Can anyone recommend a good independent shop in Phoenix?

The BEST independant shop I have ever used, for anything - Atwood European - Andy Atwood, owner - 4825 N 7th Street - 602-287-9666.

Tell him I sent you!

-David
92 500SEL
94 SL600

Atwood European has always had a great reputation. My husband is in the automotive business and really believed in Mr. Atwood and referred european car owners on a regular basis to him. Recently Atwood moved to a new shop and may be trying to grow too quickly. We took my 190E to him for A/C problems. He had it 3 weeks and $500 later, it came back to us and the A/C problems were still there. Took it back, he had it another week. Found a loose wire in the ignition causing the A/C problem. He was nice enough not to charge us any more hours labor. Problem....the car came back with grease on the drivers seat, the floor mats were trashed with grease. The interior passenger side molding was laying on the dash and the speedometer no longer works. I am so disappointed. I can be understanding of the length of time it took as long as the car works afterwards. What I cannot believe he let the car leave unfinished. I certainly hope he can pull himself back in and get back to good customer service! I'm afraid we won't be referring anyone or going back ourselves...we are just calling it a bad investment.

**Update: They messed up the paint on the hood...my guess is they parked my car under a car on a lift that was leaking brake fluid. I had the car washed yesterday and it appears the clear coat has eaten away....*sigh*

Pam,
I have been using and highly recommend MB Motors at 2730 E.McDowell,Phx.
Phone 602-392-0686. Bud Cloninger is the owner and does very good work on my 1993 400SEL and my 1982 300D Turbo.

Thanks Richard, I'll check it out!:)

I've had my cars done by both Bud and Andy, for a short while. Bud does good, slow work ... but don't ever insist on knowing a time or date of completion or he will bite you. He has a hot temper and not many people skills.
Andy's shop has jumped the shark. Forget them.
Myerstar in Tempe is very good but on the pricey side, and no matter what you have repaired or maintained, they will ALWAYS advise you that something extra needs to be done, "so bring your car back real soon before it becomes dangerous."
Best of all is M.D. CLASSY CARS (name sucks -- used to be called Phoenix Foreign Car Service) but they are top notch. Small shop. Guy to see is Jeff McNulty. He and his techs have looked after my 1984 300D, 1985 300SD and 1987 300SDL for almost 10 years now ... always a damn good job, always a fair and honest price, which he tries to keep as low as possible. AND he is a straight shooter. I use them now exclusively.
They're at 2048 E. Indian School, just off the 51, and a hair west of Sprinkler World ... (602) 277-7077.

Sure you haven't been abusing Bud? He's normally a very mild mannered guy.

We took our 300se to a shop in Mesa on Apache for AC issues and overheating. 4Gs+ later we still had ac issues (thermostatic switch and the actual turn on switch were still working sporadically). they "fixed" the ac problem by removing the heater hose and doing a bypass of the heater core. I should have known when I walked into their shop and saw crap everywhere.:laugh3::grim::eek: