Moderators - I am posting this as a reply to the above info; please advise if this should go in another section.

Hi, I'm kinda new to this board and while browsing noticed you made mention of Helmut & Vito. Can I assume this is the same repair facility in Westmont, IL (Chicago)?

I lived in Chicago until about 6 months ago. In the fall of 2000 I brought my 560SEL to Helmut & Vito to replace the valve stem seals, due to excessive oil consumption and fouled spark plugs (had to replace every 2 to 3 weeks). Over the phone, the "owner" (don't know if it was Helmut or Vito) quoted me $300 for the repair, but repeatedly insisted a valve stem seal replacement wouldn't fix the problem; he said I would need a complete valve job and that replacing only the seals was a waste of time. I took this as a poor attitude from a mechanic who hadn't even seen my car yet. Anyhow, I had already done the preliminary inspection on one valve and determined that my guides and valves were OK - on this particular valve the seal was visibly brittle and cracking. So I guess I should have heeded the warning signs, but I didn't...

Helmut & Vito agreed to do the job for me after I specified that I wanted the valve stem seals replaced ONLY - no other work to be performed. When I called to arrange having my wife pick it up (I was in NYC), the bill was $800. I asked why? If I recall correctly, he said when he opened the car up there were a couple loose bolts that he had to remove and rethread. Though he couldn't specify which bolts in particular. Anyway, I was incensed because I specifically told him not to do anything outside of my original request before calling my cellphone and authorizing with me first. Which he clearly did not do. His response was, "OK, then let me remove the bolt I put in there!" I told him never mind, had my wife write out a check for $800, and she took the car home as they were closing up for the evening and he had waited around after hours so she could pick it up.

My wife told me the car was running rough, and I figured it was something minor (her translation of automotive problems isn't always spot on). But when I got back to Chicago I noticed the car was running TERRIBLY - I mean TERRIBLY!!! It wasn't misfiring or anything, but it was idling extremely rough and performing with far less power than when I brought it in - at some points it would barely stay alive. I called Helmut & Vito the next day and the person who answered the phone seemed familiar with the car - he told me "see - you should have had the full valve job done; replacing the seals was improper and that is why your car is now running poorly." After an in-depth half-hour long discussion It was clear they weren't going to work with me here. In my opinion they were trying to teach an educated MBZ owner that nobody escapes a high Mercedes repair bill. I was disgusted - I've been to all sorts of similar mechanics who try to teach you a lesson if you try to do things without indiscriminately spending big bucks.

My car did NOT need a valve job, just a valve stem seal replacement. It idled like glass when the plugs weren't fouled, and passed the IL emissions test with flying colors. I just didn't have time to do the job myself since I spent the week in New York on business. Not only was I sorry for not having done the repair myself, but now my car was messed up for who knows what reason. For all I know, they could have done something to it to teach me a lesson (I've had that done by know-it-all mechanics before). I realize that some mechanics don't like you telling them how to do their job, and can appreciate the thinking behind that mentality, but in my case I specifically told them what I wanted done - nothing more, nothing less. And they did not honor my wishes. So guess what - I stopped payment on my $800 check to them. They called once to speak to me, and then dropped the issue. I renewed the stop payment 6 months later as required by my bank, and never went back to Helmut & Vito. I ended up selling the car at a loss on Ebay - a tragedy! Looking back - maybe that wasn't the best thing to do, but as far as I could see, they weren't going to work with me to rectify the problem (they blamed it on my "cheap" approach and assured me nothing they did could make the car run so poorly), and now my car was actually worse than when I brought it to them. So from my perspective, they owed me money, not the other way around.

The moral of the story (in my experience) is: avoid Helmut & Vito's like the plague!!!

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08 W251 R350
97 W210 E320
91 W124 300E
86 W126 560SEL
85 W126 380SE Silver
85 W126 380SE Cranberry
79 W123 250
78 W123 280E
75 W114 280