Should I or shouldn't I?

[Sue Sidal]

Morning all - Happy fathers day.
My car is due for a change. I am delighted with the car I have, it's been reliable and very driveable, the dealer's good and I just love the drive. I won't reveal what it is at this stage, perhaps you can guess?
Anyway, my dilemma is, if I get myself an e320, am I going to regret it?
Your comments would be gratefully received.

 

[mstowie]

Take my advice TRADE IT! Get something under waranty.

 

[NormanB]

Morning all - Happy fathers day.
My car is due for a change. I am delighted with the car I have, it's been reliable and very driveable, the dealer's good and I just love the drive. I won't reveal what it is at this stage, perhaps you can guess?
Anyway, my dilemma is, if I get myself an e320, am I going to regret it?
Your comments would be gratefully received.

Well if you are truly delighted with your car AND the dealer is good then it must be a TOYOTA!!

 

[GoG]

I'd say an E320 would b a bit sluggish.
Big body for a 2ltr.
But if it is a TOYOTA u have then I'd go for the E320, sluggish but satisfying !!

 

[Spike]

I'd say an E320 would b a bit sluggish.
Big body for a 2ltr.
But if it is a TOYOTA u have then I'd go for the E320, sluggish but satisfying !!

E320 a 2ltr???

errr...... I dont think so :roll:

 

[Dave2457]

E320?

Sue,

I think you'd love an E320 I got a year old one and it's the dogs b@

Easy to drive, park and fast, oh and it's NOT a 2Ltr, it's a 3.2 Ltr (V6)

Have fun

Dave

 

[GoG]

Hey I'm just at the entry level 190 stage !
Haven't worked up to E320 level yet but from my experience a Merc is the only way to travel

 

[Ade]

Sue

If you haven't already got a Merc go for it. GoG is right, once you have a Merc you wont want anything else.

Ade

Mine's a W124 230TE

 

[OlafMaxwell]

Dodgy cars.

Take my advice, give Mercs a wide berth. I have an E320cdi for 4 years. Its a great car to drive but the quality of the build is pure sh***. It has been trouble from day 1. In the last 4 months alone it's off road 4 times, bills of €5,000 half of them for fixing things they 'fixed' under warranty. How about when your shocks fail they bodge them instead of replacing them? How about when it takes six attempts to get a foulty oil level sensor replaced they bust your brakes when they finally fix it? They don't honour the Mobilo warranty in Ireland, the dealers here are crap. The quality at the factory is woeful and they dont want to know.

If you want to die young from the stresses of dealing with an unreliable car serviced by foul people buy the Merc.

If you want reliability buy a Lexus; their dealers have real class about them.

The new V6 in the Jaguar is a dream. Smooth, good and very courteous people to deal with. I need an estate and won't be getting another Merc.

As soon as Peugeot get that same engine into the 807 I am getting one.

 

[Ade]

Why pick on Mercs? That just about sums up the majority of dealerships for any make of car. The Lexus dealership you refer to obviously are a rarity.

If the ******** were honest, reliable and value for money there would be no use for half the forums here, we'd all be using them!

 

[OlafMaxwell]

Picking on Mercs?

Not at all, we have plenty of dealings with every make of car.

Mercs are the worst, no doubt about it.

When you drive down to a client's premises in yet another rented car to be confronted by a 94 Lexus that has had three owners, looks like new, 200kplus and never going wrong just about sums it up. And the smartass Lexus driver asks knowingly...car in garage again...? Should get yourself a decent car....

When you go outside your office and meet a neighbour who had one troublesome C class that wore him out so much so that they replaced it [after much litigious banter] with another one...only the new one is worse. This man is reduced to considering driving his car through the showroom window. Trouble is there is a long queue. Not bad for a businessman!!

Maybe other cars do have their troubles, and they do, but they are not run by ill mannered, rude and ignorant dealers. Merc dont reply to correspondence, their dealers are incompetent, and I am speaking from experience. If anyone feels I am picking on Merc they are wrong. I am merely being truthful. I never had to deal directly with a warranty department before, but Merc is by far the most original. Their warranty man.....to quote, was 'unable to telephone the dealer'. Do Merc management hogtie their employees or what? Maybe they use customers for target practice....like...this could be a great business but for the customers...

Judging by the other comments here.......think of the song...buy a Merc....You'll Never Walk Alone.

If anyone from Mercedes wishes to discuss any of my comments I am only too willing to do so.

