We made a tentative deal to buy this vehicle - and now I'm having second thoughts about the color. 2004 E500 4 Matic with 353 Light Blue Metallic and Sierra Gray interior.

I'm starting to think it looks a little too "precious", if you know what I mean. And we will be throwing the kid in the vehicle, occasionally with dirty cleats, muddy uniform etc.

I liked how it looked different from all the others I keep seeing (mostly silver, white, black), but maybe there is a reason I don't see this combo.

Opinions?

Thanks
Al

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I like it, but I'm partial to the light interiors. Now for throwing a muddy kid into,,, I don't know about that. Will probably keep you busy trying to keep it clean.

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95 SL500 Smoke Silver, Parchment 64K
07 E350 4matic Station Wagon White 34K
02 E320 4Matic Silver/grey 80K
05 F150 Silver 44K

Absent a limitless supply of identical candidate cars from which to pick, since this is a USED car, IMO, CONDITION trumps COLOR, every time.

Even more so, in this case, because I have heard these are NOT without reliability, build quality and mechanical and electrical problems, so that makes the particular you example you select all the MORE important with these.

I am assuming these cars ARE NOT "certified pre-owned" Mercedes Benz cars for sale on a Mercedes Benz dealer's lot, which makes it even MORE important, because if things go wrong you won't have a factory warranty to fall back on.

Paying for repairs on these yourself can get VERY expensive in a big hurry.

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

Al, I really like that combo. And like you said, it kind of sets itself apart from the "usual" combos we so often see.

As far as kids go, between my 3 current driveable vehicles and my recently retired Grand Caravan I've had the full gamut of interior colors, from light tan to light grey to dark grey to dark blue. Not one of them covers the kid-dirt spectrum any better than the others. The ones that seem to hide the dirt better are harder to get the stains fully out, the ones that seem to cover the stains the best after cleaning seem to show the most "debris".

If it were me, I'd get one of those long, one-peice, deep-grooved rubber minivan/suv rear floormats that go over the center hump and trim it to fit to catch all of the mud/slush/grass and the closest color matching easy-on/easy-off rear car seat cover I could find. That way it's easy to throw it on when you need it and easy to take it off when you need to clean it.

Outside of a white interior , I'm not sure any are really fully kid-proof. Go with a combo you like and make the necessary contingencies.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Now 36K miles. Has extended warranty which runs through 12/2010.

Buying from 2nd owner, who bought it certified pre-owned with 15K miles in 10/05.

Current owner says was only in shop for front brakes (at 25K).

I'm real torn. It's more car than we need and we will be retiring my SLC....

But after 2 hip replacements, I'm tired of having to half roll out of my car to exit. Not very cool.

Color doesn't really matter when you are buying a used car, condition is much more important.

Besides kids are going to trash anything you put them in.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I like the color combo and would be proud to own that car. I'd trade my Toyota Abalone for it in a heartbeat.

We in the used market take what we can get. The light blue/light gray interior wouldn't be my first choice either, but there's nothing badly wrong with it.

Bot, are you experiencing a little regret about switching to the Toyota?

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

I'd go for a black interior, if I were you. Lite grey? Nut-uh. Too "precious."

Hey, some of my best friends own cars that look a little too "precious" (not that there's anything wrong with that).

But seriously, if you like it, buy it.

I don't mind the color, it's refreshing, rather than the sea of silver and black ones you usually get. There are more and more new colors coming out and I think that trend will continue for a while. Like others have stated, condition is far more important.

When I bought my current car, I really liked the color for its originality (in terms of not seeing many in this color - see my profile for a pic). There have been times when I've since thought "maybe I should have bought silver...". etc. Typical buyer's remorse. However, it has really grown on me, the way it looks under different lights - darker at night, almost black and a deep brilliant green under strong sun, etc.

So IMO...if the car is in excellent mechanical condition, full service records etc. then just enjoy the color's relative uniqueness. In my case I inspected the records but not closely enough. I missed the fact that the car had gone on extended oil change intervals using conventional oil, not synthetic. Likely as a result, my engine uses oil. If I had not been so caught up in the look of the car, perhaps I would have paid closer attention to what really matters - the mechanical/physical condition.

I wouldn't worry too much about the interior. The leather in MBs is tough and most of the surfaces clean easily (and take a lot of abuse). This coming from a father of two boys, one of whom has the habit of kicking the back of the passenger seat with his muddy and slush-covered snow boots. It cleans up easily and takes the abuse in stride.

Good luck!

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Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

Based on your situation, budget for new floor mats at least once a year. Carry spare towels for your kid (and his buddies that invariably need rides) to sit on after a rainy practice. Keep a big plastic tray in the trunk for dirty gear. You should be fine.

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

I'm not sure what the exterior color has anything to do with kids and dirty cleats.

As far as the interior, leather is leather, and should be easily wiped off.

As for as the carpet color, Mercedes only uses three, maybe four, colors, and only one is dark: black-ish / dark gray.

The only other colors are light tan, light gray, and maybe blue.

The only color that wouldn't allow you to see dirt is the black carpet.

I don't like having my kids in my Mercedes, so the Volvo is the official "kids" car.

When they do ride in my car, I make sure to have the Winter "rubber" mats down, which protects the carpet.

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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".

I've got a black interior on my C, my wife has the light grey on her E. Yes, the grey does show more dirt than the black. However, the up-side is that the grey interior is significantly cooler in the summer when your car has been sitting out in the sun. Wearing a pair of shorts and sliding onto the grey leather seat is noticeably less painful than doing the same on the black leather. After comparing the two, I don't think I'd ever get a black interior again, just for the difference in comfort.

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Jonathan

2011 Mazda2
2000 E320 4Matic Wagon
1994 C280 (retired)