I have always had this silly notion that a vehicle should perform the simple function of starting and carrying me to and from where I want to go without breaking my beer budject. My Mercedes has failed miserably on that front. If I wanted a car to just sit around and and look at and tinker with, there are a lot of 60's American muscle cars that would be a better investment. All my friends make fun of my broken down Mercedes. And they rib me for buying European, especially German. At this point I'm just having to take it.

How many of your friends drive a 14 year old car ?

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2007 C 230 Sport.

- most of them actually and I suspect the same of the Cap'n because of where he lives.

Other than vacuum leaks (on the 300D - my daily driver) I don't have any troublesome issues on either of my Mercs.

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Jim

300SDL bought with 225K miles:

The radiator had a plastic neckpiece that broke off and spilled coolant everywhere on the highway, one day. Fortuanately, I was smart enough to notice the coolant light flash on and off. Then I watched as the temperature of the engine started to rise quickly. I pulled over immediately and didn't let it go past 105 - 110 degrees (ALUMINUM HEAD HERE!). Got to be careful, and keep a watchful eye.

My '97 E420 (bought with 89K miles) needed a XENON HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLY $2,000 +!

My ABS and ESP lights came on in the car, called 1-800 FOR MERCEDES, and they told me to:
1. Turn the car off
2. Start it
3. turn the wheel all the way to left
4. turn the wheel all the way to right
5. center the wheel
6. shut off engine
7. restart and PRESTO everything's OK

My 350SD (bought at 236K miles) needed an AC compressor, and driveshaft mounts. Has been using oil quite a bit lately. Uh oh! But wait. I have the second-stage engine! Must be valve seals, right?

My 560SL needed an electronic idle control box. That's it. Bought it with 121K miles, and it had the timing chain replaced at those miles.

The 300SE (bought with 132K miles)seems to run a little lean when starting it up cold. Doesn't take the gas too well. Other than that it's fine.

But I don't care. These cars (to me)are worth it. I would never buy a '00 + Benz model. The 420 is as complex as I can stand.

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1987 300SDL (324000)

1986 Porsche 951 (944 Turbo) (166000)

1978 Porsche 924 (99000)

1996 Nissan Pathfinder R50 (201000)

Ditto. There's elegance in simplicity.

Actually most of my close friends own cars that are way older than 14 years. They drive new Chevrolet and Ford and Dodge and Toyota and so on. But they're pride and joys are are cars that appreciate in value, not decrease. I have one friend that owns four 66 and 67 Fairlane GT's and a 67 Mercury Comet GT convertible. All completely restored. Those five cars collectively are worth around 100 grand. He could go out and buy one Mercedes for that money. But next year his Fords will be worth MORE money and that 100 grand MB will be worth LESS. My own 65 Ford Falcon is insured for a heck of a lot more money than this 'newer' MB. And, I might add, a lot more dependable.

Okay, you want to know the scoop? Don't compare your 12, 15, or 20 year old MB to a new Camry. Well, why not? Hhhmmm...

A new Camry with a six and leather and the goodies here in my country is a $40,000 car. In ten years of owning the car, you'll spend some on repairs and maintenance. But, let's say it's NOTHING! Nada, zilch, zip. However, in ten years, the car is worth $8000. That's $32,000 in expense for those ten years.

Now, I buy a five year old C280 for $20,000. I drive it for ten years. Right now a fifteen year old MB sells for about $8000. I've spent a grand total of $12,000 on depreciation.

Okay, see where this is going? So you think that in ten years I'll spend more than $20,000 (above the Camry's cost) keeping the Benz up? Not a chance. There is no way the Camry will cost $20K less in repairs than the Benz.

I was STUPID to buy a new Mercedes. I have to keep the car until it drops to get my money out of it. I should have bought a 3-5 year old car.

Anyone thinking of a new Subaru is nuts. We bought our low mileage 1999 Outback Ltd. for $14,000. The car was $35,000 new! It's under warranty still and is like new. Probably get 15 more years out of this car. Do you think we'll spend that whole $21,000 on repairs because we bought a used car? No way.

So while you older MB driving folks might be writing cheques for repairs while your neighbour cruises in his 2003 Camry, he's got a monthly depreciation charge that is a killer.

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John Shellenberg
1998 C230 "Black Betty" 240K

http://img31.exs.cx/img31/4050/tophat6.gif

My '63 Galaxie was reliable, but it seemed to become a money pit at around 90k miles. I think the previous (and orig) owner put off a lot of maintenance.

But my '69 Fleetwood and now deceased '70 Tornado GT are/were bullet proof. Much easier to maintain and sturdier than the 126. No smoke, no drips, no oil use, no lifter racket, no 120k mile valve work, and on and on... TH400s can last 250k miles without a problem! Well, then again -- it's comparing apples to oranges.

But, every weekend he's out water skiing, mountain climbing or some other activity that equates to 'living' rather than working on a car that's so complicated you need a 13,000 member internet chat room to keep it running.:p And that's the question of this thread. Are they worth the trouble. Answer; some are and some ain't! They are cars just like a Ford Fiesta is a car. Different level but still the same!

But, every weekend he's out water skiing, mountain climbing or some other activity that equates to 'living'...

Uh... I don't want to stereotype, but "Camry Owner" and "Living Large" do not go together in my experience.

I have nothing against Toyotas... I've owned several in the past. And may again when I next buy a pickup. They are dependable, low-maintenance, and... BORING. That's their attraction.