 

[Wisher]

When I first got my merc,, I had no problem with the dealers,, this was central manchester...

when I took it to a dealers outside of the city center. I had nothing but trouble.... I went back to them afew times over the same thing.... they just didn't fix the problem...

I took it to a merc specialist, (not a dealer)... they found out the problem, and couldn't believe the dealers hadn't seen what was at fault...

ANY MERC IS A GOOD CAR.... BUT NOT ALL DEALERS DO THERE JOB RIGHT...
TRY AND GET SOMEONE TO RECOMMEND A GOOD PLACE TO TAKE IT FOR SERVICEING NEAR WHERE YOU LIVE..


as long as it's a merc specialist, and you keep all receipts for any work, any buyer will be happy to buy the car from you,, and they also can take the car to where you did to get it serviced.. if they are local too...

SO YES BUY A MERC,, YOU WILL LOVE IT.

 

[NormanB]

Re: Dodgy cars.

Take my advice, give Mercs a wide berth. I have an E320cdi for 4 years.................

snipped because it drones on and on

Olaf - you really are getting rather boring now. You have got through to me now and that takes some doing - I can assure you. If you can offer positive help to those running MBs then by all means continue to contribute to the forum and help others - otherwise please haunt another group.

 

[Morzine]

Mr Maxwell why don't you come and live over here in Germany, the dealerships are always very helpful and if it still gets too much for you, then you can just drive down to Stuttgart and knock on the big MB door and ask to see the big boss.

 

[Arnie]

Well, just my 2p's worth...

I think that MB has gone through a bad patch with reliability and rust problems etc. I think that this was caused by coorporate cost-cuting measures in build quality. They seem now to be on the way back. MB was always conservative about using new technology, preferring to stick to the "tried-and tested" formula. However, their new cars are now pioneering some of the very latest technology and so there are bound to be bugs for the first year or so of a new model. How the dealers treat the customer in sorting these bugs is what matters.

Unfortuately, their dealers, which in the UK, were mostly never much good at solving technical problems (speaking with nearly 25 year's experience here) seem to have got far worse now that they have been taken over directly by MB UK. Recently it took 3 visits to get a simple headlamp problem fixed under warranty, with all kinds of excuses (including "ran out of time to fit the part".. etc). but just the other week it took over half an hour for the guy in the parts department to work the EPC to get me an oil filter !!.

However, there are still some good dealers out there who know their stuff and can provide a decent service, but they may be few and far between.

The newer cars, while perhaps not quite as over-engineered as those of 10 years ago and before, are better than the previous generation and seem to have reasonable (for the price) build quality.

With regards to the E320 (I presume you're looking at the previous, W210, series) its a nice car with a great engine. Be wary of rust problems, though, on this model (see other thread on this foum), but if you can get a very late example, (2001 onwards the paintwork should be OK.) Also, generally, by the end of a model's life all the bugs and problems should have been sorted in production.

 

[Paul Tuohy]

Sue,

I have read this thread with interest. I have also been reading threads about poor build quality and much rust on late 1990's plus mercs. I have just bought an E320, or to give it the coorect model number, an 320 CE. Its a 1995 model. FMBSH, not a spec of rust. These were the the last of the "real mercs" before the cut backs. You have either to go brand new, or back to the early/mid 90's. My E320 cost well under £10k and I drove it 300 miles home and stepped out fresh as a daisy. These models have done there depreciation. A £43k new in 1995 can now be yours in pristine condition for under £6-10k. The prices are now turning and in another 5 years these will be claissics. Look at any review of the E320 92-feb 96 and you'll find that owners are very pleased. This is wothout doubt the best car I have driven. Go and test drive one (Merc Entusisat Mag has some great cars for sale in the ads and the dealers in these cars are real enthusiasts as well). When you compare the interior, paint and reliability, you'll see what I mean. Good luck

Paul

 

[Howard1]

Mercedes Reliability

Not quite sure if I am replying to the message I intend to, but I have heard much said on the forum about reliability of MB. I have always wanted one and recently bought a 190E on an auction site. It's a 'K' reg and cost me 1400 with 102,000 on the clock. It had been started a month earlier for it's MOT and when I jumped in to start her, she fired first time. Prior to the MOT she had not been started for over 6 months. I then drove her 200 mile home and she went like a dream and still does. However, I may have been lucky, but as far as I am concerned, it's the best car I have ever invested in. Time may prove me wrong, but that I will deal with at that time.
Howard