Hans Ertl

I actually bought my S600 from him last year. It's just a garage behind, what I believe is, his Mom's house. It's not a bad drive. Maybe take a spin up there to check it out. But I don't think he's there full time.

shooffnyc

Well I reside in NorthWest Arkansas right now. I had plans to visit NYC middle of May for my brothers wedding and I have plans to go up there if I don't hear back from him. I just hope that I can get in contact with him before then and make sure the engine is not in pieces so I can drive it back.

Hans Ertl

Good Luck!

shooffnyc

Thanks. I have nothing against him and we had a good discussion in December where he explained to me what his plans were- which was to bring most of the cnc fabrication in-house so he doesn't have to rely on others. And he expressed his continued interest in trying to take on this project. So we ended on a positive note. I am not sure what came into him since then. I'm still trying to be hopeful. Let's see what happens.

Girly_tt

Try calling with a spoofed local number? Sorry to hear this happening.

Is there a regional section on this forum? Maybe try posting to see if there's anyone local to him that can drop by?

shooffnyc

LoL. Tried all that and more. No response.

Girly_tt

His shop is located at his mom's house, so, plug the address into Google and see if you can get her name and number? And maybe try calling her?

shooffnyc

I'll try that. Thanks!

ZephTheChef

I was going to suggest you get in touch with Hans and Emilie since they are more in the area...but looks like they both beat me to it anyway. *Late to the party*. Sorry to hear about your trouble, I was looking forward to the outcome of this project. Hopefully you get in touch pretty quickly!

Girly_tt

We aren't anywhere close, unfortunately. Otherwise I'd be happy to help if we were. It's like 7 hours or something from us. It was a 2 day drive, with a stay over in Boston for us when we bought our s600 from him.

ZephTheChef

Wow, no idea it was that far. I thought everything NE was like 6 minutes apart.

Girly_tt

We are straight west of NYC... Maine is like... Canada. Lol

tusabes

Dealing with a guy with a side business shop at his moms house isn't likely to turn out well

i wouldn't be surprised if your car has been parted out

amstel78

FWIW, I emailed w220repair a month ago trying to inquire about a few things. Never got a response. Hope you get this resolved soon.

shooffnyc

Thanks for that info amstel78. Yesterday I stumbled across one of the Facebook page he 'used' to manage. So I msged the page and someone who knows him responded. He said he'll pass the message onto him. Let's see how that goes.

shooffnyc

Got a big relief. I was able to get in contact with him. He is out of the country at the moment. He'll be in touch with me when he gets back.

Jack_88

Oh, thank God.

DrDoe

This is the 21st century. Facebook as the way to communicate. I think I need to look into a Facebook account. LOL.

amstel78

Glad you heard back, but at the same time, a good business owner should take it upon themselves to notify customers in due time if there's going to be any deviation to agreed upon plans. Leaving you in the dark to worry and wonder just smacks of negligence. I honestly hope the wait and effort was worth it. Good luck and keep us posted.

amstel78

Exactly. How about a quick "don't worry, I'm gonna be out of the country for a bit but I didn't forget about you" message to the customers. Wouldn't have taken more than 5 minutes with today's technology. All the worry the OP went through could have been avoided.

Just saying.

tusabes

I've heard the "in the hospital " and "out of the country " excuses before . They are rarely true . I hope this is one of the rare exceptions

amstel78

If not, the tried and true phrase "you'll be hearing from my lawyer" generally tends to get the ball rolling again.

shooffnyc

So I drove up to Maine today and met up with Ryan who's been trying to work on the headers. I decided to let him explain what's been happening and why this project has been taking so long. In conclusion, the project is still a go.

shooffnyc

With a heavy heart, I bring unfortunate news that after almost one year, this project is unsuccessful and has come to a halt. The current shop who took upon this project to fabricate headers could not do it.

I just sold the S600 today, after only driving it for 5 months and having it sit at the shop for 11 months.

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On another note, I am in contact with TG Sasaki in Japan, the guy who made the F1 manifolds for this car. He might hook me up with a good deal just for the headers alone. But before I pursue this, I am searching for a reliable performance shop who can install the headers, and fabricate rest of the exhaust. I am hoping to avoid my last experience.

Anyone have any suggestions?

AlexMercedes

That's a real bummer, sorry it didn't work out. Hopefully you will get the real headers for a good price, and hopefully everything will go well this time and finally get that sweet f1 sound! I wish you luck