Save money on Regular Maintenance

[Ser05E500]

Befriend a mechanic at your local Benz dealer. One way to do it is next time you go to a dealership ask to speak to the mechanic or simply as I did when you are waiting around wonder into the shop and figure out who is fixing you car. Approach them, make friends and ask them if you could bring your car to him one of the weekends so that he can change some stuff for you. Knowing how slow some of the Benz dealerships are these days and they get paid based on the amount of cars that come through, I would be surprised if your offer gets turned down. It worked for me. Its been two years that I am paying 50% less then what I would have paid at the dealer. Dan

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[Barry45RPM]

Not a nice thing for the mechanic to do to the people who are paying him w/ Benefits. He stole a customer while he was on the clock from within his employer's store.

It would be like one of my employees telling one of my customers "Come to my home this weekend... I'll do the same pair of eyeglasses for you for half the price." I'd fire them for stealing from me.

Its a different story if you found a mechanic who had an ad in the local "Pennysaver" who was moonlighting for a little extra money.

...just the view from the other side of the coin. Being in business is very costly. It costs a lot of money to attract and retain a customer.

[Cairo94507]

I can appreciate the desire to save money, but I have to agree that was not the right thing to do. If his employer found out he might not have a job. In this economy I would not want that to happen.

[Ser05E500]

Its not like he approached me. He did nothing to get me do come to his house. I initiated the whole thing. I see nothing wrong with him doing it on his own time at his own place.

I dont "owe" dealership anything. I guess $500 for a pair of wiper blades and an oil change should make me loyal to them?


I understand where you guys are coming from but the bottom line is business is business. I guess if the dealership charged more reasonable price people wouldnt have to do that.

[mcleantmw]

Originally Posted by Ser05E500

Its not like he approached me. He did nothing to get me do come to his house. I initiated the whole thing. I see nothing wrong with him doing it on his own time at his own place.

I dont "owe" dealership anything. I guess $500 for a pair of wiper blades and an oil change should make me loyal to them?


I understand where you guys are coming from but the bottom line is business is business. I guess if the dealership charged more reasonable price people wouldnt have to do that.

I know you want to make a point but no MB Dealer charges $500 to change oil and wiper blades. I have to agree that it's a little unethical to recruit mechanics for personal benefit at their place of work. You can find lots of third party MB shops that will do these minor services for lots less than the dealers.........so shop around even on CragsList to find home mechanics. In fact, my MB Dealer has a one or two self help days sponsored by my local chapter of the Mercedes Benz Club where you can use the shops on a Sat and the Dealer has some mechanics on hand to give advice to everyone.......that's a pretty nice service the Dealer offers.

[Ser05E500]

Originally Posted by mcleantmw

I know you want to make a point but no MB Dealer charges $500 to change oil and wiper blades. I have to agree that it's a little unethical to recruit mechanics for personal benefit at their place of work. You can find lots of third party MB shops that will do these minor services for lots less than the dealers.........so shop around even on CragsList to find home mechanics. In fact, my MB Dealer has a one or two self help days sponsored by my local chapter of the Mercedes Benz Club where you can use the shops on a Sat and the Dealer has some mechanics on hand to give advice to everyone.......that's a pretty nice service the Dealer offers.

Well what do you call service B when they change the oil, couple of filters and wiper blades and charge you $500 for it? One could go many ways about getting the service cheaper then going to the dealer but that was my way. Well i guess it would be immoral if the dealerhip charged moral prices for their service, if anything you are helping a mechanic who is not getting paid near as much as they are making. But I guess if one thinks that is immoral to do in this circumstance, then dont do it. Dont do anything that doesnt make you feel good. Saving money and helping a mechanic make a few bucks on the side while not having to go to stealership makes me happy ))

[weinschela]

Two wrongs don't make a right.If you don't like the prices the dealer charges, you can complain to the dealer; you can go to an independent shop; you can do it yourself. In any of those cases you are not depriving the dealer of anything and your actions are perfectly legitimate.

By the way, what happens if this mechanic hurts himself while at your house fixing something? Do you have insurance for that? What happens if he screws up a repair? What is your recourse?

So IMHO, it is not only wrong, but not smart.

