as if we needed another reason to avoid that place like the plague... it seems as though they charge for work they dont do... back when my benz was still my grandmother's she took it there and they told her she needed new spark plugs... she asked the tech to show them to her and he pointed to the glow plugs... needless to say she left and never returned... thankfully this was her first time there and they didnt touch the car
http://mfile.akamai.com/12924/wmv/vod.ibsys.com/2006/0503/9152183.200k.asx

To be honest, that story just made my day. And it's only 6:45 in the morning!

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Adam Lumsden
(83) 300D
Vice-President of the MBCA International Stars Section

A similar story, when I went to get tires a few months back (Monroe), they told me that I needed a tuneup real bad. They said new plugs and wires would get rid of the loud knocking sound I was hearing. I should have let them do it, then made some money off those idiots...

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1989 300E 144K

My favorite story I've heard, not directly attributed to JL, was:

Woman takes car in for new tires.

"Ma'am, you need new brakes. They are dangerously worn. We're going to call the police if you don't let us repair them."

I only take in loose wheels/tires. I don't want my brakes inspected or anything else on the car. I don't want my lug bolts over-tightened or sheared off. I don't want my car wrecked dropping it from the lift or from being moved around the facility.

And I fear for my wheels.



Ken300D

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1982 300D at 351K miles
1984 300SD at 217K miles
1987 300D at 370K miles

hah! the woman should be the one calling the cops to pick those hacks and crooks up!

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'85 300D Turbo - CA Version

It's a sad commentary today.

The reason that it exists is the fact that 75% of the people who drive have no idea on how to open the hood. Therefore, they must trust the facility doing the work.

The chances of the facility getting caught in such a scheme is remote. It takes a diligent crew with sophisiticated equipment to positively prove that the service was not performed.

I'd avoid every one of the chains like the plague.

Wal Mart scares me as well for tire work and other auto need. I have purchase several tires from TireRack.com. I have been very pleased witht he tires and delivery. I have found a very nice indy shop in town. So far I have been very pleased with their work AND they charge less than Wal Mart for tire installation, plus I can make an appointment rather than guess when it can be done.

It took a few years for the State of Calif to nab Sears on the scam they were pulling, telling people they needed shocks, etc while their car was getting new tires, that sort of thing. My associate received a call from his wife who said Sears wanted to install new ball joints. He had recently changed them, so he said just tell them to wait until he could get there. He went in and they had a big wrench on the control arm and turned it while saying "see how its wiggling..." he said yes, you Dumaass its supposed to wiggle, those are Ball Joints, new ones at that and get the car down off the lift were taking it somewhere else from now on!

Several years later the news came out that Sears was caught doing this kind of thing. Preying on innocent people is pretty low but when its a company wide conspiracy its even lower! There was a trial after a long statewide sting operation and Sears lost when some of their employees testified against the company.

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

Well, if you don't know, find a way around it. What I don't know, I have people in the know to vet the answers. That or I find a way to make you accountable. I went to the hospital when I was injured. Doctor (if we can call him that) said I had a strained hip. Didn't want to do anything else. Called wife who was trauma trained and she talked to him. Finally she told me to STFU and get out of there. Went to her hospital and diagnosed by her friends to have broken bones in 3 places and urine bleeding and they ran a CAT scan on me. With my cars, I have several people I can call on to help me out in exchange for other favors. With my house, my friend had a contractor that ripped him off. I told my contractor that I could pay for it in cash but the money was coming from my parents overseas. Well, we agreed on me paying $3000 in interest and he would build it for me. I would accept it only if I got the money. IOW, if house sucks, my parents (the heavy) wouldn't give me a penny. My friend's father is a retired contractor to verify that it was good. These are the things I do to try to keep my butt virginal.

Or if you verify what they are doing or make sure they have a stake in the matter.

I use Jiffy lube all the time. When it is too cold and my truck won't fit in the garage I get them to do the service. I watch like a hawk. I also have a couple of them who are on my personal payroll so we do it after hours.

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

That's great! When these shysters put their foot in their mouths like that, I love it. Thanks for sharing the story.

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Just another dishonest moron ripping the public off! You know that this is coming from above. The charges show on the invoice so it is not like the employees at a particular location are pocketing the money. To me this is the worst kind of non-violent crime. You trust someone to do the right thing and they have an alterior motive.

Where has the integrity gone?

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Doug

1987 300TD x 3
2005 E320CDI

Trust is a dirty 5 letter word. IMO, you EARN my trust and not get it. I watch or no deal..

Who cares? It isn't there anymores and will not be back.

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

in the future cars wont have a hood relase lever.. why? because either its going to be all electric or the technology will be so overcomplicated and or advanced that only a trained pro can work on it.. and jiffy lube guys dont count.

During an internship at college I was working and taking classes. My internship was an hour away and I was putting on a lot of miles. I was a poor college student with a 1978 Olds Cutlass. My Cutlass need the back brakes changed (drums, shoes, and all) and for once I had some cash, but little time. I felt sort of dumb because I grew up working on cars and agricultural equipment, but I decided to take the car in to a Midas shop and have the rear brake done while I was in class.

I made an appointment and took the car in. Later I called to see if the car was done. I was told that brakes were not replaced and that they wanted to talk to me about the car. I went to the shop and I was presented an estimate for $905 of work to be done. The list included rear brakes, front brakes (rotors too), rear coil springs, and break cable. About two month earlier this car had the front brakes replaced. The rear suspension was a tad tired, but far from ‘sagging’, and the brake cable worked fine. I was furious with my experience of the ‘Midas Touch’. I left and I made the time to buy two used drums and have them turned, buy the shoes and springs, and do the work myself. Total…less than $80. As far as I am concerned….SCREW YOU MIDAS.

That experience as a big stake in the ground for me. I now do all auto repair that I can possibly perform myself and what I can not or am uncertain about doing myself I research as much as possible before someone else starts the billing hours.

The only thing I'd take my car in for would be tires, because it's kinda hard to change a tire without a machine. But I learned a lesson with this, too. Don't ever go to Walmart - for ANYTHING!! I just wanted 2 tires put on, was told a 30 min wait. After 2 hours they finally give me the keys, got out on the highway and couldn't go more than 30mph without bouncing the front end off. Turned around, told them they screwed up on balancing (I actually think they forgot to do it, because I didn't see any weights), and they made me wait in turn again, so I was there another hour. Boy was I pissed, but not half as pissed as the guy that came in to get an oil change while I was there the first time. They lost his keys. When I went back the second time he was still there, and the department manager (who was just a kid) was sitting in the parking lot right on the pavement with his face in his hands, looked like he was actually crying! Walmart didn't even want to pay for a locksmith to get the guy back on the road, they had to get special permission to even have that done. Don't know how the guy made out, because he was still there when I left the second time, but I think I would have sued, not that it would matter to Walmart.

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87 300D - Running on Veggie oil; 260,000 plus miles; Original #14 head