Too many posts to grab quotes haha

Alright, so I stopped into the Encinitas Ford Dealership and I'm a lot happier.

So far; you all are correct. Best part; it isn't Ford doing the work. Yesterday they sent it right in the morning to a well know Mercedes mechanic (I'm currently looking into the statement) who has work on quite a few SLK's through out the year. Encinitas Ford immediately understood that they were not equipped to work on the vehicle appropriately, so kudo's to them, right? :P

This also explains why I only got a few engine codes; being the middle man ain't easy. I printed out a few of the pages (thank you all for those) from here, read up on checking the fluids and when I went there and explained the process my sales man David immediately took me over to the service department where we had a brief conversation about the pitfalls of being unfamiliar with the car. At that point, the gentleman at the service department assured me they knew it was beyond their knowledge base and that I would be better served by this mechanic.

The warranty allows me to take it to five star; maybe not the best as pointed out; but I am use to diagnosing car farts with forum members/club members/banging my head and saying "change this, check it and then tell me" (if I cannot do the work appropriately).

So what where the problems?

Allegedly, there was a leak with the transmission (fixed now), a few EGR "parts" needing to be replaced and the mechanic was working on a few other small issues before it got buttoned up. This of course, is second/third hand info, but I have been assured I will get a full readout of the codes for all of us to compare notes.

I am feeling more relieved each day. I've been able to find a few maintenance sheets on here; but I haven't stumbled upon a "super neurotic, paranoid, supreme ultimate checklist for noobs" but I am sure the more information I find on here, I'll be able to compile a sheet that makes me happy