George Fraser is a lovely chap...

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guydewdney

MB Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 14, 2004
Messages
2,911
Location
Porlock, Zomerzet
Car
906 Sprinter 313cdi
long stor short -


bought my CL 18 odd months ago. within a few months the gearbox let go. had it fixed under warrenty (ish) - cos me 2 - 300 quid.

recently it has decided to go pop again - different problem,

I took it back - and - true to his reputation / word he has just )as of tofday) fixed it - new gearbox (well - a s/h one from a 19,000 mile old CL420)

he has had the hassle of old boxes from 100+ mile old boxes turnign up (sha66ed)and the grief of sending them back etc etc.

total cost - note out of waratey(14 months and 25,000 miles - warantee states 1 yr or 10,000 miles) = 350 quid = half the cost of the box and free labour.

so -all in all - good on you George - you are a star.

Courtosty car available (i didnt use it much)- old banger e class 124 (no disrespect to 124 owners - but htis one was - um - well used.....)

only odd thing - i was missing a brake / tail light bulb afterward... :crazy: as in gone - not there - missing... weird.

spelling apalling cos i got dragged to the pub tonight..
 
:bannana: :bannana: :bannana: Always good to hear positive feedback regarding George Fraser. I have alot of respect for him, he has helped me out a lot over the years. A great guy and even better mechanic :) :rock: Little wonder he's always rushed off his feet and manically busy.

S.
 
I'll second that. George and his crew did the suspension modifications to my car, fitted the new wheels, had the tracking/alignment done and cleaned it up nicely.
It's really manic in there and you do get the impression that they're not on top of things.
I was talking to Des who said they're acquired some more space, I think in one of the adjoining buildings. I've only been there twice and I wonder how they manage with the amount of room they have.

By the way, the car looks really good. (I'll be posting some before and after shots soon)

Haven't done too many miles since it was done, so don't know how it 'feels' at motorway speeds.
 
Great to hear about George, but can I also recommend Trident Automobile Engineers in Uxbridge, also an independant Mercedes specialist, excellent service from them. 01895 814640
 
not quite sure how i feel about this - and thus am going to be careful...

Yesterday, pulled up at a mates house. left car for 1/2 hour for a cup of tea etc. returned to find my gearbox oil all over his drive.

all of it.

phoned GF in a rather angry / sweary mary mood, to be given a tow truck number (who turned up on time, and took good care of the car).

Turns out the little plunger that acts on the park lock release when you press on the brake - this has a seal 'that often goes, its a common problem'

long story short - it was due in for a service anyway, this was fixed, re-filled with oil, no tow truck fee, no oil fee, possibly a plunger was charged ('sensor' on bill)

new steering damper fitted
new front brake pads
flushed brake fluid
Major service (air / oil filters / plugs / anti freeze)
Fuel filter (same as a C180.... :crazy: )

400 nicker..
 
Guy... might I suggest you start shopping around?

Perhaps my guy in Richmond might be worth a visit before your next service.

Don't get me wrong, I like George & he knows his stuff alright but I think his workload is affecting his quality of work and rushing the job is producing mistakes.

The pace of things where I go is almost too laid back :rolleyes: but at least the jobs done with care.
 
I agree. For exactly the reasons Spike states, I stopped using George. He rarely works on your car, and the rest of this staff (save for an excellent young woman) are really not very impressive at all.


Sp!ke said:
Guy... might I suggest you start shopping around?

Perhaps my guy in Richmond might be worth a visit before your next service.

Don't get me wrong, I like George & he knows his stuff alright but I think his workload is affecting his quality of work and rushing the job is producing mistakes.

The pace of things where I go is almost too laid back :rolleyes: but at least the jobs done with care.
 
I just had a whole range of things replaced by George Fraser on my Brabus. Being an old friend i'll give him another go. He basically replaced all the bushes/bearings/brake discs and pads/ rear prop doughnut/ rear linkage arms/ roll bar bushes/ 4 wheel allignment/ rear wishbones/rear diff seal/ engine mountings/ adjusted the petrol mixture and retuned the engine/ full service/ change fuel filters & fixed my foglights! All this was done in a day and the labour bill was more than reasonable. Well put it like this the parts came to £700 and the labour was significantly less!
I was very happy with his work this time, and i know for a fact the cost of all this at another garage would have been near double due to the intensity of the work involved.
I personally think his service has improved from my last visit and i would not hesitate to use him again.
 
