07-08 E350s a relative bargain? - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

duxthe1 · #16 03-19-2013, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim B.

If after the warranties are gone and it starts giving me trouble, I'd get rid of it in a heartbeat. I really would!

If only you could buy a PUT option on it.

Skid Row Joe · #17 03-19-2013, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alain V.

Hey guys,,,,I'm not trying to take a wizz in anyone's cherios.... I just have a habit of telling it like it is.
The truth is, there are far better choices out there- as far as quality and cost per mile is concerned, than the late model used mercs.
The first owners are usually satisfied, since the cars are under warranty.
The second owners are the ones who get hosed when the cars start to lose pieces like an early 70's jag.

I happen to agree with you, but I'm not going to slip into driving a Volkswagen, etc. anytime soon, as others seem all jazzed about having done. I frankly think my life's worth more than risking having a severe accident in one. Personal safety is one of my top motivating factors in struggling by with an MB.

Jim B. · #18 03-19-2013, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skid Row Joe

I happen to agree with you, but I'm not going to slip into driving a Volkswagen, etc. anytime soon, as others seem all jazzed about having done. I frankly think my life's worth more than risking having a severe accident in one. Personal safety is one of my top motivating factors in struggling by with an MB.

Yep.

Hammer

Nail

Head.

If ALL that matters is fuel mileage, then buy a car made out of paper mache.

(We'll pay for the flowers out of petty cash...)

Skid Row Joe · #19 03-19-2013, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim B.

Yep.

Hammer

Nail

Head.

If ALL that matters is fuel mileage, then buy a car made out of paper mache.

(We'll pay for the flowers out of petty cash...)

When I get tired of trying to find the right W211 E320 CDI that I think I want to replace my '99 E300 W210.........I am threatening to buy a 1990/91 560 SEC instead.......for no more than I even drive a car these days. Reading about your (2) 90/91 560SECs has me in heat for one.......

If I ever buy a VW/Audi.......either shoot me, or ban me from PP.

Jim B. · #20 03-19-2013, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MBlovr

This is the reason I no longer own my 06 E3504matic. In many ways it was a good car, quiet ok on fuel. The inclement weather driving confidence afforded by the 4matic was unmatched and I own an A4 quattro BUT even though I owned under warranty it always made me nervous to own it. I've been around these cars for over 50 years and it never felt like a Mercedes in the sense that the deal was you pay more up front but due to its durability you will win in the end operating cost wise and enjoy the satification of owning the best car in the world along the way. Instead the E350 felt like the deal was you got a nice car to drive but it was really a financial conduit between my bank account and Mercedes corporation. I had countless things repaired under warranty.

Though the car was very quiet and smooth I still got road feedback through the steering that didn't exist on my 190E. I would go over a bumpy section of road and the whole car shuddered again unlike any Mercedes I ever owned.

This is a great post because having said everything above I really don't want to continue to not drive a Mercedes they are just in my blood and find myself looking at the lastest model E Class hoping that there as been some return to the classic Mercedes approach. Consumers is saying that the latest E's are pretty reliable so who knows.

What was the last real Mercedes?

I would say the R129 series, as they first came out for the 1990 model year, when ALL models were still built to a cost no object standard by the Mercedes Benz engineers, and still relatively mechanic friendly.

So a 2001 R129 would be the last model year to buy one.

From 2000-2009 or so, it is generally agreed that the rest of the model line had awful quality though, though many buyers can always be found that say they had one and it was problem free.

But there is a huge number of them that were awful.

So a 2007-2008 w211 E Class *MIGHT* be ok - but there is an equal or greater chance that it will not;

Tons of them are for sale on "Buy here/pay here" used car lots, and auto-pawn places, you know: the ones with mulitcolored pennants flapping in the breeze above them, (funniest sign I ever saw had a slogan on it that read plaintively "EVERYBODY drives a used car" ) on the lots with cars with no service/maintenance records, deferred maintenance by people that were very often 3rd-4th tier owners that could not afford or did not want to pay for repairs/maintenance on them, so I think cars like those are a very risky financial gamble.

Likewise, the w202 little C class cars from the same area of time - also found everywhere on used car lots like that, are not worth the price of admission for the same reasons noted above.

engatwork · #21 03-19-2013, 08:56 PM

Have you ever been banned Joe

? Don't worry we will

.

Quote:

What was the last real Mercedes?

