How to Find an Honest Mechanic and Importance of MB Specialty - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

DJChillfit · #1 03-09-2002, 05:21 PM

I've been looking for a mechanic. Not that there's anything wrong with the car, but I'd like to know where I'm going if something goes bad.

The various forums, newsgroups, and mailing lists haven't borne any fruit for recommendations. The only owners of European cars I know drive new ones that are under warranty.

I've had a few people recommend to me a mechanic that does not specialize in imports, let alone MBs. He's just an older fellow with a lot of years of experience and is supposed to be honest.

Sorry for being so long. My question basically comes down to if I should be concerned with finding a mechanic who specializes in imports/MBs, or go with the guy who handles domestics and imports and is supposed to be honest? Also, if anyone by chance lives in Eugene, OR, or knows someone who has/does and can recommend a good mechanic in the area, I'd appreciate any suggestions. Thanks

Simon
1978 280E 130k

Ashman · #2 03-09-2002, 06:29 PM

Check the good mb shops forum of this site. there might be something in there to help you.

I would look for a mercedes specialist or at least one who works on mercedes, bmw and the like.

I wouldn't trust a mechanic who has not trained to fix mercedes,and someone who most liekly will not have all the special tools that mercedes uses.

How long have you been up in Eugene?

I went to school there for a little while.

Loved going to Hendrix park.

I miss the glenwood restaurant too, great food...

Alon

DJChillfit · #3 03-09-2002, 06:52 PM

Born and raised here, and yeah, the Glenwood has really good food. You can get a mean meal there for dirt cheap.

I don't think this guy is specially trained, though he did do a clutch and master cylinder (I think) job on a friend's early 80s BMW, which went without a hitch.

The only posting I've found in the MB shops forum for Oregon is the one I posted asking for recommendations and another guy saying the dealer was good. I'd prefer to find an independent, though.

aklim · #4 02-02-2005, 11:23 AM

My opinion has always been to go to a dealership for simple stuff and stike up a working relationship with the right tech

PHAEDRUS242 · #5 02-02-2005, 11:30 AM

I do a little business from time to time with Mercedes-Benz of Eugene, and they are truly top-notch. They got a great write up last year in MB's dealer newsletter and are really doing some great things out there. I would highly recommend checking them out.

On another note, Eugene is quite possibley one of the most wonderful places in this country. I love the town, the people, the vibe. You are very lucky to live there (this coming from the guy with the Grateful Dead avatar...)

aklim · #6 02-02-2005, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PHAEDRUS242

I do a little business from time to time with Mercedes-Benz of Eugene, and they are truly top-notch. They got a great write up last year in MB's dealer newsletter and are really doing some great things out there. I would highly recommend checking them out.

On another note, Eugene is quite possibley one of the most wonderful places in this country. I love the town, the people, the vibe. You are very lucky to live there (this coming from the guy with the Grateful Dead avatar...)

I'd still say you need to find a mechanic there that you can get along with and you probably will get better service.

Scott98 · #7 02-02-2005, 11:36 AM

Someone just posted something similar to this in the diesel forum. A master mechanic responded that as long as the person you are taking it to is ASE master certified, they will be able to fix it regardless of what they usually work on because of their level of skill and information on the car that is readily available to them.

Good luck.

Scott

aklim · #8 02-02-2005, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott98

Someone just posted something similar to this in the diesel forum. A master mechanic responded that as long as the person you are taking it to is ASE master certified, they will be able to fix it regardless of what they usually work on because of their level of skill and information on the car that is readily available to them.

Good luck.

Scott

Well, if you don't mind having having a family doctor do surgery on your heart, I suppose. I prefer specilization. I always believe that you can be a "Jack of All Trades" but a master of none. Look at carpenters. You have your rough carpentry work people, finish work people all the way to cabinet makers. Tolerance are totally different. Would you want a rough carpenter building you a set of cabinets? I wouldn't. Just because he is ASE certified doesn't mean that he has ever worked on your car. If you don't mind the tech learning on your car, I suppose you can go with it. I want a mechanic to work on my car and not learn how to work on that car with my car as a test rat.

Who would you want doing your surgery? A doctor that just graduated or an experienced surgeon? All other things being equal. They are both qualified surgeons, right?

What sort of experience does this guy have? I'd rather work with someone who has worked on my car before as opposed to someone who doesn't have a clue and will have to figure it out as he goes along. When I talk about my car at my dealership, they know what I need and how to proceed. They have seen enough of my engine type and can tell me off the top of their head what goes where.

Does this guy have access to the database of knowledge about the latest fixes or new parts? Or is he again going to punt?

