EddieGTP

There is something to be said about finding a local mechanic, who you can trust, as compared to a dealership who just wants to make immediate big money, rather than build up a customer support base.

Steve Clark

mbtech208

There are some trustworthy technicians working at dealerships too. They're not all out to rip you off.

Benzini

Not ALL of them, some have realized that retaining customers may in fact mean that they will have to work at it now that the reputation of the cars reliability is falling like a stone.
Go to a reputable independent any time. The dealerships are like the government, taking you for granted.

pointman

so true.

pointman

also true... too bad none of them are at my dealer. mbtech, too bad youre not near me...i would drive an extra few miles for your knowledge on the mb issues.

Krycheck

As someone that works in a new car dealer, I'll give my 2 cents.

I used to work at a dealer that was very busy about 5 yrs ago. Work was plenty. Every morning there was a line of cars waiting to be serviced. Sometimes it would take 1-2 hrs to take them in. We had some good customers, regulars who were happy with the treatment they got and the service we performed. We'd see some of them like clockwork for their services. But we went through some management changes and with that some personel changes. New service manager and service writers. The level of service went down along with customer satifaction. Now a few years later there's hardly any work to be done by 2-3pm. Why? Customers no longer saw familar faces that went along with the good service. Sure they could have gone somewhere else and paid less but they trusted the people who where taking care of them. Once they saw that special treatment that they recieved gone they took their business elsewhere.
And to make matters worse the customer that do come get raped every chance they get cause they're trying to squeeze everything they can get from who ever comes in.

Yeah there's dishonesty everywhere you go. I've seen it. But it always comes back to bite you in the ***. In this case it was your reputation.

Hope I didn't babble. I'm tired

amdeutsch

I can support Dave on this one. Yesterday I picked up my car from the dealer after getting it detailed for free, woohoo. I was privy to the following partial conversation between the service writer and a customer. The issue was a loss of AC on an out of warranty supercharged 16V (not sure on the model). An AC hose was broken. Appearently due to the MB installation design there was about 7 hrs labor plus parts. I heard a figure of ~$1500 for parts alone. The service writer provided the customer with options were to go for repairs. He explained to him that they had used this place for repair of this hose several times, but had to quit doing so because in a couple of cases the dealer wound up having to replace the supercharger. Therefore the dealer would from now on not get the hose repaired but would replace it with a new one. He gave the customer all the necessary info, pro and con, so that he could make an informed decision himself.

Benzini

I had that same problem with no less than TWO Benzes. For some INSANE reason, the cost of this piece of re-inforced rubber hose ($15.00 a foot at any specialized hydraulic store in the US) with its fittings (another $25.00) costs in the neighborood of a GRAND from Daimler-Daimler. Talk about major rip-off! NO EXCUSES please! Give us, semi-intelligent, non-elitist "little people" a break and stop taking us for complete idiots.

I both cases, I went to get the necessary bits at a local store and made my own, which never gave me any trouble ever since after 175K miles.

Jeeez.

Regards,

Benzini

eddieo45

well I'm gonna post this query here due to all the fine, upstanding, knowledgeable folks subscribed. My w202 ('00 C280 Sport) cel came on. I assumed it was the maf, and my trusted independant mechanic (owner of 3 MB's and servicer of many) had one in his shop. Different numbers but looked same, came off an ML. I took the car for a spin, punched it, and it coughed, sputtered and limped back to the shop. Put the old maf back in and it was fine. I bought a maf on ebay (with a PayPal money-bak guarantee!) of the correct model number, put it in myself, did the same test drive, and got the same result. Put the old maf back in and it's fine (cel still on, however). Can I deduce anything of value from this experiment? The computer that my tech plugged in (not an MB) indicated fuel mix malf, if that helps.

Fathead

o2 sensors????