The W124 cars as far as I am concerned. No car will ever be built again like the 1994/5 E300's and E320's. There is a reason they only built the E300 for one year. It last too long

. It is too bad that MB is not building that car still. It would probably be an $80k car.

With all that said Joe you can drive that E300 to 300k miles with just good, regular maintenance (do you have a good independent?). I am of the opinion that yes, the new cars are a nice ride, but they can't touch the '99 E300 and the cars prior to that. Heck, I'm going to put the wife in an 04 E320 wagon (the dogs are going to like the room). I thought I had sworn off anything with SBC but here I am owning one. I wish it was a diesel and have entertained the thought of shoe horning the engine/transmission out of one of the 95 E300's in it.

MBlovr · #22 03-19-2013, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim B.

I would say the R129 series, as they first came out for the 1990 model year, when ALL models were still built to a cost no object standard by the Mercedes Benz engineers, and still relatively mechanic friendly.

So a 2001 R129 would be the last model year to buy one.

From 2000-2009 or so, it is generally agreed that the rest of the model line had awful quality though, though many buyers can always be found that say they had one and it was problem free.

But there is a huge number of them that were awful.

So a 2007-2008 w211 E Class *MIGHT* be ok - but there is an equal or greater chance that it will not;

Tons of them are for sale on "Buy here/pay here" used car lots, and auto-pawn places, you know: the ones with mulitcolored pennants flapping in the breeze above them, (funniest sign I ever saw had a slogan on it that read plaintively "EVERYBODY drives a used car" ) on the lots with cars with no service/maintenance records, deferred maintenance by people that were very often 3rd-4th tier owners that could not afford or did not want to pay for repairs/maintenance on them, so I think cars like those are a very risky financial gamble.

Likewise, the w202 little C class cars from the same area of time - also found everywhere on used car lots like that, are not worth the price of admission for the same reasons noted above.

Yeah I remember that I thought the W202's were tinny as well as the W210's

As I mentioned about I'm interested in a W212. Thinking about a bluetec but not sure maybe a 12 E350 DI. I think that they are a nice car to be in. The looks which at first I hated have grown on me. Do you think that they will hold up for the long haul?

I would like to be able to buy another Mercedes an not feel I have to look over my shoulder for the next hammering.

C280 Sport · #23 03-19-2013, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim B.

As an owner of a 2011 e350 Sport AND a 1995 e420 AND a 1991 560SEC, I totally agree with the above.

The 1991 and 1995 cars are clearly built to a cost no object standard of build quality, durability, and longevity that the 2011 of mine clearly does not have and while I warrantied it up the kazoo, I do understand that the Mercedes Benz is built to a price point now, and it would be unlikley to ever hold up as long and faithfully as the w124 (1986-1995) or the w126 (1980-1991).

and it is NO accident that when buying my w124 and w126, I purchased the last model year available of each. They are both great examples Bruno Sacco's beautiful iconic masterpieces. Instantly identifiable as a Mercedes Benz and nothing else.

My e212 e350 is a lovely new cruiser and well equipped and safe.

But it is ugly..

And compared to my old ones, it is honestly cheap both in the literal and perjorative sense;

And it has no soul.

If after the warranties are gone and it starts giving me trouble, I'd get rid of it in a heartbeat. I really would!

Is this post for real? I have the same car and most 212 owners are very happy. Did you get yours with leather? All the goodies or just a base model? You say the W212 is ugly but yet you purchased it...You say its cheaply made and yet purchased it... You say it has no soul and yet you purchased it...You make 0 sense in your post crying and complaining about your W212 but yet did you ever think why did I buy it? Or maybe I should trade it in? It sounds like to me you just wanted play "Rich Boy" to have a new Mercedes in your driveway if anything. Or did you simply just fail to test drive it? I do not mean to sound like a a$$ here but there just does not seem to be any real reason that is good on why you purchased it...
Why not a Lexus? BMW? Audi? Or even a used Bentley?

Skid Row Joe · #24 03-19-2013, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by engatwork

The W124 cars as far as I am concerned. No car will ever be built again like the 1994/5 E300's and E320's. There is a reason they only built the E300 for one year. It last too long

. It is too bad that MB is not building that car still. It would probably be an $80k car.

