Mxfrank,

That's funnier than h*ll driving it into a tree! You made out great getting out of your '99 E320 wagon!

I guess I've learned not to value anywhere near new the out of pocket cost of a Mercedes-Benz. There's enough financial heartache keeping a 10 year old MB diesel on the road that you bought for a fraction of what it cost the new sucker buyer. Christ, you have to either be a big earner, or a millionaire keeping one on the road. But that's another discussion. I'm certain that my Dad would be disappointed in the reliability and value aspects of the post 1980s MB diesels. He remarked.in the mid 1980s that the alternative car preference of an MB diesel car owner was a Honda Accord. I'm seeing his wisdom after the W210 I wasted so much money on. I'm seriously considering getting out of MBs altogether these days. A nice Honda or Subaru as my daily driver, and a new or nearly new Corvette C7, as my discretionary car is the direction I'm inclined to go these days. I bought my 1st new 1977 C3 L82 Corvette, 40 years ago this month. (December 1976)

I only had good luck with my W210. '99 E430 Bought in 2005 for $13K, drove for 5-6 years until it had 160K on the odo. The price was low because of a BAS/ESP warning light, which turned out to be a cheap brake light switch. It never stranded me, and the only real annoyances were a loud rear wheel bearing ($800 by an indy), and a faulty rear window module that took some patience to troubleshoot because of interaction with other modules via the CAN bus. Front ball joints were a piece of cake to replace.
The car rode great on the highway and had gobs of power. An econobox just can't match it.

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Prost!

I replaced the 210 with an Outback. The Outback is boring as hell, lacking in character, reeks cheap, but it thrives on deep snow and has been trouble free. My '87 Mercedes is still my longest lasting favorite, but with over 400K on the clock, it's only a matter of time.

For over thirty years, my daily driver was either a BMW or Mercedes and I didn't want anything to do with Japanese cars.

I bought a 2008 Civic with a 5 speed manual last year for 6k. One owner, with service records ,100k miles and very clean. In 12 months of daily driving, the only non maintenance repair has been the MAF sensor(around $100 from the dealer).

I also traded the 2005 Thunderbird in on a certified 2014 Tundra Limited double cab with the iForce 5.7 v8. No one issue in the last year other than a dead battery. Toyota reimbursed me for the battery and new battery terminals no questions asked, and even offered to pay for towing and a rental car. Now that is customer service!

I still have the young timers and old timers, but in this day and age they are just relics not suitable for reliable and economical driving.

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"I was a dirty bird, Carol's not grungey - she's *****in" John Milner....American Graffiti

That's good information for me, MXFrank. I haven't been in a new Outback.

The Subaru Outback 4 cyl base model, is what a colleague of mine now drives. He trades every 2 years into a new Outback each time with 30K miles. They're gold on the used market, from what I understand.

I'm not in snow Country, so, the Honda Accord sedan base 4 cyl. would be perfect for me.

I really wish I'd of either kept the 83 300SD I sold in '99 with 305K miles on it, or, found a low-miles one in the subsequent years. I have gotten along with only having 1 car for the past 38 years, because cars are costly to just keep up, insure and license.

These days, I'm kind of wanting an exciting extra car. The new C7 has captivated my attention. A 2015/16/17 Corvette fits the bill.

You can no longer claim the "luddite" moniker.

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Prost!

Sounds about right. I am now averaging $2200 a year for the 3.5 years I have had it. Just trying to squeeze out another few thousand miles before completely junking it. And I only drive at the most 1000 miles a month. Simply a poorly made auto. And it isn't just mine as I found out from talking to people at the car place recently. Not good cars. Cars shouldn't be affordable only if you can fix everything, they should be made so that they don't completely fall apart like the late 90s E320 series. Ridiculous.

After reading this entire thread, two things I will share:

Even properly maintained, Japanese cars can be far from problem free. I've seen my share of Toyotas and Hondas that had enough problems rack up in later life to outweigh their resale value especially if you have no means to DIY.

With a $50 vacuum oil extractor, an oil change on an MBZ can be done in about 15 min, and is clean enough to do on the street or an empty field or parking lot for apartment dwellers or those forbidden by HOAs or deed restrictions. This can save a lot in maintenance costs over time, and will pay for itself the first oil change.

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Watch him go!!! link

#dontdealwithkahlil

When I was in my 20s my mother had an aluminum roasting pan she'd bought when I was a little kid. After about 20 years, the aluminum had begun pitting in the bottom. She was angry and wanted to take it back to the store where she bought it. This thread reminds me of that. Who in all seriousness has a tantrum over a 19 year old car needing repairs and maintenance and wants to hold the original manufacturer responsible? Your expectations for a car are absurd. I suspect anything with moving parts wouldn't suit you. Uber and Zipcar are made for you. Please do yourself and us a favor and use them and spare us the ongoing outrage.

