My Murple

[steamship]

Originally Posted by tintin

Most owners don't though David, and (realistically...) probably wouldn't be in a position to meaningfully challenge the "expert" who's working on their car - I certainly couldn't, and I'm pretty sure I'm not in a minority. Which is why checking reputation and references are so important.

I agree with tintin on this, but another factor to take into account is how the car makes you feel. It's more a part of the family as opposed to a mode of transport from A to B.

And if those so-called mechanics hide the evidence of their 'work' like above, unless you know what to look for, who's to say they did anything wrong. Case in point. After the incident of the suicidal chimney pot attack on the S8 I had, I needed the rear window tinted again. Checked who could do it and had good reviews and booked it in. Got home afterwards and discovered bonnet release was slack. Rather odd so I checked the dashcam footage (with audio) and found out what happened. Tinter couldn't find handbrake lever (switch on a D3), so pulled hard on the bonnet release, twice, like the older Mercedes handbrake release. Went back to him with evidence and he denied it, of course. Now that was only a £20 part and about four hours for me to replace it, but that really pi**ed me off.