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Comment by paulsutter | Hacker News Reader

Article has Mercedes costs completely wrong. My S63 has around 50,000 miles on it but I've gone through four sets of brake pads. And mysteriously, the rotors are always "just under spec" and always need replacing too. That's $3000 per brake job, not to mention the myriad other issues they discover on every service. The base price for regular service doesnt begin to cover the costs. Luckily I didn't have to pay for the engine work once to fix a stuck lifter and again when it was spewing oil all over the road. Admittedly, I drive my car a little harder than most, but costs are costs.

I should get my Tesla model S around June and eagerly await the same performance with only $600 a year maintenance.

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I had a CLK430 and it was like a race car. By that I mean it needed a pit stop every 100 miles. God I wasted so many billable hours in the shop.

Also, the brake dust would regularly turn the front wheels black. I was always told it was the "high performance" nature of the pads.

I drive a Prius now and I still drive faster than 95% of people on the road. I just look like a dork doing it.

Yes, high performance brake pads do make black dust.

Really high performance pads make white dust, and much less of it (ceramic, usually a $5-10k option)

Put a spoiler on it

You're not alone. Mercedes is a very shady company, from what I've seen in the past. There is a very good, detailed website[1] exposing their "under-the-hood" tactics. For example, they put so many lives at risk due to a design flaw and secretly replaced certain defective parts under the name of a 'Free Inspection'. This website actually lists more of such tactics.

[1]http://www.thetruthaboutmercedes.com/home.html

"Mercedes is a very shady company, from what I've experienced in the past."

Seriously? Shady company?

You give a site from an obviously very biased operation in India as an example to support your point?

MB sales have increased tremendously in the US since the 1980's. Although I don't own one now I've owned 3 in the past (dating back to the 80's). They aren't cheap to maintain but I've never thought or seen any proof, in the US, of them being labeled as shady by any reputable source. And know many people who buy them year after year.

The site is by the organization that was Mercedes's dealer for ~13 years. I think that's more than enough credibility they're going to need to make such accusations. In my opinion, they aren't biased, because they provide supporting documents for every statement they make.

>I've owned 3 in the past

Unless you really know what's under the hood of your car, owning 'x' cars doesn't matter. Because this issue's seriousness can be understood only by someone who knows whats under the hood, which is exactly the opposite of Mercedes' target audience (They're more into luxury stuff, I believe).

Just curious - Do you know the seriousness of having a clutch assembly sticking to the floor? (Could cause fire, serious damage, deaths)

So you are saying that, once again, as proof that MB is a "shady company" you supply a website from a single party that posts a reply that they claim is from MB but doesn't even appear on the MB letterhead? (Not of course that that couldn't be faked but it seems odd that they don't even have a LH for that letter as part of their "proof".

"Do you know the seriousness of having a clutch assembly sticking to the floor?"

I don't have time to investigate this claim. Suffice to say that you have not provided proof of "shady" practices that have triggered any significant problems, at least in the US, with their sales or production. Cars frequently have recalls and manufacturers is US, most manufacturers will take steps to downplay the recall. There have been exceptions of course (See Ralph Nader or see the report on Audi by 60 minutes).

Perhaps MB in India does not operate the same as MB in the US or the rest of the world. But then again the power grid in India also operates at lesser standards than in the US (from what I've read and what I've been told).

So to conclude, you statement, that they are a "shady" company has not been supported.

My ML320 has gone through three sets of rotors and 4 sets of pads in just under 70K miles. About $1500 for each rotor set replacement. I even tried the aftermarket Zimmerman rotors and they were no more long-lived than the OEM rotors.

An S63 costs a lot more to maintain than an ML. Amongst AMG-tuned MBZ owners "AMG" is said to mean "All Money Gone."

By comparison, my Lexus LS has gone through a single set of rotors and an additional set of front pads in 130,000 miles (although it did cost me $6700 at my 90K service[!]).

$600/year doesn't seem that unreasonable to me.

Unless you're racing on the track every weekend, that sounds like a ridiculously short replacement interval. IIRC from my professional mechanic days, Mercedes puts some seriously thick pads on their brakes. I recall that they typically didn't get replaced until many miles had passed. As another commenter mentioned, I'd ask for the pads back.

The rotors, OTOH, come out of the factory barely over spec to begin with (I imagine weight savings/fuel economy as one reason). Just a little bit of wear, and they're not worth turning on the lathe.

You must drive your car hard! Do you ask for the brake pads back after each service? By law they have to provide them to you if you ask, and I suspect you will see a decrease in the number of recommendations if you start asking for them back and measure them to see what their specs are. I can't say for sure, but it would not surprise me if they are being over-eager in making their "recommendations".

Brake jobs far any expensive vehicle are just short of a scam in my opinion. Do your own brake job (takes about an hour for a complete novice) and save yourself the money.

i agree the article got Mercedes costs wrong but your comment is on the other end of the spectrum. I've owned 2 Mercs and never had to run through 4 sets for 50k miles, 1 maybe 2 at most. But I do agree that merc dealers charge crazy for a service. I was once told to fork up $1600 for a full service. The local service shop charged me $150 for the same thing.

The article seems to suggest that BMW has a good new car warranty but Mercedes doesn't. All new mercs have 4 year, 50k miles warranty as well.

BMW goes beyond a warranty -- they cover all recommended maintenance items for those first four years (oil, brakes, windshield wipers, inspections).

Yeah, but that's built into the cost of purchase or lease, no?

exactly. I'm surprised this is being so heavily discussed. I mean, if Telsa charged $63000 instead of $60000, no one would care. That 3000 covers the maintenance for 5 years. It is negligible in comparison to the cost of the vehicle.

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