Stuttgart Garage, Pontypridd

Took my rclass for some repair work, always cautious of non main dealers, however Stuttgart Garage are really knowledgable of the Mercedes range. Good to have enthusiastic people working on your car.

I had been using a Merc Specialist in Bristol for a number of years and although their prices were keen the service could be very haphazard. When I had used them at the beginning of the year for a Service B on my SL320 I was worried when a young kid answered the phone and didn’t have a clue about anything to do with my car. He didn’t even recognise the car by the model shown on the car or by the Merc chassis name I believe (R129), so was unable to advise me on a price or talk about issues I needed looking at. I thought this was a one off until taking the car there and didn’t recognise any of the technicians other than one. They all appeared to be young kids which worried me greatly. I eventually managed to talk to the owner who knows his Merc inside out to discuss his findings. I paid up front for parts he had to order as per usual and arranged to have them fitted at a later date. Half the parts were fitted and the remaining ones were not. I also had an ongoing fault with a unit in the car Merc no longer make so he was going to find a solution to the problem. I never heard anything for a week and over the weekend my SL had burst a power steering pipe so ideally I wanted to discuss the remaining issues before relaying the car to them for more work. I spent all morning trying to talk to the owner who appears to be the only person who knows anything to do with either Merc or what’s happening in his business. I just kept hearing the all so familiar lies and excuses so I gave in and decided to take it to Kevin at Stuttgart. I had read great things about these guys, but they are considerably further to get too which is all that had put me off previously. I emailed Kevin to ask if all his technicians were time served Merc engineers which they are and questions about labour rates etc. He responded really quickly but was unable to take the car for a week due to the vast amount of work he had on which to me was a good sign and no problem what so ever. They collect within 50 miles and leave a car at your premises for the technician to return in. Because my car was being relayed (a service they also offer) by the AA they were unable to return it as the technician would have been stranded at my place. This was no problem at all and once received, Kevin looked at it and rang me with a price for the steering pump. He kept me up to date with progress every step of the way by either phone or email and it was refreshing to be looked after so well. Luckily I just live within the 50 mile collection radius so for future issues/ servicing they can easily accommodate me. I would whole heartedly recommend Kevin and Stuttgart as they do main dealer servicing/repairs for a fraction of the Stealer and use only genuine Merc parts which I always insist on. Kevin is a great guy to deal with and knows the product inside out. He is very helpful and friendly.

On a Friday in April whilst putting down the roof of our 13 year old Mercedes 230SLK, it failed with the boot section up and the quarter lights down. The mechanical over-ride was identified and we managed to get the boot down but could not bring back up the quarter lights. I was recommended to Stuttgart Motors, Pontypridd, who arranged to pick up the car the following Monday and at 7.30am a fitter arrived to collect the car. The car was with them for two days during which they followed the diagnostic checks required and identified that it was an hydraulic fault rather than mechanical or electrical. However they needed to buy a tool from Mercedes to carry out further tests and returned the car to me with the quarter lights returned to the correct position. About 2 weeks later they collected the car again and after having it for a further day advised that they still had not identified the precise fault and had exhausted the computerised diagnostic checks. They had returned to the manuals and needed two further tools from germany to complete their diagnosis. Once again the car was returned and two weeks then elapsed during which time I was getting increasingly concerned about the cost that were mounting. In a phone call with Kevin James, the proprietor, he assured me that we would 'not fall out over money'. When the tools arrived they took the car and quickly identified a failed hydraulic pump which was a first for them with this model. The costs of the replacement part was £880 including VAT. The garage said that if I did not want to proceed to mend the car then he felt that four hours labour was a fair price to idebntify the fault and this would amount to £260. if I did want to repair the car then the part, plus oil and a further 2-3hours labour would resolve the problem. Total cost £1300. I had the car mended and have nothing but praise for the customer care I received and the friendliness of the fitters I met.