50k miles in a Mercedes E320 CDI and just 30 pence per mile

[mattsurf]

How much does it cost to run an older Mercedes.

I have just sold me old W210 Estate; members of this forum may be interested in a breakdown of the costs. The car was bought 2 ½ years ago at 115,600 miles, I sold it with 166,000 miles, having completed 50,358 miles in the car

Paid for Car £5,800
Sold Car £2,400
Depreciation £3,400

Fuel Costs: £7,017 (average fuel consumption 35.1 mpg – best tank full 42.2mpg)

Service costs 3 services all “B” £804
Breaks (2 sets of pads all round 1 set of discs all round) £738
MAF and 2 Injectors £549
Springs £510
Tow Bar £250
Tyres x8 - £515
Insurance + Breakdown cover- £979
Road Tax - £385
MOT - £125
Aerial - £40

Running Costs £4,878

Total Costs £15,289
Mileage 50,358

Costs per Mile 30.4 pence per mile

To put this into perspective, I have been tracking costs for my past 3 cars, this is how they compare:

VW Passat TDI – 30.6 pence per mile (owned from 2003 to 2004, fuel costs £0.8 per litre)
Mercedew E280 E124 – 31.6 pence per mile (owned 2004 to 2007, fuel costs £0.9 per litre)
Mercedes E320 CDI – 30.4 pence per mile (owned 2007 to 2009, fuel costs £1.07 per litre)

If these are normalized to current fuel costs (petrol £0.97ppl diesel £1.07ppl) the costs are as follows:
VW – 33.7 p/mile
E280 – 32.9 p/mile
E320 CDI – 30.4 p/mile

The surprising conclusion is that an E320 CDI costs 11% less to run than a VW Passat
It can be surprisingly economical to run a Mercedes – have a look through What Car – how many other cars can you find that cost just 30 pence per mile to run? Would you rather drive 50k miles in a Ford Ka or a large powerful Mercedes – for me no contest

 

[television]

I admire these people who keep a note of the running cost. If I did that on mine I would wake up dead with the shock of the true cost

 

[Dosco]

...and that is for a 3.2 litre engine:lol:

 

[Alex M Grieve]

An excellent post Matt.

The principal cost for most motorists is depreciation. Your choice of time to buy and sell, and the prices achieved, have had a major impact by minimizing depreciation and your mileage has been high enough to dilute out any one off costs, such as the MAFF.

Total reliability is a huge bonus, which I seem to be enjoying with my cars, but with newer cars, or for lower mileage motorists, no matter how reliable or well maintained the car, the costs per mile is going to be rather more than this.

But you have given us something to dream of!

 

[mattsurf]

An excellent post Matt.

The principal cost for most motorists is depreciation. Your choice of time to buy and sell, and the prices achieved, have had a major impact by minimizing depreciation and your mileage has been high enough to dilute out any one off costs, such as the MAFF.

Total reliability is a huge bonus, which I seem to be enjoying with my cars, but with newer cars, or for lower mileage motorists, no matter how reliable or well maintained the car, the costs per mile is going to be rather more than this.

But you have given us something to dream of!

Your point about depreciation is correct - The vast majority of motorists are obssesed with fuel consumption, my experience has been that fuel is a large element of the costs, fixed costs and depreciation can be just as big if not bigger (in the case of the VW, I spent more on fixed costs than on fuel).

If you buy a newer car, then depreciation is by far the largest cost - even on a relatively high 20k miles per year, I am spending less than £3000 on fuel - If you buy a new car for £30k, it will loose at least 50% over 3 years, which is £5000 per year.

On my most recent purchase, I will keep the car for 5 years and expect to loose approx £12,000 over that time - so my annual depreciation will increase from £1500 per year to £2500 per year, as a result I do not expect this car to be as cheap to run. However, It is a much nicer, much newer car, so that is the trade off

 

[television]

Just the repairs and depreciation on my SL = £1,25 per mile , if I added the servicing and tyres along with the ful it would be double that

 

[Dosco]

Just the repairs and depreciation on my SL = £1,25 per mile , if I added the servicing and tyres along with the ful it would be double that

Those sort of figures are best kept in a dark cupboard, the present Mrs A would have me castrated in public and without gas if mine were any where near that - but then again I don't have such a wonderful fulfilling machine like yours

 

[mattsurf]

Just the repairs and depreciation on my SL = £1,25 per mile , if I added the servicing and tyres along with the ful it would be double that

You just need to drive more miles!

I have to agree that you have a wonderful machine - I am sure that running costs did not come into consideration either when you bought it or now that you own it

 

[television]

You just need to drive more miles!

I have to agree that you have a wonderful machine - I am sure that running costs did not come into consideration either when you bought it or now that you own it

No and correct they did not,,,I have been unlucky with some of the things that have gone wrong,, but having been in the service trade all my life I know that some will never go wrong and another could go wrong all the time. As I am keeping the car for some considerable time selling it does not come into it.