C240Sport97 said:
I agree. For exactly the reasons Spike states, I stopped using George. He rarely works on your car, and the rest of this staff (save for an excellent young woman) are really not very impressive at all.

I'm extremely impressed by Yardi, the Jamaican chap that always works in the back left corner. I've also had Suresh in the past few years working on extremely tricky problems. I wouldn't like to comment on his young guns though.
 
it does fustrate me that the place is complete mayhem, with nowhere near enough parking, yet (for example) theres a 126 SEL (red iirc with amg flat wheels) sitting right outside the workshop. untouched for months and months... god knows how many of the cars outside the workshop are just sitting there - that one just sticks out in my mind.

At the back of the shop is a 140 CL600 with no engine - aparantly the owner refuses to pay 8K for a new engine... so why is it there? tow the bloody thing out to a storage unit... or start charging the bloke storage fees...

Also at the back, using up valuable space on a 4 post lift is a fintail - saloon - not worth THAT much - and is a rusty heap. Its been there as long as I can remember.

i think theres a 107 SL sitting at the back thats been there for ages as well.

I have seen George spend five minutes explaining to one 'mechanic' how to check / fix an abs sensor.. NOOOOO! why doesnt he just say 'fix that abs sensor, front right' and walk away? Because he wants to be involved. Saw him spend another five mins (whilst i was waiting for him to explain what he had done to my car) fiddling with an alarm / lock on a vito..... with two or three OTHER mechanics standing there with him.

George - if you read this - get it sorted mate. You need a ruthless workshop manager who DOESNT get his hands dirty, just shuffles the cars / jobs around and organises the place. It distresses me to see a guy who is a) passionate about mercs and b) working his t1ts off until 8/9/10 at night, every night losing so much work because of lack of simple organisation.



I might send him a letter....
 
guydewdney said:
it does fustrate me that the place is complete mayhem, with nowhere near enough parking, yet (for example) theres a 126 SEL (red iirc with amg flat wheels) sitting right outside the workshop. untouched for months and months... god knows how many of the cars outside the workshop are just sitting there - that one just sticks out in my mind.

At the back of the shop is a 140 CL600 with no engine - aparantly the owner refuses to pay 8K for a new engine... so why is it there? tow the bloody thing out to a storage unit... or start charging the bloke storage fees...

Well that 560 SEL Red one been there for ages. I did offer to take it off his hands till i saw 300k in the clock! Theres a silver 500SEC AMG opposite which again has been there for ages!

The CL600 was my courtesy car till it broke down.... melted pistons, cylinder head etc :eek: As far as i was aware its his and he's awaiting parts or something. But that was a year ago now!

Its not the case of getting more cars in the workshop as there aren't that many mechanics there.

In defense to George, the garage is not organised that well but they do swap all the car round in there in lightening speed. As i have spent many days in the garage they can move all the cars round very very quickly. They would benefit from more parking as there is no customer parking apart from blocking the front of the workshop.

You need a ruthless workshop manager who DOESNT get his hands dirty, just shuffles the cars / jobs around and organises the place. It distresses me to see a guy who is a) passionate about mercs and b) working his t1ts off until 8/9/10 at night, every night losing so much work because of lack of simple organisation.

Des is probably the nearest thing to a workshop manager they have. He's always running around and organising things. To solve the problem he really needs a bigger workshop and some more staff. But then again that means more overheads....
 
George's main problem is that he does not know how to delegate. He spreads himself way too thinly. And the space utilisation in his garage is appalling. Imagine a shop owner who has about a third of his retail space filled with unsaleable junk. It is true madness.
 
Been to see GF today, diagnosed at no charged as faulty mas. Quickly and efficiently. Was quoted for repair, and waiting monday to get RAC to give me the order number to fix. The place could be tidier but after 11 years of dealing with bmw mains and 'specialists' breath of fresh air that someone can diagnose fault within minutes. Watch this space for update ...
 
Been at GF today, replaced MAF (under RAC Warranty) , GF deals directly with them, so no charge, found faulty BAS switch , replaced that (no charge), printed out stardiag report, no faults :), chuffed to bits, in my books very good service.
 

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