"Eisboch" wrote in
:

That's how I understand the current situation. I also heard or read
that Mercedes was going after the company that was importing and
modifying them to curtail their business.

You need to make sure you are buying from a dealer who is officially
authorized by Mercedes. Otherwise, warranty issues may not be
honored.


I won't buy a warrantied new car unless I'm forced to. For the
difference in price between new and 2 year old used anything, I can set
up my own repair shop and staff it with the finest mechanics. I haven't
played the dealer-to-get-warranty-work-fiasco in decades. I want
professional mechanics to work on my cars, not some low life the dealers
hire.

In Charleston, SC, that would be Star Motor Service:
http://www.starmotor.com/
The best Mercedes mechanic, one of Star's owners, was killed in an
unfortunate motorcycle accident a couple years back, but his brother
still owns the business and you'll find him, not in the office, but out
under the cars where he's been since I met him in the 1980's, when they
worked out of a rented garage and didn't have a pot to **** in when they
came here from Germany. The facility and reputation speak for
themselves. Owners drive from Charlotte and Atlanta to Star for expert
overhauls on fine Mercedes cars. One of the classics they stow for a
millionaire collector is Chairman Mao's 1966 600 Pullman limo, complete
with Chinese Communist flags and a phone stalk of rotary dial carphones
in the passenger compartment that is fully bullet proof. I've ridden in
it right where Mao sat! Star rebuilt it for the owner when he bought
it, drove it to Charlotte for the Mercedes car show and brought back
several trophies for their trouble....in grand style, of course. It's a
monster!

When Stephan was alive, I called him to see if I could get some help for
a Canadian sloop that had a cracked fuel filter housing on its Mercedes
aux engine. Steve said sure and for me to ask the owners if they minded
him bringing his boys with him to see the boat. It was fine. Steve
lived for his kids and this was on their time with him, the weekend.

He removed the cracked fuel filter and took it to his shop on Saturday
morning. He heliarc welded the housing and machined it so you could
barely detect where the crack used to be. Back to the boat, he
reinstalled it and they all took the boat out into the harbor for "sea
trials" as the Canadians called it to let the boys have a hand in
sailing this beautiful yacht. Sea trials lasted until nearly dark,
Steve's boys now proper sailors, and he refused the yacht owners offer
to pay him for his lost Saturday.

It's too bad he's gone. His boys miss him something awful, all 4 of
them!

With service like this at our disposal, warranty service by some clods
at a dealership just isn't a good idea. I'll be glad to pay. My
mechanic is Melan at Star. He's from the former Czechoslovakia and is
simply amazing to watch working on the cars. Unable to get a ball end
socket that's part of the windscreen wipers for my 1973 220D antique, he
fabricated a new one in short order that's working perfect. Like the
Reinerts, he worked for Mercedes in Stuttgart, too, going through their
whole apprentice program before working in the factory....(c;

No thanks. I don't need warranty service and a $20,000 depreciation.