Hey Guys: At least you can do most of the repairs yourself....I am at the mercy of my independent mechanic...just purchased a 1990 420 SEL for $5000.00. now I need to dump about $4000.00 into it to get it in good running order, most of this is front end work, hoses, belts etc. New, this automobile listed for $62,000.00. so I am still ahead of the game. None the less, I will persevere and repair, restore "Maxine" to the "Grand Dame" she once was. Thanks for the inspiration guys, I needed that. God I wish I could work on her myself...Happy Easter.

"If you can afford the payments, you are definitely better off leasing a new car w/covered maintainance and trading in every 36-39 months... but in my case $400+ for a car right now isn't happening..."

Perhaps, but what about the mileage limits on these advertised leases? Seems to me that it's simply that the automobile companies have to find a way to fit the monthy payment into the customer's budget. Put $3,000 down and lease payment is $400 per month and .10 to .15 per mile over 12,000 miles per year.

There really is no way around the very high costs involved in new or nearly new vehicles.

The cost of maintaining my '92 300E Sportline is less by far than owning an equivalent new car. People tend to equate the cost of a new car with the car payment. They ignore things like depreciation and insurance costs. I like not having car payments on any of my vehicles. I have owned 3 W-124's. The replacement items are predictable.

Radiator, waterpump, belt tensioner, alternator, air pump, rotors, ball joints,
mufflers, differential bushings, shocks etc. I do agree, however, that the A/C issues are expensive and frustrating.

Once you go through the 100 to 150K window of replacements, you are good to go another 100 to 150 K. '92 is currently at 238K and climbing.

Steve

I owned a 90 lebaron coupe as my first car...had 80k miles in 2000. Only problem it ever had was a clogged tranny solenoid...covered under the 12 month warranty it had.

I owned a 96 serbring as my second car with absolutely no problems. Just required brakes/oil/fuids/tires

Then I picked up a 00 300m that only had a tranny sensor go bad...after that it was hit while parked by a drunk driver (that was only 19 and his 3rd offense) causing 8k in damage...it was never 100% after that...I've since moved onto a Bravada that wasn't bad until electrical gremlins popped up...which lead me to my MBs which I am not exceptionally thrilled about any longer.

The Mopars lasted me 6 years or so and cost just over $100 dollars total in non-maintenance issues.

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2004 Chrysler Crossfire

No offense, but you don't understand how the Diamler AG take over of Chrysler worked. I suggest you do some research on it because what you said just doesn't happen. Actually just the opposite, MB gives Chrysler all their old stuff.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Exactly. The current Chrysler 300C and its brethren have a lot of parts from the W210 chassis.

The car is built on a modified version of the W210 chassis.

When equipped with the hemi, the 300C uses the 722.6 transmission.

The seat frames are those from the W210.

The list of borrowed Mercedes parts is much greater, but that is all that comes to mind.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

There are two types of independant mechanic. Ones that repair cars to dealership specs and ones that have a more realistic concept of how an older car should run. Some mechanics want to totally rebuild a car at the first sign of wear on a part while other mechanics will advise the owner as to what to look out for in the future and give them a realistic estimate of when it can be repaired before it fails. It all depends on your personal taste and personal comfort level. All of my cars are daily drivers and not show cars so parts are not replaced until they are worn out. Anybody who does the dealership tactic of the "big bill" should be avoided. New car dealers do that to scare owners out of their cars knowing the owners know little about all the line items and going after the cheap skate in them. In a new car dealer it can go two ways sell a new car or have a highly profitable service visit.

When I look at an indpendant I look at a few things. The first place I look is in the shop itself and the waiting room. A shiny clean shop with organized tools may be a good sell to a customer as an organized concientious mechanic but to me it says someone with a bit too much time on their hands. Some of the best work I have had on my cars have come out of the sleaziest looking places you can imagine. The two main independants I deal with here in Atlanta have shops that look like they were taken straight out of the 1970's and cleaned in the mid 80's. Their lots are all clogged with cars of all model years. Some of the worst work I have done has come out of dealerships with white floors and fancy waiting areas and loaner cars. When I drove a Volvo S70 the dealerships here in the local area pretty much did most of the damage to my car with their incompetent mechanics. One time they had to replace my drivers side door panel because the mechanic had caused a small electrical fire in my door!!! Most of my problems started going away when I went to an independant.

For the work you listed your being MASSIVELY overcharged. You can have a front end rebuilt for less than $1500 and belts and hoses should come up to maybee $200.

Do yourself a BIG favor and learn the systems in your car and the general costs of service items. Even get into some DIY projects if you can as it will teach you more about your car. I also am not a mechanic and can't do some of the messy or big jobs myself but I am able to know what's involved in doing the work and frequently shop for the best deal. Also avoid showing a "love" of your car to your mechanics as some less than reputable ones will use that to pull at your emotions and make you spend more than you need. If you really love your car learn about it and take the money and put it back into the car. $4000 would buy a lot of upgrades and easily have a "tip top" 126.

I second the above, anyone who spends $4k to rebuild the front end of a W126 must have a lot of money to throw around. The mechanic must be making $3k off that deal easy.

Their are about maybe $800 worth of parts up their if you do everything, and I mean everything down to a new set of wheel bearings.


Part of owning one of these cars is doing most if not all the work yourself, they are old cars at this point and require lots of age related work.

