I may give up my 1995 E320 - Page 6 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

BENZ-LGB · #76 06-22-2006, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ocean View

To me, it makes more sense to lease a car then buy/keep a used car out of warranty even though it is more expensive to lease. Especially since I can write off the lease payments in my business. I also don't mind having a new car every 3 years and can live without the maintenance headache.

On a side note. If you drive excessive mileage, then the numbers may work against leasing a car.

Those are good points and if you can deduct thel ease payments, then you got it made.

In So. California, however, driving more than 12k or 15k miles a year is not considered to be excessive...it is par for the course.

It used to make sense to buy a Benz, cash (that's the cheapest way to buy a car) and keep it for the long haul knowing full well that the longer you held on to the car, the "cheaper" it became to own. W123s, W124s and W216s lasted for a long time and their upkeep cost was relative modest, thus justifying their initial expense over the long haul.

Not so sure that you can do that with the newer Benzes.

beevly · #77 06-23-2006, 11:12 AM

Ocean -

The used car approach is actually better than your analysis already shows: at the end of 3 years, you still own a car. With the lease, you have nothing at the end except a dealer charging you for every flaw he can get away with. These "flaws" suddenly become unimportant if you agree to lease another car from him...

Leasing can still be a good approach if you perpetually drive a nice late model car and would've traded in every 3 years anyway for a new one.

Brian

Ocean View · #78 06-23-2006, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beevly

Ocean -

The used car approach is actually better than your analysis already shows: at the end of 3 years, you still own a car. With the lease, you have nothing at the end except a dealer charging you for every flaw he can get away with. These "flaws" suddenly become unimportant if you agree to lease another car from him...

Leasing can still be a good approach if you perpetually drive a nice late model car and would've traded in every 3 years anyway for a new one.

Brian

Yes I agree with you.
This is just a possible choice for those that are complaining about maintenance costs on these MBs.
Everyone has different needs and different tolerance levels.
Some may go with the leasing route and opt for more expense and less headache while some may go for the used car out of warranty route and hope for less expense and less headache.

Hatterasguy · #79 06-23-2006, 10:54 PM

Leasing works great for some people. My Uncle leases a couple new BMW's. Loves it because he gets to drive a nice car for a couple of years and never has to open the hood. BMW covers everything down to the wiper blades. At the end of 3 years he picks out another new one.

In certain cases leasing makes a lot of sense.

EricSilver · #80 07-02-2006, 12:18 PM

One of the myths about MB's, at least the W124s, is that they are "broken in" at 100K miles. Wrong. They are "Breaking In" at 100K, meaning that the parts that will break or fail are begining to do so. The car is not really "Broken In" until 200K miles, when just about everything that will fail has done so.

People get ripped off on repairs because they are not knowledgeable enough, or fearful of, common sense diagnostics. 95% of my car's "problems" have been fluid related -- oil, transmission, PS, coolant and, because they are "fluid" in behavior, rubber belts and bushings.

A person might simply have low trans fluid, but when the tranny flares or whirrs, they run to the dealer thinking there is a true problem, and get hit with an unnecessary repair bill. The steering may be sloppy and they think it is a steering box or major linkage issue, when all they need is a idler arm bushing or a steering damper.

The worse "problems" are those with indirect causes. A leaky PS pump front seal will lubricate a serpentine belt to the point where it starts to slip over the alternator, water pump, PS and A/C pulleys, causing them to spin more slowly, and making an unknowing driver believe he or she is having a slew of mechanical and electrical problems, i.e., low voltage, weak battery (because the alt is not fully charging it) too-hot coolant temp, heavy steering, and weak a/c. They end up spending hundreds, or thousands, of dollars on repairs, when all that was needed was to seal the PS leak ($10 plus 3 hrs time) and blast the pulleys clean with brake parts cleaner. (I actually had this occur.)

