Why do we buy em!

[Merc]

Hi All

I was on a Saab site,and they were asking why owners bought them,Some of the replies were a bit odd.So all you Merc owners out there what made you buy your Merc, whatever model you drive?
By the way I drive the 500SE an 89',I'll have a think on what made me buy mine!

Regards

 

[Matt Crooke]

Well i got mine cheap of my girlfriends uncle, i was after a cheap replacement car, and this came up and it happened to be a Merc (all the better really). Since owning it, even though its not a flashy model my any means, it makes you feel good when you drive along, especially with the "Gunsight" on the end of the bonnet!

it also feels really solid and well built as well. I can see my next car being another merc, as after owning one, i couldnt put up with the rattles and squeaks that you get in a Ford or Vauxhall, and belive me, ive had my fair share of both.!!

 

[Matt Crooke]

Not wishing to offend anyone who owns a Saab, but maybe one day they will make a car that isnt painful to the eyes......

And ever tried to find the ignition in one?

Nuff said!

 

[dave elcome]

I agree with Matt, i certainly feel good driving mine, and it makes me feel even better when i give someone a lift, and they don'y believe its Diesel because its to quiet.

All that aside, i also apprieciate the engineering on the vehicle, almost over engineered in some areas, its dissapointing to hear that many owners of newer models feel that this is not the case these days.

As for Fords and Vauxhalls, well i've had a few of those as well, and several Nissan's, never been let down by any of them, but i still wouldn't want to go back!!

 

[simon]

Engineering quality. Safety.Solidity &(hitherto) reliability.
The photographs on the Mercland are re-assuring to me.
Popular opinion suggests that some of the Japanese cars are well put together.

Ernest

 

[dave elcome]

Ernest.

You are right, jap cars are put together well, i worked for Nissan for 10 years, having spent 7 years previosly working on Fords.

The japs are fine engineers, and over the years have got away from the "copy" mode, and have become extreemly inovative, and i still believe that their products represent good value for money, all the Taxi's around here have been jap cars for about the last 20 years, you can argue with that.

BUT, there is no getting away from the fact that when you sit in one, or when you drive one, you are driving something from the lower end of the car market, now that might sound awfully snobby, and if it does i'm sorry, but if you compare my W124, with a Granada, a fair comparison i think, at 130K the Granada would have saggy seats, rattles everywhere, both inside and out, and the paint would be as flat as a pancake!!

Need i say more??

 

[Merc]

Hi

Well like I said at the start of this I'd say why I bought mine,well like matt said about this "gunsight" thing on the bonnet when your driving,just to remind you what your driving!,'mmm'nice!
But Iv'e always like Merc's,I was in a 190 years ago and thought 'mmmmm' one day I'm gonna have one these',this is nice!,and now Iv'e got one,ok it might a ****** 5ltr gas guzzling monster,but by christ it's luxury,compared to what Iv'e been driving eg-Astra/Carlton/Saab/Senator,in that order,and now this,I dont think I would want to drive anything else now,well I probably will one day if petrol goes up any more,then again I shouldn't moan about "juice" running about in this should I!.
Like the rest of you said too,the build quality just isn't there in the other cars Iv'e had,I mean this is 12 years old,and still looks/drives ****** good,but I might have to come down to the 300SE/E,cause' I think I would like a wee bit more than 15ish to the gallon,well thats my tuppence worth in,cheery.

Regards

 

[camowen]

I came across a 1987 560 SEL out of Japan that I could not refuse.  The main reason for purchase is the name and reputation of German engineering but at this point I have not even seen the car except in pictures, does anyone have any negatives about the Japanese market? I have yet to wire over the cash yet $2500.00 for an 1987 560 SEL with 82000 kilometers on it.

(Edited by camowen at 12:10 pm on Jan. 31, 2002)

 

[dave elcome]

In the UK  there is now a huge "Grey import" business, but unfortunatly on jap spec vehicles not everything is up to the same spec as UK spec, glass being a typical example.

A couple of guys i work with went for this type of vehicle, but then found it a nightmare getting spares, some of which had to be ordered direct from japan.

