4 Matics - Are they really that bad

[Junket]

We've got a good ole 7 seat '92 W124 230TE, and it's still pretty good, even if the wife does try and bend it occasionaly. She uses it for the school run, and before the Merc had a 4x4 Jeep Cherokee, which she loved till she wrote it off. The merc's been brilliant, but in the winter she moans about not having the 4x4. The 4matic seemed to be the ideal answer, but reading the forum it seems like it may be more trouble than it's worth. I'd be looking to pay no more than about £3000. So any ideas. Thanks.

 

[television]

We've got a good ole 7 seat '92 W124 230TE, and it's still pretty good, even if the wife does try and bend it occasionaly. She uses it for the school run, and before the Merc had a 4x4 Jeep Cherokee, which she loved till she wrote it off. The merc's been brilliant, but in the winter she moans about not having the 4x4. The 4matic seemed to be the ideal answer, but reading the forum it seems like it may be more trouble than it's worth. I'd be looking to pay no more than about £3000. So any ideas. Thanks.

Stay with what you have, a much better option, and walk the kids to school, a better option for them too

 

[hawk20]

We've got a good ole 7 seat '92 W124 230TE, and it's still pretty good, even if the wife does try and bend it occasionaly. She uses it for the school run, and before the Merc had a 4x4 Jeep Cherokee, which she loved till she wrote it off. The merc's been brilliant, but in the winter she moans about not having the 4x4. The 4matic seemed to be the ideal answer, but reading the forum it seems like it may be more trouble than it's worth. I'd be looking to pay no more than about £3000. So any ideas. Thanks.

Where are you located? Helps to show this. If in the south of England we haven't seen snow for years. If you are far enough North then 4wd may make sense in winter. But on most roads, once they get slippery, it all grinds to a halt and you can't keep going in the 4x4 because of all the dead conventional cars filling the road. When I was in the Peak District I saw many places where 4x4's were essential in winter -but not round here!

 

[television]

Where are you located? Helps to show this. If in the south of England we haven't seen snow for years. If you are far enough North then 4wd may make sense in winter. But on most roads, once they get slippery, it all grinds to a halt and you can't keep going in the 4x4 because of all the dead conventional cars filling the road. When I was in the Peak District I saw many places where 4x4's were essential in winter -but not round here!

I forgot all of the cars in front that are not going anywhere Hawk in the snow

 

[telletubby]

I was scammed when I bought my first diesel W124 estate - it had been clocked and I was pleased when my local dealer took it in part exchange for a W124 300 4matic that had all the extras, leather, electrics - the works. i was really happy for about a week. Inever had any problems with it but i didn't keep it long as the car ate me out of house and home in terms of its fuel consumption. I eventually sold it to a ski resort hotelier and bought another 2wd diesel. Maybe the later ones are more fuel efficient but not the 124!

 

[Parrot of Doom]

You'd be better off buying a set of winter tyres. They'll be much more use than 4wd.

 

[jamesmc]

In guess it's not for me to ask but what is the deal in the UK with mothers taking kids to school in big 4 wheel drives??

Plus a very good point was made above... your wife may be in a 4 wheel drive but much of the other traffic isn't so, in snow or ice, the benefit is lost almost right away.

 

[Rory]

You'd be better off buying a set of winter tyres. They'll be much more use than 4wd.

I was going to suggest that too - I remember years ago a friend of mine had a 4WD Sierra and he couldn't get up a slight slope out of our work car park in icy weather on summer tyres.

I've read comments from people using winter tyres who say it's a 'night and day' difference.


How old are the RHD 4Matic's? MB say they can't put the current 4Matic system on current RHD cars as it doesn't fit. I'm wondering if the GLK will come to the UK.

Up until I bought the MB, it's 15 yrs since I had a RWD car, and I do worry about getting stuck where a front wheel drive car would be fine. I have bought some Snowsocks for emergency use.

