Indies - are they so good?

[DuncanClarke]

There's a lot of talk on this forum about independant Mercedes specialists and what a good job they do. My 280ce W123 was serviced by an indy for 3 years prior to me buying it.

The following faults were with the car when I bought it.

1. Water pump leaking.
2. Rh rear anti roll bar link badly worn
3. Front pads were worn to within a hairs width of the metal backing.
4. The exhaust was wafer thin in places
5. A misfire on idle, which turned out to be a fault which was not fuel, leads or plugs.

All of these faults should have been picked up by the indy. The previous owner always trusted his car to this indy and would have had the items attended to if the indy had pointed them out. I guess that the indy just didn't bother.

 

[philharve]

Hi Duncan

There will be good indies and there will be bad ones. In my limited experience I have found them very friendly, helpful, professional. All are Mercedes trained and offer a level of service at least equal to the dealerships and usually far cheaper (hourly rate).

I feel confident that my present indie would fix any problems I point out to him and I also feel confident he would inform me of any problems he discovered. Whether or not they are repaired would, of course, be my decision. I usually agree after taking advice.

Do you know if the indie was aware of the problems you list and do you know if the previous owner agreed to have them fixed? It might be that the previous owner chose not to have problems rectified on grounds of cost and maybe that's why he sold it. Can you be confident that the car was problem free when you purchased it? Do you have any evidence to suggest that the indie failed to perform the work he was contracted to do?

I would be surprised if any indie would provid an inferior service to (say) a dealership because his livelihood and reputation would be placed under threat.

REGARDS Phil

 

[Parrot of Doom]

My W210 had a big list of problems when I bought it, and all with a FMBSH.

Most of them were very obvious as well, I would imagine that the faults were pointed out to the previous owner, and he chose to ignore them. Nobody can possibly miss worn brake pads, you don't even have to remove the wheels.

 

[jberks]

These do sound like things the previous owner decided not to do. However you look at it. A good indy is going to find them and point them out. A poor one will be rubbing his hands, as its all money for old rope to them. Brake pads put the warning light on, the exhaust to be honest I'd ignore, especially if I was thinking of changing. The water pump the owner must have known about as they must have been refilling the radiator and the misfire was probably the last straw so they flogged it. Any garage can only do as instructed so I'd blame the owner.