hey does any know of a good mechanic to take care of my Schedule B service . had the oil and filter changed bout 300 miles ago. but , i never had the FSS reset. im in hillsborough county.

 

As to FSS reset, you may be able to do it yourself. First, check your owner's manuals - instructions for your car may be there. If not, see https://mbworld.org/forums/mercedes-tech-talk/173342-2006-r500-fss-reset-service-procedure-secret-menu-procedure.html. With any luck, you may be able simply to select the FSS readout (on the next service menu) on your instrument cluster, then push & hold the "R" button on the instrument cluster and hold it for several seconds. However, as you'll see, it can be more complicated.

I have no experience with an independent in this area, but you have three dealerships - Lokey in Clearwater, which one local forum contributor rates pretty highly; Mercedes-Benz of Tampa, north of Raymond James stadium on Dale Mabry (same contributor gave mediocre ratings to them); and Crown Eurocars in St. Petersburg (I have no experience with them).

 

thanks, man i just moved down from ny and i always had a independent that took great care of both my benz and my range , and going back to a dealer is like ugh! but ill check them , btw you ever hear about cars and concepts inc? off hillsborough?

 

I have not heard of them, but don't let that count for much. We were here in the mid-'90's, kept a vacation home here since 2003, and moved down permanently in September '06. Would be interested in your experience with independents in this area. Clearwater (Lokey) is a long drive from where I live.

I did find these reviews on Cars and Concepts - on Manhattan Avenue, which is a few blocks west of Dale Mabry, just north of Raymond James Stadium, and a few blocks south of W. Hillsborough. Be sure to read them all; one of them would be very disturbing if it had been my car, but most results were very positive. http://bimmer.roadfly.com/bmw/forums...5430756-1.html

 

I visited and talked to Michael LaMonte of Mercedes Complete. Both Michael and Jim seemed knowledgable and both have dealership experience. I have NOT had any work done there yet, but plan on doing my Service B there soon. If you end up going there, please post your experience here. I got their number from the Tampa Bay MB Club leaflet given away at Lokey Mercedes in Clearwater.

4411 N. Lois Ave.
Tampa, FL 33614
(813) 870-1250

-esprit

 

thanks ill give them a look ...

 

Speaking from experience, I do not recommend you have your vehicle serviced at Lokey Mercedes in Clearwater. They recently put new tires on my car and did not even take the time to balance them. I didn't realize it until I was a few miles down the road and the steering wheel nearly shook itself off the steering column. I drove to my local Goodyear shop and paid ~$250.00 to have them balance and align the wheels. Two of the wheels did not even have weights!!

Funny thing is...the independant shop also found a defective (out-of-round) tire when they performed the road force test. When I returned to Lokey to exchange the tire, the technician wanted to see the out-of-round condition for himself. I watched as he tried to figure out how to use the road force balancer (not sure of the correct name of the machine). When he got to the step where he was supposed to put air in the tire, he didn't know what to do (honest truth)!! He commented to me that "We never perform this road force test. We just balance them."

On another occasion, I took my vehicle in for service and reported several problems including that the 12V passenger receptacle was not working. Yes, I checked the fuse before reporting the problem. When I picked up the car a few days later, the tech's comments said that the 12V receptacle fuse was missing. As I said, there were other problems that I was more concerned with and did not think to check the receptacle at that time. Several weeks passed when I finally needed to use it. And wouldn't you know...it didn't work.

So I took my car back to them last week and reported the 12V problem again. This time they replaced the center console. I had to leave my car with them for 3 1/2 days (it was 2 days before they even started working on it), but the 12V receptacle now works. Seems like it was more than just a missing fuse.

I could give you more examples of their poor service; however, I will leave it at that. I'm going to take my business to Crown Eurocars in St. Pete from here on out. I've visited Crown a couple of times and they seem honest and willing to diagnose/fix a problem, rather than just avoid it.

I hope that by sharing my experiences it will keep some of you from having to deal with the same problems. Bottom line is...be very careful when taking your vehicle for service at Lokey Mercedes Service.