Mwood, you said the car you bought has had a full valve job, heah gasket, radiator, wiring harness, brakes, etc. With the exception of brakes, you mentioned a lot of serious repairs. You didn't say how many miles your car has on it. Assuming the car has 100k miles on it, a Honda or Toyota would have had none of those jobs done; it probably wouldn't have needed them until 250,000 miles. I'm assuming you will soon be needing an oil and transmission gasket (about $500 each), and if your a/c works, that's a bonus; most don't, unless they've had extensive work done on them. Think about $1,300, and even then you have a so-so a/c system.

The diesel is supposed to outlast any of them, that's why I bought a diesel. I won't have another gas MB, too many problems.

1991 300d, 92k

I remember when I used to think that, the diesels are about a wash repair wise.

Turbo's blow, injectors nail, IP's act up. Timing chains stretch, head gaskets fail.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I used to say I'd never have anything but a Mercedes-Benz. With my latest car (1993 S500) I'm not so sure. It's not the repairs that bother me (did I REALLY just say that???!!!). It's the fact that it has to go in time and time again FOR THE SAME DARN THING! I have now finished my 5th (yes that's right FIFTH!) trip in to fix the automatic Climate control. When I bought the blasted thing I knew that it would be more expensive to fix than my trusty '84 300SD, but my God! Five times to fix the same problem! In addition, every time I think "Thank goodness that's over with. Now I can enjoy the thing for a while" BAM! A new problem comes up. When I bought the "17 foot black furnace on wheels" it DID have high miles, but I was assured by the dealer's service department that it had been serviced regularly and had been a reliable car. The evaporator had been replaced and the closing assist pump had been replaced so I thought I was okay and paid $8000 and was happy. I had the timing chain, tensioner and guides done as a precaution (I have a 380SL so I know what a broken chain can do!) and went on my merry way. Two days later the plastic grommet on the accelerator cable broke leaving me stranded. A week later the fan clutch went south. Then the ASR light started lighting up requiring a new ETA and I threw in a new wiring harness just for kicks. Then the door assist pump quit, followed by a new set of rear shocks ($795 apiece plus labor) now the ACC (I had them replace the serpentine belt and pulley after 4 trips in.) It worked for 4 days then quit. Refused to work on Friday and now has decided to start working again....for how long...who knows?

Don't get me wrong. I love my S500, but I wonder just how much more I can take before I have to give it up. I have had 5 Mercedes-Benzes over the years, but this is the most frustrating one I've ever had. NO ONE AND I MEAN NO ONE KNOWS HOW TO SERVICE THE DARN THING AND KEEP IT RUNNING FOR LONGER THAN A COUPLE OF WEEKS!

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Old age and treachery will allways overcome youth and skill!

1993 S500
1984 380SL

Am planning to buy a new car. Dealer sells both BMW & MB's. Which is a better bet (risk)? Have heard MB has dumbed down their cars to Chrysler level but that BMW's don't hold up too well. What say you experts?

Knowing how you neglect your cars buy a BMW. They cover all maintaince for the first 4 years or 50k miles. Just bring it to the dealer every 15k and they will take care of it.

Did you blow the engine in your E320 yet? Last you posted you were at what 25k miles on the original oil?

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Which to buy, a BMW or MB you asked. I've heard time and time again, older BMW's, were awesome, AWESOME cars. Mind you, if you buy a used 325 series, they're the cheap end of the line, so many of those people often didn't invest money to take care of them. Most BMW's have been beaten by their owners because they're a very sporty car.

Even if I could afford it, I would never, never buy a new MB from what I heard. Problem city. And their climate control systems STILL suck, after 30 years!! I don't know about new BMW's. I think they've retained a lot of their quality over the years, but I don't know.

WHO NEEDS THE PROBLEMS of guessing which MB is a good model or not? If you're in the higher price range for a car, buy a Jap car, Honda or Toyota manufactured car (Lexus, etc.), and live life at places OTHER than a repair shop. Might even want to look at Lincoln's. Could you imagine spending your money with an American car manufacturer? But I think Lincoln's have been fairly decent, check Consumer Reports for more info.

jeff

Found while perusing EBay:

http://reviews.ebay.com/Benz-LEMONS-Beware-of-any-2000-through-2005-

Edit comment: Sorry, I can't seem to get the link to point to the exact review. If you go to the Reviews and Guides from the link and search 'Mercedes', select only for 'EBay motors' (there are about 48 of them)the one I read is on the list on page 2. The review is Benz LEMONS Beware of any 2000 through 2005 models. Try http://reviews.ebay.com/Benz-LEMONS-Beware-of-any-2000-through-2005-models_W0QQugidZ10000000001252239
Other 'informative' titles from this same guy:
Benz DEFECTS are worse than ever http://reviews.ebay.com/Benz-DEFECTS-are-worse-than-ever_W0QQugidZ10000000001252224
Benz SCAM with certification of Starmark Vehicles http://reviews.ebay.com/Benz-SCAM-with-Certification-of-Starmark-Vehicles_W0QQugidZ10000000001271785
Benz Deceptive ads for Certified Pre Owned Vehicles http://reviews.ebay.com/Benz-Deceptive-ads-for-Certified-Pre-Owned-Vehicles_W0QQugidZ10000000001339966

Of course, these and many like them were all likely penned by disgruntled EBay buyers, who may be venting their frustrations on Mercedes instead of EBay...

