**** Before or after

[television]

Did you join this club/ forum before you bought your Mercedes to do some reserch on the model you intended to buy, or did you buy, say a W210 and find that it was only the holes keeping it together,or you found that your 4matic was only a 2Matic. Maybe you bought a SL129 and soon found that you needed your own fault code reader. Be honest, I will.

18 months ago I woke up one morning and decided that I was going to leave the kids too much and that I needed something else in my life. The answer was to buy an SL320 with everything. Had I joined a Mercedes forum first I would have seen the horror tales. 2 new cats sir, that will be £1500 when you want a hood pump sir, that will be £1000 please, maybe you would like a ECU they are only £900. Would I have bought one knowing the faults that can and do happen. Yes, being an optomist I think it will never happen to me,and if it did, I could fix it.

Malcolm

 

[SLinKyjoe]

I had a merc (R170)and sold it, had a scooby, sold it (And consider joining the forum for WRX's) then bought a new merc (R171) and when it went duff i joined this bunch of people. i got some advice which i used at the dealers which made them wince. oh! and it made them fix the problem without argument. been here ever since. on the 3 rd merc now. I did look over the forum when i bought the first one but never got round to joining the club at the time.

personnaly, i buy a car for reasons that i find, and not what the majority think. But thats how i live my life. others may choose to research to death their second most expensive purchase, and that in itself is probably a good thing.

 

[angus falconer]

A couple of years ago I decided I wanted something German, fast and automatic as my other half was objecting to my interest in Japanese rice rockets and I was tired of changing gear after 17 years in London.

Narrowed it down to three - Audi S4, 3 Series something-or-other-with-a-big motor or a C43.

S4 turned out to be manual only so was ruled out. AC Schnitzer 3 series are like hen's teeth. Found a C43 and bought it.

Then joined the forum and have found lots of useful advice on my car.

 

[190D]

I had a merc (R170)and sold it, had a scooby, sold it (And consider joining the forum for WRX's) then bought a new merc (R171) and when it went duff i joined this bunch of people. i got some advice which i used at the dealers which made them wince. oh! and it made them fix the problem without argument. been here ever since. on the 3 rd merc now. I did look over the forum when i bought the first one but never got round to joining the club at the time.

personnaly, i buy a car for reasons that i find, and not what the majority think. But thats how i live my life. others may choose to research to death their second most expensive purchase, and that in itself is probably a good thing.

Not bad slinky 3 Mercs in one year OK for some.

 

[SLinKyjoe]

Not bad slinky 3 Mercs in one year OK for some.

well not quite....first was in 2002, got rid in 2003. then one last October and again this september. so 2 in a year i suppose.

yes its alright for some. i dont even work for it either. i am at work now, and i am doing this instead of working...ho-hum:mrgreen:

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Joined after the event. I owned a 124 estate for 12 years and life was simple, just kept filling it up with petrol until the petrol levy made me wince everytime I went past a filling station.

I tend to do quite a lot of research before I purchase car ie. motoring press etc, but I didn't read any negatives about the 210, so I bought one. There wasn't any choice for me really I like mercs and the old 124 had given such good service that it became a lifestyle choice.

I joined the forum a couple of months ago because mercs have become much more complicated and I needed to do some in depth research re possible problems. The information I have gained over this period has been invaluable re rust and other inherent weaknesses in the vehicle (E320CDi Avg estate)and allowed me to embark on dealing with these issues.

I have nothing but praise for the car, this time I made sure the spec was what I wanted, no compromises, leather, panoramic roof, 7 seats, climate and xenons etc. Can't praise the forum enough and enjoy sharing knowledge with other members. They say that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing but when it comes to merc dealers any knowledge can save you a bucket load of money.

 

[davidsl500]

A couple of years ago I decided I wanted something German, fast and automatic.

You should have said Angus, could have given you the telephone number for Helga......Mine was a spur of the moment purchase, was looking at Jap Supercars NSX or 3000GT but really wanted an XKR so bought a Mercedes - made sense really. Never gave a thought to repair costs since mine is a weekend fun car and in any case all high end cars are going to be expensive to repair. I had spent a few weeks in Germany every year previously so jumping in and out of mercs was second nature although not in SL's.No-one thinks they are going to be the one that gets lumbered with the major repair bill - until it happens of course.....I think last months expense was tyres, new Mercedes brake discs and pads all round which came to just under £1100 worth every penny and probably not that much more expensive than having the same work on a middle range car at the dealers.I think I joined the forum the same day as I bought it, invaluable advice, some good laughs and thought provoking debates - just like having a decent motoring club meeting in the comfort of your own home...

