Your car never needs additional diagnosis? Or do you just sell your cars when they malfunction.

I want a technician and a shop that can fix everything, and I develop a relationship to support my requirements. Mike's Garage isn't that place, although they give great oil changes.

Edit: the topic was A and B services, not "an oil change and a tire rotation." Yes they need full diagnostics and training. I always emphasize "skill and information." Mike's Garage can't do a full A or B service.

 

If it needed additional diagnosis I would take it to the dealer. I have a great relationship with my dealer and my service writer, but when it comes to things like just an A or B service or brakes etc I'm not going to pay the dealer 3 times as much.

Its also not "Mike's Garage" its a Mercedes specialist shop owned and run by trained Mercedes techs who are also enthusiasts and consumers of the brand. The tech who usually works on my cars, Oscar owns a W222. They have Xentry These are not just any independent mechanics, my cars are very well cared for there. But, of course anything under warranty is going to go to the dealer, and in fact anything that Oscar and crew find that is a warranty issue they call up to the dealer and schedule it to go up there.

Its a HUGE savings. A service is $200 vs $500, B Service is $350 vs $800. Brakes I had done with all OEM parts for $2,100, dealer wanted $3,000 just for the pads, no rotors, so I got rotors and pads and saved $1,000.

 

Your MB dealer was ripping you off.

 

LOL, thats what the service costs. There are 5 dealers here, they're all very similar. Labor rates +/- $300 an hour.

 

We have the 19" tires on our 2024 GLE450. The 19" tires are all the same size but they have different front and rear offsets as well. Like the 20", can't rotate unless dismounted and remounted. Even worse, the 19" tires are unidirectional, so can't even rotate on the same axle.

 

LOL, have you ever met a dealership mechanic? They are a "mechanic" like the guy in the kitchen at Applebees is a "Chef"....no skill needed. This is what I have seen from MB, Porsche, BMW, Audi and others (via cars I have purchased new). I wont even trust Orlando, Gainesville or Jacksonville FL to change the oil in any of my cars. A trans service took three attempts in one of my E's....pathetic.

 

I disagree.
My chosen MB (dealership) shop sends their technicians to training at least annually. Their newest tech has been there two years. Most over five, and the longest 12+ (15?). Most are Masterc certified. I have conversed with several. They are impressively knowledgeable, conversant, and able to troubleshoot. One called me at home to drill down on a problem, which he fixed with my input. My Porsche techs are also impressive.
Yes, I have knowledge and the ability to assess tech qualifications. I was a tech (certified), a dealership Service Manager and General Manager.
They also make substantial investments in their tools. $10,000 is startup money for someone wanting to make a career.

I don't think anybody at Applebee's calls themselves a Chef. They just assemble a bunch of ingredients.
Assembling ingredients is an entirely different skill set than being a skilled, certified dealership technician.

 

Man, someone has talked to the sales team and has been drinking.....@mikapen

 

You are confusing technicians with sales people. Start over.

 

Sales always brags about service. More often than not they gave tours....as a reason to 'buy here'. When I got my Turbo S in Cali we had no such nonsense, shook my hand and I drove back to Chicago...where Barrington Motorwerks had TERRIBLE service. Warranty or otherwise.

 

I have spent a lot of time around dealerships, and seeing how inept the techs are at MB (and elsewhere) at tracking down and diagnosing things that I myself have tracked down, I don’t hold them in very high regard and see absolutely no reason to pay $300 an hour for them to change oil. Techs don’t even do that, oil change techs do which are about like they are at quick lube places.

Examples. I had a creaking seat. MB had it for a week, ordered parts and lubed everything. Gave it back to me “all fixed”. No change. In 15 seconds underneath I found the creak was caused by a carpet trim that needed to be pushed back clear of the seat rails. Solved. $0.

My S560 was in the dealer for a huge valve cover repair (found by my independent, not the dealer), they had it for a week and gave it back to me. On a road trip I found it was leaking serious oil, so I took it back. They pinched the gasket and had to do it over. Not impressive. Then they forgot to reinstall one of the heat shields and I had to take it back a third time.

