Looking for trustworthy places to get a MB repaired

Star Tech seems like a good place. I've never had anyone by myself work on my car so I don't have any personal experience with any independent shops. They always have cars waiting to be worked on and look pretty clean and organized.

http://www.startechmercedes.com/

Alan Marks runs a shop called "Diesels Only" - I only had some minor stuff done there, but he's a nice guy and knows diesels, Mercedes included. He's around Alameda and I-25...

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1987 Mercedes 300SDL; SOLD
1985 Mercedes 300D; SOLD
2006 Honda Pilot - wife's ride; 122K;
1995 Toyota Land Cruiser - 3X locked; 182K

Alan S. Marks is one of the WORST people on the face of the earth. I worked there for 6 months, I could not stand him or the grease covered floors. I took the first job offer that came my way.

I love the core idea of the shop but Alan has run it into the dirt. I'd take my car to grease monkey before I'd look at him again.

EDIT: During my time there, they used the dyno for emissions testing knowing it was not working properly (Stuck on full load all the time.) They judged the smoke opacity % by eye every time since the computer would not read right with the defective dyno.

GERMAN AUTO off of W Colfax and Simms
BEST service center I have delt with.

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1983 Mercedes 300SD
1987 Mercedes 300SDL
2001 VW Passat 2.8 AWD
2007 OM642 Jeep WK 4x4

thanks guys. I went to Star Tech most of the time, but I was wondering if there were other less expensive options. I'll try that last one out.

I have used Al's ******** for any major repairs over the past ten years. The three Mercedes dealers in the metro area outsource to his shop and he is very reasonably priced. I have never had a problem with any work he has done. He's at 2001 South Dahlia, 2 blocks north of I-25/Evans.

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2001 E320
1991 350SD 265,000 - SOLD
2000 VW Beetle 1.8Turbo - restored
1997 E320 - SOLD
1988 190E - SOLD
1969 Mustang - SOLD

ooo, I forgot about him. He has some VERY nice MB's for sale.

Try Pro Star on south broadway. They do a good job.

I've used Star Tech for some bigger stuff too. I have my local MB guy do smaller stuff, or I just DIY. Star Tech just finished replacing my IP and restoring my AC system to R-12. They also installed my reman. transmission a couple of years ago. Sometimes you do get what you pay for.

What kind of work are you trying to have done?

need a new engine put in

I don't mean to turn this into a gripe-fest, so if you want the reader's digest version, please scroll down to the end of my post.

I used to take my diesel to Al's ********, but I found that when I quit taking it to him, the car quit requiring $300 fixes every other month. I don't know if it was correlation or causation, but I'm not taking my chances. Besides, once I learned enough to tell, I noticed that he only changed fuel filters once a year, or when they turned REALLY black. (I've come to change them with the oil)

I've taken my 560SEL to StarTech for the few things beyond my abilities (ie suspension) and all and all, I don't feel I got my $'s worth. I had some stearing linkage work done including a new alignment, and the car is a tad on the rough side at 80mph. And before anyone says anything about tires, I'm running 4 brand new Michelins. Yes, I took it back and they looked at it again and told me they couldn't find anything wrong...

The other detraction I have with StarTech is on one invoice for repair, the tech had scribbled "Noted nasty smell underneath, rearward of engine" At the time I was chasing down a transmission leak and the "nasty smell" was simply tranny fluid. I'm fearful of any tech who doesn't know what each fluid smells like. "Hmmm... It's red and smells sorta like cat-piss... I wonder what that could be" I'm just a DIY'er and I know that... It depends on the tech. You can hit-or-miss. When I had a fuel pump relay go out -- stranding me, I was disappointed at how long it took for them to trace it down, and all the obviously wrong paths they went down and then charged me for (at about $100/hr). The only good thing is that they didn't start throwing parts at the problem but actually troubleshot the problem.



Reader's Digest:

Al's ******** -- Will not darken their doorstep again. Will not purchase a car he's maintained again.

Startech -- Hit or miss. If you get a good tech, they're okay IMNSHO. If you get a bad tech, they just suck. You pay the hourly rate either way. Sandar didn't finance those buildings out of thin air.

Riverside (Ft. Collins) -- Worst thing they ever did was strip my drain plug. Took it back to them and they made it right. Smile and a handshake kind of place.

Sorry I don't have any stellar recommendations for you in the Denver area... Thats why I became jaded and bought my own tools and started doing most of the work myself. As for putting in an engine, not being equipped to do this myself, I'd probably open the wallet and take it to StarTech.

I think it's called German Motors. At least it's the only place I can find that is on Colfax and Simms

http://www.germanmotors.net/index.html

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B
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1983 300SD

I have been using this shop off of north Santa Fe in Denver.

Sandor (the owner) is a great guy and the work is top notch.

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1985 300D Turbo 332k Miles (daily driver)
1987 300SDL Turbo 320k Miles (needs new head)
1968 International Scout 800 V8 119k Miles (garage queen two years and counting)
2005 Kia Optima (backup car) 36k Miles (accident )