Comparing costs

[bazza]

Hi Has anyone done any comparisons on repair costs for a Mercedes and say Holden or Ford or any other Car for that matter.

Regards Barry

[koan]

Don't know of any part for part comparisons but here in AUS up till a few years ago even M-B dealer prices for common items were comparable to Ford and Holden or less in a lot of cases but that's not the case now. About the time of the Daimler Chrysler merger things changed radically and dealer prices shot up, tripling in some cases.

I'm talking parts for 30 year old cars, don't know about more recent models.

koan

[Big_Richard]

Antenna mast, Mercedes w116 $20US installation time 15 minutes.
Antenna mast, Mitsubishi magna wagon, 2003 $90, installation time, 2 hours.

I have on numerous occasions encountered parts on both mercedes and BMW vehicles costing far less when obtained overseas than those purchased in australia for AU made cars..

[goldacre]

These are comparisons i use when people rant and rave about Holden and Ford Versus Mercedes:

A verbal quote from Brian at Automac Transmissions Myaree (dealers for ZFs as well) back in 2005

Brian ' Worst case senario for a rebuilt 4 speed auto (280SEL) is AU$2300, thats to fix a really stuffed one but normally a customer will get away with AU$1800'. 
J ' thats resonable i suppose, i was just enquiring should the worst ever happen' 
Brian ' Fair enough but you should be ok with that type of transmission, have a look at that Hyundai Excel on the hoist, transmission totally stuffed and will cost $4000 to fix. If you own a Holden we cannot fix it (i think he said it would cost more than a customer with a heart condition could handle), you have to get an exchange for around $5000'. 
J 'holy cow, i hope he takes his medication before you tell them that'

Just recently chatting to the towns local mechanic who recently purchased a 2003 Holden Commodore. He replaced his Temp sender unit which cost him 'trade price' AU$180. I picked one up recently at AutohausAZ for US$9.30 

Time to fit? Transmission, probably a week to Remove/Rebuild/Replace and the Temp sender probably one hour

J

[TJ 450]

Well, there you go...

Automac were the guys that sorted out my 6.9's bellhousing and shaft. Brilliant service, I must say.

Tim

[Big_Richard]

A work colleague also had a Hyundai sonata 4 cylinder have its transmission pack it in, apparently its the same transmission as used in the excel and not modified in any manner to better cope with the increased engine capacity of the sonata or the strain put on it by the extra body weight. The transmissions are EXPECTED to fail catastrophically every 100 - 150,000k's and the cost to rebuild was $2400. The car was only purchased for 3k 2 months prior. What a hunk of junk, but one shouldn't be surprised.