My wife still has her '69 Beetle, which was designed by Ferdinand Porsche, who was not a Nazi and just wanted to build cars. She bought it new and drove it every day for many years, but only a few miles a day, never 120. Today, the Beetle is parked (she doesn't want to sell it) and she drives her Mercedes diesel.

A Mercedes is a far safer, more comfortable car. It's a no-brainer.

Jeremy

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

I recently had a 1973 super beetle with only 9500 miles on it; it was like new inside and out. Stopped running in 1977, pushed into my neighbor's garage and sat until I got my little fingers latched onto it.
I couldn't believe how cheap and poorly made these 1970s VWs are; even compared to Japanese cars of the same era. Even with only 9000 odd miles on the clock the previous owner have a stack of receipts that would make a Yugo owner proud. Cheap plastic and built down to a price, this car was junk when brand new.
Also The Super Beetles are the LEAST collectible of bugs; the poorly made McPherson struts, poorly made plastic bushings and no weight in the front causes all sorts of handling problems in the Super. Tire pressure in front is supposed to be 17lbs, any more pressure causes no grip and wobble. Even young VW freaks steer away from the Supers.
The nostalgia and memories of these beetles is much stronger and appealing than the realities of owning these old lemons;..as with any old funky car, it is aways fun looking from the outside in but the realities of owning a poorly made old car... the fun disappears fast.

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"Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration...
don't Fail Us Now"

probably has been awhile since you looked into the vw scene, the supers are actually starting to get coveted, so as to make them into the German look bugs. There'll never be sought out like pre 67 type 1's, but thats not my point. As I said before when there is proper upkeep and the proper tolerances are maintained the older air cooled veewees can be just as reliable as any other vehicle.

I would trust an old air cooled vw further with low compression bad timing exhaust leaks etc. than an old MB diesel with like problems.

On the other hand if both the VW and MB were maintained properly i would of course be rolling the MB

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For everything I've ever done there has always been a first time.

66 MB 200d
65 VW T2 Deluxe
76 VW T2 Westfalia

Why don't you compair two cars that are close to being the same. I have a 1985 300sd and a 2000 vw beetle diesel. And in this case the vw wins hands down.

Yeah why not, a 2000VW diesel vs a 1999 E300D, or a 2004 E320CDI.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

For the money the vw would still win and you would not have to work on it all the time.

Apples and oranges different cars made for different markets. An E class diesel is a lot more car than that VW. Economy car VS luxury car, they are made for totaly different markets.

My dads friend had a Beetle diesel, think it was an 01. It rolled over 100k miles, on its second engine btw and was falling apart. Great cars, now he has a Civic.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

People luv the VW's because of great fuel mileage. But I went with the Mercedes because of the great reliablity and comfortable amenities. On Ebay the old bugs/rabbits and such sell for a bundle often more than the Mercedes. I don't understand it. I'd rather have the smooth ride, power windows and of course that silver star on the hood. Just my opinion, your mileage may vary. Good luck deciding.

Looks to me that your face is the crumple zone in an old Beetle ;D http://youtube.com/watch?v=dEA8GnqhLlg

Versus W123's http://youtube.com/watch?v=EqMEGA76HsE

Everyone always says how VWs are so simple to work on but in my experience (my friend's family has a Bus, a Squareback, and a regular Beetle) you have to work on them fairly often. And engines last what, 100K.

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1985 CA 300D Turbo , 213K mi

That is why people like the old vw is because of the fuel mileage. Plus it cost so much to keep the old MB running. The old MB are solid but the weak point are power windows,cruise control,climate control,power seats. The one thing that will run forever is the engine. I do like the engine.

not a big fan of new cars including VW's and MB's.

I drive a 90 Honda civicHB to school(41mpg average) ,its a total POS needs struts, wheel bearings, CV joints, the interior is trashed and stinks, but it was $500 and I couldn't afford to drive the other POS (ford expedition) because I'm driving 100 miles a day through the worst traffic SW WA. and Portland has to offer.

I won't drive the 65 VW T2 deluxe or the 76 VW Westfalia through that crappy traffic.

I have been thinking about driving the 66 200d though

sorry about going off on a tangent.

new cars are made to last just long enough for the warranty to expire, the lease to end or the average financing to be paid off.... NO LONGER

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For everything I've ever done there has always been a first time.

66 MB 200d
65 VW T2 Deluxe
76 VW T2 Westfalia

The MB you'll get plenty of info on here.

The '73 Super Beetle was the first year for the curved windshield and the big tri-color taillamps, also switched to an alternator from a generator mid-year.

Great cars for their time for errands and short-runs, and were extremely popular for winter-beaters after a few years old, I never paid over a couple-hundred for any of my beetles, ... would love to find a really clean '73 sports-beetle for cheap LOL. Not great for highway use, the 55mph NMSL was a big help to these 60hp wonders.

Lots of rust problems, floor-pan, rockers, 1/4 panels, of course running-boards, and most popular was the rusty heat-exchangers and heater tubes in the rocker-panels. With rust in any of the heating system you had no heat to the windshield (if any at all), and had to rely on the little electric blower to blow cold air over the windshield, ... don't even bother with one that doesn't have solid heaters (CO is a problem with exhaust leaks into the heaters also). Heat is actually pretty good with good heat components and keeping the RPMs up.

The Super Beetle also had macpherson-strut suspension, I hate Macpherson-strut suspensions to begin with, but the SB struts seemed to wear quickly for some reason and created lots of shimmy, you knew you needed new struts when you drove over railroad-tracks and had the steering shaking for the next 100feet.

I'd get the MB for daily driving, the beetle is a fun curiosity for nice days and short drives.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

My MB is 25 years old and my climate controls are a bit weak but my power toys work just fine. I do plan to update the switches and such in the climate controls and b4 long she'll be working like new. Diesel Giant has a guide or two on just these issues. they are not tuff to tackle and are the kind of things that I would expect to have to fix in an older car. I just retired a 1993 Infiniti G20. The interior was brand new and all the power toys worked great but on the exterior something fell off everyday. I actually ran the wheels right off this one. Good to the last drop. Shame. It was a real fun car for a while.

Well, here we go again.... This kinda crap irritates me enough to wade in with both fists cocked and start swingin'.

First of all, the biased BULL***** has got to stop. Hattie, you're a moderator. Slamming another brand is simply non productive and quite simply is only to irritate others. Any anti-brand whatever vehicle spoken here is simply hearsay. An opinion that is worth what you paid for it.

Comparing a VW directly to a MB is just about worthless. Two different cars, two different markets. VW's are crap? Even the old bugs? Compared to what? They were cheap, intended to be cheap. What the heck do you expect? I have the window sticker for my '84 300D. It cost $32,400 in '84 dollars. I would EXPECT it to outlast the VW, it cost 3 to 4 times as much! What did a MB cost when the old bugs were still in VW showrooms? Baahhh! This thread is BS. Actually sounds like a troll......

So you gonna ban me Hattie?

RT

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When all else fails, vote from the rooftops!
84' Mercedes Benz 300D Anthracite/black, 171K
03' Volkswagen Jetta TDI blue/black, 93K
93' Chevrolet C2500HD ExCab 6.5TD, Two-tone blue, 252K

Whats your problem? I'm not moderator of this forum? All I did was voice my opinion of another car that I own?

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200