I took my 1984 300SD to Wal-Mart for a great deal on tires. Wal-Mart said that they could not install tires because the lug bolts were too tight. I then took my car to a Mercedes shop, where they removed the lug bolts in 3 seconds, without any difficulty. Has anyone heard of anything like this?

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Jacob Wissler Jr., Houston, Texas, 1984 300 SD

The Motto here is keep your MB out of WalMart

Your lug nuts were probably just too tight for the kid working there. Myabe he was afraid to break them.

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'85 300SD (formerly california emissions)
'08 Chevy Tahoe
'93 Ducati 900 SS
'79 Kawasaki KZ 650
'86 Kawasaki KX 250
'88 Kawasaki KDX200
'71 Hodaka Ace 100
'72 Triumph T100R

rdanz and vwbuge are probably both right. Some shops have an aversion to working on high-end vehicles - sometimes rightly so. Some owners can get overly picky about how their vehicle gets "manhandled", and the shop manager who knows his staff doesn't want his workers making some expensive mistake. It's best to go to a quality shop.

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95 E320 Cabriolet, 159K

Count your blessings that the guy felt he was in over his head and decided to hand your keys back. Most tire shops would have just man-handled your precious Mercedes like it was an old Pinto and handed you back the keys with scratched wheels and stripped lug bolts (after they hammered them on as tight as possible with an impact wrench).

You got away lucky this time. I've had the worst luck with tire shops.

GregS