It is very disappointing for me to write this somewhat negative review for Jonathan. I have been vacillating between: "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything" and "people should know the truth". The truth won out.
One very important factor for me in utilizing tradespeople is their ability to know their limitations, and, if something is beyond them, to tell you. Unfortunately, Jonathan prefers to be "all things to all Mercedes owners". He is actually a very good mechanic, but he simply does not have enough experience to know everything.
In our case we had contacted him last year regarding a thirty year old 380SL. The car had been in storage for several years, and the first step was to have it pass the Smog Test. When we contacted him, we emphasized this several times - even told him an old Chinese anecdote about focusing on the "head of the bird". We were not trying to have everything done that a thirty year old car would need to make it perfect - we just simply wanted it to pass the Smog. We also asked him (since he does not have a shop) if he had connections with smog shops that would test the car and allow him to make adjustments as needed - he assured us that he did.
The long and short of it is that he had us spend hundreds of dollars buying parts that, in retrospect, may or may not have been at issue. He wound up taking us to two smog shops on three ocassions, and they were not very cooperative with him. He spent a lot of time and we spent a lot of money without passing the Smog. And, after several weeks of this, he was running out of ideas.
I finally decided to call a mechanic that we used for many years, with many years of experience; but, unfortunately, too far away since we moved. He had me read off some numbers on the paperwork that the Smog People had given me, and, in couple of minutes told me to go get a new Catalytic Converter. I ordered it that day, had it installed the next day. Went to Diversified Auto and it passed on the first try. When I told him, Jonathan was surprised.
But in spite of this experience, I still had a good feeling about Jonathan and, when the car wouldn't start a couple of weeks ago, sent him an email asking to set up a time to come by. He was very slow to respond, but after several emails, he finally sent a note stating that he would be available last Thursday or Friday. Even though this was taking waaay to much time, I told him that either day would work, just give me a time. He never did. I sent him several more reminders, but nothing. Finally, last Tuesday, I reached him by phone. At that time he told me that both his Thu and Fri were now booked, so it would have to be the following Monday. I scheduled it.
By now I was starting to wonder why I was trying to stick with him. He had shown a lack of knowledge in correcting a situation, and then he showed complete disregard for a client's time by dragging things out and failing to communicate. By now I was also pretty sure that the problem was either a connection or the starter - both relatively simple things for most mechanics to check. So I had the car towed to Canyon Lake Auto, they diagnosed it as a bad starter, and it was replaced. Now running great. This took less than two days.
So my suggestion to someone thinking about using Jonathan: make sure that you have very specific items for him to perform - his analytical skills (especially dealing with older cars) need time to develop. And my suggestion to Jonathan is: respond to clients in a timely manner. And BTW: please cancel the appointment for tomorrow. read more
