Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Originally Posted By: dparm
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
How important is reliability to you really? Modern MB and BMW cars are not what they used to be.
Sorry but I have to strongly disagree with this.
20 years ago they were horribly unreliable. Now, you've got companies like Audi in the top 5.
I'm not talking 1990s, I mean mid 1980s and older. A W126 was a complex car for the time, but also very service/repair friendly.
Probably the last German car that was pretty easy to work on and reasonably reliable IMO was the E46. Those had problems too with the transmissions, cooling systems, and electronic features, but they were still meant to be worked on. In comparison a C230 from the same era is a pain in the [censored] to do simple things on, like changing the alternator, and will probably be an oil burning POS by this point unless enthusiast owned.
I think the current models have way too much new tech to be called reliable (for the average owner) yet. I see a lot of German cars less than 10 years old with blue clouds coming out of the exhaust. Run them through auctions a couple times and see how fast the dash lights up. A regular customer of mine likes to bring me these treasures every couple of days fresh from the auction...heavily Armoralled and dashboard ablaze with lights. I don't even bother pulling out the code reader anymore, it's Alabama and nobody cares as long as the thing moves under its own power.
I did an oil change on a W126 hooptie last week that was running better and had fewer mechanical problems than most of the German cars I see that are 10-20 years younger.
+1
Component quality matters and there was a time when high-end German cars had expensively sourced components that lasted virtually forever.
I've put 40K+ on my old BMW in the four years I've used it as a warm weather daily driver.
The A/C still works, the PW and PDLs still work. The ABS, deployable roll bars and air bags still work, although I don't really want to put the latter two to the test.
We've had two 123s, a 115 and a 201.
Other than the well known reluctance of older MBs to accurately and consistently record miles run, these were very durable and very reliable machines that were also easy to work on.
The 115 and the 123 had suspensions that were very complicated in what they were intended to achieve, yet they held up without issue over many years and miles.
I've never driven another car which can float over really rough roads like a 123, nor have I driven anything that did as much to help the driver with a little final oversteer in an overcooked corner, with no steering correction from the driver needed and no electronic nannies.
German cars are not necessarily expensive to own or maintain.
It just depends upon the car and the era in which it was built.
I'd not buy any German car of the last ten years expecting a cheap and carefree ownership experience.
The more expensive models will make the OP's Fiat ownership experience feel like a pleasant day in the country.
Old MB's were built like trucks. That's why they lasted so long.
Also everything was built with the intention of being serviced. For example you can rebuild the seat adjustment switch's very easily. I don't think I could do that on a W222's seat switch.
A W123, W126, G wagon, or W124 you can treat like an aircraft and pretty much just endlessly rebuild systems as they reach their service limit, which is why you see them with semi truck mileages on them. They are designed to be fixed. Its like all the 1960's Piper Cub's still flying around, keep replacing parts they will go forever.
Especially in dry areas they are "lifetime vehicles". I know of a couple of people who bought them new in the 1980's and still drive them to this day with no plans of selling them.
For me that's the difference between a quality vehicle and a junk one. Quality vehicles are designed to be fixed.