I have now been 25k miles in the 3 years that I have owned it, and it is now at 41k miles

 

[teabag]

I can just beat these figures with 28.5p per mile over 3 years and 64,000 miles in my old E320Cdi.
http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=49878

 

[sr-performancelive..]

Dont forget the cost of a fruitcake either malc...

 

[nickymerc]

this info makes me happy - ive just bought my first merc
- a w210 e 320 cdi.

 

[television]

Dont forget the cost of a fruitcake either malc...

That was the first fruit cake that I have bought in 10 years

 

[mb300d]

At the other extreme my 1996 SL500 had depreciated from £83K to £16k in 8 years and had covered 50k miles; so that is well over £1 per mile just in depreciation. And to calculate the full cost of depreciation you really need to add in the cost of capital as well - the interest paid or lost interest on the capital. Ouch.

 

[sr-performancelive..]

Hope it's not gonna be the last though mate...

 

[Weather Man]

Family Heirloom

My brand new 1984 Ford Tempo went 167,000 miles when I traded it in on a '93 model (new). Purchase price was $10,000, total cost $25,000, which worked out to $0.16/mile or $7.81/day. Pretty good.

I inherited my father's 1984 380SL last year -- got it for free. I've put $12,000 into it (so far!) and driven ~4000 miles, for $3.00/mile or $40.00/day. (He paid $13,000 for it in 1992.)

Yeah, the old man was pi$$ing off on the maintenance. It needed new radiator and water pump plus accessories; timing system; ignition; lots of front end work; new brakes, shocks, springs; one new bearing, new tires, fuel pump/filter, muffler! Next up shaft discs and bearing mount, differential mount and seals, sub-frame gussets, steering coupler, new seat leathers, yipes! But note, it is still on the road and has outlasted TWO Fords so far.

I want to pass it on to my daughter in 20 years.

 

[mattsurf]

I can just beat these figures with 28.5p per mile over 3 years and 64,000 miles in my old E320Cdi.
http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=49878

This really goes to show that Running a Mercedes E320CDI really is not such an expensive proposition. A good one will not cost the earth the Buy (£6000 will get an excellent car), they are relatively inexpensive to repair and service if you use an Indi - At the end of the day they are a great car with a fantastic engine.

When I was looking for a new car I considered the Volvo V70 D5, the Volvo XC90 D5, Citroen C-Crosser, Honda Verso, Mercedes W211 E270 CDI and E220CDI before eventually finding a W211 320CDI with the V6 engine which was in my price range. I can honestly say that the only car I liked better than my old E320CDI was the newer version.... and there are still many aspected of the old car I liked better

 

[teabag]

When I was looking for a new car I considered the Volvo V70 D5, the Volvo XC90 D5, Citroen C-Crosser, Honda Verso, Mercedes W211 E270 CDI and E220CDI before eventually finding a W211 320CDI with the V6 engine which was in my price range. I can honestly say that the only car I liked better than my old E320CDI was the newer version.... and there are still many aspected of the old car I liked better

I've got to agree, I bought a W220 S350 V6 petrol four months ago and while I can't deny that it is a fantastic car, I still prefer the handling and acceleration characteristics of the old E320 straight six diesel.

The economy of the S class has has given me a pleasant surprise (27.2mpg over 8,200 miles) but I can't expect to come anywhere near the 28.5p per mile achieved with the E class.

 

[Alex M Grieve]

The economy of the S class has has given me a pleasant surprise (27.2mpg over 8,200 miles) but I can't expect to come anywhere near the 28.5p per mile achieved with the E class.

That is an interesting number Peter. My W220 diesel averaged 39.2 overall, over 24,000 miles.

If you have data on large enough mileages, it makes the point that diesels will deliver 50% more mpg, or petrol cars give 2/3 the mileage of the diesel.

I like diesels because they are relaxing to drive, pull well throughout the rev range, and I fill it up once a month (just under 700 miles).

The refiners can get more diesel out of a barrel of oil than they can petrol - especially if the petrol has to be cleaned of sulphur. There is now a TV advert in North America showing just how much of the oil they import would be unnecessary if they switched even their SUVs to diesel - and it is a huge amount.

But back to Peter's point, for cars of their size, MBs are consistent and economical - out of proportion to the mass market 2L Euro boxes or "world cars" of recent years.

 

[silverhorse]

Mercedes Reiability

My 210 E class would have cost around 30p per mile also . These Diesel cars are fabulous for reliability and economy . I did however have t buy a complete exhaust but apart from linings and tyres I have done OK over 3 years and 40000mls. I would recommend these cars to anyone. However I am a little concerned about possible electrical probs on later models and am wondering wether I can stick with Merc when I change next year. In my experience second hand cars were at their best up to 1999 and after that sophisticated gearboxes came in with more electronics . Jaguar cars were also fine up to 1999 when the V8s arrived with a different set of problems.
Sometimes I wish we could step back to the age of the Capri and XJs and V8 Rovers. I still think that the 70s and 80s were great years for motoring. Unfortunately I couldnt afford to
buy a mercedes then but I have had a few since .