OT: hey, RichMc, a benz question...

[Climb01742]

i saw from your "who are you" post that you have a mercedes repair business. i've owned a few old used 100k miles and above benzs over the years -- one even with 300k miles -- and i was curious about your take on the new, post merger benzs. they don't seem to be the bank vaults on wheels they once were. your thoughts? and if you were going to get a used benz, which model and year(s) would you get? sadly, i think about cars almost as often as i think about bikes! :rolleyes: thanks!

[pale scotsman]

Sir climb - My dad bombards my brother and I with used benz stuff daily. he's big time into the owners club, shows, etc. There are great deals out there on older models that have been treated with tlc since they were born. You just have to know where to find 'em. Believe it or not ebay is a pretty good place. Alot of the older models can be used as daily drivers but they can be tempermental. Most of the "purists" wont touch the new ones unless they come out of germany.

Another good contact is someone that owns a speciality benz repair place like richmc. My dad's pusher had a beautiful one owner cobalt blue '85 280 sel door with 36k on it. The car was a one owner, full service records and the back seat looked like it hadn't even been sat in. It went for around 7k and my uncle bought it.

My parents have 4 right now. A 97 s500, 85 300d, 73 280c 2 door, and a '55 220 ponton. The s series cars are great but god forbid anything goes wrong on 'em. You can hear the cash register ringing as soon as you pull up to the dealer. As a side note my parents are retired and my dad jokes about his second career as a mechanic. Oh yeah I can drive any of them by myself but the s500, for some strange reason my mom doesn't trust my adherence to the speed limit in that one! :)

[siena01]

Make mine a mid-50's Gullwing in silver with Rudge knock-offs. Thanks.

[Bill Bove]

Make mine a mid-50's Gullwing in silver with Rudge knock-offs. Thanks.
Yup.

[pale scotsman]

it just might be affordable??? :crap:

[RichMc]

Guys,

This is nearly about off topic as it gets, hooboy! Let's try to keep it short. Scotsman has it just about right. Anything built in the nineties, esp. the mid-nineties and newer is pretty suspect. The S class is a money grabbing rolling black hole. Not that easy to work on and breaks all the time. When they are working they are fantastic but stay away from them if you don't have the bucks to support them and your mechanic. I understand there is nearly a consumer revolt in Germany when it comes to the new Benz. They are ridiculously over engineered and sadly the engineering isn't holding up. We always wonder if the design is sound but the bean counters mandate cheaper construction to increase the bottom line. I tell people the cars bought in the nineties & 2000 newer were sold by the successes of the models made in the sixties, seventies & eighties. I own a 240D 1983 with 267,000 miles on it. Slow & noisy yes. Everything works on it & it runs great! It is nearly the ultimate reliable car. I don't know if the current situation is a result of the Chrysler merge (I believe Daimler is the major player there) or if problems would have emerged as a result of Mercedes trying to gain greater market share by lowering costs & prices. I'm waiting for a return to a far better product from them though.