I have a brief history of love affairs with foreign vehicles – two Peugeots, a Volkswagen and a Mercedes. I prefer to do as much work as possible on my vehicles (you don’t have much choice with a Peugeot), but due to complexity, tool available and my work schedule, I’ve had to defer to an experienced MB mechanic most recently.
Karim and the group at Wizard Werks in Chicago exceeded any experience I’ve had at any other shop (specific to German vehicle maintenance), or even dealer, regardless of dealership prices.
First and foremost, Karim’s communication needs to be mentioned. I called over the phone asking for a quote on service. He promptly delivered a PDF quote for labor and materials before the end of the day as he previously promised following his ability to obtain pricing on original Mercedes Benz parts. While all the work done, he was in touch over the phone, via email and also included pictures of the maintenance progress. For additional work to be done above what I intended to bring it in for, we casually talked about it and agreed on a price, time to be performed, etc. Just for reference, the work I had done was extensive and covered all facets of my CLK 430 – cosmetic, required mechanical and “convenience” features too:
-sunroof motor
-passenger seat motor
-alternator, belts
-valve cover gaskets
-rear brakes, rotors
-motor mounts
Second, Karim delivered the price, discounted labor despite some time consuming hang-ups (the sunroof motor required circuit board troubleshooting) and stuck to the original estimate in writing and over the phone (he even threw in a 10% discount on the MB parts). Additionally, while the body work guy was working on another vehicle, he even pulled out a small but eyesore of a dent on the front quarter panel, free of charge as a thank you for my business.
Lastly, upon picking up the vehicle (which the shop provided me a ride to and from work for both drop off and pickup), Karim took about 45 minutes to walk me through everything done, provided parts removed and a detail synopsis of the car’s health, if you will. He insisted this was important as I was a first time customer and earning my trust was critical to his business and my satisfaction.
Without a doubt, this is the best my Mercedes has run since owning it (noticeably better than when received from the dealership). In the past I’ve had work done at several other European mechanic shops as well as three Chicago land dealerships. However, by comparison, Karim runs a superior, first-class operation at Wizard Werks and has earned a lifelong customer.
