Possession supercar can be pricey, even if you have the means to do so. The Engineering and the parts that make these vehicles work the way they do can be shocking Dear. Take the fee one dealer charged the owner of a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren for brakes.
By co-creating the SLR, Mercedes and McLaren developed a fresh braking system called Sensotronic Brake Control. It was essentially a brake by wire system that eliminated many of the mechanical parts used in normal braking systems. Mercedes said the carbon-ceramic brakes are fade-resistant to temperatures up to 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit. They were massive, measuring just over 14 inches for both front and rear discs. The front ones exploit eight-piston calipers and the rear ones exploit four-piston calipers.
That’s right, the SLR cost almost half a million dollars when fresh, and fewer than 3,000 were produced. But still, it can’t be that pricey, right? Wanting to learn more, I called several local Mercedes dealers in Southern California to see if it would actually cost that much to repair the brakes on this supercar.
I started at a Mercedes in downtown Los Angeles. After almost 10 minutes of suspension, the service advisor came back and put me in a complex situation: the front brakes would work $67,219 while the rear ones would be slightly cheaper at $65,283. He also informed me that the rear brakes were out of production and they would have to order them from Germany. Wanting to be more convincing, I called another dealer.
I then contacted Mercedes of Beverly Hills, a dealer who should have quite a bit of experience selling SLR cameras. Oddly enough, I got a quote that looked like the SLR was any other Mercedes, as it quoted me prices of just $3,350 for the front and $1,858 for the rear. If this is true, it might be stealing, although I suspect the guy misunderstood me or something.
Since it didn’t seem quite right, I called Mercedes of Ontario who was content to support me. The customer service was excellent but went to another level when I told them about the car I was calling. Their prices are almost comparable to those in downtown Los Angeles: including parts and labor, it will be $64,840 for front brakes and $62,840 for rear brakes, or just under $128,000 for a full brake repair. Seems like this really is the going rate for a brake repair on one of these things, so the original Twitter poster actually got a good deal. Even if you have deep pockets, it’s still a sphincter-wrenching price.
