What do all of you think of Mercedes-Benz?

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: bepperb
There are plenty of people who don't really care about handling or rear wheel drive, don't really care about interior quality. They want a reliable car with a luxury badge.

I never knew every MB was RWD or every Lexus was FWD thanks for that bit of info. If you don’t care about a quality interior you don’t need to be looking at luxury brands.

 

[earlyre]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
i only see junk so i may be wrong but imo mb's are very problematic and dont last on our roads. every mb that we saw had a cel on, several other problems as well as completly worn out suspensions. the engines and trans seem ok. its the rest of the car thats junk.

we no longer offer to work on mb's.the owners dont want to spend any money on them as they think a mb wont ever wear out parts. all those clunks and rattles are "normal".


too many folks are wow'ed by the rock bottom prices of used prestige branded cars, but forget about the Prestige parts prices it takes to maintain them.
(Top Gear has gone down this road MANY times.)

 

[Volvohead]

Originally Posted By: earlyre
Originally Posted By: Chris142
i only see junk so i may be wrong but imo mb's are very problematic and dont last on our roads. every mb that we saw had a cel on, several other problems as well as completly worn out suspensions. the engines and trans seem ok. its the rest of the car thats junk.

we no longer offer to work on mb's.the owners dont want to spend any money on them as they think a mb wont ever wear out parts. all those clunks and rattles are "normal".


too many folks are wow'ed by the rock bottom prices of used prestige branded cars, but forget about the Prestige parts prices it takes to maintain them.
(Top Gear has gone down this road MANY times.)


There's a handful of older Germans that are still a steal used. And they don't break like the newer ones. In most cases you're talking about platforms originally designed more than fifteen years ago, and not overloaded with computerized conveniences and useless bling.

Knowing which ones they are is the trick, and they are affordable to own. Being willing to spin your own wrench a little makes them exceedingly affordable.

They're no longer the fastest or flashiest cars in town. But they still ooze class to those who know better.

I'm not going to waste my time (and money) on an old Camry the way I will on the right classic Benz or Porsche.

. . .

What you DON'T want is someone with virtually no money buying one of these and thinking you can maintain it shabbily like a Ford Ranger and it will behave nicely. We've seen a couple of those folks around here in recent years.

 

[strat81]

Originally Posted By: 285south
I would never buy a MB because I think people do just for the name.

Of course they do. Conspicuous consumption. How else would the proles know I'm better than them?

Originally Posted By: rjundi
I would lease but never own one.


Agreed*. However, I'd be inclined to say that about any modern European car.

As for how they drive and ride... it's somewhat model dependent. But I wouldn't call any Benz made in the past 15 years a bad driving or riding car. Some people like more comfort, some like more sport, and Benz makes models that will cater to both of those drivers.



*An exception would be an old Mercedes diesel, just for the geek factor. But then I'd need to buy a navy blazer and white pants, or maybe a houndstooth jacket to complete the ensemble.

 

[Benzadmiral]

I still miss my venerable old W126 420SEL. Dark gray over light gray leather, 138K miles or so when I bought it, 198K when it was totaled. It was happier driving on smooth Colorado roads than on the cart tracks here; it swilled premium gas. But it was easy to change oil on and to do other maintenance items, the parts were not that expensive, it started every time and kept me cool or warm as necessary . . . and nearly every month, someone would come up to me and say, "Cool car! How old is it?"

Not long after the purchase I entered it in the MB Club's annual show, not to compete but just to participate. An older gentleman came up to me and asked if I liked the car, and I responded enthusiastically. He said, "It used to be mine. I bought a '95 S-Class, and it's a good car, but, man, I wish I had the 420SEL back!"

So a car that engenders that sort of loyalty is worth keeping and maintaining.

(And I imagine a 1970 300SEL 6.3 would be a delight to drive.)

 

[Bluestream]

Originally Posted By: Silverado12
IMO MB is overpriced. But you can get a used one fairly cheap. Scotty Kilmer on MB


This from a guy who uses compression fittings on brake lines...

 

[hattaresguy]

I like them a lot, but like any car company they have their warts.

But you don't get the Mercedes magic with their cheap cars, and MB does make a lot of cheap cars outside of the US. They are just durable regular cars. They are also the only brand that can sell the A class along with the S class and get away with it. Toyota cannot, hence Lexus.

I have yet to drive a vehicle that makes going into license losing triple digit speeds so effortlessly boring like an S600 does.

