Servicing at George Fraser

[jaymanek]

Well i had my 63000 service done at George's yesterday. 1997 E220 Convertible...

Original Quote - £140 + vat. What i didnt realise is that this is plus any parts needed (i thought standard parts like filters were included), hence on top of that was charged for pads all round, wiper blade, bulb, oil, filters, plugs etc.... The total bill came in at 350 which i have paid.
Looking back, wouldnt have cost me much more to get a dealer service.

This wasnt supposed to be a major B type service and not really an A.... Is the price about right for a specialist?? Im not sure as i have always done my own servicing and therefore only ever paid for parts......

The car was supposed to be picked up at 8.15 outside work, but the guy arrived at 10.10 which left me sitting like a lemon on double yellows in he middle of london and caused me to be v late for meeting.....
I would have parked the car up, but they kept assuring me it would only be 5 mins.... When the guy did arrive, he was v apologetic and blamed london transport....Well i let him off!!!

The car did arrive back on time at 4.45...

I havent really had a serious look over yet, but they seem to have done everything they were supposed to at a good quality, and they also cleaned the car for me....

So i guess they are still recommended on this forum, i was just a bit thrown when the final bill came in.......

Thanks

Jay

 

[Andy]

Hi

At 63k the vehicle should of been due a A service. You say the vehicle is a E22O CAB. So assuming its a late 124 cab, Then the bill for the work described would of come to somewhere in the region of £210 incl vat. If this helps you any.

Regards

Andy @ www.mercedesservicing.com

 

[Spike]

Andy,

Does your figure cover parts & labour or just labour?

Only, by my rough calculations, the parts alone come to around £150 on Jaymanek's service.

(Brake Pads F+R £80, Oil £25, Filters £30, Wiper rubber £10, Plugs £12.)

If you are saying that you could have done the same service for £210 *including* parts, I think I'll be heading up your way come the next service.

 

[jaymanek]

Thanks Andy and Spike,

Well i had a long chat with George just now:

He gave me 10 percent off on all parts and labour, so these are the prices:

Labour £129.75
Front & Rear Brake Pads + Sensors £70 ish
Drive Belt: £30
Screenwash, AntiFreeze Change, Spark Plugs, Oil, Filter, Wiper Rubber, Couple of Bulbs all about £ 65

Add VAT to all that and comes to about 345! He didnt charge extra labour for the other bits and pices above.

I would have done all the extra bits like brakes, belts, wipers etc myself, but as he didnt charge me labour, cant really complain.

I think im just not used to paying someone else to service my car: Those damn stamps come at a high price!!

But if im in the midlands area when it comes to the major service, will have to go and see the infamous Andy Gayle.

Thanks All.

Jay

 

[David S]

Honest Opinions Below: George Frasier's + Andy Gayle's

George Frasier: Found George to be especially friendly, but believe he has become a victim of his own success. I have had two services + shocks, wheel bearings, radiator, done there and liked the fact that I can guarantee that the work was done professional. Plus, have taken my car plus a CLK 430 (I briefly owned) there for some small niggles and he put them right free of charge. They are the pros.

The cons: hard to fault really, yes, his labour charge may be a little expensive, but he is London based, and I believe he does a first class job. The only thing I would say, he has your car washed in some back street car cleaners, if you are there, go take a look at them, they are just around the corner from his garage. Once I had seen his "valeters" I told him not to wash my car has I enjoyed doing it myself! Plus, I always delivered/collected the car to/from him, the only time their delivery driver drove it you could smell cigarette smoke in it afterwards!

Andy Gayle's: I think it goes without saying that Andy is one of the most respected sources of help on this site and of which I and many others have been most thankful for.

However!!!, I took my E280 from St. Johns Wood, London to Birmingham expecting to have what I thought was slightly warn out wheel bearing diagnosed and replaced + poss. front shocks. Unfortunately Andy was not around at the time. On the test drive the mechanic said he could hear no wheel bearing noise and the shocks were fine. On the inspection ramp, he said (if I remember correctly) the track rod ends were warn. Result: £200.00 to replace both sides. On the drive home, what did I notice... No difference at all and could still hear what I thought was wheel bearing noise.

In the end I bought the parts (gen. Mercedes front wheel bearings and new shocks) and took them to George Frasier's and had them fitted. Result: Car drove and sounded 10 times better, the shocks made a difference, but the new wheel bearings were fantastic.

So although I didn?t have my car serviced at Andy?s, I cannot say I was that impressed, having drove 200 miles there and back, plus one days holiday to do it, and noticed no difference?

Regards,

David

 

[Spike]

Looking at your service breakdown, I think the labour charge sounds very reasonable. Its the parts cost that has ramped up the bill.

Realistically, I all you would have saved by buying the parts yourself, skinning your nuckles and getting your hands dirty is the £129 labour charge....in my book I think thats worth it, given the fact that with GF, you know the jobs been done properly, its just a shame the chap turned up late to collect your car in the first place.

 

[steveperry]

Hi Jay,

I've detailed my last visit to George Fraser's here. I've found his rates to be very competitive, especially when compared to the local stealerships. I personally wouldn't trust my car with anyone else other than George and I live in South Wales.

I'm sure if you do a search on this forum and other UK based Mercedes-Benz forums for either George Fraser or Andy Gayle you'll find that most of the feedback is very positive.

However, the phrase 'You can't please all of the people all of the time' springs to mind... I'm reminded of the time before I owned a Mercedes: my previous car, a Peugeot 504 was always serviced (for 7 years) by another private mechanic specialising in single marques and again I found him to be honest, very good at his job and very reasonable in terms of cost, so imagine my suprise when a local newspaper ran a story about how another customer practically accused said Peugeot mechanic of being a rogue trader.

Just my thoughts I hope you have a better experience on the next service.

S.

 

[jaymanek]

Oh no, it was a very good service, and for the work he did - fair enough.... but he said he'd call before he spent anything on parts and so was a bit annoyed as if i had done the stuff myself, would have saved a lot.
Also, i think the price of standard service items like oil, filters etc should be included in the quotation to avoid the shock afterwards.

Anyway, i would happily use him again.

Jay