Indeed, I am now experiencing this indirect-cause scenario. My coolant is 2 or 3 degrees warmer than normal. After assuring the water level is OK, I thought back to the last thing I did on the car, which could possibly be related to this condition. In February I switched to Mobil 1, to flush the engine. It did a great job of cleaning out all the dirt and gunk, especially that which was sealing the valve cover and other engine components, and allowing oil to seep out pretty freely. Over 5 months, this oil found its way onto the belt and pulleys, as evidenced by the considerable grime I saw on them today. Reverting back to Castrol 20W50, and blasting the pulleys clean and dry again with brake parts cleaner, will resolve that problem. (I will replace the valve cover gasket, but rely on the Castrol sludge to re-seal the less-significant leaks

)

I knew nothing about cars when I got mine, and would panic when things behaved strangely. In time, I overcame my fear of my car, because I recognized how easy M-B made it for do it yourselfers to make repairs (on the W124s).

Some basic knowledge of what the car's components and fluids do;
+ a LOT of common sense;
+ some research at MercedesShop when a problem arises;
= Massive savings on uneccesary repairs.

Mistress · #81 07-02-2006, 01:23 PM

Eric- Thanks for the note on the PS leak. I have a 420 SEL that I just purchased in April. I can't work on her for various reasons and thanks to the forum found an excellent mechanic in vienna, va. To date I have put $4000.00 into her and have another $2500.00 to go with the repairs being done in clusters of paychecks. I paid cash for her, don't have a car payment and the happiness I get from driving this automobile is worth every penny spent in repairs. New she cost $72,000.00 I could never afford that.

BENZ-LGB · #82 07-02-2006, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricSilver

One of the myths about MB's, at least the W124s, is that they are "broken in" at 100K miles. Wrong. They are "Breaking In" at 100K, meaning that the parts that will break or fail are begining to do so. The car is not really "Broken In" until 200K miles, when just about everything that will fail has done so.

People get ripped off on repairs because they are not knowledgeable enough, or fearful of, common sense diagnostics. 95% of my car's "problems" have been fluid related -- oil, transmission, PS, coolant and, because they are "fluid" in behavior, rubber belts and bushings.

A person might simply have low trans fluid, but when the tranny flares or whirrs, they run to the dealer thinking there is a true problem, and get hit with an unnecessary repair bill. The steering may be sloppy and they think it is a steering box or major linkage issue, when all they need is a idler arm bushing or a steering damper.

The worse "problems" are those with indirect causes. A leaky PS pump front seal will lubricate a serpentine belt to the point where it starts to slip over the alternator, water pump, PS and A/C pulleys, causing them to spin more slowly, and making an unknowing driver believe he or she is having a slew of mechanical and electrical problems, i.e., low voltage, weak battery (because the alt is not fully charging it) too-hot coolant temp, heavy steering, and weak a/c. They end up spending hundreds, or thousands, of dollars on repairs, when all that was needed was to seal the PS leak ($10 plus 3 hrs time) and blast the pulleys clean with brake parts cleaner. (I actually had this occur.)

Indeed, I am now experiencing this indirect-cause scenario. My coolant is 2 or 3 degrees warmer than normal. After assuring the water level is OK, I thought back to the last thing I did on the car, which could possibly be related to this condition. In February I switched to Mobil 1, to flush the engine. It did a great job of cleaning out all the dirt and gunk, especially that which was sealing the valve cover and other engine components, and allowing oil to seep out pretty freely. Over 5 months, this oil found its way onto the belt and pulleys, as evidenced by the considerable grime I saw on them today. Reverting back to Castrol 20W50, and blasting the pulleys clean and dry again with brake parts cleaner, will resolve that problem. (I will replace the valve cover gasket, but rely on the Castrol sludge to re-seal the less-significant leaks

)

I knew nothing about cars when I got mine, and would panic when things behaved strangely. In time, I overcame my fear of my car, because I recognized how easy M-B made it for do it yourselfers to make repairs (on the W124s).

Some basic knowledge of what the car's components and fluids do;
+ a LOT of common sense;
+ some research at MercedesShop when a problem arises;
= Massive savings on uneccesary repairs.

Excellent advice.

As to "when" parts typically break, check the link below:

http://www.mbca.org/pages/tech/MBCA_parts_wear_out.htm