First the car radio stopped working...

In My Humble Opinion
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I considered posting this IMHO and maybe that is where it will end up, but I want to try to avoid speculation and just get the best available input from the resident grease monkeys. Y’all know who y’ar. :wink:

I have a 2005 MB C55 AMG. It’s my weekend car. It has just short of 54,000 miles on the odometer.

Two days ago, the radio stopped working while I was driving. It turned on, but no sound came from the speakers. No sound from CD either. Silence. Two days later I went to check on it and the car would not turn over. Car batter dead. So I jumped it and took it in to the MB dealership for a diagnostic.

The test came back - No parasitic draw or other electrical faults, but battery needs charging (no, d’uh!). That’ll be $205. But wait, there’s more!

Main belt drive needs replacing as it’s never been done: $225
Plugs need replacing because still original, all 16: $915
Valve cover gaskets leak on both sides: $950
Front pads and rotors, pad wear at 25%: $1100

Now I know this is what I get for driving an AMG. I can accept that cost of ownership can be a little high for these cars. But I’m feeling like I’m being had a little bit here.

How long should plugs last in a well maintained car? I’m thinking more than 54,000 miles, right?

Leaking valve cover gaskets are $950? Really?

Do I need to replace the front rotors? There is barely a lip to be felt on the edge. I can’t believe they are out of tolerance. Can’t I just go with new pads?

And what the hell is wrong with the radio/battery/electricals? No parasitic draw detected and when I got the car jumped, the radio came back on good as new.

I wish I had the tools and the space to do this work myself but that’s simply not the case. So I’m at the mercy of the garage. But for the better part of $4,000? Is that reasonable?

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Moderator Action

While some of this can be addressed factually, most of it is going to require speculation. Off to IMHO it goes.

Moving thread from General Questions to In My Humble Opinion.

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$915 for new plugs?
$1100 for new front brakes?

I’d take it to an independent garage and see what they say WRT those prices, they seem awfully high to me.

Also, ARE your valve covers leaking. It’s easy enough to check yourself. Go look at the engine and see if it’s covered in oil.

ETA, I just saw MB and read it as Mitsubishi. Tell you what, I’ll give you the brakes, I don’t know if it’s some specialized part, but I’m still saying that’s too much for replacing 16 plugs. I think you’re just getting overcharged on labor because you’re taking it to the dealer.

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The test came back - No parasitic draw or other electrical faults, but battery needs charging (no, d’uh!).

You say this is your weekend car. Do you drive it every weekend or does it sometimes sit for a few weeks? You might want to invest in a battery tender if it sits a lot.

If you drive it every weekend and the battery is still going dead, then there’s something else wrong here. Maybe the alternator isn’t charging very well or maybe you’ve got some corroded wires and/or connections in the electrical system.

Main belt drive needs replacing as it’s never been done: $225

Seems reasonable to me.

Plugs need replacing because still original, all 16: $915

A lot of plugs claim to be good for a lifetime these days. In my experience they aren’t. Ten year old plugs are probably about due. The plug wires are probably about due too.

The price seems silly high to me though. I’ve never worked on an AMG so I don’t know if they have to do something odd to get to the plugs.

Valve cover gaskets leak on both sides: $950

Price seems a bit high, but I don’t know what they have to disassemble on your car to do this job. Might be reasonable. Also, there’s no way I can tell without looking at your car whether or not this needs done.

Front pads and rotors, pad wear at 25%: $1100

$1100??? Yeee-ouch! How much do rotors for an AMG cost? I wouldn’t have to pay that much for my Cadillac.

Again, I can’t see your car from here, but I would be very surprised if it needs anything more than new pads. And I’m assuming that 25% means that the pads are worn to the point where there is only 25% of them left, right?

These are just my opinions as an idiot back-yard mechanic.

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I drive it most weekends. But I doubt I’ve ever driven more than 5,000 miles a year on it. So it’s coddled. But the battery is about a year old. And I do have trickle charger on it but I have not plugged it in since the new battery was installed. I wish I had. I would not have needed to jump it this morning.

About 3 weeks ago, we took a 300 mile round trip in it. Ran like a champ and no issues with electricals before or until a couple of days ago with the radio going mute.

It’s my understanding that the plugs nearest the firewall can be a bitch to replace. Otherwise, nothing specifically challenging about the plugs that I’ve been able to find.

