heres my scoop on both....

started going to arisocrat back when i was 16... 10 years ago... at the time we had a 79 300d always serviced their.... as well as our 1994 e320..... i remember the days when we were getting ford astrovans... escorts... areostarts... and chev geos.... everyonce and awhile we would get an old 190e... spend 50K on a car and you get a loaner thats worth 1/4th of yours... its a good thing they hooked up with enterprise... but the bad thing with that is your car has to be still under warranty to recieve a free loaner... and when i used to go their... i believe you also had to have purchased the car from them.... (2nd part may have changed...)

for the most part... during id say.. 94 to 2000ish.. their service department was outstanding.. top notch.. paid full attention to detail.... but then i started to notice things that i had taken the car in for... had not been taken care of..... or fixed properly for example... i dont exatly remember what my car was taken in service for... but they forgot to fasten tightly the throatal linkage... so i went to the store later on that day after picking up the car.... and all of a sudden i had lost reverse... could only drive forward....

(this is going to be long)... ive got several things that come back to mind.... i took the 94 in one time because the engine was rattling noise.... (think it ended up being the motor mounts).... but they lost my tow cover.... one excuse my SA said is it must have been lost when i got the car towed up their... which was bull ****... because i drove it up their.... and i would have noticed that it was missing... i notice everything on my cars.... they said they would replace it... and that it would come in the following week... one week became 2... 2 became 3.... and i just ended up buying a new one myself... the thing that bothered me the most was i had probably spent close to 2 grand that month in parts and service for my cars... and they could not replace a 30-40 dollar tow cover that they misplaced...

another incident this time with my 02 w203... noticed my outside temperature gauge was not working properly... reading 110- 120 outside temp... the SA looks down at the therm in the front bumper and notice that it was not their... said that "looks like a rock or something hit it.... (which was also another excuss he used for my lost tow cover on the w124)... said that the job my not be covered under warranty... only way to find out is take the car apart and see how and why the therm is not in its proper place.... (ended up taking the car to jw.. they fixed it under warranty, no questions asked....)

another prob i had with the service department is... i locked my keys in my w203 with the keys in the ignition... and the car on... i called tele aid around 630 for help in getting the car unlocked... thought they could use the gps sat to unlock my car.... ended up that you can not because the key is in the ignition and the car is running.... mb tele aid called the local mb road side service guy.... and "tried" too dispatch him to help me unlock my car.... 700 rolls around... didnt hear from him... 730... then 800.. finally call mb tele aid again and finally the aristocrat Roadside guy calls me.... he states that he can not open the car... and suggests that i go get my other key... so i end up gettting a ride..... and arrive back at my running locked car around 930-10..... (bad snow storm in kc.. had to drive slow) get my metal key out and attempt to use it to unlock my car...... it didnt work!!!! it worked on my trunk.. but not my driver door.... about 10:30 i call tele aid back again..... told them the story.... they try to dispatch the aristocrat RSA guy to help me out... took him approx 30 to call me back.... and he suggested that i just break my window.... i actually attempted too.. but i couldnt do it.... to make a long story short..... the same guy who suggested that i go home and get my other key... same guy who suggested that i break my window... same guy who said he could not open my car... arrive to my location at approx 1:30-2am...... from the time he arrived... to the time he left... was probably 5 minutes tops... he went to my car... pulled on the top left corner.. slid some plastic peice in my car and unlocked it..... i didnt get home until probably 3 am that morning...

well thats my story about aristocrat... essentially the jerry maguire story... i think they are getting to big.. and not caring about the little things anymore.... but who knows... things may have changed... they are under new ownership now.... the 3rd in the last 10 years or so...

as far as jay wolfe..... i actually have 2 of my cars going in their later this week.... i like the fact that they give free loaner cars for any car you bring up their for service... thats a plus... regardless if you purchased it their or not.... i like the fact that the SA's are curtious and friendly..... but, ive noticed that JW charges for just about everything... arisocrat would always change my snow tire on my cars for me for free if the car was up their for some other service..... got charged something along the lines of $200s by jw... the oil change prices are also noticably higher... aristocrat charges 59 for synthetic were as the last time i was in jw charged 89 or so....

i have been overall impressed and pleased with service at jw so far....

only flaws thus far are.... the last time my w203 was in for service.... got my car back with no working gear shifting lights.... and damage to my leather base around the gear shifter.... along with the oil change... the other two things are supposed to be taken care of.... well see how that all goes on wednesday....

also later on this week... my w124 is coming up for an oil change and im having them look at some funny nosies my car has been making since i had my head gaskets and radiator replaced by them in march.... my 300d mechanic stated that it sounds like the "cam timing adjuster" was not timmed properly.... whatever the noise is... i know it was not their before jw replaced the head gaskets... and it popped up after replacement..... i know im not going to be a very happy camper if they try to charge me to fix this!!!

so... in closing.... ill probably never go back to aristocrat....... and depending on how this week goes...... i may or may not be going back to jw...... if things arent taken care of to my pleasings..... i just may end up taking all of our cars the our 300d mechanic.....

Morrie's Auto Sales & Repair LLC
935 Kansas Avenue
Kansas City, KS 66105
Office 913-281-5300 Fax 913-281

a little mom and pops shop that specializes in MB that has been open for some 20 years......

anyways..
ive got the 02 white c240 badged as a c24 and the two tone green 94 e320. hope i have answered your questions... if you have an specific questions about service at either places... let me know... ill be more than happy to give you my honest oppinion..

-charles carino