Mercedes Benz Owners

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W126 S-Class cars are among the best ever, IMHO. Most (as in "most") regular maintenance and many repairs are easily accomplished by a competent owner. I don't do transmissions and prefer my brake and a/c work to be done by professionals.

Since I have three I'm probably a little biased in favor, but after the 1st or 2nd 100K miles one becomes a believer.

Having a running parts car makes it easy for us to forgo collision insurance. We NOW put twice as many miles per year on the '91 420SEL as all the other vehicles COMBINED!

Cheers!
 
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Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: bobbob
I owned 2 Audis and they were good cars, I have driven some BMW's, also good. My question is about the Benz, do they drive better, perform better and are they a better
all around value than the same in their class? I am concerned about maintenance as I
am buying used. Thanks guys



Other than wear and tear items, most of the car that makes up my 91 318i has been super reliable. It is consuming some oil and has a ticking lifter, but it also has 165k miles. The suspension, interior, other electronics, etc. have all been great.

Ditto for my old w123 cars, which probably are the best cars ever built. Other than some silly age related issues like vacuum couplings getting old and leaky, there really hasnt been anything.

These cars ALL even have their full original radiators and hoses.

Fixed this quote a bit but I agree:

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
They are better built and age better, also simpler to fix.

However like any late model high end car regardless of manufacture be careful when they are out of warranty.

If you stick to a basic E class or C class you should be OK if you get a good example and maintain it. .


MB has been the epitome of engineering, but as they move their cars to lower price points or with more fancy doodads with the intent of being excessively fancy rather than excessively engineered, then you lose confidence. When you start selling cars at a lease price point to the masses, then some elements may be compromised.


Don't edit my quotes thanks, my statement is correct I'd have zero heartburn buying a 2014 Honda Accord and driving it out of warranty for years, but a CLS63 AMG? NFW

Their is a reason say a CL65 AMG deprecates like yesterdays newspaper and oh say a Ferrar 458 or 9114S does not.

In the real world if you want to own for a decade you have to pick your models, also generally these cars make the best used purchases as well. The lease price point base E350 is exactly the car to get, or a base C class. The Magic Ride equipped S550 with the bi turbo V8, night vision and all the toys would not be a friendly car to own for a decade. Same with the CL hence the price drop, when the second owner starts getting $3k-$6k repair bills from the dealer they dump it. Oh and you pretty much have to use the dealer or a high end MB shop because they have the diagnostic computer systems!

Your talking about stuff that happened 30 years ago, I'm dealing with 2010+ models since I assume that OP wants something made this century. But I could be wrong.

If the OP is interested in classic MB's those models have their warts as well.
 
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Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
If the OP is interested in classic MB's those models have their warts as well.


The OP has been MIA. It'd be nice if he'd return and provide some more detail in terms of which years/models specifically he's interested in to help make the most out of this so far rather generic discussion.
 
While even I must admit the older Mercs were tight cars, their newer models are far from the epitome of automotive perfection or reliability. I think it was Car and Driver that said the new S class had over 100 servo motors in it?

Reliable? Doesn't sound too good for the long haul to me.

I have owned 3 Mercs and found them to be distinctly below my personal standard of reliability. JMO of course, and any analysis of reliability must be evaluated against total production numbers as well...
 
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C-Class is for wannabees - a German saying. Cheaper than dirt on manheim.com auction lots. There is another German saying about Audi, but it is outside the scope. Tigers were fantastic tanks when new, but the same malaise: over-engineering lead to excessive downtime multiplied by the need for the properly trained skilled mechanics. if you go that route, use the proper fluids. Don't look at cost, look at performance.
 
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy


Don't edit my quotes thanks, my statement is correct I'd have zero heartburn buying a 2014 Honda Accord and driving it out of warranty for years, but a CLS63 AMG? NFW


Well you have to compare apples to apples. A fully decked out accord with every last electronic doodad?

First, it still has FAR less than the CLS63...

But Id not trust all that junk in a 2014 honda either.

It's not like when it fails (yes, when) it's going to be any easier or cheaper to fix.
 
Originally Posted By: Y_K
C-Class is for wannabees - a German saying. Cheaper than dirt on manheim.com auction lots. There is another German saying about Audi, but it is outside the scope. Tigers were fantastic tanks when new, but the same malaise: over-engineering lead to excessive downtime multiplied by the need for the properly trained skilled mechanics. if you go that route, use the proper fluids. Don't look at cost, look at performance.


The baby Benz is a decent cheap little commuter car. Mercedes makes lots of vehicles most of them are commercial or military, only a small percentage are high end.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
If the OP is interested in classic MB's those models have their warts as well.


The OP has been MIA. It'd be nice if he'd return and provide some more detail in terms of which years/models specifically he's interested in to help make the most out of this so far rather generic discussion.


Yeah pretty much, MB made a ton of cars and most models had their good points and bad points to look out for.
 
And the more mainstream the model, the more reliable and cheaper to maintain they tend to be. E320/E350 are like the Camry/accord of the MB world. More reliable and easier to maintain than the V8+ models and cheaper parts.

A buddy bought a used E63 for a great price - he is just doing his second brake job. Each front rotor is $1,000 purchased from an internet source. He doesn't care, but it if you buy a $100,000 car a killer price, you still have maintenance costs in line with a $100k car. Prior to that he had an E55 which took thousands of dollars per shop visit, again he didn't care but the cost of ownership is high.

We have an E320cdi, an E350 and a C240 in the family that have all been inexpensive to maintain to 100k.
 
Originally Posted By: CBR.worm
And the more mainstream the model, the more reliable and cheaper to maintain they tend to be. E320/E350 are like the Camry/accord of the MB world. More reliable and easier to maintain than the V8+ models and cheaper parts.

A buddy bought a used E63 for a great price - he is just doing his second brake job. Each front rotor is $1,000 purchased from an internet source. He doesn't care, but it if you buy a $100,000 car a killer price, you still have maintenance costs in line with a $100k car. Prior to that he had an E55 which took thousands of dollars per shop visit, again he didn't care but the cost of ownership is high.

We have an E320cdi, an E350 and a C240 in the family that have all been inexpensive to maintain to 100k.


And a front rotor for an AMG car or one with the Sport Package is about $100 or so...

C'mon! An E63 is kind'a up there, isn't it? WAY up there, IMHO!

Cheers!
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy


Don't edit my quotes thanks, my statement is correct I'd have zero heartburn buying a 2014 Honda Accord and driving it out of warranty for years, but a CLS63 AMG? NFW


Well you have to compare apples to apples. A fully decked out accord with every last electronic doodad?

First, it still has FAR less than the CLS63...

But Id not trust all that junk in a 2014 honda either.

It's not like when it fails (yes, when) it's going to be any easier or cheaper to fix.


Disagree since Accord is a top selling car and will have a massive used parts sourcing based on sheer volume. Also aftermarket exists as a car like Accord is appealing to the masses new and old vs MB which is specialty model and novelty in some ways and fades.
 
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