Mercedes SLK mechanic, Dublin

chocfan

Hi all

Was hoping did some advice on where to go for an older model (2004) Mercedes SLK

I need to get a few jobs done on it. The left and right hand rear brake lights are both broken and the ABS light has been on constantly for months

I brought it to my local Merc parts garage and they said the lamps themselves were faulty and I'd need to spend about €500 buying new ones. If that's the case, I might have to but wouldn't mind another opinion to make sure it's not anything very minor that needed to be done!

Also, with the ABS I just want to make sure I don't spend a lot of money on what could turn out to be a faulty alert

Just not fully sure if I trust the garage!

Any advice/recommendations welcome
Living in Harold's Cross so anywhere around there would be ideal

Thanks

TJJP

You could have Joe in Fitzwilliam have a look (www.fitzwilliamgarage.com). He's not a specialist but for the issues you have he's straight as a die and would give you a sound second opinion. He's mostly bodywork and general servicing but for an '04 SLK he'd likely address the issues you have.

lomb

The SLK is in fact at least a 40 grand car and should be treated like one. Treat it like one and you could drive it for the next 20 years happily. One pistonheads member has a 22 year old Audi droptop in mint condition polished up and was told while in a petrol station filling his car by another customer that he wished he made enough to drive a car like that! He said he hadn't the heart to tell him it was that old and worth very little economically.
You can save money by doing some jobs yourself on it or finding a good indi. You can also pay Mercedes main dealer for a diagnosis and then repair it yourself with scrap parts. Get a diagnostic lead and software if you can. Another option is an auto electrician. Source parts on ebay for it rather than new, use parcelmotel for UK delivery to an Irish address. Have a budget -mine is 500 a year for maintainance +an allowance for the cambelt and clutch ,250 for tires, 250 for bodywork (dent removal, touch ups etc) . Total 1000+cam/clutch when needed. This is on a 02 TT roadster and it is mint other than a shoddy bumper respray that is getting redone shortly.

If the money isn't spent then after 2 or 3 years the cost to replace tyres, do 1-2 k of work+ a cambelt+ a clutch if applicable(prob not on slk) will write the car off which is what happens and why the used car market is full of dogs. If I don't see evidence of the above I walk immediately as the owner thinks its still worth x when it is infact worth 3 grand less as the back maintainance is due which on a 10 year old car is 0.

Ps stay away from anyone who advertises as a Mercedes specialist, I saw the bills from one from a south Dublin specialist on a car I was looking to buy-650 to change 18 circlips on hoses (I presume coolant /oil hoses) This didn't include the hoses or anything. 1500 to fix a fuel injection fault, another 1500 to fix an ignition fault. The car still had the fault which is why the owner gave up -1979 450 sel- A quick google threw up that it suffers from tank rust clogging the fuel pickup when the engine is gunned and its guzzling fuel and the engine runs rough from starvation. I could have saved him 3 grand ,his time, and lost sleep with a 5 minute google search!

Stavros Murphy

SLKs are expensive to fix, full stop - they have a name for dear parts, and hard to get from Independents - if you nip into a newsagent, the current Spring 2014 issue of Practical Classics has a write-up on ownership, spares, faults etc and is a good read for an owner/prospective owner. Not a cheap car new, not a cheap car to keep running correctly, but well worth minding and keeping in good nick, IMO. A cheap OBD code reader might be a good investment so you can read fault codes yourself. The ABS could be a reluctor ring, or one of the Hall sensors, or an abs module(dear), just a cracked/off wire(very cheap) - so a good idea of what is wrong might save you getting roasted.

visual

I really hate these so call specialist

I drive a BMW and Jeep Grand Cherokee I often see the mechanics eyes light up when they think they are on to a quick buck.

ebay is your friend for parts and a lot of times you can DIY a lot of the work yourself the tail lights would be a DIY job the ABS may be more involved and you need a mechanic.

There is nothing special about top end cars and yes parts can be a little more expensive or more difficult to find but all not lost.

I presume at the cost of 500 euro you have LED tail lights ?

without knowing your model I just did a quick ebay search

smoked tail lights about 220 euro plus postage
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Mercedes-Benz-SLK-R170-96-04-LED-Rear-Lamp-Light-Set-Fully-Smoked-/121298561330?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item1c3df52932


Standard tail lights about 100 to 160 plus postage.

shop around, some of the motor factors maybe able to give you a reasonable price too

ABS is most likely a fault probably one of the wheel sensors

any decent mechanic should be able to repair a Mercedes

lomb

visual wrote: »

I really hate these so call specialist

I drive a BMW and Jeep Grand Cherokee I often see the mechanics eyes light up when they think they are on to a quick buck.



any decent mechanic should be able to repair a Mercedes

Yep by declaring you are a Mercedes specialist you might be saying you want the cash are maybe 30% less than extortionate main dealers (I doubt it looking at the bills from the 450 sel, 650 euros for a few clips??) and only those who have it should come to you.
Experience does count though and you would think someone who has done certain tasks on a marque before would be quicker and therefore cheaper and more likely to solve the problem without extra parts but the world doesn't seem to operate like that looking at the invoices and the fact he hadn't even fixed it from my test drive. I think it was 4.5k of invoices in total in 6 months for something that should have cost maybe 4 or 5 hundred to clean the tank ,change any clips and do a service .

Bigus

Try Sean Murphy in greemount motor co Harold's cross beside you, he does vintage and modern Mercs .

RustyNut

In my opinion the best indi Merc garage around Dublin would be Mulligans Garage in Synge Lane Dublin 8. Iv had old Mercs for years and never found anyone even close.

74merc

Are you sure that the problem isn't with the brake light switch in the brake pedal? This is a common problem with Mercedes of that age. Sometimes the ABS light will light along with ESP if the battery voltage is low. If that is the case, it can be reset by turning the steering wheel all the way to the right, then all the way to the left, whilst the engine is running.