Losing the love of Mercedes------My daughter, and me a little bit - Page 3 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

pawoSD · #31 02-25-2008, 12:06 AM

I'm also considering having a later W140 as my daily driver once I have a job/graduate (which is in about 3 months) and hopefully have far more $$ than I do now. However, I don't know if a S320 would fit my desires..(it would body/vehicle-wise, but not engine-wise)..I've always lusted after an S600. I am just a sucker for punishment I guess....wonder how reliable a 10 year old S600 W140 would be as a daily driver...probably pretty thirsty too....but I'd not care all that much about that....oh well, I'll still have my W126 too, so whatever I add as my 2nd car I can just switch between while repairing the other.

mobetta · #32 02-25-2008, 10:02 AM

Sheeesh, Dave- good job starting a Benz Bashing thread on our great forum!!

shouldn't this thread be moved??.... to the TDIClub forum?!

SwampYankee · #33 02-25-2008, 10:18 AM

Given the number of current cars in your siggy it doesn't surprise me that you've hit the proverbial wall!

I can see where it could get a bit trying. I love my TD and do hope to add another Benz diesel something to my "collection" but I definitely consider them to be my "fun"/tinkering cars. If I had to count on them as daily transportation I'm not sure I'd be able to stick with them given how little time I actually get to work on them all.

fdanielson · #34 02-25-2008, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bustedbenz

There's a difference between "These cars will last forever if you are nice to them" and "These cars will last forever but so will the average Neon if you put the same effort and cash into both of them". I have to admit, I'm seeing more of that second part than I'd like to.

You have to take into account that the Mercedes vehicles we are talking about are around 25 years old. Besides the 82 300D we own several other cars including a 1987 Plymouth Voyager that we bought 13 years ago and I have personally maintained. That car is very close to your example Neon, being based on the K car chassis that so many other Chrysler products were and having the same 3.0 liter Mitsubishi engine that a 6 cylinder Neon has. I have had the front of that motor apart on a number of occasions to replace habitually failing harmonic balancers until the last one chewed up the front of the crank and ended up putting in a replacement crank and rebuilding the engine. Just about every part of the front suspension has been replaced, some more than once, and I can just about take the front steering knuckles off with my eyes closed for the number of times I've had them apart. I've lost track of how many halfshafts I've put in the thing but that seems to be common to all front wheel drive cars, and motor mounts fail with regularity. It does still have the original A/C compressor which was converted to R134 about 7 years ago and works pretty good. Overall it has required a _lot_ of maintenance and does still run well but it feels old when driving it. The small things like loose and sagging doors, rattles, squeaks, air leaks, and parts that have been removed and reinstalled more times than the factory had forseen combine to make it less than pleasant to drive. Additionally I just can't get some parts anymore so there is some trim and weatherstripping that are missing and will stay that way. The windshield wiper saga is a complete story in itself. Take a look at how many older Chryslers have the wiper arms and linkage missing next time you are at a junk yard.

My Mercedes on the other hand has also required some repairs like a rebuilt injection pump, valve guides, head gasket, injectors, alternator, and normal maintenance (most of which the previous owner had done over the years). The difference is that the factory paint and interior have held up a _lot_ better, the car is tight and complete, and it is a joy to drive. I can still get factory and aftermarket parts including most exterior trim and weatherstripping, and many parts were actually designed to be serviced. Imagine if your vacuum pump was only available as an assembly so you had to spend hundreds of dollars on a replacement instead of getting a rebuild kit.

I don't dispute that a new or even ten year old Honda, Toyota, or Buick would probably require less maintenance in the short term than a 25 year old Mercedes. And since you can get one of those cars in used but very usable condition for dirt cheap you could simply ignore most maintenance for a few years and then dispose of it. So what it comes down to is what kind of car you want to drive and how much effort you feel like putting in to driving it. I personally believe that my Mercedes has held up better than most other makes car of cars with similar age and mileage.