My old Lexus. I had a bad data fault. They had it for 2 weeks ordered a head unit from Japan. Disassembled the whole dash, installed it. Gave it back to me “all fixed”. No change. I asked them if they replaced the SD card since the fault was a data storage fault. No. New SD card…all fixed. So all of that was for nothing.

I have several other stories.

Plus like we are discussing here, they try and screw us by recommending work that we don’t need. No independent has ever done that to me. I can always trust when they say it needs something, it needs it.

I have had cars damaged multiple times at dealers. Never once at an independent mechanic.

So, “the dealer” doesn’t mean much to me. I like the service and the nice dealer and the nice loaner, but I am confident I get better work for less with my specialist independents. “They send them for training” great, but they’re still not smart enough to actually poke around and diagnose a concern and instead just blast a parts cannon at the car.

Not saying all dealer techs are bad, but certainly not all dealer techs are good. I’m supposed to be more impressed with a tech that invests $10,000 in tools than a specialist who invests millions of dollars in his own shop? Takes on rent and build out and payroll and liability? That doesn’t compute to me.

 

@SW20S Amen

 

As I have posted on the GLS section, my service advisor gives me pricing for three different levels of service. Three weeks ago I got the basic 50k service that included the B service plus spark plugs, engine air filter & wiper blades for $1,067. I just received a promotional email (get the same email every month) that basic A service is $225 and battery replacement is $463. Last fall I was going to get a new battery since we had road trips planned and mine is five years old, but my service advisor talked me out of it saying battery could last another year or two. I believe pricing is reasonable here due to the competition of having two MB dealers within 20 miles.

 

Yes you should be impressed with a professional tech will spend $10,000 as a starter, and eventually triple or quadruple that amount as they invest in their trade to improve their efficiency.

An independent will have nowhere near the investment in facilities training licensing equipment and other overhead, that a dealer is required to make, ANNUALLY. If they've convinced you otherwise then, well...

Unless it's a one-person shop, an independent will also have employees. Each technician will also have his own 10 to $40,000 worth of tools and equipment, which, although you're not impressed with their commitment, is significant.

Someone renting a building and hanging a sign isn't a reason for me to go there. How much training do they give their technicians? Are 100% of them certified in their specialties? How many certifications does each one have? Who does the QC, and what are their certifications? Are each and every job QC'd?

Being independent is not a guarantee of superior service. It's just not a valid statement.

 

I think that's more the norm than the horror stories of people who don't go to the dealers and believe Facebook posts.
That's my experience as well, with my two closet dealers, although I prefer the one farther away.

 

If you your relationship with the dealership service department is adversarial, expect **** for service.

If you work with them as your closest ally in getting your car cared for, your chances of superior service are increased dramatically.

The dealer may not only be your closest ally - they are your only ally when it comes to dealing with warranty claims, adjustments, comps etc.

IMO it's a good idea to to cultivate that relationship.

And read the work order to make certain that it conveys your issue to the tech, before you sign and authorize the repair.

 

This makes zero sense lol. The tech you are using as an example is not responsive for all of the overhead or the dealership. The owner of a specialist shop is. Saying that I should use the dealer because the tech invested in tools but I shouldn’t use an independent where the owner invested in an entire business makes no sense. The comparison isn’t logical.

Of course being an independent is not a guarantee of superior service. I never said that, I said the independents I have found deliver me superior service than I get at the dealer. That’s 100% actuate based on my experience using both over the many decades I have owned cars. It is also absolutely true that simply being the dealership doesn’t guarantee superior or even competent service.

All the accreditations and whatever again didn’t help those moron techs solve my issues when I was able to solve them myself, so again I’m not impressed. You’re just never going to convince me that the dealers prices are worth it over a good well recommended specialist shop, because every experience I have ever had has shown me they aren’t.

 

Just posted on a Facebook W222 group I belong to. Another satisfied customer who paid $300 an hour to the dealer with all those accreditations only to have them
leave the old air filters in there.