[Barry45RPM]

Originally Posted by Ser05E500

Well what do you call service B when they change the oil, couple of filters and wiper blades and charge you $500 for it? One could go many ways about getting the service cheaper then going to the dealer but that was my way. Well i guess it would be immoral if the dealerhip charged moral prices for their service, if anything you are helping a mechanic who is not getting paid near as much as they are making. But I guess if one thinks that is immoral to do in this circumstance, then dont do it. Dont do anything that doesnt make you feel good. Saving money and helping a mechanic make a few bucks on the side while not having to go to stealership makes me happy ))

The man has got at least 13 Million Dollars invested in his buisness. He's got to cover all his overhead and salary and taxes and benefits, AND he's entitled to a profit on his investment. After all, if he had put 13 mil into a CD, he'd have made interest on his money there.

All in all, had you and the mechanic made your arrangements OUT of the Dealership (on line at a Supermarket) it would have been a different story. He was on the clock when he stole one of his employers customers. At least one of you are NOT an Honest guy. If he were, he'd have put an ad in the Pennysave/Shoppers Rag. If you were, you'd have stood in the middle of the shop & yelled "..anybody want to work on my car off the books on weekends?" ..I'll bet you whispered your offer to him though.

Either way, we'll never convince one another... just trying to explain things from the perspective of a business owner who worked hard, saved up a lot of money over many years, then rolled the dice with it all to go into business, and hired local people so that they could support their families. I'd be really pissed if one or my employees stole a customer from me.

[sosh]

Originally Posted by Barry45RPM

The man has got at least 13 Million Dollars invested in his buisness. He's got to cover all his overhead and salary and taxes and benefits, AND he's entitled to a profit on his investment. After all, if he had put 13 mil into a CD, he'd have made interest on his money there.

All in all, had you and the mechanic made your arrangements OUT of the Dealership (on line at a Supermarket) it would have been a different story. He was on the clock when he stole one of his employers customers. At least one of you are NOT an Honest guy. If he were, he'd have put an ad in the Pennysave/Shoppers Rag. If you were, you'd have stood in the middle of the shop & yelled "..anybody want to work on my car off the books on weekends?" ..I'll bet you whispered your offer to him though.

Either way, we'll never convince one another... just trying to explain things from the perspective of a business owner who worked hard, saved up a lot of money over many years, then rolled the dice with it all to go into business, and hired local people so that they could support their families. I'd be really pissed if one or my employees stole a customer from me.

I strongly agree with this. If I found one of my employees doing this he would be gone in a heartbeat and the customer would no longer be welcome in my business. Its stealing plain and simple. The OP here does not know the difference between right and wrong or has no ethics or morals. Could be both. And, by the way a B service is lots more than an oil change. The inspection portion of the service is quite important, its called preventative maintenence.

[Ser05E500]

Its a zero-sum game guys. Dont get all worked up. I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to Geico

Have a pleasant day

[sosh]

Originally Posted by Ser05E500

Its a zero-sum game guys. Dont get all worked up. I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to Geico

Have a pleasant day

Geico?? Wait until you have a claim and you will regret saving that money!! Believe me I know from experience as a Geico insured hit one of my cars while I was parked. They tried to insist I use one of their shops, refused to pay the price an authorized dealer wanted to repair, dragged me out two months waiting for an adjuster. Thing got settled only after I filed suit against the guy that hit me (drunk). This was not in one of my MB's. Horrible company even if it is owned by Warren Buffet.

[Ser05E500]

Originally Posted by sosh

Geico?? Wait until you have a claim and you will regret saving that money!! Believe me I know from experience as a Geico insured hit one of my cars while I was parked. They tried to insist I use one of their shops, refused to pay the price an authorized dealer wanted to repair, dragged me out two months waiting for an adjuster. Thing got settled only after I filed suit against the guy that hit me (drunk). This was not in one of my MB's. Horrible company even if it is owned by Warren Buffet.

A friend of mine has Geico and has nothing but positive things to say about them. He totaled a car 4 months ago and they wrote him a check within 2 weeks even paying above what the car was worth.

Insurance companies are in business of protecting their own clients not the people who have claims against them. It doesnt matter what the name of the insurance is they will make your life hell if you are claiming against them and are not the insured.

Love saving money guys!!

[sosh]

Originally Posted by Ser05E500

A friend of mine has Geico and has nothing but positive things to say about them. He totaled a car 4 months ago and they wrote him a check within 2 weeks even paying above what the car was worth.

Insurance companies are in business of protecting their own clients not the people who have claims against them. It doesnt matter what the name of the insurance is they will make your life hell if you are claiming against them and are not the insured.

Love saving money guys!!

