Any recommendations near Warminster? (South Wiltshire)

[Watchcame430]

Ask for Pete.
He owns the garage

Just to let you know

The courtesy cars are not anything flash! A Peugeot 206 1.4 manual and a 20 year old Focus automatic but they are clean and free and they get you around.

I have often arranged to drop off a car toward the end of the day, pick up the courtesy car and then go back the next day or when it is ready

As long as I can fit three teenagers in it for the school run I should be ok. Thanks again for the recommendation

 

[Petrol Pete]

https://www.sandown-group.co.uk/location/mercedes-benz-of-salisbury/?utm_source=GMB&utm_medium=Organic&utm_campaign=gmb-salisbury&cookies=all

These guys are pretty close

Or call Ben at Parkway Mercedes , Filton Bristol 0117 9656 164 . 'No frills' courtesy cars by appointment .

 

[neilrr]

Any experienced MB indy with a Star machine should be able to fix your car.

Is this guy too far away?

Mercedes Specialist Bristol - Repairs for your Mercedes Benz

Experience top-notch Mercedes-Benz servicing, repairs, and wheel alignment in Bristol. Trust our skilled technicians with 70 years of combined expertise.

avantgarde-automotive.co.uk

 

[DSM10000]

So true but it doesn’t open up a big hole in my diary unfortunately.
Good garages no doubt are booked out weeks in advsnce also and my other car goes in for it’s MOT tomorrow so staring down the barrel of two cars unusable.
I lost my charging cable to my star system so tried another adaptor that probably blew it up last night.
I can’t find my other scanner and last night I bought a copy of Xentry/WIS that after 3 hours I can’t install still.
Oh and I also got a puncture yesterday and the ABS light came on.
In short it’s fun and games at the moment.

Be aware that the copy you have of Xentry will be an illegal clone without access to updates or to the online MB system which you will need for certain tasks.

 

[Watchcame430]

Any experienced MB indy with a Star machine should be able to fix your car.

Is this guy too far away?

Mercedes Specialist Bristol - Repairs for your Mercedes Benz

Experience top-notch Mercedes-Benz servicing, repairs, and wheel alignment in Bristol. Trust our skilled technicians with 70 years of combined expertise.

avantgarde-automotive.co.uk

2 hour 20 round trip unfortunately but I will keep him on the reserve list as no one come back to me yet and don’t want to contact everyone. Guessing people are off for Christmas still. Thanks for the lead.

 

[Petrol Pete]

OP many on here would consider a 2 hour 20 minute round trip to get to an MB expert to attend to their car a very small sacrifice for good service .

I am afraid (for me) the travel restrictions you are putting on yourself to get your car sorted are unreasonable , taking it to MB Salisbury or moving house seem to be your only options at the moment.

 

[Watchcame430]

https://www.sandown-group.co.uk/location/mercedes-benz-of-salisbury/?utm_source=GMB&utm_medium=Organic&utm_campaign=gmb-salisbury&cookies=all

These guys are pretty close

Or call Ben at Parkway Mercedes , Filton Bristol 0117 9656 164 . 'No frills' courtesy cars by appointment .

I have got in contact with Salisbury Mercedes. Not sure they are experienced enough?
Oil change in a 2021 car I would trust them with but fault finding on older Mercedes probably not their forte versus a decent indie.
They wanted £204 to run Star on the car. Not bad for 10 minutes work?
Also they were not very helpful with issues on my E270 recently.

I have dropped Ben an email. I could perhaps drop the car with him and work in a local Starbucks or something. Thanks for the lead.

 

[Watchcame430]

OP many on here would consider a 2 hour 20 minute round trip to get to an MB expert to attend to their car a very small sacrifice for good service .

I am afraid (for me) the travel restrictions you are putting on yourself to get your car sorted are unreasonable , taking it to MB Salisbury or moving house seem to be your only options at the moment.

Afraid I have a busy life. Time is a precious commodity.
You forget to factor in the mess factor perhaps.
When you get messed about, which inevitably happens 8 out of 10 times and you need to go back because they forgot to order a part in or the repair fails and you need to take it back or the wrong part turned up or their lift broke or any number of other excuses /genuine reasons/ natural disasters that seem to happen when attempting anything these days it’s far more sensible if they are 20 mins down the road.
Maybe you are luckier than me. I prepare for the expected personally.

I asked for local recommendations. If there are none I will have to travel further of course.

I probably will do but doesn’t mean I am not going to try and find someone local first, hence the post.

 

[Petrol Pete]

I have got in contact with Salisbury Mercedes. Not sure they are experienced enough?
Oil change in a 2021 car I would trust them with but fault finding on older Mercedes probably not their forte versus a decent indie.
They wanted £204 to run Star on the car. Not bad for 10 minutes work?
Also they were not very helpful with issues on my E270 recently.

I have dropped Ben an email. I could perhaps drop the car with him and work in a local Starbucks or something. Thanks for the lead.

If Ben can't help you with a courtesy car and you want to wait around for diagnosis there is a large supermarket a few minutes walk away where a large breakfast can be had or (as I have done in the past) a quick Uber into Bristol gives many options for food , shopping of killing of time in a cinema.

At first glance Ben's operation looks a bit old and chaotic (especially the parking outside) But all of the work his team have done on my car (C55 AMG) , most of it defiantly not basic service stuff has been spot on at a good price.

As an aside every time I have visited the workshop I have never seen any other marque in there other than Mercedes Benz, sounds like an odd thing to say but to me it proves he has enough MB owners needing his services as not to have to fill his service bays with 'filler' jobs.