 

Brought my wife’s GLE plug in hybrid for 10000mile Service A but should have read this thread first. Decided to go to dealer for added value of their expertise on battery management / best practices etc. For >500$ oil change I learned that MB service advisors know nothing about this hybrid - couldn’t tell me how many miles on battery vs combustion engine as that ‘wasn’t possible’ (even though app gives a % which must be based on those miles but no exact figures in app), couldn’t answer questions regarding best practice for max/min charge on battery, why model number of car is not accurate in app etc. they also charged me to ‘lube the charging port’ but then effectively pressure washed the car and had water in port area etc.

it is a good SUV so far but not much confidence in the dealers / support especially when I get gouged for fuel additives (learned about that in this thread, sadly too late to do any thing about it). Called tech support at MBUSA but that was unhelpful to say the least.

Hope to learn more via forum etc so I can avoid wasting time with MB dealer/support where possible.

 

Granted, my 13 e63 does not have quite as many electronics though it has every option for its year, my original battery lasted 11 years and the auxiliary battery lasted 12. Don’t replace a battery until you need and I’d always recommend a small battery booster (noco is what I use) in any vehicle because they’re not only helpful when a battery dies in your own car but you can also be a hero for many others. These newer cars really kill batteries when they’re not driven often so that’s when a trickle charger is recommended..

And to weigh into the mechanic debate, I find that there are different shops that are better for different levels of service. I’ve had good and bad experiences, and those have always been rectified by the businesses after the mistake is made, and I’ve not ever had any issues with dealer service, but it does take me pointing out exactly what I want because often times they don’t look outside of their own SOP‘s. such as anything else in life, you always get the best service/ result when you lay out your exact needs and wants and expectations ahead of time. I know I am more **** than the above average car owner so I state that upfront so they don’t treat me as the average. This conversation also plays into the importance of buying a car from a car guy or gal that is not too into mods, and more into preventive maintenance versus the unknowns that come with average service intervals and average service people. The simplest way to look at this is to not buy a car from someone who only fixes things that are broken but fixes things before they break. Some mechanics I’ve worked with did not love doing aggressive preventive maintenance especially if their shop was busy full of people with broken down cars so that’s where I’ve made sure to have a good mechanic for each occasion. Quality, price, speed are the order I class the mechanic shops. I never care how long it takes as long as it’s fixed correctly, but I’m not gonna pay one person double for the same quality result..

My car is currently at my local Benz dealer for what is probably a $10-$15,000 job and I first went to my Indy, but he didn’t want the work or complication. MB really was the better choice for this but I wanted to ask my Indy if he wanted the business. I find even just having that conversation creates a stronger relationship.. The dealership has something like 17 of their 19 as Masters…though I still had to lay out my exact issues with history and pics to make it a super smooth transaction.

Lastly, for most of us, cars are a very big investment, so it would behoove us to learn the basic inspection procedures, so we can observe and report to the people that become responsible to fix them correctly.

 

cough, I’m the neighbor kid, though I’m 46. My older Korean neighbor sees me working on my vehicles all the time so he hit me up for a brake pad swap a few weeks ago and I figured he would try to throw me 20 bucks but afterwards he said thank you and handed me a thank you envelope and when I opened it later had 200 in it. Totally unexpected and not needed. And in some ways, I think he just wanted to hang out while I did his brakes so he could watch and perhaps help. I’ve helped them out before jumping their vehicles or charging their batteries. I’m happy to help whoever needs or asks around the neighborhood and in this situation, it’s funny because we have to communicate through an app because he speaks very little English and I speak zero Korean But in twenty years in my neighborhood I’ve seen exactly three kids mow a lawn and zero others do any car maintenance and this is average middle income suburbs.

 

What did I miss? You blow it up?

 

I NEVER return to MB after my warranty is up. I may use them for free diagnosis while I enjoy their free coffee and snacks and then take the recs to my local indy guy for half the price!🤣

 

Yeah, that's the lube job you get in the showroom.

 

I purchase pre-paid service. The total cost is at a discount to the sum of the current price of the services included. And you avoid any future price increases.