Looking at an older but not classic Mercedes for a Sunday car. Any recommendations for a shop or person who can do a PPI for me? I’m not having much luck and Google SEO is giving me decent options but FL vs Orlando.

Edit - all set, thanks for the recommendations

This message has been edited. Last edited by: PGT,

I have been a customer of General Auto Repair in Altamonte Springs (just over the city line on the north side of Orlando) for a long time, maybe fifteen years. They know what they are doing, excellent work at reasonable cost. The owner, Rich Van Der Weide, is an Army veteran with principles that align nicely with most of us here on SIGforum, strong Trump supporter, owns couple P229s in .357 SIG, applies discount to customers who are current military or veteran.

They charged me $95 (this was several years ago, might be a bit higher now) for a "pre-marital" exam on a used Ford Edge that I was considering. They came up with a laundry list that I presented the list to the Ford dealer, who made all repairs on the list before delivering the vehicle to me. The $95 inspection cost saved me well over $1,500.

Contact Information:

General Auto Repair
957 Sunshine Lane
Altamonte Springs FL 32714-3804

(407) 682-5755‬

You can tell them that "L. R." referred you. I have not used them recently, because I no longer have an ICE vehicle and the EV is serviced by the dealer as part of the lease.

https://www.germanexcellence.com


This was Zotz garage and one of the employees bought it and renamed it to German Excellence.

They have been around 20 years as German Excellence and longer as Zotz. It's in Winter Park a wealthy area of the metroplex with lots of high end vehicles.

They do all German makes, Porsche, Mercedes, Audi, and I had them do the service on our Porsche Boxster S back when we had it.

I would contact them regarding the car and see if they can do an inspection...

I didn’t have the best experience with German excellence with my Audi - wasn’t as important as the Porsches and MB’s there.

I use Jerry here in Oviedo for MB. Beat to call him though to ask about the PPI.

https://www.jerrysgermancarservice.com/

What kind of Merc, just curious. I've had 3 & my grandmother 7. So I've been a bit of a lifelong fan of the marque.

My local Auto Solutions have proven themselves to be honest.

Not sure if it still exists as it's been over a decade since I worked at a place that did it but check with Triple A about any shops that do a certified used vehicle inspection. It's pretty thorough, Took me well over an hour to do one and we check the entire vehicle out.

Having owned two older Mercs V8s (1985 S, and 1998 E), I strongly suggest limiting your choices to specialists in MB. Knowing which plastics to check, which sensors to inspect. Unless you're just trying to assure it hasn't been bent. Which, is a reasonable lightweight approach IMO -- I've always bought with the premise that if it wasn't bent, it's fine. I can fix any old maintenance issues. I'd rather add a grand to the maintenance list, than close to a grand to a tech to detail-inspect the car.

Plan to change the flex disc. You won't like when they tear out on the road.