Why are Mercedes-Benz oil changes so expensive?
Because they can and because people will pay it.I have a Porsche Cayman. I had the dealer do the first oil change and was charged $310, and I supplied the oil!I asked why the cost was so high and was told that Porsche requires them to let the oil drain for a full hour. And I think to myself: I'll bet the mechanic is required to do nothing for that hour but watch it drain.His answer did not pass the red-face test. If I had been told that it was because they supply courtesy cars I would have understood.So I did some research and found a garage run by car nuts who race Porsches. They did a better service than the dealer and charged me $100. I am ok at that price for a car that only needs to have the oil changed every 10,000 miles and I don't want to buy ramps that would be necessary to do the job myself.Update:There have been a number of good comments on this post. Most suggested changing the oil in the car yourself, and of course, that is an option. One comment by RC Taylor was about changing brake fluid so it might be worth adding some info on car maintenance here.I generally follow the “Lifetime Maintenance Schedule” by Mike Miller (see link below) for automobile maintenance. It was written for BMW’s but much of it applies to all cars. In addition to regular oil changes, I change the coolant and brake fluids in the car every other year. RC stated that he tests the brake fluid for water. I just change the fluid every other year because it has a tendency to pick up water which can cause expensive brake repairs and changing brake fluid is not that expensive.https://www.dslreports.com/r0/do...