Just curious whether the majority of srt6 owners use a Chrysler dealership or Mercedes for service.After the nightmare I just went thru with the Chrysler mechanic crashing my car and how the dealership I bought the car from was clueless as to what was wrong with it when I first bought it I'm really leaning towards bringing it to the local Mercedes dealer to fix what was wrong with it in the first place and at the same time inspect the suspension work the Chrysler dealer just did.Only down side to the Mercedes dealer is I will have to pay out of pocket and then submit a reimbursement to my extended warranty company.I was just going to ask the next closest Chrysler dealer if they had a Mercedes trained tech but good luck on getting a straight answer on that.

 

Neither.

The Chrysler dealerships are generally incompetent.

The Mercedes dealerships often have no interest in repairing a 7-year-old car, especially one without their badge on the front.

Independent shops are often the best route to take. Find one with Star-DAS and experience with Mercedes motors, and go from there.

 

Well I just narrowed down my options.The local Mercedes dealer wants nothing to do with my car so I guess I'm off to another Chrysler dealer or maybe I'll try and find a reputable suspension/alignment shop that can verify the work was done right.

 

Luckily, I have a Chrysler dealer in town who still has his SRT6 guy (trained on XF's). I would recommend them to anyone.

 

I just took it to a local shop where I know the owner used to work for Volvo and is an honest reasonable guy.He put it on the lift and within 30 secs spotted they had failed to replace the right front jack mount rubber,the weatherstrip was missing on the repaired door sill and the damaged side axle was spitting grease all over the undercarriage and rear wheel.They used 2 different bolt types on the replaced camber adjusting links and at least 2 or 3 bad spots in the paint.What a hack job! This was the place i got stuck with doing the work because Progressive wouldn't pick up the storage bill while waiting for the police report to determine whose fault it was.Serenity now!

 

Same experience here. Generally incompetent Chrysler and Mercedes wants nothing to do with it.

 

Also neither. Since the warranty expired, I take them to a local indie who mostly works on German stuff. Not much to do other than brakes and end of year oil changes. He also work on my Audi A4 and A6.

 

Yeah, another vote for NEITHER here too.

I only dealt with the Chrysler dealer for the convenience of locally ordering and picking up a couple of new keyfobs, since I bought the car used with only one fob - and it was in BAD condition.

Even then, they tried to rip me off with claims I had to pay them $200 or so for "programming" after they came in, or else I'd be "out of luck". (I programmed them both myself in about 30 seconds using the steps outlined here on the forums.)

I did some research and found out about a German guy in the city who owns his own small shop doing service work on most makes/models of German vehicles. He's highly recommended, very reasonably priced, and should be able to take care of my Crossfire needs with no problems.

Alternately, we have at least 4 or 5 different options for bigger independent shops that work on Mercedes. Most of them seem to have at least 1 or 2 good recommendations on various websites.

My previous experience with the Chrysler dealers around here (used to own a Jeep and my mom owns a van of theirs) isn't great to begin with. On my Jeep with a 3rd. party extended warranty, they did several major repairs for me and did them properly -- but billed some insanely high rates to the warranty place. On a transmission repair, I wound up paying out of pocket for a 4 wheel alignment when they did the work because the ext. warranty people balked at how much the rest of the job cost them already -- and simply drew the line there, saying it "was possible to drive the Jeep away with a new transmission without the wheels being re-aligned". On my mom's van? They outright lied to her 2 different times, trying to sell her both new tires and new brakes she didn't need.

They generally treat Crossfires like the red-headed step-children they wish never existed. Their mechanics tend to complain about all the odd tools needed for them, compared to the other vehicles they usually work on (lots of star sockets and so forth), and they feel like the car is "only half made by them anyway".

 

Neither as well, find the local MB club

Local Clubs/Sections | Mercedes-Benz Club of America

and check in the resources section for an indie shop. That's how I found mine.

good luck

 

I use an independent shop; owner is an award winning MB certified mechanic, and a great guy to deal with (Eurotech, Mercedes Benz and Volvo Sales and Service Center). I started using him after I had a problem w/ the fan on my S; I called the local MB dealer and they quoted me $600 in parts plus labor; when I called Rick he said "Check this xxx - I'll bet that's all it is", and he was dead on. $158 in parts and 30 minutes of my time earned him a nice bottle of wine and my business.
Look around, ask other owners, etc., and you should be able to find a reputable shop.

Good Luck!
KevinL

 

Neither for me also. I happen to be lucky enough to live in an area with several Mercedes trained independant shops. Once they open the hood, they are happy to work on this car and are cheaper than Chrysler. I've been taking mine to a guy that is one of the very few factory trained Mercedes SLC McLaren mechanics adn I trust him more than any stealer.

 

I "was" taking my car to Earnhardt Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram in Chandler AZ until they moved to their new location in Gilbert AZ. While new location is closer to me, they also made a "management decision" to not service Crossfires there. I find this to be absurd as they are constantly sending me flyers and emails advising me it's time for service. Their advertising states "we service all makes and models" but they wouldn't even change a head lamp! https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...s/confused.gif

So I have to drive to Superstition Springs to have it serviced and the next service is to replace some leaking valve covers and the steering damper - expected to be $1425.00. If the parts weren't already ordered and in, I'd be looking for a Mercedes dealer.

I think I'm going to put this car up for sale and move back to a Nissan!

 

I think that is a good idea for you.
Both the leaking valve covers and steering damper are EASY DIY's, with a total investment of less than $60.
If you are willing to pay $1,425.00 for that, then you have the wrong car, or too much money.
Maybe you should buy a Porsche or Ferrari ?

 

Spot on George.

 

Dive right in and do most of this "regular " work yourself...you will be surprised what you can do if you just try...believe me, you can get the best/less expensive help right here on this forum!!...Carl

 

You can pay me just $1,300 and I'll order the parts, fly out there to fix it, fly back home and still pocket $750!! Some people....lol

 

Thanks for all the BS - I own the car and am a single female - not a mechanic.

 

Sorry that you were offended, but if you're willing to throw away nearly $1,500 for what is an easy $60 worth of parts and an hour of your time maybe you should get a Nissan Sentra. Being a woman is not a valid excuse here. My fiance can turn a wrench just as well as any guy. They only go 2 directions. And you did obviously join this forum to get help with the car (I assume), so why get mad at us because you want to waste money? Hell, even the fat girl across the street can get a couple of random dudes to work on her car for beer....that's a lot cheaper than $1,425.

 

PS, the vast majority of us aren't certified mechanics. But we don't like wasting money.

 

I solved the problem by finding highly recommended independent shops that work on Mercedes. Pick two or three and ask them each for a quote for each job individually.