‘Next time, I’m charging 2 times what the dealership charges’: Mechanic says customer brought in a Mercedes. Now he’s issuing a warning to German car owners

A mechanic went viral after explaining why he dislikes working on foreign cars, specifically those made by German manufacturers. 

User @allhailybz says he’s “done” working on German vehicles after recently servicing a Mercedes S550. As of Monday, his video explaining why he’ll no longer touch foreign vehicles had amassed more than 225,000 views.

What happened?

@allhailybz says a customer reached out and needed work done to their Mercedes, which is one of the most well-known German car manufacturers. Other popular ones include Audi, BMW, Porsche, and Volkswagen.

Despite their popularity, @allhailybz says he doesn’t like working on foreign vehicles, though he didn’t explain why.

“Straight off the bat, whenever I hear something foreign, I don’t want to work on it,” he says. In fact, in an attempt to avoid these cars, @allhailybz says he’ll charge more than a dealership would. He says he does this in the hopes that the customer will choose to take their car there instead. 

That didn’t work with the Mercedes customer, though. @allhailybz says the customer still wanted their Mercedes serviced, and the mechanic reluctantly agreed since he thought the job would only take him two hours. 

Of course, it wasn’t that easy. With foreign cars in particular, the mechanic says, the work “always” takes longer than expected.

@allhailybz didn’t say what services the Mercedes needed, but after finishing the job, swore off servicing foreign cars ever again. 

“My back hurts [and] my soul hurts,” he says. “I got the job done, but next time, I’m charging two times what the dealership charges.”

He added, “I’m done working on German cars.” 

What makes foreign cars harder to service? 

Foreign cars are generally considered harder to work on compared to domestic cars due to their more complex design. These cars also might require specialized tools and use different systems and technologies that are not readily familiar to the average mechanic.

In a 2014 Reddit thread in the r/cars subreddit, one Redditor asked what makes German cars, in particular, much harder to service.

Commenters seemed to agree that these cars can be “over-engineered.” As a result, one Redditor says, “Everything you want to do will take three times as long and cost twice as much as you thought it would when you started.” (This is what @allhailybz seemed to have experienced.)

According to the Performance Auto Specialists, one of the biggest distinctions between European and American cars is their respective transmissions. European manufacturers, it says, prefer standard shifts to automatic transmissions.

Another key difference between the manufacturers, it says, is that European cars have more “distinct parts and higher levels of engineering and technology.” This might look cool if you’re driving one, but it can make servicing these cars take longer and cost more.

Why buy foreign? 

Steve’s Imports, an auto repair shop, says that customers buy foreign cars over American ones because they like their look and feel. 

“They like how their vehicle handles, or they have established brand loyalty to a particular brand,” the website says. “And in many cases, quality often outperforms its domestic counterpart.”

@allhailybz ONG #mechaniclife #dieselmechanic #mechanicmafia ♬ Lucifer's Waltz - Secession Studios

Viewers are torn on American vs. foreign cars 

In the comments section of @allhailybz’s video, some German vehicle owners and fellow mechanics say they disagreed with the content creators’ take.

“That’s called quality,” one user says, followed by a picture of the German flag. 

“German engineering is the best engineering,” another commented. 

“I love German cars,” a third man added. “If you know how they work, it’s so easy. I make 160k a year and work less than 40 hrs per week.”

Some other self-identified mechanics empathized with @allhailybz. 

“I hate working on German cars,” one commented. 

“Bro, I’m a mechanic,” another said. “I feel your pain.”

“Bro never told a lie,” a third viewer added, followed by a crying emoji. 

Meanwhile, some commenters say whether you can service a foreign car is a matter of skill. 

“It’s a skill matter,” one person wrote. “You need to be a trained technician.”

Another agreed, writing, “I only work with German cars. Maybe I need to teach you the way.”

The Daily Dot has reached out to @allhailybz via TikTok comment and to Mercedes through email.

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The post ‘Next time, I’m charging 2 times what the dealership charges’: Mechanic says customer brought in a Mercedes. Now he’s issuing a warning to German car owners appeared first on The Daily Dot.

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