Road & Track: Durable vs. Reliable (features the W124)
 

Today I read this article on Road and Track:

There Is a Difference Between a Reliable Car and a Durable Car

I do agree to a certain point; the pre-1985 cars truly feel invincible.

Well, one could rip out that straight 6 and shoehorn in a Small Block Chevy Miguel:).
I have it on good authority that those will fit anyplace a flathead ford v8 will fit!

At least the womenz still find me reliable AND durable :D

I believe the US car buyer market wants a car to behave like a toaster - you put bread slices in - it toasts them and pops - when it doesnt, its junk.

they will bicker, complain, whine and be a general nuisance about car maintenance - all while knowing even a basic car is a complex machine and requires repairs/replacements to keep it in serviceable condition.

I have lived in a few countries, some of them have camrys and prius' going for more than 100 grand in US dollars. There I saw buyers not complaining of their car requiring normal service.

OTOH - I have made some freinds here and they run repair shops, the amount of insanity I saw roll in was downright amazing.

example - lady comes in with a infiniti G37 coupe asking to buy 2 donut wheels for it, when asked why would she need 2 of them, her answer was - the actual tires for it are way to expensive for her.

question arises - why is she driving a car for which she cannot afford its replacement tires.


next thing you find such people filling up the web with "reviews" of their experience with the brand or them telling their equally inept freinds of how unreliable and expensive their car is to keep up while their 20 year old 500,000 mile honda civic is still running (no matter if its actually fallen apart).

I've never minded paying for maintenance (occasionally unexpected and expensive) on the Mercedes I've owned. It was more like I was doing something nice for a loved one. OTOH, paying for maintenance for a Detroit product would really aggravate me.

Forget the W124.
Except for the effects of normal age and wear & tear, Many of the more basic W123s still have both durability AND reliability.
Though that torch has now passed to the '90s Toyota Camry and Corolla.
Amazing how many of those you still see on the road.

Happy Motoring, Mark