well, how about some good points for a change.
I met another guy yesterday at the local mech. who was driving his 87 300D. had 275K miles and said that for the 130K that he's owned the car for, he only had to change the oil in it and now needs to replace the rear callipers.
compared to my gasoline model, i think that is amazing. perhaps the diesel models, same year and chasis were better runners in the long run......

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Whether you think you can or cannot, Either way you're right!. by Henry Ford.

Here is a link to the Swiss JD Edwards CSI results 115 car models are ranked. The E Class is number 10, and top of the "high end" category. The V-Class is last.

http://www.satisfactionautomobile.ch/satisfaction/result.asp

Momo

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1990 500SL 65k km - until May 11 2004
2004 E320 4-Matic wagon
2004 CLK500 Cabrio from May 11 2004

Steve, your a king. You should have your own newspaper column in the business or wheels section.

Do you guys sometimes feel that the amount of problems you encounter has a relationship with how you maintain your car (your investment).

I do.

-Mike.

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1989 300CE - 269,000 km
1994 SL600 - 59,000 km

just when i thought i could have atleast a month of peace without going to the mechanic again, i'm stuck with a power steering issue !
and the saga continues....

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Whether you think you can or cannot, Either way you're right!. by Henry Ford.

Bad luck? Close to 200K miles on my '97 Benz and never taken it to a dealer. Battery and tires of course. Nothing else.

Hmmmmm, let's see.
According to your signature, the newest car you have is 12 years old.
Would you like some cheese with your whine ?

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2007 C 230 Sport.

Let me save the cheese money for the dealer to spend on the diagnosis and repairs !

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Whether you think you can or cannot, Either way you're right!. by Henry Ford.

After the initial shock of high repair bills, things have stabilized for my E320. Now I do a lot of the maintenance work myself and the operating costs have gone down. For example instead of buying a new engine computer for $1860.00, one can buy a used one for $80-.

Low volume, high profit margin vehicles are not likely to be as reliable as high volume, low profit margin vehicles. To make money on the latter, warranty costs have to be analyzed and kept under control.

My conclusion is that Toyota is more reliable but reliability is not everything.


DCX RECALLS MERCEDES, CHRYSLER VEHICLES
DaimlerChrysler AG is recalling just over 1 million vehicles in three separate campaigns.
The largest involves about 680,000 Mercedes-Benz cars and a faulty brake controller.
Affected vehicles include E-Class sedans built after March 2002 and SL-Class sports
cars built after October 2001. However, the automaker estimates that less than 1% of the
vehicles will need to be repaired.
MAY 12, 2004

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Zafar
94 E320 58000 Miles

This whole cost of ownership and "when to replace" discussion is intriguing. For me, it's a no-brainer. My 300SDL will be turning 18 this September and has cost me less than $1k a year to maintain since I acquired it 4+ years ago, and it is extremely well cared for. At 126k mi, the bottom line for me is that I couldn't come close to replacing it for what I could get for it. My indy services two other SDL's, both of which have over 350k mi and are running strong. I'd say my useful life is good. Plus, I could never displace a 126.

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Chris

'04 ML500 - 53k, Inspiration Edition, Desert Silver
'11 Audi A4 Avant - Brilliant Black
'87 300SDL sold
'99 C280 Sport sold
'85 190E 2.3 sold

Got to tkinking. I have spent more money on my Rolex that my Benz in the last 7 years of owership. I still love them and intend to keep them. Be strong, repairs happen.

Car story just today brings this into some perspective for me:

A co-workers mother of mine inherited her father's Dodge Stratus. Grandpa driven and babied, 90k miles and the motor had a bad bottom end. Tech told her that it wasn't worth replacing the motor, even though the rest of the car was in good shape.

Can't say that about a Merc. Swap out the part and you're ready to roll.

Hello,
Any forum member not satisfied with his/her Mercedes Benz, I will gladly take it off your hands. Please ship it to me FOB Port Klang, Malaysia. Thank you.

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Nachi11744

Peter

The exact same happened to me.
Luckily the watch got stolen & I replaced it with a $ 49.95 Casio about 6 years ago.
No problem so far.
But............I can't get no satisfaction out of it.

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2007 C 230 Sport.

MB are more costly than other cars in some cases, but they were never supposed to be cheap to own. Most of these cars were made for people with money, who wouldn't bat an eye at dropping $1k to fix a seat or $2k to fix a cracked cylinder head. An S class was not built so the average guy could afford it. You could make a case for the C and E class, but there still expensive complex cars.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Are MB's really more complicated?

Toyota's and Lexus' have almost all the safety and convenience features of MB's.

ABS, ESP (called VSC by Toyota and Lexus), Brake Assist.
Pyrotechnic seat belt pretensioner.
Airbag, side airbag, side curtain airbag.

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1992 300D 2.5 turbo diesel. 319 k miles.
124.128 chassis, 602.962 engine, 722.418 tranny.