Yes, I meant there’s only 25% of original pad life remaining. The rotors appear to me to be in great shape. I wash the car by hand regularly and the wheels are pretty open so I can inspect the disks by eye and touch pretty easily. The surface seems like it’s in great condition. No gouges or dips. No rust. The outside lip is very minimal. I haven’t had them measured for actual wear but I’d be very surprised if they are outside of safe tolerance. I’ll have the shop measure them to make sure before making the decision to replace rotors.

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Yeah… the price for the plugs is absurd. Replacement OE plugs, even if I go double platinum or iridim types, wont be over $7 each. That’s $120, tax in, for the lot. Labor cannot be $800. It just can’t.

Valve covers are well hidden under a bunch of plastic dressing pannels in the engine bay. I will try pulling them off to take a gander for leaks. But there are no outward signs of oil leaks. The garage floor is spotless. I check for things like that pretty regularly.

ETA: Independent garage where I service my VW quoted the same work for me at 35% less than dealer. I’m still dubious about all the work being necessary. Certainly gives me options though.

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You’re taking a Mercedes-Benz to a Mercedes-Benz dealer and complaining about the price? You really didn’t think it would be that expensive?

Anyway, none of the maintenance items mentioned sound unreasonable. If you object to the price, take it somewhere else. You’re paying luxury prices for a luxury car. Most people who buy that car never even look at the bill before paying it.

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… But I didn’t care because I don’t listen to the radio…

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The radio went out while driving and the battery is only a year old? To me, that screams “alternator is shot.”

I had my alternator go out on me on the freeway and it was pretty scary. The car just stops. It was a hundred percent my fault too; I had plenty of warning signs, like the radio going in and out, the instrument panel going dead at times, and having to jump my car every time.

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Back in the day when my daddy used to pay for all my expenses, I didn’t even look at the bill. I just put it on account. Those were the days. But he’s put me on a budget because times are tougher now and we have to make due with just two butlers. Plus, ever since Mercedes Benz stopped filling the climate control system with real diamond dust and switched to that godawful CZ scented stuff, which I told them I was allergic to by-the-way, I’ve decided that they don’t deserve all my daddy’s money. Now, if they throw in some mink floor mats, then I suppose I can look the other way on the lack of Fiji water in the windshield washer container.

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Times are tough. My dealer could only provide skunk floor mats.

Our 92 400E had a radio that was actually 4 separate pieces, with most in the trunk. When the POS radio died it was too much trouble to try to replace with a normal car stereo.
Be careful removing those plastic covers to look at the valve covers. If you don’t take them off just right you’ll break the ivory mounting posts.

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Plastic?!?:eek:

Sir, mine are tortoise shell. Made of actual tortoise shells.

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How charmingly bourgeois. Mine are White Rhino horn painted to look like tortoise shell.

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I used to drive an AMG, and what you describe sounds about right for a car approaching 10 years old, for repairs done at the dealer. Considering it’s well past your warranty, I’d take it to a local garage that works on MB’s. The service department at MB is just telling you everything that comes up on their diagnostic to put the car back into pristine condition, not necessarily everything that needs to be done for a weekend driver.

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When I was growing up, my father had a Mercedes and he had it serviced at an independent mechanic. I think the mechanic was formerly with the local dealership and he was a German guy. (Most places I’ve lived have mechanics that specialize in German cars, or Swedish cars, or Japanese cars.)

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Yeah, I’m coming around to the same conclusion. The car is quite pristine already and I’m not sure new spark plugs will make it more pristine. What could possibly be going on with the plugs after 54,000 miles? The gasket leaks are another story and I’ll have to address those. The brake pads will need changing but I think I’ll have the rotors measured and if they are within tolerance, I’m only going to replace the pads and possibly flush the brake fluid.

The dealership called this morning to say the main drive belt is replaced and the car turned over like a champ. No draw detected on the meter which was left on overnight. No faults read on the car computer either. So according to the tech, it’s just down to the car not being driven often enough. Think I’ll plug the trickle charger back in to keep the battery topped up during the week.

I do have a great independent mechanic shop where I service my VW. They do MB as well. I often see various german cars in their bays. They’ve never done wrong by me and their estimate for all the repairs above are about 35% less. I’ll miss having MB dealership kiss my ass but no ass kissing, no matter how thorough, is worth the premium they are charging.