Okay. I have mix feelings about this foreign specialist auto shop. I thought to share my experience. I recently had work done on my Mercedes and I was surprised when I heard my repair cost quote over the phone for 2 semi easy repair jobs. Initially, I wanted to tell them to forget it and go for a second opinion/ quote on the repairs at another shop . Although after reading information on their website, I noticed that they give a very good warranty on their parts and labor for 3 years or 33,000 miles , or something like that, and that alone I thought was worth the high repair cost. I decided to go with this shop not only because I heard a lot of good things about them from reviews online and friends, but mostly because of their service warranty. I have been to a lot of repair shops in the past for all different kinds of car repairs and I never had a shop offer me a warranty on their service. I am not going to lie, this auto shop is very expensive. It’s almost the same or if not a tad less in cost then if you went to a dealership. They only use oem parts, so parts cost are very very expensive. Which if you were to use another type repair shop, they would go with a much cheaper non-oem parts . Which honestly I don’t mind using non oem parts on my cars. Would I want to pay $1,000 for oem part or $189 for a non oem part that works the same as the $1,000 part. They should give the option to the customer if they would like to use oem or non oem parts. I mean it’s my car, I should make the decision what goes inside of it.I would imagine that they wouldn’t warranty non oem parts, but if I would be able to save $1000 in parts, I wouldn’t mind not having a warranty and take the chance.. Overall the service was top notch. I thought that they did a fantastic job on my car. I have no complaints on their service at all. Very friendly atmosphere, very clean office and waiting area. Would I go back to them in the future? Yea sure I would, but for small repairs/ oil changes.
Dear Robert - thanks for taking the time to write a review of your recent experience at Foreign Car Specialists. We always value the opportunity to make improvements based on customer feedback. Your post was quite detailed which, to us, indicates that your thoughts & comments are important to you & therefore, important to us as well! We know the recent repairs on your E350 were certainly not a welcomed expense. Kind of like going to the dentist for sensitivity in a tooth & finding out you need a root canal & a crown. Too bad dental work didn’t come with a 3 year 36,000 mile nationwide warranty, right? Our use of Original Equipment Manufacturer parts as opposed to “cheap” aftermarket (non-OEM) parts is worthy of being addressed. You’re right, OEM parts are not inexpensive. This is because they typically are made with better quality products, are exact fitting, specifically engineered to work as designed, able to withstand high temperatures or pressures, have thicker gaskets to prevent leaks, etc. They're engineered to work exactly in the environments to which they are placed. Today’s vehicles have specific, finely balanced tolerances in every function of every system. Each system works synergistically with the others, even seemingly unrelated systems are linked together electronically. Just like the human body, if one system is off it creates a shift in the balance of synergy which can set off incorrect processes elsewhere. Erroneous info sent down the line to other computer modules in the network can make them adjust their behavior & outputs as a result. I guess you could think of it like “fake news” affecting public perceptions & behaviors. At Foreign Car Specialists, we have performed thousands of confirmed repairs on the auto industry’s most over-engineered, complicated & downright finicky European motorcars. Our team of dealer & factory trained Master Technicians have many years of experience & education. All have access to the same factory tooling & software found in the dealership shops. No shop can say “we’ve seen it all” but you would be hard pressed to find a facility that has not only worked on but FIXED as many European vehicles as we have. It’s just what we do. Our experiences with aftermarket parts is extensive. The most common part failures we see are those that are manufactured in the aftermarket. They break, they fail, they implode/explode, they don’t fit, they don’t hold up, they leak and have a greater propensity for creating extra expenses for our customers in the big picture. Breakdowns never are convenient. Imagine a customer spending $900 on a new timing belt & water pump, which takes four hours or so to be installed. If in six weeks a tensioner fails because it’s metallurgy was inferior, couldn’t handle the repetitive jerking it experienced every time the stop/start engine turned off/on during the customer’s daily commute then that “cheaper part” actually cost the customer more for the end product. That’s a problem. You are right, we are not the cheapest shop in town. Folks depend upon us to keep their rides in reliable condition. Our professional duty is to be the vehicle's advocate, to do the right thing, always. We endeavor to provide the best value with long-term results as opposed to quick fixes. Regardless of warranty coverages, we would respectfully decline the installation of any auto part which has unproven reliability. This IS a long reply, I know, but stick with me for one more paragraph. What you may NOT be aware of is this: The replacement intake manifold we ultimately installed in your 2007 E350 4matic was ONLY available from the dealer. There were NO aftermarket options, I looked. Ultimately, we had no choice but to utilize original equipment to get your Mercedes Benz back on the road. With that, we hope that you might reconsider your original rating here on Google, but if you don’t that’s okay, we can still be friends. Thanks for reading - be well!
- Foreign Car Specialists - Walkway