Johnny Bravo

Checking in for the first time to get your help and advices. I fell in love(??) with my white sl 500 with sand beige interior but she does not stop requiring my undivided attention...lol. I bought my dream car about 6 months ago from a local Infiniti dealershipin for $17,500 out the door, in an immaculate condition in and out with 68K miles. Car fax indicated it had been maintained by MB dealership in CA. Since I Only had to replace SBC...

Question 1: what are some things I need to look for when replacing the shock for the front, driver side shock? Last week, due to a creaking noise from the front driver side I went in and replaced 3 bushings in the front and a tie rod (passenger side front), today I am quoted to replace the shock on the driver side to completely eliminate the noise from the front driver side. My Indy mechanic charged me $990 for the 3 bushings, wheel alignment and a tie rod last week and today he is charging me another $1,100 for the shock replacement.

Question 2:Other than the above issues, the car rides, well looks fantastic, no leaks, so far no other issues ...I see an overflow oil ABC reservoir no warning signs though, car runs fine (shofar..) any issues?

Question 3: Should I keep it to get some mileage out of the repairs or just bid a farewell before the summer is over?? I had planned to maintain it to keep it for another 3 years or to 100k miles.

If you rec I keep her, then Do you know of any mechanics in NYC who I can rely on servicing my car continually ?

Thanks very much for your input and comments.

MJ50

moved to R230 forum...

next2pool

I wouldn't get too discouraged yet. Sometimes you have to get a few of these problems out of the way. The overflow of the ABC reservoir could signal a bad accumulator but even so, those are normal issues and not all that expensive. I hope the front strut really is the cause of the noise - I haven't heard or read of a strut causing the creaking noise before. I have a 2003 with just over 60K miles and so far have had to replace the ABC pump which cost me around $600 and I did it myself. That's ben it for 2 years now so I can't complain.

Johnny Bravo

Many thanks for your insight & sharing next2pool!! Your comment is helpful.

Here is the update...yup, it was the front strut (so I was told by the indy mechanic) and the noise is gone (for now). He replaced just the driver side strut.

Question 1: what is the difference between shock and strut ? He said I needed a new shock but the invoice reads strut replacement...

Question 2: Is it mechanically necessary to replace struts be in pairs? dealers only replace the broken side under warranty. I could not have him do both front struts (even though it is the best oractice do then in pairs) since it has cost me so much (I just shelled out $1,200 for the work).

Question 3: He also stated ABC bleeding was done, How can I check if the work was done properly? Will it stop the overflow? I still see oil residue on top of the resovoir..will monitor.

Question 4: What are some of things I need to monitor and watch out for ?

This shows how little I know about cars, let alone my Sl. I want to repair problems but paying for a decent work. When I have to go to the same mechanic repeatedly for the same issue ...I am nervous about being taken advantage of, problems continues or repairs leading to a new problem .....