Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

peppiB · Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2015 12:59 pm Post subject: How Much??

I am really pleased I only have classic cars. Getting out of Merc this morning, I was approached by a tradesman who had been working in the block of flats. He told me his last job was at the home of the owner of a fairly new Mercedes which needed a new battery. The car owner had asked the tradesman how much he thought, so he replied about £150? Nope. Turns out the electric front seat and a section of floor had to be removed - and only the main dealer has the specialist tools required. Total cost of new battery £648. Ouch!

Rick · Site Admin Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 22791 Location: UK

Penman · Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 4866 Location: Swindon, Wilts.

Hi
Many moderns require Bumper and or front panel removal to change any of the bulbs in the front cluster.
How much is that going to cost?
_________________
Bristols should always come in pairs.

Any 2 from:-
Straight 6
V8 V10

emmerson · Joined: 30 Sep 2008 Posts: 1268 Location: South East Wales

A neighbour has a five year old A class Merc, which failed to start the other week. We eventually found the battery under the driver's floor, in a box full of water! Unfortunately, in their wisdom MB also put all the other electrickery in there as well.
She was quoted lots and lots of pounds to fix, so decided to get rid. So, with nothing to lose another neighbour removed and re-charged the battery, drilled a hole to let the water out then put a hairdrier in there overnight. Battery back in and it started, and now five weeks later is still OK. Many thousands of pounds saved on replacement car.
But, apparently this is a known problem on A class, as the rainwater from the heater box runs into the battery box if the drain isn't kept clear.
Bet it doesn't tell you that in the driver's handbook.

MVPeters · Joined: 28 Aug 2008 Posts: 822 Location: Northern MA, USA

I was quoted $47 by the dealership to change a back-up lamp bulb in my MINI; did it myself in under a minute for the cost of the bulb.
A synthetic oil & filter change is around $100; $65 at the independents; I do it for under $30 in about 20 minutes or less.
_________________
Mike - MVPeters at comcast.net
2002 MINI Cooper 'S'

Ellis · Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2015 11:00 pm Post subject:

My neighbour is a Mercedes man, now on his sixth in ten years.
He has a new C220 having just swapped his "11" plate in against it. He was shocked that the previous model didn't even have an oil dipstick and only a warning light forewarning of problems.

The new C220 does have a dipstck but when the driver's electric window became faulty the car immobilised itself and the local Mercedes dealer had to send out it's technician and diagnostics van to assess the problem.
Lucky it was new and under warranty and the faults were rectified on site - one and a half hours plus the call out .

"A common fault" apparently.

How much would that have cost if the car was not under manufacturers warranty?
_________________
Starting Handle Expert

1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

Churchill Johnson · Joined: 11 Jan 2011 Posts: 359 Location: Rayleigh Essex

Got a friend of mine whose 1986 Ford tractor had a rad leak, this one has the engine oil cooler in the bottom of rad, i noted leak at the bottom, coolant only, removed rad and got a price for a new one, thinking it would be cheap £1600 + vat, spurious one £866 + vat, got his one repaired two leak's inc vat £84!!!, the £1600 is about 25% of a used model!.

Peter_L · Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2015 2:54 pm Post subject:

Our Dodge Journey has the battery mounted behind the splash guards under the front wing. However in common with new vehicles that have batteries in such positions, there is a "jump/boost/charge" connection under the bonnet.

ukdave2002 · Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 4242 Location: South Cheshire

Dipster · Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2015 11:30 am Post subject:

[quote="ukdave2002"]

clan chieftain · Joined: 05 Apr 2008 Posts: 2041 Location: Motherwell

Seemingly you have to take the back off a Smart car to change the spark plugs.
_________________
The Clan Chieftain

47Jag · Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2015 8:34 pm Post subject:

I just had a headlamp bulb blow on my XF. The bulb replacement is a complete headlamp out job. what would the dealer want to do that Surprised

Art

Peter_L · Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2015 9:00 pm Post subject:

ukdave2002 · Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 4242 Location: South Cheshire

[quote="Dipster"]

Keith D · Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2015 5:44 am Post subject:

I have to agree with ukdave2002. My Mitsubishi Magna is 12 years old, covered 160,000 km (100,000 miles) and the only job I have had to do to it is replace the fuel gauge sensor. Cost $80 and took me less than half an hour to fit. That's less than 40 quid of your money! Obviously I have replaced consumables such as batteries and tyres, but any car old or new requires these. I almost never lift the bonnet. In fact, a couple of years ago a rat made a nest under the bonnet and probably became the best travelled rat in Western Australia! I only discovered him in residence by his droppings under the car!

My wife has a four year old Holden Barina (less than 30,000 km - Roughly 20,000 miles) and the bonnet has never been lifted by us. Regular servicing, like once a year is the only care we need take. When the Mini's were new, this sort of 'never lift the bonnet' was unknown. There was always something that needed doing, some adjustments or some checking. Obviously repair and servicing costs were cheaper, but wages were miniscule!

Modern cars have never been cheaper to buy and to run when compared to current wages and the large distances between servicing. The price of labour and some of the many parts I have needed for my old vehicles, cause the hairs on your neck to stand up!

A lot of modern cars end up getting reputations that are unwarranted. For instance, my 1996 Jeep Cherokee is deemed as being one of the most unreliable vehicles on Australian roads. This has come about by the failure of the many sensors spread around the engine. I know that I'm tempting fate, but in the three years I have owned this vehicle and covered about 20,000 km of it's total 225,000 km, the only thing I have had fail is the harmonic balancer which was easily replaced. This vehicle does all it's mileage with us dragging our 18 foot caravan, so it's certainly not mollycoddled!

By the way, to change light globes in the Magna entails unclipping a panel and drawing it out of the back of the light unit. Takes a few seconds and you don't even get your hands dirty.....

I obviously don't know how things are in Britain, but if I have an exhaust fail for instance, I don't go near a car dealer, I go to an exhaust specialist and he either fits an off-the-shelf pipe or bends one to suit in front of you in his workshop. All at very competitive rates! Same with auto electricians, same with brakes repairs, same with radiators. Radiators cores come in large blocks. The repairer picks one the same thickness and cuts it to size before soldering the top and bottom tanks on. It doesn't matter whether the car is a Ford or a Bentley. The modern plastic radiator tanks would no doubt cause a problem, but I don't have any of these! Visiting a dealer for anything is an absolute last resort.

Keith