Anybody owned more than one Merc.

[Mic]

I have had 2xW123, 2xW126 followed by a BMW 32E (1988 735iSE).
The first four MBs I ran to about 200k miles and the BMW to 266k miles.
The first four were doing about 40k miles/year so they were not kept for very many years.
The BMW I kept for 20yrs. and a Volvo 760GLE to 190k miles and 18yrs.

Nothing wrong with the BMW, excellent car, but I have come back to MBs because the SL is unique and the CL is just sheer class.

In truth there is little or nothing to choose between the marques as a genre.....different models maybe.

Hopefully I will never have to purchase another car......the intention is to keep the ones I have indefinitely.

Our local BMW main dealer is better that our local MB main dealer but happily we have very good independents for both marques.

Mic

 

[JonnyCJ]

I'm on my 6th (190e, CL500, CL55, SL55, C32, CLS55) and have owned BM's, Maserati, Lancia, Alfa etc.

I'm on my 4th in succession and loving it. Mrs CJ has a Rangey Sport (S/C) which is also very nice. I think most modern cars do pretty much the same thing, it's how you feel when you get in that counts

CJ

 

[syncropaddy]

I have had six in total but all classic ones W123, W124 and W126 .... still have two. I watched friends with BMW's over the years and watched them be bled dry by the unreliability and poor quality ....

Buy a Skoda... best value car on the market!

 

[paul hayward]

always had german cars (VW)...... but moved to Mb and ended up buying TWO within 6 months:lol:..cant afford 2 but still dont regret it for a second!! BEST cars i have ever brought!!...Older cars but still ****** great it my eyes!!

We are seriously lucky to live round the corner from MBS and that was the deciding factor in getting the petrol eating Monster CLK

Cant see me EVER not having a MB in our Lives ........ when im rich n famous i think i will get a 123 diesel estate to add to the fleet...although 3 would have to be the limit!!!!:Oops::lol:

sorry you have not had a enjoyable time with your own MB

 

[JBell]

As a family we have been through them all:

5 MB's - C220 CDi, C250 CGi, E320, CLK200, CLK 350
2 BMW's - 330D, 335D
6 Audi's - 80 Sport, 80 Sport, A4 1.9TDi, A4 3.0 TDi, A3 1.8T, TT225
7 VW's - Scirocco MK1, Scirocco MK2, Polo MK2, MK2 Golf GTi 16v, MK3 golf GTi, Polo MK6, Passat
2 Subaru's - Impreza WRX, Legacy
1 Alfa Romeo - 164 Cloverleaf
1 Porsche Boxster S
1 Honda Civic

The level of customer service was bad from all except the Subaru who you couldn't fault.

The worst was BMW who even refused a test drive with the reason "our cars sell themselves".

The current MB was bought from Kingston upon Thames and the Polo was bought from Milton Keynes as both local dealers are bad (service and sales) and overprice the cars.

Porsche undertook work that they were told not to (brakes) after saying the car juddered on heavy braking from 80mph.

If you want amazing customer service buy a Honda or Lexus

 

[Corned]

The worst was BMW who even refused a test drive with the reason "our cars sell themselves".

Boy, would I have had some fun with that idiot!

 

[JBell]

Boy, would I have had some fun with that idiot!

We did

 

[Myros]

Well, we have bought six, see the signature

and still have three, and the C280 is in the hands of my brother. So four still in the family.

I have had the best of three BMW 3series, one of which for 16 years and 190k miles and I loved them as well.

I just prefer the MB's overall, and now as a family man, there really is no competition other than BMW, Volvo and Saab.

We've had pretty much every sporty saloon that Europe could throw at us in the 80's and 90's, and 00's, and the ones that stood out as being worth our own money were the BMW's and the Skoda Octavia. The rest were nice, but also-rans.

I'm very very fond of the quality. Even the 'banger' 124 300TE I bought was a belter, and ran for 2 years and 25,000 town miles before becoming uneconomical to keep running. The fixtures and fittings in it were still on the money.

 

[Angeloj]

BMW offer a different driving experience to MB
They are just different cars IMHO. It's a matter of personal taste I guess.
Maybe you are just not suited to the step up in class?

I quite agree! I had an E39 523i a few years back and I absolutely loved it! Brilliant car to drive. I would definitely have another BMW, but at the moment in on my 2nd CLK. first was a 1998 W208 320 V6, which I absolutely loved, and my current model being a W209 270CDI which I love even more!! Not sure what ill have next but will probably go smaller engine down to a 220 or 250 CDI of some sort?!

 

[nicolas]

I am driving my second MB (first one with W204 220 CDI sport) and now driving the bigger sport engine C350 CDI. Am absolutely loving the MB experience and the car. So far both of them are great cars to drive. I have got the 'bug' with MB and don't think I can move elsewhere to be honest.
My intended next car would be an E63 AMG (W212) and I am hoping to get one next year from April 13, as I had the privilege to experience the half day AMG experience in Brooklands over the last few weeks and drove this car and was absolutely shocked how great AMG engine is to the point I did not want to come out of the car...

