow.
Yeah I’m rethinking my decision myself lmao. My e300 is counting down to service B. Dealership said it’s $2k
Mercedes are not some mythical machine. Just take it to a local garage with a good reputation. The last time I took my Benz in for service, it was less then $300. I'm not paying over-inflated prices to a dealer.
Why don’t more people do this???
I think people think that cars are so complicated that only the dealer can work on them. Not just Benz, but all modern cars are complex, but good mechanics have to keep up with that. It's a pain to take into the dealer too, my local mechanic will even take me to work after I drop the car off.
If it makes you feel better, the best success I’ve had with Euro cars is to service them religiously to schedule either at a dealer or an excellent indie. If you don’t do this, you’re in for a very expensive world of pain and the vehicle turns into a lemon and there’s no getting it back.
I’m in extended warranty and they just taxed me 350 fee and some how it became 500 in total because there was no repairable item and it was a stores code and in addition they didn’t have enough vehicle history to just change something. Mercedes Richmond service Center told me spark plugs are not covered under warranty but when I took my car to North van they replaced 2 spark plugs and an injector without even calling me and told me when I came to pick the car up. Terrible service at Richmond
Spark plugs are a consumable mate, like oil, gas, brake pads and rotors…..
Sounds about right, maybe check and see if you have a Mercedes authorized mechanic in town. I live in Denver and we only have one it’s called Startech, they’re usually half the cost, but still give you guaranteed Mercedes parts and service. I would google your area and check for Mercedes authorized mechanics in your area.
I recommend you to visit German Motors in Lakewood. They are doing a really good job, and their prices are fair.
Thank you!
For $350 you can buy a badass scanner that you can use for years to come
At the dealer I work at diag is 2 hours standard in 90% of cases. Our door rate is $190ish/hr cad so it more or less works out to be the same
Hey! So I had to do the same thing as my engine was “broken”, but I had to pay 500€ 🤗🤗🤗 it was an authorized dealer And guess what!? they said they had no idea what happened, and when I asked for them to give me a document stating that they told me that the diagnosis of specific components such as the engine is not given out to customers! And that it is a company secret or something. I checked with the Italian client number and they said its true. How come you received an actual answer? I am still boiling about those 500€ and the cost to bring the car and take it back (as they couldn’t fix anything, just change the engine altogether)
Was it under warranty?
$350 is absurd. Some auto stores or repair shops do it for free. I did a quick google search and found readers between $20-$60. Buy one, do it yourself, & have a reader for the rest of your life if you need it for $300 less.
Good thing fault codes always tell you exactly what’s wrong, why, and fix the issues themselves! Get this diagnosed by a qualified indie.
It does tell you what's wrong. After the diagnoses a person can use google to figure out how severe it is & they can decide to get it fixed or fix it themselves. You sound like a true rip off mechanic who would ask for $350+ for just a diagnostic then charge 5k extra for the repair.
Yeah “use Google to figure it out…” is the second half of the diagnostic process. The dealer techs can’t just google shit, they actually have to diagnose the fault. Diagnosis literally means examine symptoms and identify the problem from one of many. That’s what you’re paying for.
So you pull codes and find cylinder 1 is misfiring. Do you replace the spark plug, replace the coil, are the exhaust valves burnt causing low compression, is the injector leaking, oil in ME, or rodent damage?
Forget P0301, P0300 is up there for worst DTC. "Random misfire? You can't even tell me what cylinder? Fuck me."
You’re so wrong it’s not even funny.
I can tell why you guys aren't rocket scientists... you can't even read. I said if you decide if it's fixable by yourself then do it, if not TAKE IT IN. Imagine spending $350 to find out you have a loose gas cap or a faulty O2 sensor. You guys are the types that are like yeah I tightened your gas cap that'll be $550 total.
How are you able to determine if you’re able to perform the repair if you don’t know what’s wrong to begin with?
By using the diagnostic tool to figure out what's wrong? You can't be that stupid must be a troll.
Master Mercedes tech. You think some $30 scan tool is going to run you through all the necessary steps to diagnose a car? You must not work on cars. Like I asked earlier and you never responded, what happens when you have a misfire code, is it the plug, the coil, burnt valves, oil in ME, leaking injector, shifted pulse wheel, or rodent damage? All could possibly cause the same misfire fault to occur.
You sound like a tramp supporter. No real information but a lot of recoil.
Dude.. you’re so lost. Let’s not get into the fact that THERE IS A REASON why xentry is stupid expensive… because it has the right protocols to properly communicate with modules and pull ACCURATE codes, soft codes, program, etc. You expect shops to pay 100k plus a year for software, computers, special tools, training, NOT EVEN INCLUDING TECH COSTS, and diag it for free? Are you paying my rent? Your generic j1850 scanner can’t accurately communicate or pull soft codes. Full stop.
If you're a "Master Mercedes tech" I'd never trust Mercedes again... even though I already didn't
Seems like a weird place for a guy who doesn’t like Mercedes or knows how to work on cars to hang out.
Fuck that 2 liter turbo shit and Mershitdes…