Great experience at indepentant specialist today!

[ScORTED]

Hi all, many thanks for your advice!

I booked the car in for diagnostics after a lengthy chat with the owner / head mechanic of a local specialist ( McLeods of Brigg).

I turned up at 9am and as prmoised my car was seen first and the fault codes were read. It seemed to have been years since the car was hooked up to an MB dealers system and took ages to read the thousands of fault codes! Once cleared i took the car for a spin it felt a touch less hesitant but still very underpowered. On returning my (your) assumptions about the Air flow sensor were confirmed, it still showed a fault. So the mechanic fitted a new air sensor and took the car for a brief drive, then he returned said it felt as it should and let me have a go... WOW that 170ftlbs of torque delivered smoothly! I returned and had the sensor removed, i don't have £240 for a sensor for a car i'm not using at the moment. At this point i was quite worried about how big the bill was going to be.

Before removing the sensor he asked if he could put the car up on the ramps to inspect the front suspension - i agreed. He showed me using a very tall bottle jack the massive play in the front ball joints, reccomended i have them and the front link rods replaced as a matter of urgency. Also he took the time to explain the BAS sensor was faulty (but only £10) and tell me he found a code for the sam unit - which explains why the rear lights come on and have to be switched off manually everytime i open a door.

Then when it came time for me to pay baring in mind this whole process had taken a good few hours of time he quoted me for all the parts / labour it required, and offered to empty the fault codes again gratis if i bought the sensor from him. I was expecting a far bigger bill than the £52 originally quoted, but no i was billed £52 + Vat despite not buying the sensor at this time or booking in / agreeing to anything further.

I will return the car to the garage and have the suspension problems sorted out and unless i can find a considerably cheaper genuine air flow sensor I'll be taking it to him for that as well. looks like i'll be keeping the 210 and freshening it up.

James

 

[television]

Thank you for a happy post in these hard times

Regards

 

[ScORTED]

I just felt the need to express how impressed I am with this independant, especially as the first time I visited them, I turned up in a ford escort, yet he still took the time to speak to me, also being young I was worried I wouldn't be taken seriously. They don't even advertise, its all word of mouth, yet i had to book a week and a few days in advance to get in.

 

[philharve]

I just felt the need to express how impressed I am with this independant, especially as the first time I visited them, I turned up in a ford escort, yet he still took the time to speak to me, also being young I was worried I wouldn't be taken seriously. They don't even advertise, its all word of mouth, yet i had to book a week and a few days in advance to get in.

Hi ScORTED

In my limited experience, indie's are not only considerably cheaper, they're more friendly and helpful. My indie is Mercedes trained. He used to work for a MB dealership but following a disagreement when they relocated, he left to startup his own business less than 200 yards from the dealership's former location. His wife runs the 'front' office and handles parts ordering, customer accounts, administration, etc.

On the 4 or 5 occasions I've visited the dealership I've dealt with a suited service manager sitting behind a desk in the showroom. If he's busy with another customer you take a seat an await your turn, a bit like a doctor or dentist's waiting room. The garage is around the back of the showroom and if the service manager needs to speak to the mechanic it was either by 'phone or he would disappear for 5 - 10 minutes. I never got to meet the mechanic who worked on my car. It was as if the 'grease monkeys' were not allowed into the spotlessly clean showroom with its shiney floor. If I needed to be told anything about my car it was always through an intermediary. Conversely, if I wanted to convey any message to the mechanic I did so via the service manager. I believe it may have been this process that lead to me not being informed of the corrosion problem to my car. It was my indie who brought it to my attention.

A visit to the MB dealer was like visiting my bank manager who wants to discuss an overdraft. I enter the dealership with the same degree of trepidation and I've never felt entirely comfortable all the time I'm there. A visit to my indie is an entirely different experience. I worry less about paying the bill which I know will always be much more reasonable and affordable. I've had the odd freebie: bulbs replaced at no charge. Would this happen at a dealership?

I used to think my dealership was going out of its way to be cold or unfriendly but I now think they are simply adhering to Germanic procedure that tends to treat customers like components destined for an assembly line. The caring aspect of customer care is somehow missing.

I did once sneak around the back of the showroom to try and discover what had happened to my car after it had been driven off the forecourt. I found it on a hoist, one of four, with a mechanic working beneath it. Mechanics in the other three bays were similarly occupied. I watched unseen for awhile and there was none of the usual banter you might expect between colleagues, or even the sound of a radio playing. They worked in silence. Is this typical of a dealership? I can appreciate why my indie left to start his own business, the dealership appeared to treat its employees much like its customers. Needless to say my indie's working environment is entirely different.

Perhaps that's why dealerships are perceived as uninviting places, customers and employees are treated as things, not people. However, the dealerships are not alone in treating people this way. A sign of the times, perhaps?

There is much to commend the indie network and they exist an thrive mainly because of the inadequacies and high charges of the dealerships. (IMO)

REGARDS

Phil

 

[Pbrewers4]

Hi ScORTED
I too have used the same garage recently with the same result, he hoisted my car in the air and told me that both bottom ball joints needed replacing. I too have found him to be very reasonable with regards to prices.