...run, do not walk, to Fairfax Service Center at Prosperity Avenue and Lee Highway. Mr. Sherbaf has consistently done right by me, and I will go to him for any Mercedes-Benz work that doesn't absolutely have to be done by a dealer. Even then, I will think twice about going somewhere else.

I have purchased vehicles at both ASC and HBL. I don't think I'll be going back to HBL anytime soon. I bought a Starmarked ML430 last year, and a month and a half after the purchase it was in for service. The service writer said "your brakes are down to 1/10th their original thickness, and are unsafe", at which point I felt compelled to ask "Are you in the habit of Starmarking unsafe cars?" All of a sudden the repair estimates got lower.

Most recently, when the ML was making clunking noises and running rough (needed a catalytic converter), I asked them to look at the harmonic balancers and poly-V belt while they were in there. They replaced a tensioner, but wound up having to do more work later after other bearings failed. I'm convinced they over-tightened the belt when they replaced the tensioner. The warranty came in handy that time.

On several occasions it has taken multiple trips to actually complete a repair that HBL supposedly did right the first time.

Mr. Lantzch ran a heck of a VW dealership at one time, but I still have a hard time thinking of HBL as a Mercedes-Benz shop. I have a VW, (Vanagon Syncro Westfalia) but I found an independent VW mechanic who knows more about it than the dealerships.

At least ASC is nice to you when you visit them. They generally haven't BS'ed me, and they're quick to say what can't be done. I have my issues with that attitude, but it's better than them blowing smoke and scrambling to keep their word later.

Having just ordered a CDI, I'm nervous about being back in the throes of dealer service all of the time, but I'm going to give ASC the benefit of the doubt. It took them a while to find the ECU problem with my '87 300E, but once it was fixed, it stayed fixed.