I'm an engineer and in my younger days made my living as a mechanic. I prefer to perform service and maintenance on my vehicles myself when time and circumstance permit. In this case they didn't. I was referred to another 3rd party Mercedes Benz specialist in Maryville by a friend but as EAG was less than 2 miles from the house and had very good reviews online I decided to forgo the tow and drive the car over to EAG's shop. The overall experience was fine. They are very courteous and professional. Their intake is done on a tablet and their reports come as email or text. Communication was excellent if a bit impersonal. They got my vehicle in and diagnosed the same day (in fact I took the vehicle in after lunch and they called me with an estimate later that afternoon). They had the parts and had the work completed and the vehicle ready for me by just before 3 PM the following day. They got me on some up-selling; I needed the water pump replaced, and they indicated that the belt was worn and the idler looked original. Later after looking back in the maintenance records I found that the belt, crank pulley, and idler had been replaced only 20k miles prior. Perhaps it was worn but they didn't offer the old parts and I had only briefly glanced at it prior to taking the car to them. They also mentioned the spark plugs and wires needed to be replaced. Perhaps they do, but again after looking at the maintenance records that would be 45K miles early per the recommended maintenance interval for the plugs. The parts markup also seemed a bit steep, for example the drive belt kit was ~$150 more than the the kit from 20K miles ago and ~$130 more than what I could find the parts for myself. Perhaps they bought the parts from the Mercedes dealer... In my experience they are a very competent and professional shop, but I'm not sure there was any cost savings as compared to taking the vehicle to the dealer. Perhaps cost isn't the differentiator they are shooting for. All things considered they are a very good shop, in my opinion too expensive. All things being equal they probably won't be my first choice in the future.
Thanks for the comprehensive review, these are always very helpful. We do use Original Equipment parts, and all of our work comes with a 3 year 36 month nationwide parts and labor warranty. We choose not to use lower quality, less expensive replacement parts as we can't offer a warranty on them. Your car, which I did admire while it was in the shop, is a 1991 model in exceptional condition with low (105k) miles. Manufacturers do have recommended service intervals set at mileages, but as an engineer I'm sure you also inspect according to time - and rubber items such as plug wires do deteriorate with age. Thanks for letting is service your car. While we don't claim to be a discount shop, we do offer OE level services, with factory trained, experienced Master Technicians, and a nationwide 3/36 warranty.
- European Auto Garage