^This

Usual car drivers of today expect that. I have made a lot of acquaintances in the auto repair industry. The toyota techs tell me they see dozens upon dozens of Prius being towed to the dealer with no gas in the tank, the customers expect that their prius is an infinite energy machine - it doesnt take gas.

The benz techs tell me that their customers would come in and whine and moan about something that happened at 4AM in -30 chill with the car outside and only lasted for a second or similar. (like starter spun 6 times instead of 2)

Customers complaining that their car is chewing up its tires every 15K miles, (AMG wheel package) - didnt they know this before signing the dotted line for those wheels?

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

The issue with Mercedes Benz is the old slogan : "Engineered like no other car".

This philosophy halted back in the early '90's. Mercedes became a marketing company rather than an engineering one.

Modern MB's are just J.A.C. - Just Another Car

Buyers who are not cognizant with the '90's change in company philosophy cling to the idea that buying a Benz (even an old one) should operate and be as reliable as a newish W126.

Never get an opinion from non MB professionals as to the quality of certain MB models. There are auto shop mechanics out there who are prepared to bag any non familiar car - particularly an expensive Euro. (A certain Texan yuotube mechanic being in mind).
Socialist bias also has a way of filtering through.

I worked for a company back in the eighties where the Toyota Corona was the company car of choice. We had seven of them. Every one of them broke their timing belt - just after 60,000 miles. (You would have thought the company accountant would have this attended to before the problems occurred.) However as someone has pointed out, Those Toyota 4 cylinder engines are non interference so no great damage done.

Late '90's early '00's V6 Honda Accords had a woeful transmission. Cost more than a 722.6 to repair. - More than the car was worth.

My advice to potential purchasers is the common advice most of us give here. Don't buy an old Benz if you can't service it yourself.

My advice to the O.P. is cut your losses and get rid of the car before something else expensive goes wrong.
Was you P.P.I. done by a competent MB specialist or the mechanic down the road?

Once again, the 210 was a cheap car with a big price. Friends don't let friends buy 210's.

Well, you snowflakes would never understand why I went out of my way to buy a '97 CL600. All 12 cylinders and 400 HP of her! I put in $3500 of ignored maintenance 18 months ago and the car has been faultless. This is my 5th Mercedes and none of them have been anything out of the ordinary in maintenance costs. An acquaintance just spent three thou$and on replacing the gas tank in some Jap car. Wasn't it Harry Truman who said: "If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen" So if you don't like to spend on repair costs, Uber is your savior.
Anziani
'97 CL600 62K

I'll take this car when you're done with it. Sounds like a great car to me. I want a winter beater and I love my W210s. Too much to drive them in salt. My Silver E300 with 340k miles looks like it's new still and rides like a brand-new W210. I have every service record and it's never had any serious work done to it. It's had a timing chain & tensioner replacement, that's it. Everything else was just maintenance & oil changes. The transmission is original too with no signs of giving up soon. They're outstanding cars and it's a shame to see forum members have had problems with them. They must have just had a lemon.

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Only diesels in this driveway.
2005 E320 CDI 243k Black/Black
2008 Chevy 3500HD Duramax 340k
2004 Chevy 2500HD Duramax 220k

I sometimes offer smallish repair services when I need some extra $$

toyota camry 2AZ engine found in the early to mid 2000s camrys - the threading in the block that recieves the cylinder head bolts strips out.. Very expensive repair at a shop as most just swap the shortblock. I offer it for a bit lower - but its still not cheap as the tools, materials and damage usually done is not just the bolts or threads, in some cases the block warps too if they overheated it like chernobyl. Head rebuild comes standard.

toyota corolla 1ZZ engine found in a bunch of corollas - oil burning issues from clogged oil holes for the oil control rings on the pistons.

not in just a few dozen count either, I have seen hundreds upon hundreds of them and 90% of them are scrapped as owners cannot afford the high 3 figure or low 4 figure repair cost - payments are better for them.

(customers never bat an eye because its a toyota after all - if this same thing happened to a ford, you will hear all sorts of 4 letter words, we see it on a MB - of course we would see someone screaming on facebook as if it holds some weight.).

In reality - OP bought a premium price car for less than 10% of its original cost with 180K miles on it - expected it to have all collective parts and assembly service worth that less than 10% of actual price.

Should one just or or :ROFL:

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)