Does he have the necessary tools or is he going to try rig something up to work?

MTI · #9 02-02-2005, 12:05 PM

There are some simple, tried and trued methods . . First, word of mouth. What are other Mercedes owners in your area saying about different shops? Second, eyeball the shop. Is the place, particularly the shop area, reasonably tidy, or is it a Mercedes graveyard? Third, if it's busy and it's hard to get an appointment might be a good thing.

DieselHead · #10 02-02-2005, 12:18 PM

I've refered a lot of people to cartalk.com to find a mechanic. They maintain a section of the website for people to recommend mechanics in their area. Can't hurt to look.

http://www.cartalk.com/content/mechx/

Scott98 · #11 02-04-2005, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aklim

Well, if you don't mind having having a family doctor do surgery on your heart, I suppose. I prefer specilization. I always believe that you can be a "Jack of All Trades" but a master of none. Look at carpenters. You have your rough carpentry work people, finish work people all the way to cabinet makers. Tolerance are totally different. Would you want a rough carpenter building you a set of cabinets? I wouldn't. Just because he is ASE certified doesn't mean that he has ever worked on your car. If you don't mind the tech learning on your car, I suppose you can go with it. I want a mechanic to work on my car and not learn how to work on that car with my car as a test rat.

Who would you want doing your surgery? A doctor that just graduated or an experienced surgeon? All other things being equal. They are both qualified surgeons, right?

What sort of experience does this guy have? I'd rather work with someone who has worked on my car before as opposed to someone who doesn't have a clue and will have to figure it out as he goes along. When I talk about my car at my dealership, they know what I need and how to proceed. They have seen enough of my engine type and can tell me off the top of their head what goes where.

Does this guy have access to the database of knowledge about the latest fixes or new parts? Or is he again going to punt?

Does he have the necessary tools or is he going to try rig something up to work?

It's not all rocket science. If I needed an engine rebuilt then I would seek out a Mercedes specialist. But for everday repairs a highly skilled mechanic with access to service manuals should easily be able to fix most things on your car.

Scott

PHAEDRUS242 · #12 02-04-2005, 09:06 AM

I cannot for any reason recommend this approach. Of course, running a MB service department I am a little biased. If you saw some of the hack jobs we get on simple, basic repairs you would likely think different. MB cars are oftentimes COMPLETELY different in the way things are done compared to domestic or japanese cars. ASE questions do not apply to the way things are actually engineered.

Sure, a brake job is pretty much a brake job, but anything that requires diagnosis of any sort should be handled by some one in the know. If you see a certain kind of car every day, you know all the little things that go wrong. You know what parts to be careful of because "this component always breaks if you pull it off like this". You know that "this symptom is almost always due to this". Sure, the generic indy may charge less, but when it takes him three times as long to figure out what the problem is and he breaks three extra parts that you wouldn't have otherwise needed, the real value of some one who has learned the make starts to shine through.

Scott98 · #13 02-04-2005, 09:55 AM

I definitely agree that a Mercedes trained mechanic is better than one who isn't and I will always take my car to a Mercedes trained person when one is available. However, I do most repairs on the car myself and I'm not a factory trained mechanic. I've rebuilt the front end, replaced shocks, installed a rack pin in the injection pump, adjusted my valves and even put a water pump on a 190 2.6 among other things all with the help of just the service manuals. These kinds of jobs aren't difficult and if you have the info in front of you that tells you how to do it, there's no reason you can't. Again, not all repairs on these cars are rocket science. Some are but many aren't.

Scott

Lebenz · #14 02-04-2005, 12:40 PM

I long ago gave up looking for express honesty in a mechanic. I just like to get the work done on a timely basis and also to remove the useless baggage from the car repair process. I turned to the dealership on all but one project on my MBs. For the one project, I tried a well known wrench based on a referral I got from this site. The guy did a good enough job, but tried to scam me on part of the project (repair/replacing the tach). Ultimately the dealer did the work on the tach for less than half of what the highly regarded mechanic quoted. Plus, of course, the dealer provided me with a loaner car, free coffee, and got my car washed and vacuumed.

TwitchKitty · #15 02-04-2005, 01:23 PM

You may talk to a MB specialist when you drop-off your car and then when it is rolled in the back a minimum wage hack actually turns the wrenches.

It is much easier to find someone to work on the older lower-tech cars. There is a good reason why people dump high-tech cars before the warranty period expires.

Be clear on the shop's policy for come-backs. What will they do if you pay a bunch of money and the problem is not fixed or if three other problems are created during the repair?