I was reading the concerns of one of the members about purchasing a high mileage MB versus a low mileage one. A few of the members response to this was, knowledge of the car's maintenance history helps a lot...and so on. But what if that is not accessible, or since you were not there, the reliability of these records specially if they're private accounts of maintenance is not too great. Or like in my case, my 1994 SL500 maintenance record book was only updated to the 65000 miles, and I bought it with 88000. What I'm really getting at is that it might be helpful for new owners of any vehicle not only MBs, to be able to practice preventive mechanics, or maintenance, something like preventive medicine. For example, you're of a certain age, and the doctor using preventive medicine recomends for you to walk more, eat more vegetables, get check-ups more frequently, etc. In the automotive world it could be to check the engine compression to diagnose any future major problems, change the oil pump, timing chain, spark plugs, brake lines, vacuum lines, fuel lines, clean your electronic contacts, etc..,etc. And all, or some of these things if posible at different mileage intervals, as I said before, preventing more costly and bigger repairs and developing a little owner's tranquility as to this newly acquired used vehicle. To spend a small amount now, and a small amount later, hurts less than the one time big repair lump sum that usually grows specially when the owner is not the DIY person. I guess is not a bad idea. What do you think?

If buyers paid more attention to maintenance records, used cars would be worth more and probably last longer.

Consider that the average general aviation aircraft is over 15 years old. That's because the FAA requires proper maintenance to keep the airworthiness certificate current, and mainteance records are considered an integral part of the aircraft.

Few car owners keep organized maintenance and repair records, but it's not that hard. When looking to buy an older car I always recommend that buyers look for records to understand the vehicle's history. If none exist, or if they are only spotty, keep shopping, and be willing to pay a premium price for a car with a documented history.

Duke