Tough to find anyone willing to work on these cars in Seattle without paying big $$$ - most of the Chrysler dealers aren't much help, they are mostly "parts changers" they won't fix an RCM but they will sell you a new one. (fixing the RCM is really pretty easy - sending it off to have it fixed is even easier

The Mercedes guys won't even talk to you about them - at least the dealers won't.

I got my 04 about 10 years ago, thanks to this forum have been able to keep it on the road and mostly trouble free for the last 85000 miles.

Gave up trying to get dealers to work on it long ago - maybe things have changed or you might find one willing to work with you, but I never did.

As for independent mechanics that are familiar with these cars - maybe check on the Mercedes forums and see what Seattle shops they use to work on their cars.

For me, at least this car isn't as bad as the last one I had - an '88 Cadillac Allante - that thing was a freaking nightmare, only one dealership in the state still had a certified "Allante" mechanic and that guy was always booked 6 months out and you think parts are hard to find and expensive for the Crossfire, that Caddy was 10 times worse.

SC