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Just took delivery of '95 E420
I'll have to admit, it was a pretty sad start to a morning when I realized it would be the last time I would drive my '86 420SEL. It was a great car, and inspite of some mechanical problems it still drove and showed well. Unfortunately it was sick and there didn't seem to be anything anyone could do for it. Last year I poured a ton of money into it hoping I could keep it alive. Finally I realized that I was spending enough on it to afford a newer car and decided to bite the bullet and trade up. Still it felt like a combination of betraying an old friend and taking your favorite dog to the vet to be put down because its too sick to heal. With 15 years and almost 200,000 miles (320,000km) it had delivered more satidfaction than I could have ever hoped for, but its time had come.
This morning I replaced it with a 1 owner '95 E420. Less than 55k miles and beautiful pearl black on black leather. This car rides like a dream. It didn't take long for me to cheer up. The experience with the MB dealer was another plus for the morning. Being a saturday morning there were no other customers in the place and just a few salespeople. Garden motorcars has a great team and really made the experience of buying this car great. I am absolutely thrilled to have picked up this car, adn the three year Signature Class warranty means I won't be dumping money into either (besides its in too good a shape for that anyways). I'll let everyone know how things progress with the new E Class, but I'm sure this is the beginning of a wonderful friendship. By the way, they has an A Class at the dealer, apparently making its rounds accross thje country and I took it for a quick spin. The clutchless manual shifter is a little tough to get used to (for the first three or four shifts anyways). Its a cool little car. Got plenty of looks too. Hope everyone's day was a great as mine. JP Toronto
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Jason Priest 1999 E430 1995 E420 - retired 1986 420SEL - retired |
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Jason,
Congratulations on the new addition. Hope you get at least as much enjoyment from your E as you did your S! BTW, what was going on with the S? I understand the logic behind the switch. Had much the same experience and decided the cost was greater in both down-time and frustration as well as real expense to go for another rather than keeping the old albeit cantankerous friend. Tough decision!!! Best of luck and times Regards,
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...Tracy '00 ML320 "Casper" '92 400E "Stella" |
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The problems with the 420SEL started out small in the form of a rough idle, tried several things which seemed to fix it, but each fix was temporary, it just kept getting worse. It was like trying to plug little holes in a dam with your fingers. I had the car to three different mechanics, two of which were MB dealers and nobody could fix it. It was starting to cost a fortune. In addition to the engine problems (car drove well, but idled really rough, and then it started starting really hard) the car started feeling like some major front end work was coming due, so I decided to let it be someone else's problem and traded it in (I let the dealer know everything that was wrong with it -they knew most of the story already so I didn't get much for it). It was a great car, but when I bought it I had no experience with Mercedes and probably didn't buy the best example on the road.
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Jason Priest 1999 E430 1995 E420 - retired 1986 420SEL - retired |
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It is funny (and by the way, this is not intended to be a slap to the many fine technicians on this board) how many otherwise workable cars are abandoned because the technician(s) you turn to for help is/are unable to solve the problems. I have never understood why, when technicians are supposedly trained in the systems of a product line, that so many just throw parts until the customer looses their stomach due to the expense and frustration involved. In almost 30 years of driving and owning many vehicles, I have never found what I’d call a “good” technician. The next best thing seems to be merely a “good” warranty.
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...Tracy '00 ML320 "Casper" '92 400E "Stella" |
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Congratulations Jason,
Hope you enjoy this car for many many years. |
#6
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I hope to experience ur joy one day (soon)
still looking for the same car in the US! -Ren |
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