 

[R10RGT]

I have to agree with Dave - Jap spec has proved a nighmare for friends (they too had to repair glass and couldn't find a match - and UK spec was thicker & different shade).

On the topic of imports - I've visited Thailand & Malaysia several times over the past few years, and kept finding garages with half a dozen UK registered Mercs sat on the forecourt!! - It seems that when their economys are at full swing, the price of RHD Mercs over here are so low it is economic to export them (apparently UK Specs with alloys, air-con, sunroof etc are much better than Japan).
And no, these cars weren't stolen - I got some VINs and registrations and apparently they had all been bought by a UK firm from auction.

 

[Matt Crooke]

Going back to dave's compaison to a Granada, i suppose you could compare (Size and power wise) my 190 to a Sierra Sapphire or a Cavalier,  you can almost guarantee that at 146000 miles (as my 190 has done) the Cavvy & Dagenhams finest would be a little on the tired side. However camshaft knock and blue smoke are appealing to some people i suppose!!!

 

[Anthony Banos]

We buy them because.........
I think at the subsconcious level we always try to attain the Archetypal Original Pattern of Perfection and with a Benz we reach the Zenith of automotive excellence....

 

[Merc]

Hi Anthony

Well thats certainly one way to "word it",not a bad little sentance at all.

 

[Matt Crooke]

I live...therefore i am.

 

[camowen]

R10RGT You don't say, are you in Japan or UK?  So the problem would be to find glass on this side (Canada) for a MB imported from Japan.  I don't get that, they are all made in Germany why would the factory start using some other glass on vehicles destined to the Japanese market?  I certanly can't see that being extended to any other portion of the car.  I am afraid that the vehicle is some kind of crashed salvage auto.  $200,000.00 jpy is $2400.00 Canadian for a 1987 560 SEL with 82000 Kilometers on it.  If it is too good to be true.....

 

[R10RGT]

camowen - I'm in the UK!

I know it seems odd that cars coming out of the same factory might have significant basic differences, but in the UK where the Jap-import business really took off a few years ago, this is causing owners some real head-aches!!
Glass in Japan-built Japanese market models (eg Honda Mitsubishi Toyota...) is regularly of a different spec (thinner) and rust protection less too. (We use salt on the roads in winter, the Japs don't).

Is the car already in Canada? Presumably that helps to explain why the price is low (because it is Right Hand Drive...?!), but if not, surely the seller would earn more in other RHD markets (Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, China (?)).
Is the fuel in Canada of the same RON as Japan?
There is a guy with a US-Spec C-Class living near me, and there are differences in body panels (boot/trunk is different to accommodate different size licence plates, his doesn't have side repeaters in the wing, but does have marker sidelights, headlights dip the wrong way...)

If a guy came up to you in a bar and offered you a car/hifi/video/DVD for far less than you'd ever expect to get it for elsewhere, what might you think?!
(There is an on-going problem with UK Jap-import owners having to give-up their cars, when they are shown to have been stolen - all be it in Tokyo, 2 years previously...).

A real case of "let the buyer beware"?!

 

[dave elcome]

R10.

Re the HI-FI in the bar......... ID think it was knicked!!

 

[camowen]

Phil and Dave,

I know what you are sayin' if it is too good to be true.... What if a 1987 jap model 560 SEL with 82000 kilometers was offered to you for 1000.00 Pounds delivered the only problem is no stereo and a wonky rear end?  The picutres are very good body with 17" AMG rims? A repairmen from a shop in the US I was talking to said it best "there is nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes" (Kent Bergsma). That is good information about the glass and the body pannels I had no Idea.  The vehicle has no apparent rust but we will see.

 

[Johno]

After twenty two years of SAAB with only using 3 of their cars, I was looking for something more sporty but as reliable or better. Well after looking at Jaguar XK8's that were too wide for my drive I chose a CLK320 and have not been dissappionted. How long will this one last me? I expect 10 or more years.

 

[dave elcome]

I would expect it to be just about run in by then!!