Thread: I need an opinion-from those that service their Mercedes at an independent shop.

Why do you service your car at an independent shop versus the dealership?

Vice versa, why do you take your car to the dealer versus an independent?

What would you improve at your independent shop?

What do you like most?

To clarify why I ask, I co-own an independent Mercedes repair shop. I would like to get a consensus on what's good and bad so I can improve. Thank you in advance for your responses.

Tim

I do most of my own work. If I have to go somewhere, I go to a BMW independent I know. He knows cars and cares about his work.

My local dealer, I wouldn't trust with a pair of scissors. The SAs are completely incompetent. They try to absolutely price gouge. The mechanics are pretty good, I take it (at least the parts guys are, and helpful), but Mercedes tries to white glove you by putting an unknowledgeable sales guy in front of you to upsell repair services. At my independent, I talk to the mechanic/owner, he lets me watch, I could help if I wanted to bring junk clothes, and I can trust him and my eyes 100% that the work is done correctly. My local BMW dealer forgot to tighten a friend's oil drain plug on his BMW and he dumped 8 quarts of oil as soon as he pulled out of their lot. You don't get that type of lack of responsibility from an indy.

The only way my indy could improve is if he worked on Benz more and BMW/Mini less, but that's hardly his fault, as I chose to use him.

What you said seems to be what I hear from customers leaving the dealership. Thank you for the response.

Anyone else?

I like shops as opposed to dealers because shops will at least try to "fix" your car. Dealerships will look, if its broken/worn/not working its usually and automatic replacement. Replacement is fine if required but Ive seen staggering amounts of parts thrown out that easily could be fixed or re man'd with a few cheaper parts. Dealerships go by the book and dont allow alot of technicians to showcase their ability to actually repair a car. Independent shops tend to impress me with some of the innovative and more cost effective ways to repair. Im not advocating "ghetto rigging" but actual repair work. The majority of independent shops have the actual owner working there too so the work is usually watched and done better. Ive seen alot of techs who simply dont care and forget basic things. Obviously there are pros and cons to each but my vehicles are all serviced at non dealership establishments.

I go to 2 shops currently in the OC and I love both over the dealership.

Call me girly but when I bought my first Benz I wanted to do it right. I don't make a lot of money yet so I wanted to know what I was getting into and that my shop had me covered. I know from experience with a Benz (BF car we shared) the wiper motor craps and the cost is crazy $$$ to replace and I also know that the part costs $60 from the junk yard and installation isn't hard. So I interviewed 3 shops before selecting one.

OC Benz #1 reason they have the history with Benz in Germany. They work well with the local dealership and cover Benz warranties. The pricing is always right. They even come in under the quote sometimes! I feel they really know what they are doing so much so I've sent my friends to them and they come out with success every time. One of my friends went in for a door problem and they fixed it free and replaced a brake light for her free too.

I also love Tru Speed. Last year I needed better timing (OC Benz could take it for a week) on my brakes so I did shop it around and Tru Speed came in the best. Better yet when we found out that I did more damage then we thought to the brakes they discounted it to fit my budget. They were so fast, dropped me off at home, picked me up from home, and cleaned my car inside and out. Yes they specialize in Porsche.

OC Benz is a small shop and is mega busy. Jeffrey and his team rock!
Tru Speed is a large shop (HUGE) with more concierge type service that I love!

I don't like the over priced dealerships. I don't like the lack of personal touch (unless you matter to the sales floor) I worked in sales for a dealership and I know that 99% of the people where just a number and they needed to push the cars in and out fast.

I had a Beamer\mini related issue that might be able to give you some good feed back.

When I had a mini, the dealership was very lazy and not interested in really trying to fix issues. They ended up missing something that i asked them to look at. They never did and it resulted in a blown engine.

We argued til they covered the expenses. My dad ended up turning a guy who is BMW/mini certified and he was an honest guy who just like to run his own business. Fair prices and hasn't tried to be over on us. I think those who are independent concerned with actually fixing issues will have customers return

if it's not warranty work i go to my independent shop
It's cheaper and my guy whom i've had a long history with gives me the honest truth and doesn't try to upsell me into buying shit i don't need.
He's a Porsche, BMW, MB specialist

Thanks for the responses. This should be pretty helpful.