Took my van here for a look at my battery charging system. They told me it was my fault because of my camper build in the back even though all that was disconnected. And since they dont work on campers they couldnt do anything. Then charged me $400 for that "diagnostic" and an oil change. Took to another shop and within a day they found corrosion on the wires between my alternator and battery. If you have to explain to a mechanic how to do their job don't pay them. This shop basically did nothing and charged me for it at a ridiculous rate.
Hey Zach. I'm sorry to hear that you aren't totally satisfied with your visit. To clarify, we did only charge you for 1 hour of labor to diagnose your electrical issue, and that was $170, not $400. It's a pretty reasonable amount considering how much time, equipment, and expertise goes into tracking down these issues. Unfortunately we can only follow the path to where it leads, and your issue led us to a system that we do not service and is an add-on to the factory electrical system that we have expertise in. We are pretty clear about our policy of only working on the Mercedes chassis side and not the house electrical side. Because of this, we couldn't get involved in working on your home-made electrical system. The alternator cable, from what I understand had been modified and re-routed straight through it, bypassing the battery altogether and directly causing your issue. We did tell you exactly where the problem was and we went out of our way to connect you with a reputable builder who does work on the house systems, so I'm happy that that worked out for you. If any of this doesn't make sense or you'd like to speak with me about it directly my name is Jason and I'd be happy to talk with you and see if we can work it out. I'm glad that you ultimately got to the bottom of it and I'm definitely bummed that we couldn't help you more, but I hope we can continue to help you out on the Mercedes chassis in the future.
- The Shop Automotive LLC