Charlotte NC - any good independent shops

Sunbrother

New member
I have a 2014 4 cylinder and need a good place for service and troubleshooting.

I used MB of South Charlotte and I would say I spent $600 for not very much result. They were extremely nice but things seem to be $300 per small item.

I was just wanting to find an independent shop that you can interact more with the guy that actually touches the van.

Thanks.
 
Last edited:

Sunbrother

New member
thanks for the reply...I called Dr A (Andy) and he does not work on the NCV3 era of sprinters. it sounds like he will entertain questions related to troubleshooting and but does not work on those.
 

Sunbrother

New member
I went up to Hendersonville NC and had my van checked out Zekes Autowerks.

Very knowledgeable and helpful for sprinter vans. I would say give him a try. He posted his number In the thread above.

Thanks Zeke
 

nctrailseeker

Active member
Definitely stay away from Hendricks Mercedes of Charlotte. Read my negative review on their Facebook. They will destroy parts on your van and they blame you.
Just go read. And I'm not the only one with complaints about their service.

I know they're not an independent shop, but still gotta give the warning.
 

Britts08

Member
Definitely stay away from Hendricks Mercedes of Charlotte. Read my negative review on their Facebook. They will destroy parts on your van and they blame you.
Just go read. And I'm not the only one with complaints about their service.

I know they're not an independent shop, but still gotta give the warning.

Hey, I’m in Charlotte and have regularly used Hendrick. Curious to hear about your experience.

I recently had to replace the ERG valve and had noticed it getting worse. They completely missed it in a scheduled service which brought me back a few weeks later.
 

nctrailseeker

Active member
Let me just say, go to their Facebook and read the reviews. Look for the bad ones ... mine will be the most detailed and longest. I held nothing back. I would highly suggest going elsewhere. South Charlotte Mercedes is further away, but much much better.

Facebook ... Hendrick Motors of Charlotte - Mercedes-Benz ... click on reviews ... Mark Dial may be the first one you see ... that's me
 

Sunbrother

New member
I have gone to Hendricks for the last service (around 75k), and AC work and the recent recall. They are so booked up for sprinter vans it has been more difficult to get scheduled and then I have had to leave my van a few days. But it’s my spare vehicle so not that big of a problem for me. I do feel like they don’t check everything as close as they could…small items tire pressure seems overlooked. I think they scan computer and they address those items. I could just be mad because I had to pay $2300 to get a new AC compressor put on : )

I had Zeke (above in this post) look it over back when I posted and he was a great guy to deal with. I just haven’t be able to coordinate my service visits to his location.

My original issue when I started this thread was more for a strange issue that ened up being wiring related…MB of South Charlotte looked it the first time and charged about $300 for a new sensor…..didn’t fix it….went back about a month later with same issue and they need to replace the connector to that sensor for $485 and that fixed my issue.

So with the said….I am sure they are both capable but dealers charge a lot when you are looking for a problem. For service…probably doesn’t matter much. For troubleshooting…you just hope you get a good tech…but the dealers make it hard to communicate directly with the tech and I think that slows things down. That is why I wanted a shop that I could work a little more directly with the person actually working on the problem.

Still haven’t really found one. Sorry Zeke…if you are still up in Hendersonville…I may still try to use you at some point. Just takes a lot more coordiantion for out of town work.
 

Coast2Coast

2006 158 Cargo
I'm looking for a good independent fleet mechanic or Sprinter garage in Charlotte NC to do a inspection on T1N if anyone has any recommendations also a DIY Sprinter mobile enthusiast mechanic works. I'm just not there and need a Inspection done before buying? Thanks in advance!
 

nctrailseeker

Active member
I'm looking for a good independent fleet mechanic or Sprinter garage in Charlotte NC to do a inspection on T1N if anyone has any recommendations also a DIY Sprinter mobile enthusiast mechanic works. I'm just not there and need a Inspection done before buying? Thanks in advance!
Were you able to find anyone around Charlotte?
 

ncjohn

Member
I took my 09 to MB of South Charlotte for an alignment six months or so ago. After it got brought into the shop and they looked at it, the service advisor said my alignment issue was due to camber and charged me $200-300 or so to install the camber bolts I provided. I questioned the cost (ridiculously expensive) but I was there and needed it done so approved it. A long while later I get a video text from the technician with a snazzy little report on the alignment and the overall condition of the van. But, during the video the tech said the camber was fine and the alignment was off due to toe-in. Ha! I immediately (politely and respectfully) met with the service advisor and asked him why they charged me all that money for the installation of the bolts when they weren’t even needed. After all, they said the camber was the problem…. After a few behind doors meetings they agreed to reduce most of the charge for the bolt installation. They made it mostly right but if I hadn’t been paying attention they’d have really overcharged me and maybe even pulled a fast one. Nice shop but I think they don’t need to worry about most of their clientele asking questions about anything they do - I’d hate to think they take advantage of that.
 

noobinacan

New member
hi folks ...good info in this thread.
since its NC crowd here.
is 170 sprinter registration end up being commercial or do we have a choice to have it as private auto ?
 

ncjohn

Member
hi folks ...good info in this thread.
since its NC crowd here.
is 170 sprinter registration end up being commercial or do we have a choice to have it as private auto ?
My 09 Airstream Interstate (170 3500) is registered as a (non-commerical) 08 Freightliner van. That was just how it came up when I transferred registration at time of purchase. I said "thank you!" and got the heck out of there.
 

noobinacan

New member
thanks -i think because your is a RV, it is exempt from commercial weight requirements.

- what I am hearing is...
over 7000lbs it will get 'WEIGHTED' tag.
and I am not sure if that implies commercial. i don't think it does...and something I am going to try to confirm...
 

ncjohn

Member
thanks -i think because your is a RV, it is exempt from commercial weight requirements.

- what I am hearing is...
over 7000lbs it will get 'WEIGHTED' tag.
and I am not sure if that implies commercial. i don't think it does...and something I am going to try to confirm...
Based on the registration, they don't/didn't know mine is an RV. Again, it just says "Freightliner van." I have a regular tag, our girl tips the scales at nearly 10K lbs and they didn't ask if it was commercial or not. I've never seen an RV with a weighted tag. Our diesel pusher didn't get one and it was over 26,000#. My dually (sp?) did - it was used to pull our travel trailer. But that's still not commercial. You can have a weighted tag in NC and not be commercial.
 

Top Bottom