Zio, that's really a great price! I can't do it myself for any less. I'm just glad I don't mind doing it myself, since it's the easiest car I have to change the oil on.

 

Had mine changed today at the dealer and they now charge $120 which went up from $90. Good for 6,000 miles now.

 

I think if a dealer only charged $55 they didn't use the correct oil. They would have to service a lot of Crossfires to justify buying 0-40 oil in 55 Gal drums. Remember the new filters now go for about $18. That only leaves $37 for the oil and labor. That would be about $4.60 per qt and free labor.

 

The dealer charges about $124.00 for Service A (The Single Wrench), that includes oil disposing fee, oil change, tire pressure check, top off of windshield washer fluid, battery check and FSS reset) nothing that us owners can't do on a Sat. at home for half the price. Doing it yourself also gets you more familiar with your vehicle.

The dealer charges about $400.00 for Service B (The Two Wrenches) which should appear around every 18K miles or so. This is nothing more than Service A plus A/C Dust filter element replacement, lubing of hood hinges and latch, tire rotation (only side to side not front to back), checking of brake pads, ball joints, exhaust and replacement of wiper blades. Again nothing that the average owner can't do at home on their own. The Dust filter is only on the Limited and SRT cars not the base and its around $41 at the dealer. It's located right underneath the glovebox panel and it's easy to replace.

But for those who don't know how to do any of the above and live and die servicing at the dealer, the XFire can become an expensive proposition to own. It's ridiculous having to spend $125 for an oil change which is very common on all cars and $400 for Service B which comes around at 18K miles. This is in addition to any other problems like tire replacement which are very expensive.

Here is what i've come to realize (no flames please) if you start thinking about it with common sense, I think DC gave us the short end of the stick with the XFire. Compared to the XFire the SLK 320 has more advantages for literally the same car.

1. The Benz has a spare (collapsible type) tyre with a compressor kit just like the one in our car (no more being stranded on side of the road with a flat)

2. The Benz had service included for the duration of the warranty which covered Service A & B at no charge for 4 years or 50,000 miles (NO $125 Service A & $ 400 Service B to deal with) they no longer have this though but at the time of the XFire's introduction they did.

3. The Benz has longer warranty for the exact same car (literally) an extra 1 year or 14,000 miles or a total of (4 years/50,000 mi)

4. Finally the Benz has better mechanics that are extremely familiar with the vehicle and can easily diagnose problems and correct them without drama.

All of this for an additional $6k + price difference for the Benz SLK 320, think about it its not sooo bad.

Regardless of all of this i still bought the car for it's show car styling and price discount over the Benz, but i just would have wished DC gave us a bit better warranty for it, include service for the car and had better trained technicians for it or maybe allowed us to service it under contract with your local MB dealer. I know that now they are doing like a 2 year service agreement thats included but highly doubt it covers the SRT or XFire cars.

 

No flames here... you have made some good points and I agree.

Two things about the HVAC filter...

- it could be tricky the first time you do it yourself, but after you've done it once it's a piece of cake.
- I live in a dusty area and keep my AC on recycle mode. I changed the filter at two years and 24k miles. It wasn't that dirty and I'll go maybe 3-4 years before I change it again.

 

i agree with the HVAC filter. It depends on the climate you live in and even if its a dusty climate you can sometimes get up to two full years without it being that dirty that it needs replacement.

 

I would like to know where the HVAC dust filter is and how do you replace it. I looked for it a long time ago and couldn't find it. Does any one have a picture they can post.

 

Here you go...

- It is located on the passenger side, under the dash, just forward of the glove box.
- Remove two screws on the cover, pop it out, slide back two plastic clips and pull the filter straight down and out.

The dealer charged me $46.00 + tax for the filter and wanted another $35.00 to install it, so I did it myself.

It can be a little tricky putting the filter back in and sliding the clips back on the first time you do it. Just play with it, and everything will go back in place. The second time you do it, it will be a snap.

As I said above in my post above, I live in a very dusty area and keep my heat and a/c on recycle. I would wait at least 2-3 years before changing it, longer if it's not dusty where you live. Before I would change it I would venture to say popping it out and vacuuming it or blow it out with air would suffice.

Good luck with yours.

 

$55 bucks. my little wrench thing is on in my car. do you have to go to the dealer to get that thing reprogrammed that it says you changed your oil? wtf! its where the odometer is when you start the car, it flashed for a few seconds then the miles come on?

 

Your owners manual tells you how to reset the FSS system.

 

Thanks Ben47.
I had that cover off when I installed my phone car kit. I guess I should have looked up.
I looked in the Crossfire service manual and they don't even list the dust filter.

 

What phone do I need to buy and what phone car kit would I need for use with my Roadster? Does anyone have a part number for the dust filter? TIA

 

Get a bluetooth phone and a Motorola IHF-1000 car kit. You will love it.

 

Thanks also Ben47, I was just getting ready to change the filter, so the pictures made it easier to locate.

 

i have my oil change done for free. they had some special when i was buying a car as long as you have a car. lifetime free oil changes and they use right stuff too.
not bad at all i guess.

 

^ as did i...free tires, oil changes, and car washes as long as i take it to one of the automotive group dealerships for service and warranty repairs.

this will save me at least $1,500 per year.

 

yeah, but you don't need to change the oil every 3k...so in the long run, it's about the same.

 

That is really the truth. Dealers will do that any chance they get. I had it happen with my last car. My friend had it happen with is '03 BMW M3.

 

My girlfriend had an m3 and I changed her oil every 8,000 miles and the engine built up with sludge and we had to trade it off. I have always changed my oil every 3,000 miles. A $100 every 3,000 miles is cheaper then rebuilding an engine.

 

For anyone interested in doing it yourself, I came across these instructions complete with pictures. This was for a MB SLK 320, which of course is the same as our XFire's.

http://www.slk32.com/pages/oilchange/oilchange.html