gasgas
Full Member
- Messages
- 270
If any of you have a Mercedes base chassis for your motorhome, and you pay - or would prefer to pay if you could afford it - for servicing, I have recently discovered that a French chain of Mercedes dealers is charging around half the price for labour that we are (or would be, if we could afford it) charged here.
I called my local MB commercial dealer here and asked what their labour rate is. £140 per hour plus VAT. i.e. £168 per hour. In France last year my heater didn't blow hot, it was 10 degrees and I was shivering so when I passed a MB commercial dealer I called in. At 6.30pm they came out, in the middle of locking up the place, investigated my situation, and apologised that I would have to spend the night on the grass outside the dealership for security reasons, but they would get on with the job first thing the next morning. They investigated and told me it needed 3 new servo motors in the heater and the cost would be €750. The dealer I bought the camper from had already agreed to pay so I said yes get on with it. 6 hours later they had finished and the bill was €680. Thinking about how long it had taken - they had to dismantle the dashboard, remove the faulty servos, fit new ones, and undoubtedly reprogram The Computer That Must Be Obeyed And Is Always Right - I thought that the bill and time taken was not excessive. It amounted to £570 by the time it was translated into actual money.
I investigated the invoice which I found interesting. They charge different hourly rates for different skills, even though presumably the same technician will do all the work. The hourly rate ranged from €78 an hour ( for testing the whole system for three hours after the job was done) to €110 an hour (for connecting a diagnostic computer, 0.2 hours). While we waited, quaffing lots of biscuits and fresh coffee, I noticed some very attractive prices for changing discs and pads, oil chages and so on. I was surprised, I think they may be cheaper than here at a Halfords or KwikFit.
So now I am pretty well convinced that if you want your Mercedes motorhome serviced, you may as well get it done in France while you are there. I have emailed them to ask for prices for different services and changing the auto box gear oil - which is £500 here. No thanks!
And by the way, it would be interesting to know if similar cost reductions apply to Fiat, Citroen and Peugeot base vehicles.
I called my local MB commercial dealer here and asked what their labour rate is. £140 per hour plus VAT. i.e. £168 per hour. In France last year my heater didn't blow hot, it was 10 degrees and I was shivering so when I passed a MB commercial dealer I called in. At 6.30pm they came out, in the middle of locking up the place, investigated my situation, and apologised that I would have to spend the night on the grass outside the dealership for security reasons, but they would get on with the job first thing the next morning. They investigated and told me it needed 3 new servo motors in the heater and the cost would be €750. The dealer I bought the camper from had already agreed to pay so I said yes get on with it. 6 hours later they had finished and the bill was €680. Thinking about how long it had taken - they had to dismantle the dashboard, remove the faulty servos, fit new ones, and undoubtedly reprogram The Computer That Must Be Obeyed And Is Always Right - I thought that the bill and time taken was not excessive. It amounted to £570 by the time it was translated into actual money.
I investigated the invoice which I found interesting. They charge different hourly rates for different skills, even though presumably the same technician will do all the work. The hourly rate ranged from €78 an hour ( for testing the whole system for three hours after the job was done) to €110 an hour (for connecting a diagnostic computer, 0.2 hours). While we waited, quaffing lots of biscuits and fresh coffee, I noticed some very attractive prices for changing discs and pads, oil chages and so on. I was surprised, I think they may be cheaper than here at a Halfords or KwikFit.
So now I am pretty well convinced that if you want your Mercedes motorhome serviced, you may as well get it done in France while you are there. I have emailed them to ask for prices for different services and changing the auto box gear oil - which is £500 here. No thanks!
And by the way, it would be interesting to know if similar cost reductions apply to Fiat, Citroen and Peugeot base vehicles.