Mercedes is also a very good engine builder, a number of their engines are really works of art and way ahead of their time, and if maintained they run just as well at 300k as at mile 1. They are also the largest V12 manufacture in the world.

 

[Bluestream]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
i only see junk so i may be wrong but imo mb's are very problematic and dont last on our roads. every mb that we saw had a cel on, several other problems as well as completly worn out suspensions. the engines and trans seem ok. its the rest of the car thats junk.


Yeah, they should probably buy Chevy Cavaliers..

 

[bepperb]

Originally Posted By: Trav
Originally Posted By: bepperb
There are plenty of people who don't really care about handling or rear wheel drive, don't really care about interior quality. They want a reliable car with a luxury badge.

I never knew every MB was RWD or every Lexus was FWD thanks for that bit of info. If you don’t care about a quality interior you don’t need to be looking at luxury brands.



Is this one of those "I'm twisting what the other guy said so I can win an argument" posts? Who ever said all Lexus' were FWD and all Mercedes RWD? Not me.

Anyway, if MB works for you that's great. I gave "what I think of Mercedes-Benz" and if you don't agree that's what makes this forum great.

 

[Nick1994]

My dad has done collision work for over 25 years, has worked on nearly every car out there and says one of the biggest pieces of junk out there are Mercedes.

 

[Volvohead]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
My dad has done collision work for over 25 years, has worked on nearly every car out there and says one of the biggest pieces of junk out there are Mercedes.


My body man owns a high end collision shop, has been working on wrecked cars for forty years, is about to retire, and is a good friend.

He says there are three cars he would want to be in during a major accident. One of them is a Mercedes.

 

[Astro14]

People like to bash Mercedes. Most of those doing the bashing don't own one.

Mercedes has great engineering and excellent build quality. There are some things that they offer that simply aren't available in other makes, they tend to lead the industry in innovation.

They also lead the industry in building safe cars. The opinion that they are "pieces of junk" is unsupportable...

 

[wings&wheels]

Do you want a Mercedes and is it right for you? If so, go forth and enjoy. Buying or leasing in this segment is more emotion than logic, otherwise most of us would be driving Camry's or minivans.

The vast majority of cars now are good enough, beyond that it is preference and taste.

More to the actual question. My '99 Mercedes ML320 was reliability wise, bar none, the worse car we've owned: constant series of electrical gremlins that made my Brit toys look good, culminating in the main harness shorting at 39K miles to the tune of $4k+ with a bit taken off as a goodwill gesture from MB....traded it in at 40K miles. That said, a number of our friends and co-workers own newer ones and are pretty happy with them and none are having the problems that plagued the late 90's early 2000's cars. The new S's are real nice and I am seeing a lot of C's show up in the parking lot. My only gripe with the current normal (non-AMG) ones ones is the driving experience is a bit isolating compared to a comparable BMW or Audi, but that is their market. As far as owning one out of warranty, from what I hear they are no better or worse than their European peers with all being somewhat more painful to own than the Lexus/Acura.

Good luck whatever you do and yes, I'd probably drive one again.

 

[Vern_in_IL]

Seems like all the European makes take "DESIGNED OBSOLECENCE" to the extreme.

...and the replacement parts are $$$!!!

I also don't like Mercedes HUGE emblem on the grills, but that's personal preference.

I read somewhere that a Toyota Camry had a better suspension...TIFWIW

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: bepperb
Originally Posted By: Trav
Originally Posted By: bepperb
There are plenty of people who don't really care about handling or rear wheel drive, don't really care about interior quality. They want a reliable car with a luxury badge.

I never knew every MB was RWD or every Lexus was FWD thanks for that bit of info. If you don’t care about a quality interior you don’t need to be looking at luxury brands.



Is this one of those "I'm twisting what the other guy said so I can win an argument" posts? Who ever said all Lexus' were FWD and all Mercedes RWD? Not me.

Anyway, if MB works for you that's great. I gave "what I think of Mercedes-Benz" and if you don't agree that's what makes this forum great.


Then why did you say this..
Quote:
There are plenty of people who don't really care about handling or rear wheel drive

I never mentioned RWD you did. I was just pointing out there are FWD MB cars.
Mercedes makes all sizes of cars that are more than competitive with the likes of Toyota and Honda, etc.