 

[littlebrooklyn]

I also joined the forum after buying a Mercedes. I didn't even know there was a Mercedes forum until we couldn't get our car out of park the day after buying it and had to keep getting the technician out to deal with the problem.

I did do a bit of research online before buying our car, and to be honest the Lexus did come out much better, but we can't get the dog in the back of one of those, so a Mercedes it was.

Apart from the initial problems we had, which turned out to be due to my partner not reading the instruction manual, typical male, the only other problem we've had has been the clutch on the supercharger, or something like that, which is covered under the warranty anyway.

Our greatest worry overall has been the constant worry with parking. With our little Peugeot 206 we could zip into the smallest space and never really worried about anyone opening their car door into ours and denting it When you spend a lot of money on a Mercedes it's a constant worry every time you leave it that you are going to come back and find either a dent in the door or a scratch left by some yob.

We haven't had our car long enough to get it serviced yet, we may change our opinion of owning one if we are landed with a huge bill.

 

[flagstaff]

bought my first merc (a battered 190D with 230,000 miles) a couple of years back because it was cheap and i needed a car. people i bought it from thought it needed a gearbox - it didn't, just the linkage sorting - so i arrived at MB at the bargain end of the scale. was totally converted in the time it took to get towed home that first day: engine sounded better than most cars with a tenth of the mileage, build quality exuded ... er, quality.

joined the forum. racked up 20,000 miles in a year and the ol' 190D never put a foot wrong, except for the won't-turn-off-vacuum problem ... but sold it when i needed to drive through france and various things about the running gear worried me.

really wanted to upgrade to a W124 precisely because this forum regards them so highly. have had a few mercs now; a 190E 1.8 (bit short on pace); 230TE (amazing beautiful tank, has swallowed whole kitchens and bathrooms); 260E (lovely engine in that thing, cruise all day at 100); and now an E280 (best one so far). had i not found the forum i would still have had the Benz bug, and probably not bought another marque: but i certainly wouldn't have had the benefit of so much direct and practical help. cheers guys, long may it continue !

 

[angus falconer]

You should have said Angus, could have given you the telephone number for Helga.........

Err......who's Helga?

And I agree with your point about jumping in and out of Merc's in Germany. I have been taxi'd about in all sorts of Mercs over the years and I always enjoyed the experience. As I occasionally pick up various execs and ferry them about (not to mention a 78-yr old mother) a small Merc with a big engine ticked all the boxes.

 

[300SEL63]

Owned mercs First.....

I got my first Merc when I was about 18,a 3 year old W108 280SE.Iv'e lost count of how many i've owned since,but the newest is a 1983 W126 380SEL with ALL the options available at that time.Present "fleet" includes 1x W111 220SE,1x W114 280,1 xW126 380SEL ,1x W109 300SEL 6.3 and a very tired W123 230 (600,000 kms) ,I was recommended this forum by one of the bosses at MB UK as i'm trying to track down any history for my 6.3 .As you can imagine,I'm one of those people who prefers the older Merc because i find anything built after the W124 to be a bit.....well I won't go there..
Cheers!!!

 

[jberks]

Quite a bit after. I joined when I was having misfire problems with the E and stuck around as its very informative and a helpful friendly bunch with good banter.
When I was too young to drive, the old man ran 123's S classes etc. A blast in his 12 month old 380SE when I was 18 and I was smitten. Mid 80's and GTIs were the thing. Silent, magic carpet ride and able to blow the doors off the GTI boys - Surely the perfect car. Years of graft later, I jobbed in my rattly ford and got my first, a 3 year old silver C220 petrol. Drove it home with a grin from ear to ear. Admittedly she broke down 30 mins later but once returned from the dealer, we became great friends. A couple of years later I decided I wanted a V6 and aircon so I passed the C to my dad and traded up to a 12 month old E240 Elegance. Lovely ride if a bit wallowy, sweet engine, if a bit underpowered and very smart if not in the same beauty league as the C. Another 5 years on and I've just acquired have the best of all worlds. A glorious silver E270CDI Avantgarde with 17'' twin spoke alloys. As beautiful as the C, as fast as the S, more economical than the ford, lots of toys and handles better than a GTI! Perfect!

 

[B1ondini]

I had decided that I needed a Diesel E-class estate.

I joined the forum to find out all about them - their good and bad points.

After many hours studying the forum I found that a E220 petrol would fit the bill - not diesel but acceptable mpg.

Shortly after, i managed to find one and went for a look. By now, I knew the specific areas to check so went in forarmed.

Came home with the car and am greatly impressed.

Keep hanging around the forum from time to time to see what may be around the corner.

Cheers to all who contribute.

Scott.