[Sahil]

Originally Posted by auxsend

Oh shucks, that bad ? Whatever happened to all that German reliability i wonder. On a side note, are the BMW's or the Merc's an easier bet to maintain once they age a bit (7 years plus) ?

With my experience I would say BMWs are a bit more reliable. Try and find an E60 5 series from 2007 onwards. I had one for 8 years and it was quite reliable

[GRV]

Hi Friends
I have to get break pads of my c class (2012) model changed. Dealer is quoting 42,000. Independent garages are quoting around 15,000 with Brembo brand. I received some recos in other threads about Krishna Garage in CP and Pandit and company in Okhla

If I have to choose between the two, whom would you recommend . my criteria are :
1. Genuineness of break pad used
2. Quality of work (to avoid recurrent revisits) & technical know how
3. Customer responsiveness & attitude towards customers (friendly vs. arrogant)

If you have experience and you have heard , please share with me for me to decide , thanks

[car_crazy1400]

Originally Posted by GRV

Hi Friends
I have to get break pads of my c class (2012) model changed. Dealer is quoting 42,000. Independent garages are quoting around 15,000 with Brembo brand. I received some recos in other threads about Krishna Garage in CP and Pandit and company in Okhla

If I have to choose between the two, whom would you recommend . my criteria are :
1. Genuineness of break pad used
2. Quality of work (to avoid recurrent revisits) & technical know how
3. Customer responsiveness & attitude towards customers (friendly vs. arrogant)

If you have experience and you have heard , please share with me for me to decide , thanks

Try going to European Motor works (EMW) In gurgaon.

You can Google them and get a quote on phone too.

Owned by Jagat Auto guys at Khan Market, Delhi.

The use genuine parts.

[pdiw]

I have already changed my brake pads twice. It costed me around 18K for a pair. But after you get the indication, if you don't apply sudden brakes at high speeds you can easily drive around 1K more.

Both times when I got the brake pad warning, I was traveling to and fro via Ghats and I could comfortably make a 500 Kms trip after warning.

Till now my experience with Sundaram Motors (Bangalore) has been good . They are more responsive and do explain the problems technically. They also give options and are ready to accommodate any changes that you suggest.

But I would suggest, do call up other authorised centers in your area and get the best quote. Any day using Merc Spare parts is better, as it is backed up by replacement warranty for production faults. Also do check your wheel discs - make sure they are not damaged. Using non standard brake pads might harm the disks which are more expensive to replace.

[Arjun Reddy]

Any idea on the service costs for the 10k service? The car in question is W205 C250d.
My car is due for service in 10 days.

[VineetG]

Originally Posted by GRV

Hi Friends
I have to get break pads of my c class (2012) model changed. Dealer is quoting 42,000. Independent garages are quoting around 15,000 with Brembo brand. I received some recos in other threads about Krishna Garage in CP and Pandit and company in Okhla

If I have to choose between the two, whom would you recommend . my criteria are :
1. Genuineness of break pad used
2. Quality of work (to avoid recurrent revisits) & technical know how
3. Customer responsiveness & attitude towards customers (friendly vs. arrogant)

If you have experience and you have heard , please share with me for me to decide , thanks

Just as a comparison, rear brake pads and discs of our Volvo XC 90 changed at 29000 kms. Cost INR 31,000. Pretty reasonable, i guess. The downside is that there is no brake pad wear indicator. The only way you can know your brake pads need replacement is when they start damaging your disc, and then it's already too late.

I mean, leave alone an electronic or sensor based brake pad wear indicator, the XC 90 does not have even a mechanical metal strip that rubs against the disc edge to let you know that the brake pads are about to give up

Rgds

[RohanDheman]

Originally Posted by Arjun Reddy

Any idea on the service costs for the 10k service? The car in question is W205 C250d.
My car is due for service in 10 days.

The first service bill of my W204 C200 was around 30k for the first service back in 2015. Expect it to be increased by about 10-15%. Mercedes service is expensive when compared to the others.

Rohan

[pdiw]

Originally Posted by Arjun Reddy

Any idea on the service costs for the 10k service? The car in question is W205 C250d.
My car is due for service in 10 days.

Hi Arjun,
First get the details of work to be done from the executive. You can always postpone Air filter and AC duct related replacements. Ask them to just clean them.

Also check the Engine Oil and check the viscosity. This also you can always postpone by minimum 3 months based on your kms done. You can always change it when you want to visit the workshop again. The Labour is expensive for this small work of engine oil change, you can get it done again after few months. This will eventually add one more year to oil change when you complete 3 or 4 years.