For the record the most reliable vehicle I have owned is my 1993 Ford F150 pickup truck. It has 207,000 miles and runs and drives like it did when I bought it ten years ago. I've changed the oil regularly, done one complete tune up a few years ago, replaced the front brake pads twice, replaced the u-joints once, and had to get the automatic transmission rebuilt and replaced a failed water pump at around 175,000 miles. Other than that it has just run and run. I've never had any of the front or rear suspension apart or any had fuel system problems. For all of the pickups that Toyota and Nissan had sold in the late eighties and early nineties you see precious few of those on the road now and plenty of old Ford and GM trucks working for a living on a daily basis.

rrgrassi · #35 02-25-2008, 11:13 AM

My Benz is due for UCA's this weekend. Hey, it's my daily driver, and my '89 Nissan (was my DD until I got my MB) is still running fine and relegated to hauling duties now.

#36 02-25-2008, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyL

As I've said on here quite often, I would never feel comfortable having one of these as my only automobile. Heck, all 3 of mine have issues right now.

I'm currently 1800 miles from home with my 300D (drove from CO to VA over the weekend), no issues if you just keep it maintained.

That said, I will buy newer cars (probably c or e-class) for my kids when they need their own cars, the old ones require too much care and feeding for someone who does not consider them a hobby. I'd also hate to see an old one get beat up by kids. I'm not going to have any ricers in my driveway, they can buy whatever they want when they move out.

pawoSD · #37 02-25-2008, 08:28 PM

Last march my fiance and I went on a week long trip down to Dade City Florida....went over to Tarpon Springs....to Orlando....and back a few times, and drove around in the local vicinity to go shopping etc....no issues. On our way home my (already old and dying) alternator gave out in Georgia and the volt gauge fell to 12.1 while driving, so I knew it was dying. Made it all the way to the northern edge of Kentucky before it got dark and I had to pull off into a shell station with nearly no headlights left. Called 1-800-4-Mercedes, within an hour we had a tech from Cincinnati's MB dealer installing a new battery....which for some odd reason (we also smacked the voltage regulator with a wrench) got the alternator working again and I had a strong 14 volts.....and we were on our way. Drove for another hour at night with no issues, stopped somewhere in south Ohio for the night. Next morning, it fired up just fine and we drove the last 300 Miles into Michigan no problem. The alternator continued to function fine until late June, when it died again while I was driving around in the city....so I went home, parked it, swapped in a new one, and was all set.

Easily fixed....and very reliable. My car had 0 power (dome light would not even glow!) when we were stranded in KY, but the engine was still running, it drove fine, and we even had a little heat drifting in through the vents (no power = open monovalve) Pretty cool. A gasser would have been dead.

Bio300TDTdriver · #38 02-26-2008, 12:18 AM

"Imagine if your vacuum pump was only available as an assembly so you had to spend hundreds of dollars on a replacement instead of getting a rebuild kit."

Oh, you mean like the one on the OM603, that can't be rebuilt and can take out the engine if you don't replace it before it starts spitting out ball bearings.

bolzano · #39 02-26-2008, 04:37 PM

Found this in the first post.

Quote:

She also sees how our new Honda is just a very reliable car and we never have to do anything to it. With the job stress and all I think she just wants a new reliable car. I can't blame her. She lives at home to save money, and boy does she, so a lease or car payment will not be a problem.

My story is a turnabout on stereotype of reliability. I now rarely drive my low mileage 2002 Honda Odyssey and changed to my 22 year old 300sd as daily driver.
The 2002 Honda is my newest vehicle and is now "New Unreliable". The transmission just went bad with DTC code p0730, revving to 4000 rpm while the van hardly moves forward. And my young daughter was the first driver to observe this transmission failure. Could have blamed her, but the reality is that this failure is extremely common among 5 speed AT Hondas. It is just how they are.

Bio300TDTdriver · #40 02-26-2008, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bolzano

Found this in the first post.
My story is a turnabout on stereotype of reliability. I now rarely drive my low mileage 2002 Honda Odyssey and changed to my 22 year old 300sd as daily driver.
The 2002 Honda is my newest vehicle and is now "New Unreliable". The transmission just went bad with DTC code p0730, revving to 4000 rpm while the van hardly moves forward. And my young daughter was the first driver to observe this transmission failure. Could have blamed her, but the reality is that this failure is extremely common among 5 speed AT Hondas. It is just how they are.