 

[Watchcame430]

If Ben can't help you with a courtesy car and you want to wait around for diagnosis there is a large supermarket a few minutes walk away where a large breakfast can be had or (as I have done in the past) a quick Uber into Bristol gives many options for food , shopping of killing of time in a cinema.

At first glance Ben's operation looks a bit old and chaotic (especially the parking outside) But all of the work his team have done on my car (C55 AMG) , most of it defiantly not basic service stuff has been spot on at a good price.

As an aside every time I have visited the workshop I have never seen any other marque in there other than Mercedes Benz, sounds like an odd thing to say but to me it proves he has enough MB owners needing his services as not to have to fill his service bays with 'filler' jobs.

Ben is not Salisbury Mercedes main dealer?
Ben I have got in contact with, sounds like a good lead.

It was Salisbury Mercedes main dealer that quoted me on the star. There is some confusion here I think. I will look again at the post in case it is me.

 

[Watchcame430]

Parkway is Ben and not main dealer if I read correct?
£204 for star was main dealer, not Ben.

Have contacted Ben, hopefully he can help or one of the others recommended. Thanks for the help.

 

[DSM10000]

Afraid I have a busy life. Time is a precious commodity.
You forget to factor in the mess factor perhaps.
When you get messed about, which inevitably happens 8 out of 10 times and you need to go back because they forgot to order a part in or the repair fails and you need to take it back or the wrong part turned up or their lift broke or any number of other excuses /genuine reasons/ natural disasters that seem to happen when attempting anything these days it’s far more sensible if they are 20 mins down the road.
Maybe you are luckier than me. I prepare for the expected personally.

I asked for local recommendations. If there are none I will have to travel further of course.

I probably will do but doesn’t mean I am not going to try and find someone local first, hence the post.

Somewhat of an exaggeration to say things do not go well "8 out of 10 times"

Many people have busy lives but they manage to organise work on their cars etc. How long have you owned a Mercedes-Benz and who has looked after it so far?

 

[Watchcame430]

Somewhat of an exaggeration to say things do not go well "8 out of 10 times"

Many people have busy lives but they manage to organise work on their cars etc. How long have you owned a Mercedes-Benz and who has looked after it so far?

No, not an exaggeration. Very much my experience.

This one I have owned a week. No one has looked after it until now.

A local race engineer has been looking after my other cars but he has disappointed me recently so need to find someone else. Also been using Mercedes Salisbury. They let me down also a few weeks ago.

 

[DSM10000]

No, not an exaggeration. Very much my experience.

This one I have owned a week. No one has looked after it until now.

A local race engineer has been looking after my other cars but he has disappointed me recently so need to find someone else. Also been using Mercedes Salisbury. They let me down also a few weeks ago.

I still find your 80% let down ratio for car repairs unusual shall we say?

So you are aware of and have used MB Salisbury before and they "let you down" but are still considering using them?

What specific problems are you trying to sort out on this car.?

 

[nickpb]

Not in your area I know but worth a shout-out for Richard at Hamilton Auto Tech (Home - Hamilton Auto Tech ) in Corfe Mullen. Mercedes trained and a very nice and knowledgable guy. Home workshop is fully equipped and he has a courtesy car if required. (If you wait then his wife will bring you tea and coffee ).

I can recommend him.

 

[Watchcame430]

Not in your area I know but worth a shout-out for Richard at Hamilton Auto Tech (Home - Hamilton Auto Tech ) in Corfe Mullen. Mercedes trained and a very nice and knowledgable guy. Home workshop is fully equipped and he has a courtesy car if required. (If you wait then his wife will bring you tea and coffee ).

I can recommend him.

Thank you. Keeping an open mind at the moment.
Not head back from anyone so far so keeping an open mind. Filton took 90 minute’s yesterday so with a good run Croce Mullen would be quicker.

 

[AMGeed]

I've used Richard at Hamilton Auto tech for a service in the past on my E55 and he was very thorough giving me a free Star diagnosis of the car as well as a courtesy car.
Corfe Mullen is just as far as Star Tech in Creekmore who I recommended earlier.

 

[Watchcame430]

I've used Richard at Hamilton Auto tech for a service in the past on my E55 and he was very thorough giving me a free Star diagnosis of the car as well as a courtesy car.
Corfe Mullen is just as far as Star Tech in Creekmore who I recommended earlier.

I will get in touch after the first ones I contacted come back to me so I don’t waste everyone’s time but they do sound like decent people.

I bought a decent diagnostic machine which I ran yesterday. I seem to have cleared a lot of the niggles.

One big one remains and I am hoping it is not the SBC pump but a sensor or the abs rings. Tomorrow I am going to run live data to see if I can refine further the issue.
If I can narrow it down to one corner of the car I might chance a local general garage to fix it.

My main concern was the vibration when lifting off the accelerator but after resetting the gearbox a third time it seems to have settled. For that I wanted marque experience.
Have had similar issues before on other cars and you find many mechanics just guess and replace until the car is rebuilt or they strike lucky.

Hopefully tomorrow’s live data will tell me more.

 

[DSM10000]

What year is the car?

SBC wasn't fitted with to the W211 after the 2006 MY

 

[Watchcame430]

What year is the car?

SBC wasn't fitted with to the W211 after the 2006 MY

It’s a 2006 car I believe. Built 15th Nov 2005 if it helps.

Do we know a vin cut off date? It looks like the same unit as my early 2005.

I shall do some googling. Thanks!