I recently bought a 78k mls 1991 500SEC and wanted to find an honest, competent, sympathetic London based independent to help me look after it. I looked on these pages and eventually found a thread from last july mentioning Kensington Car Care (just off Ladbroke grove, see web-site) and describing the owner, Ray, as honest and enthusiastic with a thing for Mercs (but looks at most german marques).
So I tried him out and I am delighted that my (pretty high) expectations were exceeded in every single respect.
Ray is outstanding... organised, knowlegeable, competent, timely, totally in control of his team and amazingly reasonable. I wanted new wipers and floor mats, the wheel alignment done, the bonnet catch fixed, a general opinion on the state of things and advice on likely issues to be faced going forward without spending a bundle or doing anything major without consultation.
So... he checked the car and came back to me and in the end we changed the oil and filters, changed the brake fluid, renewed the rear diff oil, said the gearbox oil did not need replacing, realigned the wheels, found/fixed a water leak, lubed the sunroof, fixed the bonnet catch, adjusted the headlights, replaced the wipers, got original floor mats, got a new coolant expansion filler cap, compression checked the engine, removed and flushed the injectors, fixed a squeaky seat belt... deep breath... and then he washed and hoovered the car, replaced the tax disk holder and hung a smelly from the mirror, all without my asking. Nice.
Many times it is the things mechanics DONT do that sets them apart. He could quite easily have replaced brake pads and any number of other bits and pieces but instead gave me accurate assessments of their remaining life and advised me not to address them for now.
So... I suppose you want to know how much he charged me for that little lot? £430. Or to put it another way, about half what he should have. Various items were provided at cost and labour was charged at four hours at a reduced rate when I estimate he must have spent at least 5/6 hrs on the car.
Go see him... he knocks a lot of the firms on this forum into a cocked hat.
So I tried him out and I am delighted that my (pretty high) expectations were exceeded in every single respect.
Ray is outstanding... organised, knowlegeable, competent, timely, totally in control of his team and amazingly reasonable. I wanted new wipers and floor mats, the wheel alignment done, the bonnet catch fixed, a general opinion on the state of things and advice on likely issues to be faced going forward without spending a bundle or doing anything major without consultation.
So... he checked the car and came back to me and in the end we changed the oil and filters, changed the brake fluid, renewed the rear diff oil, said the gearbox oil did not need replacing, realigned the wheels, found/fixed a water leak, lubed the sunroof, fixed the bonnet catch, adjusted the headlights, replaced the wipers, got original floor mats, got a new coolant expansion filler cap, compression checked the engine, removed and flushed the injectors, fixed a squeaky seat belt... deep breath... and then he washed and hoovered the car, replaced the tax disk holder and hung a smelly from the mirror, all without my asking. Nice.
Many times it is the things mechanics DONT do that sets them apart. He could quite easily have replaced brake pads and any number of other bits and pieces but instead gave me accurate assessments of their remaining life and advised me not to address them for now.
So... I suppose you want to know how much he charged me for that little lot? £430. Or to put it another way, about half what he should have. Various items were provided at cost and labour was charged at four hours at a reduced rate when I estimate he must have spent at least 5/6 hrs on the car.
Go see him... he knocks a lot of the firms on this forum into a cocked hat.