Well they did not do a good job in protecting their insured either. I had to file a suit in common pleas court and make one appearance against the guy. The judge questioned the fact that GEICO would not represent him in court and ordered the defendant to pay me. While I was in the process of getting a judgement against him they paid for the estimated damages, However they refused to pay my legal expenses which the judge had ruled were appropriate and awarded them to me. The insured had to pay my and his expenses and from what he told me he was going after GEICO for them. Don't know how he made out.
And what you said is not correct they are not only in business to protect their clients but to represent them in legal actions concerning the insured incident. They are also in business to pay claims which could effect their insured. You should have heard this judge lambast that company.

[gaazmon]

F*ck Geico. They were the ones who bought lidar (laser) guns for police departments across the US and gave it to the departments for free.

[Barry45RPM]

Originally Posted by gaazmon

F*ck Geico. They were the ones who bought lidar (laser) guns for police departments across the US and gave it to the departments for free.

I don't have a problem with the cops having laser or radar. I do however resent camera photo enforcement. That is nothing more than an ATM for municipalities.

[Ser05E500]

Originally Posted by sosh

Well they did not do a good job in protecting their insured either. I had to file a suit in common pleas court and make one appearance against the guy. The judge questioned the fact that GEICO would not represent him in court and ordered the defendant to pay me. While I was in the process of getting a judgement against him they paid for the estimated damages, However they refused to pay my legal expenses which the judge had ruled were appropriate and awarded them to me. The insured had to pay my and his expenses and from what he told me he was going after GEICO for them. Don't know how he made out.
And what you said is not correct they are not only in business to protect their clients but to represent them in legal actions concerning the insured incident. They are also in business to pay claims which could effect their insured. You should have heard this judge lambast that company.

The fact he was under influence sure did not help him. What I said was that their are in business to protect their customers and that is CORRECT! That means all situations arising from an accident. Why they did not give full representation to a person operating a vehicle under influence, I dont know. There might be a clause that allows them to do so in case you break a law, once again I am not an expert. You had some bad luck with them but its probably not their policy to treat people like that. It is not very smart to infer and make a generalization like that.

As for me saving $450 dollars a month is definitely worth giving them a try, after a friend and many other people have recommended them.

So when i sum things up between the mechanic and the insurance I am saving around $7000 a year. I have been getting an annulized return of 25% trading options so in 5 years I almost have enough money to buy a brand new or a year old benz.

[Ser05E500]

http://reviews.geico.com/6912/0001/reviews.htm

[onthewall01]

Originally Posted by Ser05E500

http://reviews.geico.com/6912/0001/reviews.htm

Doing a quick browse of the first pg, it looks like a lot of these reviews are for the low cost and ease of signing up. I didn't see very many reviews on how their experience was actually placing a claim.

[MBE550]

Originally Posted by sosh

Geico?? Wait until you have a claim and you will regret saving that money!! Believe me I know from experience as a Geico insured hit one of my cars while I was parked. They tried to insist I use one of their shops, refused to pay the price an authorized dealer wanted to repair, dragged me out two months waiting for an adjuster. Thing got settled only after I filed suit against the guy that hit me (drunk). This was not in one of my MB's. Horrible company even if it is owned by Warren Buffet.

I agree 100%. I used about 5 insurance companies in the past and Geico was the worst one by far. This was like 15 yrs ago, but I had one fender and bender costing the other guy $200 to fix. Geico canceled my existing account without notice. And that was my first accident ever.

[gaazmon]

Originally Posted by Barry45RPM

I don't have a problem with the cops having laser or radar. I do however resent camera photo enforcement. That is nothing more than an ATM for municipalities.

i hate those infernal contraptions

[Oliverk]

Basic services on these cars is so simple, it really makes no sense not to do it yourself if you are even remotely mechanically inclined.

www.parts.com for parts and your own labor, and maintaining a benz is almost cheap.

[Mackhack]

Originally Posted by Barry45RPM

I don't have a problem with the cops having laser or radar. I do however resent camera photo enforcement. That is nothing more than an ATM for municipalities.

And we are still lucky here in the US that we only see them at intersections. In Europe it is common that almost every city/town/village has a mobile one and they can put it anywhere they want to make money. And this runs under the umbrella "safety and traffic education"!!!

[gaazmon]

Originally Posted by Mackhack

In Europe it is common that almost every city/town/village has a mobile one and they can put it anywhere they want to make money. And this runs under the umbrella "safety and traffic education"!!!

I'm sure with the way things are going, we will get those in the states here as well.

[Mackhack]

Originally Posted by gaazmon

I'm sure with the way things are going, we will get those in the states here as well.

I can only agree!!!