Wagon purchase questions - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

brick8 · #1 12-29-2006, 11:36 PM

I have finally convinced my wife to give up the minivan and buy a wagon. I personally drive a 1992 525i wagon, but want to get her something more recent. Our local dealer has a 2001 e320 with awd wagon for about $10k. The car has 150k miles. I hope to be able to take it for a test drive tomorrow. Are there any things in particular I should watch out for with this car? Our other possible choices are a volvo v70 or an audi a6 avant. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

t walgamuth · #2 12-29-2006, 11:42 PM

get the extended warranty.

the newer benzes are known for electrical/ electronic problems, i believe.

tom w

jlomon · #3 12-30-2006, 01:19 PM

My wife and I recently went through the same process. We compared a V70 with the light pressure turbo, 197 hp I think, to the E320. The power from the Volvo felt very hollow by comparison. The brakes felt grabby, not at all progressive. And the car just lacked the heft and solidity that the E320 had. The Volvo was smaller with interior space as well as cargo space. There are some well-documented electronics issues with the throttle control in certain years, but Volvo does have a very generous extended warranty in place for the affected cars. My indy mechanic's opinion also factored into it. His experience with Volvos is that they are more expensive to repair, and he's actually put his money where his mouth is because he also bought his wife a 2000 E320 Wagon. While the comparable Volvo was about $2K less than the E320, we felt it was money well spent and went with the Benz.

Make sure you have the Harmonic Balancer checked. If there are signs of failure, get it replaced. The US has a recall in place on this, but Canada doesn't. It cost me $200 parts/labour for some piece of mind. $4K potential damage if it fails.

brick8 · #4 12-30-2006, 01:57 PM

Just curious, what kind of mpg do you get with the e320 wagon?

jlomon · #5 12-30-2006, 02:54 PM

Real world fuel economy for us is about 21 or 22 mpg. That is mainly rush-hour highway driving, as the car is primarily a commute to work car. There's a good chunk of stop and go in her day. If we're doing non-rush hour highway it gets much higher, around 27 mpg.

This is one area that the V70 has the E320 beat hands down, as long as you drive it with a soft foot and don't spool up the turbo constantly.

732002 · #6 12-31-2006, 12:38 PM

Test drive a Subaru. You can do better
than $10k @ 150K miles.

suginami · #7 12-31-2006, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlomon

The Volvo was smaller with interior space as well as cargo space.

My wife drives a 2000 Volvo S70, but we almost bought a V70 wagon.

I for the life of me can't imagine how the Volvo wagon is smaller inside than the E320 wagon. I haven't actually taken a tape measure to it, but it defies logic.

The Volvo wagon is a virtual rectangle, inside and out, whereas the Mercedes wagon swooops down in the back.

If the Volvo is smaller than the MB, it can't be by much.

jlomon · #8 01-01-2007, 08:16 PM

[QUOTE=suginami;1373298]
I for the life of me can't imagine how the Volvo wagon is smaller inside than the E320 wagon. I haven't actually taken a tape measure to it, but it defies logic.[QUOTE]

2001-2006 Volvo V70/XC: Specs & Safety

Vehicle Dimensions
Specification 4-door wagon
Wheelbase, in. 108.5
Overall Length, in. 185.4
Overall Width, in. 71.0
Overall Height, in. 58.6
Curb Weight, lbs. 3366
Cargo Volume, cu. ft. 72.8
Standard Payload, lbs. --
Fuel Capacity, gals. 21.1
Seating Capacity 5
Front Head Room, in. 39.3
Max. Front Leg Room, in. 38.9
Rear Head Room, in. 42.6
Max. Rear Leg Room, in. 35.2

1996-2002 Mercedes-Benz E-Class: Specs & Safety

Vehicle Dimensions 4-door wagon
Wheelbase, in. 111.5
Overall Length, in. 190.4
Overall Width, in. 70.8
Overall Height, in. 59.3
Curb Weight, lbs. 3670
Cargo Volume, cu. ft. 82.6
Standard Payload, lbs. --
Fuel Capacity, gals. 18.5
Seating Capacity 7
Front Head Room, in. 38.6
Max. Front Leg Room, in. 41.3
Rear Head Room, in. 37.0
Max. Rear Leg Room, in. 36.1

The E320 is larger in most dimensions, although it does have less headroom front and rear. The V70's dashboard and console were much larger than the E320's which made it feel smaller up front. The cargo area felt smaller too, and if I remember right there was a lot of intrusive plastic molding taking up space.

suginami · #9 01-01-2007, 09:45 PM

You're right, the MB wagon does have more interior room.

davestlouis · #10 01-01-2007, 11:23 PM

I think the rainbow coalition is Jesse Jackson's group, I think the poster meant just a rainbow sticker, presumably a gay thing. I can't imagine Subaru's being cool in the ghetto.

TonyC · #11 01-02-2007, 02:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 732002

Test drive a Subaru. You can do better
than $10k @ 150K miles.

apples and oranges. subaru wagons (wrx, legacy, etc.) have crap for interior trim, sponge for brakes and the flat4/6/+turbo drinks gas.

the only exception is the forester turbo which packs a wallop but unfortunately, suffers from even worse mileage due to the extremely short gearing. insane wagon acceleration = insane gas bill. of course, my (early y2k non turbo) forester was able to swallow both my golden retriever and st. bernard w/ aplomb but it was just a really boring, crappy, overweight car.

so now i'm shopping for a '99 wagon rwd like the op. 150K is major mileage for an '00, but if the dealer can cough up some (extremely?) extended warranty, i'd consider it.

thornton · #12 01-02-2007, 10:34 AM

I'd be surprised if you get a decent warranty with that kind of mileage.

We have a 99 4matic wagon. It came with one year of Starmark, and I maxed out on the available coverage with an additional two years.

I would not buy one of these cars without the Starmark as we have saved approximately $10k in covered repairs.

They are wonderful cars to drive, but ours has been a repair waiting to happen. We have about five months left on our warranty and we're keeping our fingers crossed that the repair frequency will slow down.

Our mileage is typically 18-19 city, and 26 hwy.

good luck in your search

jlomon · #13 01-02-2007, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thornton

They are wonderful cars to drive, but ours has been a repair waiting to happen. We have about five months left on our warranty and we're keeping our fingers crossed that the repair frequency will slow down.

I'm curious about what you've had repaired to yours under Starmark. I'm the third owner of ours. The second owner bought it as a Starmark car, and I can see from service records that the transfer case was replaced, as well as a mass airflow sensor. Aside from that, all the records just indicate routine maintenance.

thornton · #14 01-02-2007, 02:10 PM

one seat heater
one seat belt
transfer case
steering rack and associated parts
power steering gear box
multiple trips for transmission leak
blower motor
hvac sensors (twice)
harmonic balancer -this wasn't starmarked, but part of the campaign.
window switch
floor shift bearing and shift assembly

That's off the top of my head.

I will say the repair frequency has been getting better, so we're hopeful as we generally like the car.

brick8 · #15 01-07-2007, 01:29 AM

The e320 we were going to get sold before we made an offer. Test drove another today, but I am concerned about all the problems you had. Seems like a nice car but with too many unecessary gadgets that might break. We also tested a Saab 9-5 which was pretty nice (and much less expensive).