Also Wheel alignment and balancing can be done from a reliable shop outside, this does not make much difference from showroom work.

Also check on the remaining work to be done from the estimate and you can always knock off interior cleaning , wind washer refilling and other things based on your simple judgement.

Hope this helps

[vineshpikale]

A query for the Benz experts.

My W204 2010 model generally sees city use only and has done about 36k since 2011.

I'm told by the SA at the ASS (who are really nice guys btw) that my rear shock absorbers need replacement. Also brake pads needed replacement since the system was showing a brake pad wear alert. Since I didnt want to take a chance on the braking I got them replaced immediately at the ASS. Along with this there's a host of small parts that need replacement

a) glow plug
b) horn
c) front shocks (likely)

Just as an example the rear shocks cost quote by the ASS is Rs. 61,462. I'm able to source genuine Sachs for ~ 11,000. Extrapolates similarly for other parts. Is there something I'm missing here since I understand from a little bit of googling that Sachs is a acceptable replacement. Or have I got this wrong and I should stick with the ASS parts?

[ajmat]

Go for good quality mechanical parts. Sachs are pretty good, might as well get suspension bushes replaced at the same time.

Glow plugs are straight forward to replace but sometimes they fuse into the cylinder head so if they can be removed easily, ok, if not, let the dealer take the liability on this.

Horn is a no brainer.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by vineshpikale

I'm able to source genuine Sachs for ~ 11,000. Extrapolates similarly for other parts. Is there something I'm missing here since I understand from a little bit of googling that Sachs is a acceptable replacement. Or have I got this wrong and I should stick with the ASS parts?

Yes OEM parts like Sachs are as good, at a much lower price. But you should buy from a trusted seller, since there are tons of fakes available too.

[vineshpikale]

Originally Posted by Akshay1234

Yes OEM parts like Sachs are as good, at a much lower price. But you should buy from a trusted seller, since there are tons of fakes available too.

A friend of mine uses this guy and has no complaints. The price is indicative of the parts being genuine?

Originally Posted by ajmat

Go for good quality mechanical parts. Sachs are pretty good, might as well get suspension bushes replaced at the same time.

Glow plugs are straight forward to replace but sometimes they fuse into the cylinder head so if they can be removed easily, ok, if not, let the dealer take the liability on this.

Horn is a no brainer.

Spoke to the SA he says don’t bother with the glow plug and a replacement is not needed right now. The weather is never cold in Goa so one plug won’t make a difference.

[rickygupta2]

Hello folks,

I bought the new C-class that was launched in 2015. Bought in April 2015 and today it has done a total of 25000 kms. I would rate my experience as worst with Mercedes. The main contention is the brake pad wear.

The first time my rear brake pads were worn at a meagre 7800 KMs. I tried to reason a lot with the staff but they told me that the wear depends on the driving conditions since this is your first Mercedes you must have pushed the engine a bit hard and that's why due to high braking the pads are gone. Somehow I took their point and spent Rs. 20,000 on pads.

From my first time I started to drive my car really slow and never pushed the engine but to my utter surprise, the pads again went bust at an odo reading of 19,000. That is the new pair just worked for 11,000 KMs. Again, the same fight with the staff. This time my RM assured me that if the wear continues like this then we will investigate the issue.

A few days ago at 25,000 odo reading again the brake pad wear signal started showing. When investigated it was found out that front pads are gone this time so got those replaced. The rear pads have done 6,000 Kms (from 19,000 to 25,000) and are already half gone.

The RM says that average brake pad life is just 15,000 Kms. I am really frustrated with the brake pad wear. Can anyone tell me if this is genuine or if there is something wrong with the brake pad wear?

Due to the fear of brake pad wear I have almost stopped driving the car.

[ajmat]

Well, automatic transmission cars wear out brake pads more often. One possible theory is that you are not using the car frequently. 25k km in 3 years!

Surface rust builds up on the discs and the pads wear out due to excess contact to the surface rust.

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by rickygupta2

Due to the fear of brake pad wear I have almost stopped driving the car.

What kind of driving cycles you have? City or highways? and what kind of speeds you do? Normal usage one should get about 15-20 from the pads atleast. Hope they have ruled out any caliper jamming at the brakes? Easy way to figure out is if your fuel economy, if that is also bad, then might want to check the caliper.