If I couldn't wrench myself I'd just go buy a newer car.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Happened to me right after I moved back from Colorado to New Orleans with my '86 420SEL. I didn't know any MB mechanics here, so I called the local MBCA representative. He steered me to an independent with one of those glossy showroom floor setups with an immaculate 107 on display. The owner fixed what I asked for (though he was slow).

But then he mentioned he was hearing timing chain slap on cold start. I'd never heard it on that car, or any MB; I just knew about it from this forum and others. He told me a timing chain and guides job would run $3000.

Hmph. He just wanted to see if I would scare and sell my damn-near-pristine W126 -- possibly to him or one of his friends, I'll bet. I did my research, found the real price for such a job, and looked for more recommendations until I found the very reliable independent I have used ever since.

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-- Paul W. (The Benzadmiral)
('03 Buick Park Avenue, charcoal/cream)
Formerly:
'97 C230, smoke silver/parchment; '86 420SEL, anthracite/light grey; '84 280CE (W123), dark blue/palomino

I agree with majority feeling about the car worhtiness. May be best option if you still like the car is to look for another MB. I try to avoid dealer myself too. Find good local mechanic. I do simple maintenance myself. Something major I buy parts on line and have mechanic charge labor only.

Sorry, nk, but you're a couple of months too late on the reply. I now have this car

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Matt
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1995 E300 Diesel (Die Blau Frau)

I can understand the OP frustrations with maintaining an MB. They are not cheap.
I have kept a log of all my expenses on my 96' W210 since I bought it. My average costs for repairs and maintenance have been in the $2000 - $2500 per year after the warranty ran out.
Most of the repairs were done at the dealer so I know that I paid a premium for the work that was done and maybe even paid for work that was not necessary at the time. I am just frustrated with dealers in general.
They always seem to find something else wrong the car when I bring it in.

When my warranty was running out, I was thinking about selling it and getting a new car but decided aginst it cause I liked my car and also didn't want to have a car payment.
However, if I look over all the expenses for this car I think it would have been cheaper to have sold it back then and just leased a new car with full warranty.

Also, if you compare it to other brands, my wife's Lexus for example, is just as reliable and durable if not more than my MB and it has been much cheaper to maintain.

I know many of the people here are DIY types and have bought used MB's after much of the depreciation has already been taken. So for them it is reasonable to have these cars and continue to pay to maintain them. But if you are not a part time mechanic and don't want to spend your weekends in the garage, it might be best to lease these cars and give them back at the end of the term.

So the way I look at it is this.
You can get a new car with payments or (buy/keep) a used car with maintenance cost.
It comes out about the same.

Thats why my Uncle sold his SLK and now leases BMW's. He got tired to the dealer charging him a lot every time it needed anything. Other then the payment BMW covers every single thing down to wiper blades. Not a bad way to own these high end cars.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I know how you feel$$$$$$ I just traded my 94 E320 in on a 97 SL320 and while cleaning out the receipts I was shocked at how much that car cost me to operate, over $5000 in repairs with only 115K miles. My daughters 92 Mustang has cost us less than $500 for 100K, my 2002 GMC pickup has cost 0 except routine maint. This SL could be a wallet wrecker also.

Dan

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81 240D 4speed with 300D engine
87 560SL
2005 E320
Yukon Denali
Sierra Denali
850 Turbo Volvo
1996 Mustang
1984 Mustang race car
3 Boats

A) Do NOT replace a running Benz with an Accord. Accords are fine cars (owned 2 of 'em) but they are a ***** to work on. Hands down the hardest cars ever to work on. No joke it took me 19 hours to replace the ******* alternator in my '88.

B) All cars go over the 100k hump, including Accords, and if it's 5 years old, it's probably just around the corner. Paying for someone else to work on your Honda is hardly less expensive than to do it on a Benz, if at all, and doing it yourself will give you a brain aneurism.

C) In 5 years, your 10-yr-old Honda will not feel nearly as solid as your 15-yr-old Benz. And you never see anyone rolling in a 20-year-old Honda that's still slick and solid as the day it came off the lot, no matter how reliable they may be. Know that from plenty of experience as well.

Stick with the Benz because if you're ditching the Benz for the Accord to avoid costly/difficult/obnoxious repairs, you're jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Besides, in my Honda days I never had anyone eyeing me from across the parking lot saying, "Ooh, rollin' in a Honda."

Take it from someone with 3 Hondas under his belt.

Gabe

I understand and agree with what you are saying.
The point that I am making is that maybe cars should be thought of as a throw away item and not something you keep for the long haul.
If you lease a car (MB, BMW, Honda or whatever) and return it at the end of the lease, isn't the total cost about the same as a used car out of warranty paying for maintenance deducting any depreciation?

For example,
Take a $40,000 car, if you lease it, the payments will be about $500 including tax. Drive off will be about $5000. So over 3 years that comes out to $23,000
or $638 per month.

If you have an older car that is say $25,000 in value and in 3 years time, it may be worth $10,000 and your yearly maintenance is $2,000 then your total cost is $21,000 or $583 per month.

These are rough figures I just put in and actual numbers may change depending on the car value used for new and the used cars. Also the maintenance can vary as some people have spend $4000 - $5000 on maintenance while some have spend $500 - $1000 per year.

To me, it makes more sense to lease a car then buy/keep a used car out of warranty even though it is more expensive to lease. Especially since I can write off the lease payments in my business. I also don't mind having a new car every 3 years and can live without the maintenance headache.

On a side note. If you drive excessive mileage, then the numbers may work against leasing a car.