WOW, you won't be working on my car anytime soon.

From my experience;
1) Indys do not follow the "book time" for the said service. They always charges more time, so at the end even when the hourly rate is $20 less per hour...the total labor ends up to be the same or more than the MB dealer.

2) Indys charge MB dealer MSRP price for parts they install, BUT they install aftermarket OEM parts (not OE parts from the dealer)...so I feel I get really ripped off (I could get the same part online with 50-70% discount, so that's a really BIG markup). If he was to install actual OE parts from the dealer, than I wouldn't have mind.

For repairs I can't do myself, that's why I prefer to take my car back to the dealer for servicing. Till I found this Indy shop which allows me to bring in my own parts, so I can actually save some money. They repair only European cars, Mercedes, Porsche, BMW, Lamborghini, Ferrari. So they know what they are doing.

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85' 190E w/collector plates

Yeah, us "grease monkeys" have nothing better to do than spend time giving estimates to people like you who think we are below lawyers, doctors, and politicians.

I can smell your kind a mile away, and since it's a free country, I decline to work on older euro cars for new clients because they mostly want to have the cachet of driving a BMW, MB, Jaguar ect on a shoestring budget.

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"I was a dirty bird, Carol's not grungey - she's *****in" John Milner....American Graffiti

You can't bring uncooked eggs and ham to the local diner can you?

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"I was a dirty bird, Carol's not grungey - she's *****in" John Milner....American Graffiti

You haven't travel much, have you. There are places that allow you to bring your own food, they'll cook them for you & just charges you labor for their services.

Did you hear what I am saying!

I am not all about cheap, I want quality work & willing to paid for it. But don't want to get ripped off.

They are charging me MB dealer MSRP price for aftermarket parts!!!!!
If they install OE MB dealer parts, than I would not have any issue with it.

Meaning:
1) Labor is the same/more as the dealer.
2) Price for parts is the same as the dealer, BUT I get aftermarket parts.

NOW, WHY would I take my car to the Indy!!!
But if the Indy is competent & I could save some money...than hell yes.

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85' 190E w/collector plates

most of the time i do bring oe parts, and it was one instance..

80$ for an air filter change.. on an 93 300CE? are you kidding me? he said it was an ABSOLUTE need so i had to do it.. and i didn't say anything about all mechanics, im willing to spend alot if the price is right/fair.

That's ridiculous. I've been around the world and sorry but I don't think that kind of thing exists outside of the argument you're trying to make here.

If your local independent is using aftermarket parts, then you should locate another shop! That's a sign that they don't quite know what they are doing. Aftermarket parts are bad and good technicians realize this and avoid using them. Upcharging an aftermarket part will end up costing as much as a dealer part before an upcharge, so I don't see any ripoff aside from the fact that an aftermarket part was used to begin with. If the tech used a dealer part he would upcharge it as well.

It is often the case that independent mechanics are former dealership techs who have specific training and extensive experience with the brands of autos they repair. In the case of older autos, a dealer can be much more expensive than an independent, and sometimes lack the expertise required to do a good job with the older autos. Just because they are old cars doesn't mean they are not difficult to work on. Experience is not retroactive. That's why you should have a competent indy work on your older MB.

Working on cars for a living isn't for wimps, and I respect those who do it well. They deserve their shop rates for a job well done. If you have ever busted your knuckles open freeing rusty bolts or strained your back stooping over an engine for hours on end you would understand. Those are just two examples of the hardships of being a auto mechanic. Having to get it done well and quickly is much more difficult than people realize, and nobody takes into account the hidden costs of being in that business.

One of these days there won't be anyone around who knows how to troubleshoot and repair anything.

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'02 BMW 325i
'85 300D 450k
'93 190E 2.6 170k(killed by tree)
'08 Ducati Hypermotard 1100S 6k
'06 Ducati S2R800 14k(sold)

I am being sarcastic & you think I am being rude. But it was he that use this example to argue, I am just replying.

From experience I have done it (in Hong Kong, China, Thailand), bought food (live seafood, vegetable, fruit) from these shops & took them to restaurants next door/near by. They cook them for you & just charge you a fee.

I tried three Indy shops, they all know their stuff & do good work. Two install aftermarket parts, but charge as if they installed dealer parts. One actually let me choose (dealer or aftermarket), this one also allow me to supply my own parts. I could get 15% off parts from the dealer, so I am sure these Indys with their volume they could easily get 30+% from the dealer. I think the 1st two are just greedy, they want the extra 50-70% on parts....30+% is not good enough.

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85' 190E w/collector plates

Since setting up shop I charge a rate of $50/hour and mark parts up 10%. I will shop around for parts and let the customer know where the parts are sourced from. On jobs that are going to take more than about 4 hours I will typically try to come up with an agreed (with owner) upon flat rate.

A recent example was a VW tdi timing belt job. Initially the owner asked for an estimate and I told him between $500 and $750 because I had never done one on a tdi. The job came in at four hours and the total bill was $465 (parts and labor). Customer was happy and I was able to make a little money on it. Right now I am not charging for time spent researching/reading and studying up on the jobs that I am performing but I do spend a lot of time reading/studying the various cars.

The jobs I hate to see roll in are transmission issues on lifetime fill applications knowing that if I service the transmission they may not have one within a month. I have turned a couple of BMW's (with the ZF transmission) away because of this. PPL DO NOT save money by NOT having these lifetime fill transmissions serviced. There is one customer right now that just recently lost reverse. I turned the job down and gave him the phone number of a place in ATL that will rebuild it for him.

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Jim

Confession: First couple of jobs were botched.
Reality:
1. They were botched but not expensive to correct. Once learned how to do things properly not botched a job yet.

1 little true story:
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Went for rear brake pad replacement on my 420sel, labor charge $150(2 hour), pads - $60 at indy, $55 at dealer.
It was mistake i didn't ask estimate beforehand as i "TRUSTED" him from previous small job.
I was there while he did job in 20 minutes, when i argued about labor charge,
He told i should be ashamed for arguing because he invested in tools.
- He wanted all his investment of tools from one job and more, Charged me more then dealer for aftermarket part.
Lesson learnt: No further business from me and my friends, review of what happened online on consumer websites
Went online, learned how to do job myself since then i changed all brake pads on all my cars.

I can go one with all these stories for all indy that i used so far and it's not less then 7. One time or another felt cheated.

I have used MR MB once, and will say his "Insistence" on part replacement at his shop, but to give credit, He was cheaper then others, Can be trusted more then others as long as you don't fell in trap of part replacement.

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1) '04 S500 Gold/Beige......120k Miles
2) '93 300E 2.8...Green/Tan MBTex..........202k Miles(and going)
3) '89 420SEL...Light Blue/gray Leather....155k Miles (Retired )

ok, shame on you for not getting the estimate, but shame on him for charging 2 hrs. for rear pads. book says 1 for pads only, 1+, sometimes 2 for pads and rotors. and, shame on him for doing it in 20 minutes. doing the real job of pad replacement means washing all the dust and clearing the rust from the sliding areas in the calipers and lubing everything with the right stuff. takes close to BUT not always an hour. been told many times by a few bosses that i take too long. but, no comebacks for noise, etc. good luck, chuck.