How many miles are on it? Honda is covering them up to 105,000 miles I believe. It wasn't because Honda is a great company. It was the settlement of the class action suit. They fixed the problem by '04, not that it helps anyone with an older mini van.

dmorrison · #41 03-15-2008, 02:08 PM

Just an update on this. I have not decided what to do with the car. One of the forum members has a rusted out wagon that he will sell the engine form and I have considered a swap. I have recently been diagnosed with type 2 hypothyroidism. Easy to fix but take 8-9 months to get the thyroid medicine at a good level so until that is done you don't feel like doing much. Once the medicine is set I may want to take on the world. At that point I may want to redo the 300TD since I have owned it so long.

Dave

A side note. I any one suspects he or she is hypothyroid. Get help from a holistic doctor. Modern medical doctors usually misdiagnose hypothyroidism.

Symptoms

late sleeper
always tired
sensitive to cold
many infections over your life

The #1 test for it.
Take you arm pit temperature before getting out of bed. If less then 97.6 then it is a real possibility. Mine varies from 95.0 to 96.3

A good book to get if you think you have it.

http://www.type2hypothyroidism.com/

Enough lecturing

Bio300TDTdriver · #42 03-15-2008, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dmorrison

Just an update on this. I have not decided what to do with the car. One of the forum members has a rusted out wagon that he will sell the engine form and I have considered a swap. I have recently been diagnosed with type 2 hypothyroidism. Easy to fix but take 8-9 months to get the thyroid medicine at a good level so until that is done you don't feel like doing much. Once the medicine is set I may want to take on the world. At that point I may want to redo the 300TD since I have owned it so long.

Dave

A side note. I any one suspects he or she is hypothyroid. Get help from a holistic doctor. Modern medical doctors usually misdiagnose hypothyroidism.

Symptoms

late sleeper
always tired
sensitive to cold
many infections over your life

The #1 test for it.
Take you arm pit temperature before getting out of bed. If less then 97.6 then it is a real possibility. Mine varies from 95.0 to 96.3

A good book to get if you think you have it.

http://www.type2hypothyroidism.com/

Enough lecturing

That's too bad, but at least you can get it fixed (you not the car). How did you figure out you had it? How does that affect your FAA medical?

Knightrider966 · #43 03-15-2008, 02:52 PM

Well, I have my Dodge Ram as my work truck, but my 300D is my daily driver and will continue to be even at 284,596 miles. I can't even come close to " all cars will last just as long with maintenance" theory. The difference between my older Toyotoa's and Hondas that I will never own again is that they feel old very fast and at 300,000 miles it feels like it's about to fall apart like the transmission in the late 70's AAmco comercials.

My mercedes Benz feels nothing like this.

If there is ever any rattles, it's because of what I have in it, not because robotic welds filled with polyurethane foam and glue are aging like ricers.

I'll take my W123 over any other old car made, including those I helped design for the Chrysler Corporation as a daily driver any day.

Remember, these cars were designed and built to a STANDARD and not a price. That is what made them worth the price. They need to be maintained to a standard as well. A Mercedes Benz W123 is the only car I have ever driven that can still cost thousands for a good one in original condition or as a good fixer upper that still makes me smile while I'm behind the wheel!

seth411 · #44 03-15-2008, 04:29 PM

I actually just went from a 96 honda civic lx (drove 165 to 198k) for $2800 not one repair needed, to a 300td 1980 with 220k for $3700. I bought it for a band wagon and for its veggie friendlyness.

Now I love to drive the 300td, rides like a lazy boy compared to the Civic, but I've spent over a 100hrs working on the thing with in the last two months I bought it. I am about ready to sell. Maybe I didn't buy the most well taken care of car, but I was defiantly sold on its reputation of going the 500k. I did almost die when she stalled infront of the bay bridge after going 40miles (tank filter) so I'm a little scarred. So for me, so far Seems more like a hobby than reliable car.

Anywho Hope you getter better. I hope more people find healing in Holistic Medicine. Pharmaceuticals can be such a dangerous scam.

#45 03-15-2008, 04:40 PM

It usually takes a couple of years and a little money (or a lot of money) to get them the way you want them. If you want something that's "plug and play" buy a late model ricer.