Talk Morgan Forums Talk Morgan Members Section Dealer Talk Terrible experiences at Merz & Pabst by Stuttgart

I never particularly liked taking my Morgan to Merz & Pabst by Stuttgart, Germany.... but it was by the far the closest Morgan service point. I just never got a good feeling of competence and familiarity with the Morgan. They would do funny things like insist it needed a service every 3000km (it should be 4800km (3000 miles)). And several other small things that made me worry.

Recently I took it for a scheduled maintenance (should be about 500 euro) and they performed a bunch of extra work without contacting me for approval. So when I picked up the car the total bill was ~2000+ Euro. Of course I refused to pay it (but did pay them for the work I had requested to be done). Now they are threatening to sue over the unpaid amount.

Even if I "win" in this lawsuit I will have lost the time and money spent to fight it.

What a hassle! I should have listened to my inner voice and avoided them in the first place.

I'm sorry to hear of your bad experience and good on you for holding out on the "extras" - it won't be worth their while pursuing you for the difference.

Good luck with finding another servicing point.

Really sorry to hear that, nobody wants hassle. I am lucky as for work I don't want to do myself, I have a good friend who owns a garage. Totally reliable and peace of mind.

MrPB,

sorry to hear that as well, and thank you for sharing that bad experience. My car is from there as well, i have mixed feelings so far. Member Kamo30 wrote a short report about the local alternative: www.classic-line.org They are in Kirchheim am Neckar, same area for me. They took over two very experienced guys from Merz and Papst.
Keep us informed about the development.

Regards

Have no knowledge of German dealers but my experience in the UK is to find a really good local garage with a mechanic who you can trust and develop a good relationship. Morgan's are fairly simple cars and with Ford engines most competent garages have the appropriate diagnostic equipment.
I am stuck with a Morgan main dealer while the car is in warranty, and I really need that support whilst the car is in its adolescent phase, but will be going back to my local garage as soon as its out of warranty.
Not only do I highly rate my local guy but the hourly labour charge at my Morgan dealer is £90 versus £20 per hour locally. That's a massive difference if they have tha car for a couple of days.

I would write to the factory and make them aware too...

Andrew,
Spot on advice here.
To assume your Morgan dealer is the best may cost you more in the long run. Its good to seek out a worthy garage by asking around and listening to a number of their customers before you trust your Morgan into the hands of their mechanics.
There is a wealth of knowledge out there on the web specific to the Morgan that's also worth tapping into.

Agree with all that has been said.

Once Tarka is out of warranty it will go to Tim Ayres and Darren or possibly the local BMW specialist...

+1 I use Mogworks who I trust. I have had bad expereince with one of the UK dealers

Mine goes to a specialist duratec garage only 3 miles from me , the chap used to run the Caterham midlands workshop and has had Morgans in his garage in the recent past , he looked after my caterham for a few years !