I'm curious why you keep your Benz?

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1992 300E Sedan (Sold)
1999 E320 Wagon (Sold)
1995 E320 Sedan
1995 E320 Wagon

I gotta say I enjoyed reading this thread quite a bit, and I feel I should add a bit to it as well.

Since my family started owning cars, we had an 89 Nissan Sentra, a 87 Pontiac 6000le, a 94 plymouth acclaim, and my 85 190E

The Nissan was a great car, my sister drove it for a very long time and she didn't put a cent into the car, we tried to sell it at the end, but it would not pass safety because of the rust. It needed one timing chain change, and had some 200K miles on it if I remember correctly.

The Pontiac loved eating water pumps, but it had flawless A/C, it had its share of problems, but all were fixed with very little money, until finally the engine gave way in a terrible way, just as my parents were getting off the highway.

The Acclaim was a business car before we bought it. It was horribly abused, and I happened to be its first driver. That car cost me at least $300 every month for about a years time. It lost a wheel on the road, it leaked and still leaks everything. It went thorugh two starters in a week. Any repair done to it makes it more and more noisy, it sounds like a train now and none of the noise is due to the exhaust system.

I gave up on it when the tranny went cause $2000 is a lot of money for a student.

Around half way through paying off the tranny on the acclaim I got my mercedes. Now this is totally different. When I saw its owner history, the car had more owners then years, to be exact, I'm the 19th owner of an 18 year old benz. Not to mention that quite a few of the PO were car rental places. Clearly the car had a problem before it got to me and was majorly abused.

As so it happened, I got the car right after an engine swap, and with the sever case of hesitation.

Today, the car has been with me for 16 months, I had done 32000km on it. I have done numerous jobs on it, to list a few, timing chain including sprockets guides and anything else that wears out in the front, driveshaft, differential, half shafts, tires, all sorts of electrical problems, the a/c does not work still, and many many more.

BUT, I really didn't have to do any of those things, the one thing I would have had to do is replace the fuel pump relay when it started overheating and shutting down the fuel pump causing my car to stall for a minute or two. The other thing was adjusting the fuel mixture to get rid of the hesitation, but that didn't cost anything.

Now I do admit that if I were to take my benz to a shop, or dealer, I would spend a fortune on it, but I realized something, everytime I took the car to a shop, it came back in worse condition then it was the day before. It took me two visits to a shop to realize this and since that time I only had it on a lift to change the tires. I simply don't let anyone touch the car anymore.

It never left me stranded on the road, and my parents are now asking me if they can take it to Chicago to visit our family because they are afraid to take the acclaim. Mind you, from Toronto to Chicago, it's quite a drive.

I should also mention that I never trusted the car, not after the acclaim. I am still waiting for the day when I have to call a tow truck to get the car home, and I have everything ready for that day, but more so then that, I try to do anything and everything I can to make sure that day never comes.

Oh by the way, I didn't even spend a whole $3000 on all the repairs I have done. So for all you benz owners who spent huge amounts of money on these cars, do yourself a favour, find someone who will love the car, and let them fix it, I knew nothing about fixing cars when I bought mine, and today, I'm getting offers at gas stations for it, am I gonna sell it? nope not if things keep up this way.

If you ask me, it's not the car that should be questioned here for its reliablity, but the owner.

xp

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1985 190E 2.3L - a constant project.

1. If your after reliability, and driving pleasure means nothing to you then buy a Camry.

2. Mercedes, the price we pay for personality.

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Afshin

Current:
02 C32 AMG

Previous:
92 500E
84 190E 2.3 5 Spd

Personally my cost of ownership for my two is virtually zip, even with the costs of repairs.

My latest for example, those who've been on the board for a while know the story, but for those who don't the short version:

Got it at the junkyard, no history other than it threw the driveshaft. Trailered home, spent 4 months and $4k to get it roadworthy (includes price of admission). Have put 20K miles on it in 1 year and 4 months. Since getting it on the road I have had to replace the alternator and rebuild the front suspension as necessary repairs. I have no qualms about drving it across country right now. Anything else I have done has basically been a "feel good" repair. So far this year it has cost me about $0.20 to operate, includes gas (lots of it), oil, and insurance plus any repairs.

That's not bad, cause I figure if I take it on a work related trip, the pay me mileage to the tune of $0.36 per mile, so I net $0.16 per. Beer money.

Anything I need to fix or tinker with becomes therapy and a form of relaxation.

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Mike Tangas
'73 280SEL 4.5 (9/72)- RIP
Only 8,173 units built from 5/71 thru 11/72

'02 CLK320 Cabriolet - wifey's mid-life crisis

2012 VW Jetta Sportwagon TDI...at least its a diesel

Non illegitemae carborundum.

Trade a new experince with a new Lexus for the repair experience of a questionably used 10year old MB. Talk about apples and Oranges.

Why don't we talk about my early MLs (bought new in 1998) experience versus the POS 93 ES300 I got in my shop today. Same difference. I will own that ML for another ten years (God willing) and It will never look like most of the cars I work on. In ten years every system will still work as it does today! It will then be 15 years old and it will amaze people.

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Steve Brotherton
Continental Imports
Gainesville FL
Bosch Master, ASE Master, L1
33 years MB technician

Wanna buy it? Make me an offer................I didn't think so. It's hard to sell something that doesn't run.