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.

[homer simpson]

Damn MJ, you can't catch a break with this one! I applaud your patience, not sure I could have held out so long without putting a hammer through it lol.

@Steamship, that's naughty! If I ever work on anyone's car, I always explain that clips etc etc can break and they need to prepare for that. If something else breaks, I let them know and fix it properly. Honesty gets you a long way but it seems dishonesty gets cowboys even further!

[Stromaluski]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

Sigh... I just can't catch a break with this one Everyone who has touched this car has ruined it, including the owner.

This was done by Service4Service in Surrey when they removed, bodged, and refitted the gearbox for a mere £3000. They are also the ones who filled it with gear oil. From the shape of the crack, they didn't remove one of the bellhousing bolts, and let the weight of the gearbox hang off that one bolt. They filled the crack from the outside with grey silicone to hide their crimes which means its likely too contaminated to weld.

If it weren't purple, I would scrap the car at this point and move on.

But it is purple

At this point, it might be safe to just assume that anything you touch on the car is already broken and that you're basically going to have to rebuild from a bare shell.

Eyes on the prize, though. Think of having a purple S8 to drive around.

[The_Laird]

This is scary reading!

I’m certain that even the good mechanics would have been running for the hills by now. You really need a great one to persevere against obstacles of this scale.

[J i m s t e r]

Perhaps be cheaper to buy a good D2 and get it resprayed purple at this point.

[MikkiJayne]

Dammit I've been doing it all wrong from the start!

(yes, it probably would have been)

[Adrian E]

I assume there must be loads of gearbox casings around with fritzed internals that could act as a donor? Guess to a degree it also depends whether the use of the wrong oil means the whole thing is on borrowed time anyway?

[The_Laird]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

Dammit I've been doing it all wrong from the start!

(yes, it probably would have been)

Michaela, you know that you wouldn’t sleep at night if you’d done that! The build sticker would tell on you.

[MikkiJayne]

Originally Posted by Adrian E

I assume there must be loads of gearbox casings around with fritzed internals that could act as a donor? Guess to a degree it also depends whether the use of the wrong oil means the whole thing is on borrowed time anyway?

Loads of 'em yeah

[Adrian E]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

Loads of 'em yeah

LOL - thought that must be the case