ahh major oil leak - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

brightbus · #16 09-25-2006, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brightbus

question, not about my car though. what newer cars (1993-2000) are good running cars which will last a lot of miles? (200,000+ like the old benzes) went to look at cars today, and ones in my price range run from about 110,000-150,000) i've hear good things about nissans, honda's toyota's and a few others. buttttttttt then again, ive heard some bad stuff (one of my friends recently bought a 93 nissan, and shes already had to get a power steering leak fixed, and a gas leak fixed..............) i know nothing is like the benzes, (old) but what is #2?

sorry don't want to sound really lazy, (though I do) it's just that things tend to go wrong at a faster rate on older cars, and with college looming around the corner, and all the things I do now, plus my job, I just don't have the time to learn to fix things myself. and these cars are real diy cars, and i havent found a real good indy here yet. plus even though i've told her that the car is 10x more reliable than most cars on the road, my mom wants me to get rid of it because it is "unsafe" plus what happened to that quote i heard here
"theres nothing more expensive than a cheap benz"

btw i had been looking at toyota's honda's nissans and saturns and other gm's

on another note, told my mom to pick up some 15w-40 oil on her way home from work, what does she do, she buys 10w-40. anways i drove her car back to the autozone to replace it. ive only drived her car once, and that was about a year ago. tryn to get used to it, wayyy different then driving my slow benz (she has a 99 saturn) when i park i go to put the parking break on like it is in my car, but duh, it doesnt have a floor parking break, its in the middle. and in the middle of traffic fiddling with the lights and crap, lurching when i was driving cuz im not used to the faster acceleration of her car. would have been funny if u saw it.

pawoSD · #17 09-25-2006, 10:38 PM

I am in college (Junior) and work two jobs and take car of my car and spend lots of time with my fiance as well as my and her family, and I get along fine. Bleh I say. I am even currently mentally prepared to change out my rear drive axles if the boots fail on them anytime soon.

MB unsafe? Saturn safe? If the two got in an accident with each other the MB would have a busted front grille, and you'd need a crowbar to peel Saturn metal scraps off the street, there'd be nothing left. I loathe riding in cars that are non-mb, especially little flimsy ones. I avoid it at all costs.

3 years ago I didn't know how to do anything to a car, now I practically can put most of a W126 together from scratch.

Learning to fix them is half the fun!

greasybenz · #18 09-26-2006, 12:50 AM

If you really dont want to spend $35 on the hose i can get it from my work for $5, shipping with usps is probably another $5 so why give up the car when you can replace the hose?

And its not an aftermarket branded hose either, we are the dealers supplier.

Zerohour3k · #19 09-26-2006, 08:04 AM

I'll take the car off your hands for the $35 you don't want to spend on oil cooler lines.

I'll even get you brand new "2006" 20's, 10's, and 5 dollar bills!

((Seriously though, if you honestly want to get rid of that car for such a small problem, I'll be more than happy to take the car off your hands for cheap, depending on how bad the interior and exterior is. Hondas aren't bad, but they sure as hell aren't built like a Benz is. And repair costs? I think you'll be suprised at how much MORE a newer car will cost you. Indie's love to work on these older benzes, simply because there's no computers in it, and everything is pretty damn simple. But if you want to sell it, to buy a rice-burner, be my guest.

))

Cateaux · #20 09-26-2006, 11:42 AM

Hondas are arguably the most trouble-free cars on the road, but they're also difficult to work on. My stepbrother drives a '96 Accord with about 190K miles on the clock, but he's owned it for most of its life and has always overmaintained it. A Honda with only 100K on the odometer could potentially be a much bigger headache than your old Benz if it hasn't been taken care of. There is no transmission filter (just a magnetic drain plug) so if the fluid hasn't been changed regularly it will cost you big time. Parts tend to be mre expensive, too. And you will be replacing axles, timing belts (PITA), rotors that need to be pressed off of the hub, requiring removal of the steering knuckle, etc..

Honestly, if you are going to learn to work on cars, a late model Japanese model is not a good place to start. Had I not learned to wrench on American iron from the 1960's and my sister's Beetles when I was a kid, I don't know how well I'd do working on a Honda today.

rrgrassi · #21 09-26-2006, 02:03 PM

More things go wrong on older cars? How is that? The older Benzes were designed to last for a very long time, but they need to be maintained.

I learned to work on cars because of my first car. A '73 Pontiac GP. That I got when it was 8 y/o and had 93,000 on the clock. I had it 5 years, ran it to 200,000 then sold it. I replaced 2 alts, 1 WP, and one steering box. Rest was maintenance. Most of my friends parent's bought the newer and brand new cars. They spent lots of time in the shop while my old Pontiac was on the road.

Same goes for these old Benzes. How many 20+ y/o cars can you see that are still used as daily drivers?

For $35 and the cost of an oil/filter change, plus your labor time, fix it and drive it. You will be glad you did.

brightbus · #22 09-26-2006, 09:45 PM

plus id really like to see someone restore this car. sadly in my ownership this car will never get the treatment it deserves. i would rather see someone else fix it up, repaint, interior, ac, minor rust spots, it deserves more love than I can give

all in all, will probably end up selling on ebay

Hatterasguy · #23 09-26-2006, 10:05 PM

The sometimes harsh truth, is that one needs to be an enthusiast and enjoy working on these cars to own one for long.

When a turn key driver is wanted an old MB is a poor candidate.