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1986 560SL
2002 Toyota Camry
1993 Lexus

Link doesn't show anything specific.

Lol...this thread is like a good, old Mercedes - it won't die easily!

That said, I looked back at my first post on this thread (post #49). It was almost exactly three years ago to the day. I was gushing about my 300E and how it was close to 300,000Km.

Well, I'm still driving that same W124 300E and she now has close to 330,000 Kms on the clock, is 17 years old, and has been through two accidents since then (was rear-ended twice) and the car still looks fantastic. Drives perfectly as well.

What still surprises me is that I've done NOTHING to the engine since that post, other than regular oil changes. It still has all the original valves, valve stem seals, injectors, you name it. Other than some standard maintenance - a ball joint, new muffler, alternator brushes, etc. - I haven't had to do anything major to the car. Tranny is original, shifts perfectly. Interior looks great, no dash cracks, leather looks nicely broken in but hasn't cracked or faded. Only real upgrade I made was to the audio system - I added two amps and a sub in the trunk.

So is my car troublesome? It has been the best vehicle purchase I have ever made and I'm starting to wonder if it will be the best EVER. I'm not sure I'll be able to get a newer Benz to go this distance, with so little work required, but I will try.

I think she'll get a carwash tonight.

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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

I also drive a much used C280 and have never spent a dime for repares. Oh, of course oil changes but nothing more than tires. These cars seem to be like the energizer bunny.

Yours may be the most durabile Mercedes ever. It still had the old attention to quality. Also, it had galvanizing. That was the one misssing feature that did in my W126. The rust got it. My W126 had the same engine that is in your car, and it was also a tank. Never had any serious problems with it. Trust me, the new one aren't the same. As my earlier posts states, marketing took over in the early '90's. That is always a deathknell for quality in the auto industry. The marketers quickly learn that you can lower quality for about 10 years before you get into trouble. Most of them consider a success to sell a car at the same price, produce it cheaper, and make more money. Eventually it catches up with you. they are offering $0 down/ $290 month leases here to get the cars off the lot. Brand equity has been burned and it is time to pay the piper aka 1980 for the US auto industry.

Am planning to purchase a new car in Nov. Dealer sells both MB & BMW. What to buy? An E500 or a 540i. Looking for least problems as I don't relish trips back to dealer (75 miles) for warranty work. My 97 C280 has never missed one beat but from reading this forum I get the same feeling about these cars as I do about the situation in Iraq. What say you experts?

My '98's A/C has crapped out and it is looking like the evaporator is leaking. That's a big job, probably one which would drive a gas powered '98 to the junkyard or at least to sell at ebay since the cost of having it done is a good percentage of the car's value.

For a diesel it is still worth fixing but I guess I don't understand why they think it is necessary to bury components so deep in the dash that it takes 15 man hours to remove and replace them when they know from their recent history that these parts only last a relatively short time, much shorter time than the rest of the car will last.

The AC evaporators in my '64 and '72 and '88 are all original and still going strong. When they went from copper to aluminum they started having problems (in the 90's) but they continued to design them so that every component between the firewall and the seats has to be removed to repair it.

I'm just hoping that after I fix my A/C that something else major doesn't go wrong...I love the cars but would never buy another new one that wasn't under warranty. The lease on our '04 expires the same time as the warranty...it's probably going to be my last MB.

The Lexus and Infinity and Accura are SO much better in quality than MB today it is hard to be loyal.

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Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

"Patience is a virtue enjoyed by few"

Well, I've started going to an independent mechanic because at least when something is fixed and then breaks again within a week he's good about trying again without charging me. I do get concerned that he doesn't have all the computers that the dealer has to solve problems, but after all they weren't able to solve the problem WITH all the computers, nicht wahr? He also says that the W140's are too bloody complicated for their own good (HAL: "I don't understand what you mean Dave").


BTW: as many problems as I've had with my S500 it STILL is light years ahead of the 735i that I had before I gave up on BMW and went with Mercedes-Benz!

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Old age and treachery will allways overcome youth and skill!

1993 S500
1984 380SL