I wouldn't touch an R-Class with a 10-foot pole. Too costly to keep in repair.

The R-Class would have to suffer from the same or similar technological various and sundry advancements/problems that plague any of the MB diesel cars post the W124.

Looking to any MB built post the W124 diesel-sedans for a cheap-ride is the wrong place to look, IMO.

If you want cheap/reliable - go Asian - problem(s) solved........

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'06 E320 CDI
'17 Corvette Stingray Vert

He's not dumb. The R320 was a demonstrator. He had them CPO it and bought out the warranty so it came with 7.5 years of warranty coverage. Likely replace after the warranty expires as 8 years of 20K+ miles/year of kid duty pretty much wears out any car.

It's hard to predict the 'tipping-point,' making warranty (CPO) clearly more advantageous, versus a less expensive non-CPO, IMO.



Example; Friends of mine bought the identical new car ('99 E300TD) I did in 1999, but bought the 7-year, 100K mile warranty for something like $1,200.00 +/- more out-of-pocket as I recall.

While their car necessitated more warranty work than mine, I attribute that extra work done as MB dealer trumping-up work on the car to get MBUSA warranty credit-$s. Their (my friend's E300) needed a computer board parts replaced to the tune of $7K. Now, I ask you......who ever heard of a '99 E300 needing a $7K computer board/parts replaced? I haven't. Not here anyway, in all the '99 E300 disasters I've been reading about now becoming more numerous in the past few months. As I've written here before; I have long suspected that an MB dealer will do warranty work that is unecessary on cars just because they can get away with it collecting the credits/$s, from the manufacturer.

-As you know, Jim, I'm wrestling with that CPO or no, right now while shopping for a used MB E320 Bluetec.

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'06 E320 CDI
'17 Corvette Stingray Vert

I think flipping a coin is about as good a way to decide on the CPO warranty as any other method. Case in point: I have an '06 E55 wagon that is under full CPO warranty at the moment. I spent a rather substantial sum on the full buyout of the CPO because it's an AMG, it has airmatic, it has SBC, the whole nine yards. So far it's been 20 months and it hasn't been in the shop for anything. Not once, not even wiper blades. That said, I'm going to get a blower motor out of the warranty, all I need is a nice chilly morning to get it squeeking a little bit more...

Ditto - (IMO) on the coin flipping, Jim.....

What I didn't write in my previous post, was that it was in fact a coin flip, my '99 E300 what I spent out-of-pocket to get to 100K miles, vs. what my friend's spent by buying the $1,200.00, 7-year/100K MB extended warranty for their '99 E300 also bought new, in fact the same week in July 1999.

Yes, I would feel MUCH more peace of mind going CPO - I have to be honest/frank.

Get all you can with your coverage that you paid for - if you/wife/family are putting miles on the '06 E55 wagon - so much the better. When the time is right soon after warranty expires - RUN for the exit door from the '06 E55......(IMO.)

The problem with me is that I have only driven my car 30K or so miles in 10 years - hence, if I pony-up for a pricier CPO MB, I ain't gonna prolly use it. That's the rub. That said - I don't want a high-mileage, cheapie used MB, I want the prime merchandise to own for 10 years +/- or so. Then after 10 years - it'll have far less than 100K on it. For me, that's preferable to buying used/cheap, OR new/OVERpriced MBs......

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'06 E320 CDI
'17 Corvette Stingray Vert