PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - What are members paying for their Mercedes

euronatura · #21 12-22-2003, 01:11 PM

For my 1988 190e, 2.3L 8 valve car, I paid (if I recall correctly) US$6,500 for it in 1996 in Miami, Florida with 62,000 miles on it. I purchased it from the second owner of the car who had to sell it because he was moving to Colorado and needed a 4-wheel drive vehicle. The only problem that the car had when I purchased it was that one of the windows did not roll down and the owner did not know why and he was selling as is. Of course I used this premise to talk him down quite a bit on the vehicle. The fix was a $10 window switch from the junkyard. By the way, the car was never in any accident and all service records from the dealership.

Currently, the car has 151,000 miles on it and is still running. Over the years I have done the following work to maintain or repair it:

Repaired AC vacuum system - 8 months ago
New Klima Relay - 8 months ago
New rotors - 3 years ago
New shocks - 2 years ago
New Upper Front Shock Mounts - 2 years ago
New Ball Joints - 2 weeks ago
New tie rods - 1 month ago
New Control Arm Bushings - 2 weeks ago
New cat. converter - 4 years ago
New Flex Discs - 1 year ago
New Motor and Tranny Mounts - 2 months ago
New timing chain and rails - 2 months ago
New belt tensioner - 2 months ago
Rebuilt Alternator - 9 months ago
New water pump - 2 years ago

This is what I can remember off the top of my head. other than this, I have always done the oil at 3,000 KM or 3 months and the tranny fluid changed about once a year. And of course new tires, brake pads and serpintine belt when needed.

Currently, this past weekend I started, to fix the radio antenna, motor was blown and had it repaired - need to reinstall. And the sunroof. The tilt angle brackets are not working smoothly and am currently working on it (another post - "almost fixed sunroof" dated 20-Dec-2003.)

Things left to be done soon:
Rear Subframe mounts - I suspect in the near future given the milage
New O2 Sensor - since I have my doubts if the current one is functioning properly
New dash cover - mine is cracked in three places due to the extreme sun in Miami and now in Guatemala.
New Seat springs - for my comfort w/in the next year.
Euro Lights - to be done when I find a local 190e that has been dismantled.
Need to check to the vaccum lock system since it stopped operating this past friday - could be a fuse need to check it out though did not have time over the weekend.
New rear passanger window regulator. Mine is not functioning correctly - motor is ok just the hardware parts - also waiting for a local dismantled 190 to get this.

In end, I believe that this has been my best purchase of any used vehicle that I have ever owned! If I were to add up the cost of the repairs and maintanance and divide it by the years that I have owned the car, I would certainly come out at less than $50 a month! (excluding of course the purchase of the car but even to factor that in I would be in the neighborhood of $120 a month or aproximately $0.11 a mile).

Side note: I did pay, in the end after playing with some numbers and corporations, $2,500 for the import duties in 2,000 in bringing the car with me to Guatemala.

Iggy