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#46
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P.S. : the latter shop took some picture of the body work, but Hatch did not do it at all.
Another thing about mechanical work. This is on Hatch's invoice. Found valve cover gasket leaking, R&R air intake tube and valve cover gasket, to replace valve cover. Also found timing chain stretched to max-spec. Customer declined to repair. (I did not ask about timing chain or cam gasket, but they themselves inspected it and even replaced valve gasket without calling me.) Hatch suggested replaceing chain, chain guide (or rail?), cam gear at $1000. Now I just recived phone call from another mechanic. In this case, I told the mechanic to inspect timing chain. He said the stretch is less than 1 degree - well within spec -. He also said that the wear condition on cam sprocket is fine, and the chain actually 'feels tight'. He has already ordered chain, tensioner, etc. but he is going to return it. I posted two pictures in a timing chain thread: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?threadid=90747
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1992 300D 2.5 turbo diesel. 319 k miles. 124.128 chassis, 602.962 engine, 722.418 tranny. Last edited by ktlimq; 05-09-2004 at 07:41 AM. |
#47
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This is very close to the area on wich Hatch worked.
About one foot.
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1992 300D 2.5 turbo diesel. 319 k miles. 124.128 chassis, 602.962 engine, 722.418 tranny. |
#48
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.
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1992 300D 2.5 turbo diesel. 319 k miles. 124.128 chassis, 602.962 engine, 722.418 tranny. |
#49
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body work in Boston Area
I have had good experience with Hatch & Sons for both bodywork and mechanical. They ARE expensive and they like to find lots of profitable work to do on your car, some of it possibly premature. They are decent people.
For superb body work in Boston area, try Dick's auto body in Somerville. Richard Mingolelli owns it and Frank Cirurso is GM. Not only are they very good at collision repair, they can match paint better than anyone I've seen. I had my '97 E420 in there three times for vandalism and severe parking lot damage in one sad year - so often, my picture's on their bulletin board. Benz Den in Belmont is a good independent mechanical shop. Jerry |
#50
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Quote:
Hatch also said that if I do not replace timing chain in about 6 months, the engine will be seriously damaged causing higher repair cost. Dishonest again. Hatch even told me to replace water pump and thermostat cover. They said the water pump LEAKED. However, pressure test revealed no leak. How premature! P.S.: >10 degrees -> inspect whether valve touched piston. inspect wear of cam gear. replace chain. 3~10 degrees -> inspect wear of cam gear. replace chain. By "max spec", I mean 3 degrees. Hatch&Son's own document may say 0.3 degree is max spec.
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1992 300D 2.5 turbo diesel. 319 k miles. 124.128 chassis, 602.962 engine, 722.418 tranny. Last edited by ktlimq; 05-13-2004 at 05:05 PM. |
#51
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upholstery shop in MA?
Could you recommed good upholstery shop in MA?
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1992 300D 2.5 turbo diesel. 319 k miles. 124.128 chassis, 602.962 engine, 722.418 tranny. |
#52
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any body shop using POR-15 or RustBullet in MA?
The body shops I visited refused using POR-15 or RustBullet. Most of them wanted to complectely sandblast and re-paint the whole panel.
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1992 300D 2.5 turbo diesel. 319 k miles. 124.128 chassis, 602.962 engine, 722.418 tranny. |
#53
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An upholstery shop broke one clip for rear seat.
He had to push two clips, but he pushed only one clip and removed the seat pan. As a result, the other clip broke.
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1992 300D 2.5 turbo diesel. 319 k miles. 124.128 chassis, 602.962 engine, 722.418 tranny. |
#54
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good glass shop for Mercedes in MA?
Could you recommend good glass shop for Mercedes?
Bad experience with a glass shop: After windshield replacement, I found some scratch on the edge of fender. The rubber at the rear end of water deflectors (these need to be removed and installed at every windshield replacement) were incorrectly placed (on one water deflector, it was due to loose clip, but on the other it was due to the tech's poor job). I saw them working on water deflecctor. They do not mask the edge of fender and corner of hood while the instruction in MB service CD tells to mask. When they had to replace the loose clip for one water deflector, they ignored the instruction from MB service CD, and brutally forced the clip out, peeling out paint.
