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  #1  
Old 08-06-2014, 08:10 PM
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Need advice buying 2012 E350

Guys - not sure where to post this; I am a diesel guy and that is where I always hang out. My son is buying a 2012 E350. What does 4matic mean? Should I guide him to a 2011 or 2010? Is the 2012 a good year. Have no idea what he should be looking at. He is shopping a pre-owned dealer named Malones in Atlanta and they look pretty reputable to me. Prices are maybe $1-2K below KBB.

RBM is the local new car dealer; I think he should shop them too but he is in a pretty big hurry. I think he will spend about $30K or so.

Advice would be appreciated.

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  #2  
Old 08-06-2014, 09:19 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tyl604 View Post
Guys - not sure where to post this; I am a diesel guy and that is where I always hang out. My son is buying a 2012 E350. What does 4matic mean? Should I guide him to a 2011 or 2010? Is the 2012 a good year. Have no idea what he should be looking at. He is shopping a pre-owned dealer named Malones in Atlanta and they look pretty reputable to me. Prices are maybe $1-2K below KBB.

RBM is the local new car dealer; I think he should shop them too but he is in a pretty big hurry. I think he will spend about $30K or so.

Advice would be appreciated.
n.
4Matic is AWD. 2012 is not a bad year as far as I know, I didn't hear too many complaints. When I look at a newer car for someone to buy sold with in the last two years or so, I always recommend checking the oil. Especially if the car only has 30-40K miles on it already. When people buy these cars and plan on trading them in fast, they usually don't want to pay for an oil change because it isn't free under warranty on Mercedes now IIRC. You absolutely don't want that mess.

Otherwise not much can be too bad on a 2012, it is pretty recent but look anyway.
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  #3  
Old 08-06-2014, 09:39 PM
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4wheel all-the-time drive? Why did they do that? Has to hurt the gas mileage. I just bought a ML320 and it has 4wheel all-the-time drive but I do not think it is called 4 matic - not sure. On a truck I understand; but on a nice 4 door sedan???

Thx for the info.
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Old 08-06-2014, 10:00 PM
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Originally Posted by tyl604 View Post
4wheel all-the-time drive? Why did they do that? Has to hurt the gas mileage. I just bought a ML320 and it has 4wheel all-the-time drive but I do not think it is called 4 matic - not sure. On a truck I understand; but on a nice 4 door sedan???

Thx for the info.
Any Mercedes from 1987 up (Europe got the first 4Matic, rare) was called 4Matic. 31MPG highway is realistic with a 2012 E350. Not too bad. They are pretty fuel efficient for what they are. Mercedes makes every car 4Matic these days that they can. I can't wait to see how they are in the long-term, hopefully nothing comparable to the W124 4Matic nightmares. Depending on your ML (98-06) it is a low range AWD. They just didn't do the 4Matic deck lid emblems.

I really don't mind them in Sedans though, I'm looking for a 98-02 E320 4Matic when the timing is right depending how many more winters I spend here in Philly.
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  #5  
Old 08-07-2014, 02:52 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tyl604 View Post
Guys - not sure where to post this; I am a diesel guy and that is where I always hang out. My son is buying a 2012 E350. What does 4matic mean? Should I guide him to a 2011 or 2010? Is the 2012 a good year. Have no idea what he should be looking at. He is shopping a pre-owned dealer named Malones in Atlanta and they look pretty reputable to me. Prices are maybe $1-2K below KBB.

RBM is the local new car dealer; I think he should shop them too but he is in a pretty big hurry. I think he will spend about $30K or so.

Advice would be appreciated.
Sounds like a good car to me. Hope he enjoys it!
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  #6  
Old 08-07-2014, 06:25 AM
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4matic is pretty unnecessary in Atlanta. I personally would skip it unless everything else about the car was what I wanted and I couldn't find a suitable RWD car. Other than that, all I can say is that being in a hurry to spend a bunch of money is usually a bad thing. If he's willing to shop around and be patient he will almost certainly find a better deal.
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Old 08-07-2014, 07:41 AM
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Skip - are you saying that he should shop for a 2012 E350 that is not 4matic? Do they make them? We do not have much snow in Buckhead.
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Old 08-07-2014, 03:29 PM
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Skip - are you saying that he should shop for a 2012 E350 that is not 4matic? Do they make them? We do not have much snow in Buckhead.
No, I think he's saying that $30K is a lot of money. 4-matic is great for winter driving. E350s come in the 2WD V6 gasser AND the Bluetec V6 turbodiesel as well. Several of them on the Net for a tad over $30K with low miles on 'em.
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  #9  
Old 08-07-2014, 09:07 PM
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If it were me I would take it to dealer or an equipped indy able to run a scan on the ECU for past and potential problems.
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  #10  
Old 08-07-2014, 09:28 PM
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Modern 4matic (since '98) is nothing like the original system. Its very durable and its only downside (if you call it that) is a little extra maintenance due to more parts to maintain and fluids to change. My C240 has it and its running great and the 4matic works fine @136k miles and counting. In the snow its incredible. Its basically a car version of the all wheel drive setup on a G-wagen.

Quote:
Originally Posted by jake12tech View Post
Any Mercedes from 1987 up (Europe got the first 4Matic, rare) was called 4Matic. 31MPG highway is realistic with a 2012 E350. Not too bad. They are pretty fuel efficient for what they are. Mercedes makes every car 4Matic these days that they can. I can't wait to see how they are in the long-term, hopefully nothing comparable to the W124 4Matic nightmares. Depending on your ML (98-06) it is a low range AWD. They just didn't do the 4Matic deck lid emblems.

I really don't mind them in Sedans though, I'm looking for a 98-02 E320 4Matic when the timing is right depending how many more winters I spend here in Philly.
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  #11  
Old 08-08-2014, 05:49 AM
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if it was me,I hold out for a diesel
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  #12  
Old 08-08-2014, 06:13 AM
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They are available without 4matic.
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  #13  
Old 08-08-2014, 06:16 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Skid Row Joe View Post
No, I think he's saying that $30K is a lot of money. 4-matic is great for winter driving. E350s come in the 2WD V6 gasser AND the Bluetec V6 turbodiesel as well. Several of them on the Net for a tad over $30K with low miles on 'em.
30 grand is a lot of money to most people. If I were planning on spending that much on a vehicle, I would take my sweet time and shop around. I'm sure 4matic is good in snow, but Atlanta gets about a quarter inch accumulation about once every three years. I would call that no snow worth speaking of, but when it happens there it shuts the city down to a degree those of us with snow driving experience find somewhere between comical and pathetic. I lived there for a number of years, so I've seen it myself.

Quote:
Originally Posted by oldsinner111 View Post
if it was me,I hold out for a diesel
My taste in cars has changed over time, as has engine technology. I'd be interested in a diesel, but the gas engines have become a lot more efficient in recent years. With that budget and in that area I would most likely be looking at a slightly used or even new BMW 3-Series gasser with a manual transmission, but that's just me.
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  #14  
Old 08-08-2014, 07:27 AM
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Thanks guys. Great info.
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  #15  
Old 08-08-2014, 08:17 AM
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