I just purchased an '04 black limited coupe on Wednesday (12/01) from a VW dealer in Peoria, AZ. I'd been researching these cars for months, and this forum has been amazingly informative in helping me make the leap from my reliable and economical (albeit bland) Jetta TDI to, basically, the Batmobile.

I took it into Bill Luke for their free inspection for a little piece of mind. The service advisor sounded impressed/amazed when he said it was a good, clean car... it's only got 46,000 miles.

However, it does need a rear brake job. Bill Luke wants $450. I called Moore Chrysler Jeep and I think I got them down around $400.

I thought maybe some independent shop would do it, and knowing these things are basically SLK320s and built in Germany, I tried some local German repair places. They didn't laugh me off the phone, but one woman was terse bordering on rude. It was as if I asked the stupidest question they'd ever heard in their lives.

Why is this? They don't want the Crossfire parked next to the Mercedes & Beemers in the service bays? Am I missing something in my understanding of the Crossfire and it's German lineage and sharing most of its mechanical parts with Mercedes?

Also, anyone in the Phoenix area have suggestions for anywhere I can get service I might need in the future? I live in Glendale, but would be willing to drive for a good mechanic.

Be gentle... I just joined this wicked cult (and I'm totally excited... I love this thing!)

 

I'm betting that the German car folks just don't know what it is. They're thinking "this guy is nuts. Just because Mercedes owned Chrysler for a while does not mean your Mopar is a Mercedes."

So I would call them back and make an appointment for my "2004 Mercedes SLK 320". When you show up, they'll figure it out.

 

Devious! I told them about the Crossfire's relationship with the SLK 320, but, seeing as how I'm a lady, they probably just said, "Sure, right!"

I don't understand how they couldn't know, if any of them were remotely interested in the auto industry at all (of which they are a part). It's an interesting product, an anomaly! But I guess they have on Benz blinders.

 

Don't talk to secretaries. Aks for the workshop master mechanic.

I personally made very good experinces with Mercedes Benz dealers inspecting my Crossfire. But i'm living in germany.

And if you wan't to confuse them totally. Every Crossfire was built by Karmann in a town calles Osnabrück in Germany. Not by Mercedes-Benz, nor by Chrysler

 

The first lady, who sounded offended I even asked, was probably the wrong person to ask.

But at the second shop, I got a mechanic, but probably not high enough up the chain. There's the guys I talk to, and then, the guys who do the work. Don't know why I can't just interface with the guys who do the work!

I watched when they had it up on the lift at the dealer, and I wanted to chat up the guy so much. I wanted to look at all the under bits and ask any question that came to mind. But, that's not allowed.

Ohhhhhh, okay. I thought MB built it, too. Interesting.

How does one pronounce Osnabruck?

 

Don't deal with the ignorant receptionist. Drive your car there and talk with the service manager.

There's an independent shop here that only works on German cars and does work on our Crossfires. Unfortunately they won't let me provide the parts.

 

stories like this are what keep me from calling up my local MB dealer and scheduling an ATF change :[

 

Like the others say, don't deal with the receptionist, they are typically there to just make appointments. Better to drive the car up to the shop and ask for the maintenance manager, you'd have more luck.

The problem with most of these dealership shops, regardless of auto, is these service reps either were never in the shop or forgot about what they learned when they were. Until I insisted on talking to the guy they had looking at my wife's mini van many years ago, they just kept saying it was the tires...the short of it, the rep didn't pass on what I telling him and it turned out to be the transmission interlock...which could have ended very badly.

So, when you get to the shop, you tell them you don't mind the reps, but you want to talk with actual worker when you feel the need. If they won't let you, then take it to the operations manager or find another shop.

Click on the word and turn your speakers up and then click the

 

I don't think most of the independents know yet that the Crossfire is just a restyled SLK320/SLK32. It is best to not make phone calls and drive the car in. I went to a local independent shop, raised the hood and asked if they would feel comfortable working on it. The guy looked really suprised! and yelled for all the other service techs to come and take a look. They recognized that is was all SLK and said sure. This shop ended up being where I did all the electronic work to get my V8 conversion done. There are some things to be aware of though. The German independent shops have the Mercedes Star Diagnostic system which can't do everything they might need to check on our cars. Our cars require DRB III with the Crossfire card which most German shops will not have. The MB system can get into a n/a engine computer but not the SRT computer. Many repairs such as brakes they can do if they can work on a SLK.

 

I bought an 04 for my 16 year old son's birthday in April and ran into the same thing. Took it to the independent mechanic I use in Houston that has serviced my SL and S class MB. He said he couldn't service it. I showed him that is was the same as a 1st generation SLK, and when he popped the hood he just smiled and said, "this has all MB parts." I said, yeah, that's what I've been telling you. He hooked it up to the computer and it gave him an immediate read out of all diagnostics. He then said he could easily service it for me without a problem. It made me feel much better, because he has serviced my cars for over 20 years and I trust him. He just had to be educated that it really is a little MB on the inside. One note, if you hook it up to the computer as an 04 SLK it won't read it, but if they set the diagnostics for a first generation SLK (like maybe an 01) it immediately reads all the diagnostic codes. Good luck.

 

wow $400 to change the rear brake pads? Fly me out there and I will spend the 25 minutes including taking the wheels off and remounting them and only charge you $100 lol.

 

Let me ask this:

What does it need done? Just a new pads and rotors?

 

I'm diggin' all the feedback and especially the, "I lifted my hood and they saw it was an MB!" stories.

Germany - it only needs rear pads and to machine the rotors, from what I understand. One of the dealers I spoke to said with these brakes there's a sensor that will (might?) need to be replaced in the process of replacing the pads. True? I have the suggested service write-up from Bill Luke Chrysler, who want $450 for the job.

 

Tripp - Skip the dealer (as they probably don't have a Crossfire tech anyhow) and continue to search for an independent shop. $450 for just rears is robbery.

I had a Porsche shop put front & rear Rotex Golds on mine last summer for $240. Didn't need to turn rotors, but they bled the brake & clutch cylinders.

https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...vice-shop.html

 

I'm assuming Crossfire techs are becoming rarer and rarer. Is this so?

I guess I'll have to tour around some shops sometime this week... just pull the thing in and talk to the service manager, like all of you suggested.

Stuff can be pretty spread-out in Phoenix, so I was trying to save gas by calling shops which clearly didn't help me at all.

I like the sound of $240, indeed...

Oh, but what's the business one Chrysler dealer gave me about the brake sensors? Is that even an issue?

 

Don't forget the most important thing which is to lift the hood! I would also recommend going on one of the MB sites like MB World and see if anyone has good things to say about the independents in your area.

The sensors are cheap and slide into the pad to tell you when your pads need replacing. Some new pads include new sensors. They are not needed if you can inspect your own brakes from time to time. They can be eliminated without any problem.

 

I'll check out MB World.

I've done minor repair work on various vehicle over time, but I'm not comfortable fooling with brakes yet.

Thanks for all the info, folks!

 

Had good luck with 'German Motor Works' here in Las Vegas. After absolutely terrible service from the dealer.

Grant