With all that said Joe you can drive that E300 to 300k miles with just good, regular maintenance (do you have a good independent?). I am of the opinion that yes, the new cars are a nice ride, but they can't touch the '99 E300 and the cars prior to that. Heck, I'm going to put the wife in an 04 E320 wagon (the dogs are going to like the room). I thought I had sworn off anything with SBC but here I am owning one. I wish it was a diesel and have entertained the though of shoe horning the engine/transmission out of one of the 95 E300's in it.

When I thought I wanted an '08 or '11 Bluetec, that's when I talked myself out of the E300. The E300 hasn't needed a shop in 2-years. So, no, I don't have a good indie. I just have one lined-up for when I need one. The car is only driven a very few thousand miles or so a year. It hardly ever leaves the garage.

To me, the W211 and W212 Bluetec sedans both ride like a big heavy Cadillac, because they are big and heavy like the Cadillac. I'm getting an occasional sour stomach, losing sleep, and clinically depressed thinking about owning either one of them now.

About the E320 wagon? Were I possessing your expertise/ability/garage-lift, etc. in mechanicing. I'd be in-the-hunt for a donor W211 I6 CDI engine, like a dog-in-heat if I were you. However, a V6 Bluetec might mate-right-up easier to the trans? Then put the dashboard's instrument cluster diesel-engined electronics of the I6 CDI in the wagon too. Then you'd have a 'wagon.'

C280 Sport · #25 03-19-2013, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raymr

I've been seeing them pop up on Autotrader and I'm getting tempted. I don't know much about them except for basic specs, and they avoid the brake system issues of earlier models. Any down sides to these sedans or wagons?

Mine as well go for the 09! Last year made and all the issues worked out of them. I love the W211 but too many issues when they first came out. A 09 E350's can be had for cheap now a days. Maybe find a E550 for around $30,000. There out there!

Jim B. · #26 03-19-2013, 09:31 PM

It's believed by around model year 2009 that Mercedes Benz has taken sincere steps to ramp up build quality across the board, because the buying and leasing clientele disdain poor quality and reliability for big money.

Even the people employed at my local dealer up here where I have been a parts/sales/service customer since 2000 agrees, with the caveat that quality has risen quickly and improves yearly, so any w212 is a pretty good bet, the newer the better.

And I personally feel that another reason the w212 is a pretty good bet is because they are the default German taxicab, (diesels naturally) they were everywhere in the taxi ranks last year in Stuttgart, Munich and Frankfurt and elsewhere when I was there several months ago.

(Stuttgart taxi rank, July 2012: )

But, there was even a fair sprinkling of old w124, w210 and w211 taxicabs, I think they HAVE to be good to last that long, and cabbies in West Europe, and Germany DEMAND reliable cars, because down time on them means lost wages and income.

engatwork · #27 03-19-2013, 09:32 PM

Quote:

I'd be in-the-hunt for a donor W211 I6 CDI engine

That has crossed my mind too.

I'd have to look but it would not surprise me if the engine mounts on the CDI engine are the same as the 95 E300.

C280 Sport · #28 03-19-2013, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim B.

It's believed by around model year 2009 that Mercedes Benz has taken sincere steps to ramp up build quality across the board, because the buying and leasing clientele disdain poor quality and reliability for big money.

Even the people employed at my local dealer up here where I have been a parts/sales/service customer since 2000 agrees, with the caveat that quality has risen quickly and improves yearly, so any w212 is a pretty good bet, the newer the better.

And I personally feel that another reason the w212 is a pretty good bet is because they are the default German taxicab, (diesels naturally) they were everywhere in the taxi ranks last year in Stuttgart, Munich and Frankfurt and elsewhere when I was there several months ago.

(Stuttgart taxi rank, July 2012: )

But, there was even a fair sprinkling of old w124, w210 and w211 taxicabs, I think they HAVE to be good to last that long, and cabbies in West Europe, and Germany DEMAND reliable cars, because down time on them means lost wages and income.

The W212 has been great from many owners so far. Not many issues reported on the 212 sections really. I fell in love with the 212 when it first came out but I do admire the 09 E's interior more. Its more simple and easy but with my 212 I love all the goodies! Parktronic, heated/ac seats, nav, backup camera, massage seats, AMG Package, P2, heated sterring wheel, illuminated door sills, 4Matic, blind spot system and lane assist. Loving every mile of it so far

I am covered for a long time on this car I do plan on keeping it for many many years.