 

[S.Speed]

Blime..
I have owned 5 Mercs !!

 

[st4]

I had two. One was excellent, one was a nightmare. The nightmare nearly vowed for me not to get another. I researched other makes and saw horror stories. So I bought another with the same drive train as the 1st one. No regrets on MB No3...BUT...finding a replacement may be tougher.

 

[Royston59]

We had a
200T great when the kids were small but it got nicked...replaced with a
230TE wow what an improvement.....
C200 (or was it a 200 c), anyway worst of those I have had, massively underpowered but sold to the Brother in law for a song.....(his first merc), some years then with Toyota landcruisers etc as the number of kinds (and Dogs ) increased...then,

CLK200.....leased and a great car through 3 years of ownership....
Sat on the drive alongside wifeys SLK 200, brilliant small car which when I got home tonight was parked alongside my current "wheels" a CLS 320, without a doubt the best I have owned.

Due to my ongoing back problem wifey is considering flogging the SLK and says she quite like the BMW X3, this may be our first venture to the other side!!
R

 

[turbopete]

im on mercedes number 4 now.
c220 diesel, faultless car,
c250 turbodiesel, faultless car but from the early rust era,
e300 turbodiesel, complete lemon of a car,
current c220 cdi, again from the rust era but pretty faultless apart from a few annoying little niggles

 

[anyweb]

i have three, well the wife has one (which i sourced and bought)

so parked outside the house are the following three cars

2008 A150 W169
2004 E320 W211
1962 180c W120

suffice to say, i love mercs ! (disclaimer, my dad loved mercs too and his last car that he bought was a brand new W124 in 1988 - the car is still around but he's long dead)

 

[television]

I had two. One was excellent, one was a nightmare. The nightmare nearly vowed for me not to get another. I researched other makes and saw horror stories. So I bought another with the same drive train as the 1st one. No regrets on MB No3...BUT...finding a replacement may be tougher.

You would love one with the 7g box Steve, you should try it sometime

 

[BlueGriff]

If there is a common theme here I guess it is stick with older cars and avoid the main dealers which I suppose is where I am at. I came from a 2002 5 series which I kept for 9 years, it did everything well , didn’t break or rattle and felt right from the start.

The current C350 is OK but certainly not exceptional, the powered rear door sometimes doesn’t work “ yes they tend to do that sir” Pulling onto a roundabout when the engine is cold needs significant forward planning because of the delayed response “ yes they tend to do that sir” The cabin seems flimsy and plastic with annoying rattles behind various bits of trim, the rain sensor doesn’t always seem to notice it has become inclement etc etc. There is nothing specifically wrong with it but it is not as exceptional as the brand image and the price suggests, I just can’t see it lasting like the 530 did.

My biggest disappointment has been the main dealer I bought from, most of all I am annoyed with myself for believing the salesman’s hype. Something along the lines of they have an exceptional service department ready to look after the slightest issue, the Mercedes warranty is the industry best and the vehicle history is absolutely certain.

The support has been appalling, typically requiring at least three visits per enquiry, the service history turned out to be somewhat ahem, different from that presented with the car and Merc have now declined a warranty claim.

Very pleased for all you happy serial Merc owners but it is something I will not be repeating any time soon, primarily because of the appalling local main dealer.

 

[stwat]

I'm on my 4th. The first was an 89G 190E 2.0 auto. Second was an 88F 190E 2.6 auto. Fabulous car. Third an 88E 190E 2.3-16 dogleg manual. Also a fabulous car. and at the moment I am running an 89G 300SE auto. A truly wonderful luxo barge.

As you can tell I am a lover of the 80's vintage of benzes. I did have the use of a W203 CDI for a while. Nice enough car but just didn't have the solid feel of the early cars and had knocks rattles and squeaks coming from all over the place. Oh and faults galore flashing up on the dash.

I have also had lots of other cars between some of the mercs but have always quickly come back to the 80's mercs as nothing else quite seems to come up to the marque.

 

[dizzy lizzy]

I've had about 5...as for Brian I have lost count...he is still collecting them and that is why I am putting into care.

 

[Jodel]

I've had two - an E220 CDI and my present E280 CDI.

I do like my MB, but having run high-spec fleet cars for many years, I don't think Merc are significantly better put together than the modern mass-market stuff. Both of my E's have had more rattles and squeaks than my Vectras ever did. Both of them have had less than wonderful auto boxes (5G and 7G). I do like the club-class ambience of the W211 cabin, but I'm not totally convinced it's worth the extra over a Mondeo class car. When I change my present car I'll look at another Merc, but I'll also be looking 'downmarket' again at Ford / Vauxhall.

In contrast, I remember driving a rented E230 in the early 1990's and that felt a clear cut above the fleet car offerings of the time. MB do seem to be built down to a price these days - shouldn't really complain as I wouldn't be able to afford one otherwise.