 

[hawk20]

Firstly, they are often just using the family car to take the kids to school while the husband may be on the train, bus or whatever.
Second, with a wife and children, the choice is often an estate car, an egg shaped MPV or a 4x4. We used an E class estate but nowadays I would be very tempted to go for the 4x4. It is higher, will take bigger objects in the back. It is stylish and fun, giving an image of the countryside, the seaside, surfing, sailing, exploring and so on. We all like image. Why else do middle aged men buy sports cars? Or young ones for that matter?
Thirdly, lots of people, me included, like the high up driving position. You see more and it is very comfortable. And it says I am not interested in racing, or cornering on two wheels, I like functionality.
Last but by no means least, people in 4x4s are 50 times less likely to be killed in crashes with another car than those of small and medium-sized cars, according to the Department of Transport. Why would you put your eggs in any other basket?
The safest cars for drivers are the Land Rover Defender, Mercedes ML class, Toyota Landcruiser and Isuzu Trooper.
The cars with the worst records for driver deaths and serious injuries are the old-style Mini, the Fiat Panda, pre-1993 Nissan Micra, Daewoo Matiz and Suzuki Swift.
The DoT looked at police reports of more than 138,000 crashes from 2000 to 2004. Drivers of small and medium-sized cars involved in collisions with another car had a one in 200 chance of being killed, compared with fewer than one in 10,000 for drivers of people-carriers and 4x4s.

 

[benzo]

Firstly, they are often just using the family car to take the kids to school while the husband may be on the train, bus or whatever.
Second, with a wife and children, the choice is often an estate car, an egg shaped MPV or a 4x4. We used an E class estate but nowadays I would be very tempted to go for the 4x4. It is higher, will take bigger objects in the back. It is stylish and fun, giving an image of the countryside, the seaside, surfing, sailing, exploring and so on. We all like image. Why else do middle aged men buy sports cars? Or young ones for that matter?
Thirdly, lots of people, me included, like the high up driving position. You see more and it is very comfortable. And it says I am not interested in racing, or cornering on two wheels, I like functionality.
Last but by no means least, people in 4x4s are 50 times less likely to be killed in crashes with another car than those of small and medium-sized cars, according to the Department of Transport. Why would you put your eggs in any other basket?
The safest cars for drivers are the Land Rover Defender, Mercedes ML class, Toyota Landcruiser and Isuzu Trooper.
The cars with the worst records for driver deaths and serious injuries are the old-style Mini, the Fiat Panda, pre-1993 Nissan Micra, Daewoo Matiz and Suzuki Swift.
The DoT looked at police reports of more than 138,000 crashes from 2000 to 2004. Drivers of small and medium-sized cars involved in collisions with another car had a one in 200 chance of being killed, compared with fewer than one in 10,000 for drivers of people-carriers and 4x4s.

I agree with everything Hawk20 has said here especially the first 3 points.

AND ONE MORE..

Ladies in big 4x4s look dead sexy!

The bigger the 4x4 and the bigger the sunglasses the sexier

 

[hawk20]

I agree with everything Hawk20 has said here especially the first 3 points.

AND ONE MORE..

Ladies in big 4x4s look dead sexy!

The bigger the 4x4 and the bigger the sunglasses the sexier

Hence the term 'Yummy Mummies' eh?

Here's some interesting news from the dark side: -
BMW sell around 8,000 X5s in the UK each year. First introduced in 1999, the refined 4x4 was not intended to be an out-and-out con-ventional executive specification off-roader — more a sports vehicle with impeccable on-road driving qualities, but with enough off-road performance to cope with light duties such as driving over fields and rough tracks.

Over 90 per cent of X5s sold are diesel models and mainly they are bought by independent business people or companies for use by their executives. It is not surprising, then, that 86 per cent of owners are male and aged 41-50 years old. Business use during the week and family recreational use at weekends tends to be the role of the X5. Contrary to public perception, only a third of X5s are used as school run cars says BMW.