PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - How many miles are the Mercedes good for?

tvpierce · #3 04-17-2005, 09:03 AM

The three most important factors in the longevity of any vehicle are: 1) Maintenance 2) Maintenance 3) Maintenance!

Judging by your question, I’m not sure that a 10-year-old Mercedes is a good choice for you. What most of us here would consider regular maintenance, would cause the majority of other car owners to label their cars as “lemons” and trade them in for new ones.

Case in point: I’m frequently performing service on my three vehicles. (changing fluids: oil, tranny, axle/gear oil, coolant; replacing brake pads and/or rotors; flushing brake fluid, changing shocks/struts, suspension bushings, tie rods, spark plugs & wires, caps & rotors, air filters, valve cover gaskets, flex disks, miscellaneous bearings & u-joints) I consider all this to be perfectly normal maintenance, and all of my vehicles are very reliable. A good friend of mine has a completely different take. His only interaction with his cars is getting in and turning the key. If he owned my cars, he would consider them to be “lemons” because they require “so much maintenance”.

The problem with most people is that they know absolutely nothing about even the most basic systems within their cars and they ignore warning signs that service is needed. Therefore, when a normal item wears out – like brake pads – they’re totally surprised by it, and repairing is becomes a crisis. Then they take it in to a shop, and find out that the alignment is out of whack. So now they also need new tires and an alignment. Add to the mix that some shops are, shall we say, of questionable repute! And all the sudden, the bill is over $1000 and the owner is appalled!

The key is that you have to take responsibility for the maintenance of your vehicle. That’s NOT to say you have to do all the work yourself (although it would save you a fair amount of money) just that you have to manage it, or it will manage you!

All that being said – MBs are not inexpensive cars. You could get a much lower cost-per-mile ratio from a used Toyota. But MBs are magnificent machines. They ride and handle wonderfully. And you will not find another vehicle built with this degree of craftsmanship.

Jeff Pierce