I had posted this in the west LA thread but thought this thread was better.

Part of the criteria for a good mechanic is that it is hard to spend money with them or at least feels as that is the case. They should never suggest frivolous work yet stay ahead of the necessary maintenance. They should know clearly the dividing line between what they should already know versus what is the next step is to a problem solution. They should never guess and just throw parts at a unknown solution. On one hand telling everyone about a great service shop can make it harder to fit into a ever tightening schedual but part of the criteria once again is managing expectations so still getting great service independent of the work load is also necessary. When you get great service tell him Duncan said Hi.

I wanted to add my vote for Hamel at Marina Benz in Marina Del Rey as trustworthy and able to correctly solve problems even obscure ones. He has done so several times for my 85 300TD when no one else even had a clue. Rabbit out of a hat doesn't begin to describe it. I was going to give up on an otherwise great car. He is Mercedes factory certified and been working on MB exclusivley for 30 years. Every time I'm there there seems to be a steady stream of loyal customers who come by all of whom swear by his service.

I drove from San Francisco for my latest needs with the added bonus of a very fair price for reliable work. He's the best!

I had previousl thought driving from San Francisco to Mountain View was a lot for my Porsche mechanic but Tony Heyer at Heyer Performance is the best my 85 911SC and if I lived in down in southern California I'd drive north for anything beyond simple maintenance.