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1992 300D 2.5 turbo diesel. 319 k miles. 124.128 chassis, 602.962 engine, 722.418 tranny. |
#55
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I had mine done by JN Philips Auto Glass and they did a good job - as per Chambers' Motorcars recommendation.
They used Mercedes glass too (warranty work) ... still remember the day I had it done.. it was about 15*F outside...
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2008 BMW 335i Coupe |
#56
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Mercedes in MA
Hi - As far as I am concerned, Hatch & Sons in Wayland is the best shop for Mercedes repairs or body restoration in MA. I buy parts at Flagship because I commute by it every day, but I bought my MB from Hatch and they not only sell some of the finest MB examples around, they do incredible restoration work as well as late model repairs and body work.
Jim '99 SKL230, silver/black 35,000 mi. |
#57
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My experience was different.
I wrote about it here. They neglected rust very near to the area they were working on, asked timing chain replacement for unstretched chain, . . . . . http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=73315&highlight=hatchsdf I recently opened the plastic cap and saw that the left rocker panel had already rust again. They repaired rust on the left rocker panel 6 months ago at super high price. Could you let us know "avoid" list of shops for restoration? Flagship's parts guys were disappointing. They gave me wrong rubber part around back window. They gave up searching for the correct parts. A parts guy at Chambers Motorcars in Somerville found correct part for me. More disappointing was Foreign Motors West in Natick. The service advisor ordered roof rail for a wagon for me. My car is a sedan, and he saw my car. According to them, they showed my car to their body shop for the parts order. However, it is hard to believe. Furthermore, they charged me for inspection while the inspection was not done - still old sticker on the glass -. So I suspect whether each work written on the invoice was really done or not.
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1992 300D 2.5 turbo diesel. 319 k miles. 124.128 chassis, 602.962 engine, 722.418 tranny. Last edited by ktlimq; 08-17-2004 at 10:42 AM. |
#58
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Interesting discussion
Hi,
Thanks for the comments and link. I read the discussion regarding your body work issues with Hatch and althogh it seems most of us are really impressed with them, your experience tells a different story. The stuff in your pictures is pretty obvious and there is no excuse for recommending work that does not need to be done. I will continue to go to them, but I will be very careful in approving what they recommend. I purchase a sevice manual for my car so I have all the wear specifications and can at least ask the right questions if something comes up. Thanks, Jim |
#59
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rude dealer service advisors in MA
Bill Roust at Chambers Motorcars in Somerville, MA.
Bob (Robert T. Hamilton) at Foreign Motors West in Natick, MA. Bill's attitude: "You(customer) are a fool, I know cars very well." He did not respond to my call for a couple of days. He had the tech do job I did not want. During the discussion about that matter he was very agressive, and he insisted that I was lying though I was not. He never said sorry. He maintained impolite, look-down-upon kind of attitude. Only 2 hours plus a little job was done during 4 days. Bob: When I said that the job does not require removal of inner door panels, he suddenly yelled aggressively "How do you tighten it?". The truth is that we can tight it by opening rubber cap on side of the door (on surface facing back). He ordered part for wagon for my sedan. He even made wrong invoice: charged for job that was not done at all. He never said sorry.
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1992 300D 2.5 turbo diesel. 319 k miles. 124.128 chassis, 602.962 engine, 722.418 tranny. Last edited by ktlimq; 09-17-2004 at 08:43 PM. |
#60
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what pises me off is why these people can't admit they're wrong or made a mistake or just for being plum stupid. I'm not mechanically incline as most people here are, but I know my car better than anyone else, and I can usually tell if something is not done right or how a certain job should be done on my car based on common sense. don't get me all riled about my experience at this goodyear tire place. grrrrr.
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