The forums are great, and the help we give each other is even better.

Unfortunately dealer mechanics are seldom as good as one would expect. There are exceptions of course, but they have to work within the policies and guidelines of the dealerships.

I have owned MB's in Europe and here, and have always found independent shops with dedicated mechanics not only to be cheaper, but also more dedicated, honest and knowledgeable.

There are good and bad independent shops, one just needs to take the time to find the rights one.

Dealer shops have proven to me to be unreliable at best. I have owned and taken to dealers Audi's, Chryslers, Fords, Mercedes and VW's. And believe me I was always disappointed.

My favorite story is when I took my 230 CE to the local German owned MB shop in Tenerife (Canary Islands), because the window did not seal. They first replaced and charged me for the seal, then the window mechanism, then the window and ultimately wanted to change the door. After $100's of dollars into this issue, I took my car to a small local shop owned by a German. He fixed the issue by simply adjusting the window.

How come Mercedes could not figure that out and wanted to sell me everything to include a new door. A mystery!!!

It is a shame that when we have difficulties that include electronic codes that must be analyzed by a computer, that we cannot go outside the Benz network. Hopefully that will change soon when our government passes the law that manufacturers have to disclose these codes to keep America competitive.

Regards,