Very few cars if any ever built were as dependable or reliable as the W123 diesels.
The owners manual in my old 1980 200D stated MB designed the car with a 30 year life span, a million Km was well within reach for the engine with no major repairs if any other than maybe a water pump.
I sold mine when it was 25 yrs old and still in immaculate condition. Nothing fancy, roll up windows a 4spd stick A/C and a Webasto OE manual sunroof.
The material on the seats looked like new, no wear and tear as did the carpets and the rest of the car.
My grandmother bought it new and kept it 20 yrs, she had it serviced by MB every 6 mo if it needed it or not. It only had a brake job, 2 batteries and a muffler other than routine stuff like fluid changes.

Hows that for a dependable no fills car with a luxury badge.
BTW other than headlight bulbs and tires, fluids i did nothing to it when i owned it.
I did install a diesel cat for tax reasons, it didn’t come with one.
No car i ever owned compares to this old lady. She was a pleasure to drive and own, i miss it. It had a mechanical feeling to it that is beyond words.
Fortunately i still have my grandmothers last MB car before she stopped driving.

The day i sold it. This is the original 1980 paint in 2005, never touched up, it is flawless. Notice the nice Euro bumpers.

I put the dash cover on to protect the 20+ year old undamaged plastic.

 

[Volvohead]

Originally Posted By: Vern_in_IL
Seems like all the European makes take "DESIGNED OBSOLECENCE" to the extreme.

...and the replacement parts are $$$!!!

I also don't like Mercedes HUGE emblem on the grills, but that's personal preference.

I read somewhere that a Toyota Camry had a better suspension...TIFWIW


Put down whatever you are ingesting.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Vern_in_IL
Seems like all the European makes take "DESIGNED OBSOLECENCE" to the extreme.

...and the replacement parts are $$$!!!

I also don't like Mercedes HUGE emblem on the grills, but that's personal preference.

I read somewhere that a Toyota Camry had a better suspension...TIFWIW


On the contrary, you can get parts for basically any Mercedes/BMW ever made through the dealer. Try that with a non-European marque.

 

[kjbock]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2


I own a late model BMW, and could get a higher end variant of the model, but down-optioned in ways that I desired. I wish I could get that on an E-class diesel.

I love old-school MB, and think the closest to it is Toyota's ripoff which spawned the Lexus brand.


I purposely custom ordered my BMW to avoid all of the electronic add-ons (only options were leather, heated seats and MSport), to avoid future maintenance issues. I also made sure I bought a model at the end of its cycle, since I figured after 7-8 years of producing it, BMW would have most of the issues worked out.

I figured the same is probably true for Mercedes as well. Buy at the end of a model cycle with as few of the "gotta have" electric options as possible. May not help for re-sale, but if you keep for a long time, should help with maintenance cost.

 

[javacontour]

I don't think we can get the A-class MB here. That's a FWD model available in Europe, and perhaps other locations.

Lexus offers the IS, which is RWD or AWD. I do believe they may have another RWD offering.

FWIW

Originally Posted By: Trav
Originally Posted By: bepperb
There are plenty of people who don't really care about handling or rear wheel drive, don't really care about interior quality. They want a reliable car with a luxury badge.

I never knew every MB was RWD or every Lexus was FWD thanks for that bit of info. If you don’t care about a quality interior you don’t need to be looking at luxury brands.

 

[geeman789]

Originally Posted By: jeepman3071
Originally Posted By: Volvohead
Originally Posted By: jeepman3071
Luxury vehicles are cars you lease, not own.


That was not always the case with Mercedes. Or BMW for that matter.



Agreed. I see a few '80s M-Benzs driving around, especially the diesel ones. Same with the older BMWs. They are well built cars that were meant to last generations. I hardly see any newer ones that are more than a few years old on the road, they are just too costly to run.


10 years from now, how many 2014 will you see on the road...ANY BRAND...?

Cars in general have become money pits, not just german brands. Price out, say, an automatic transmission for any car, and you will GASP ...? Car repairs in general have become insanely expensive, our local Honda dealers are at $ 150 an hour shop rate.

And is a Mercedes built in the USA really any better than a Honda, or Toyota, or BMW... also built in the USA...?

30 years ago a Mercedes was seriously over-engineered... and would last forever.

20 years ago Toyota was over-engineered...solidly built.

Now I don't think anything is... everything is too price competitive.

As an ex auto engineer once said.... " I never get asked to build a part BETTER, I get TOLD to make it CHEAPER...!

I think with almost any new car, lease for 3 years, have full comprehensive warranty in place, bonus if maintenance is included... and walk away when lease is up. No headaches, aside from eating the depreciation.

No $ 1000 ( or more...) tires, maybe, depending on car / driver, no " major services"' , no timing belts etc.