Wisdom of buying a high mileage MB?

[sokitset]

I have never owned a Mercedes, but am considering buying a high mileage (100K+) model to drive this winter instead of my convertable.
Something about a big old lumbering Mercedes that makes me smile a little.

Should I be wary of cars with high mileage or are these cars generally bulletproof beyond 6 figures as a Honda or Toyota would be?

All advice appraciated.

 

[plink49]

Generally speaking, 100k miles on a Mercedes is not considered high mileage, assuming the car has accumulated those miles at a rate of 10-20k per year. Most (and keep in mind there are exceptions!) MB owners maintain their cars extremely well, and in that light most are capable of several hundred k miles. The key is to continue to keep the car maintained. The engine per se if well kept will go for a half million miles, but then there other components to consider. Foremost would be the transmission, then exhaust system, suspension etc down the line. All can be relatively expensive to keep maintained, but then the car is worth it. Personally(all are in miles, not km!), I have a lovely '86 300E with 202,000 miles which runs like a new vehicle; a '92 500 SEL with 165,000 miles that recently needed some engine gaskets replaced ($1100) but is now like new; and a '96 C220 with 104,000 miles and that car you would swear was a 2003 if you didn't know better.
Bottom line...don't let mileage be a factor in buying a MB except to maybe get a tad lower price, but every car needs to be judged on it's own merit! Look for pre-merger (pre 1998) vehichles.

 

[Francois]

I bought a 20 year old merc at 235000 km's. I am so impressed with it that I am replacing my toyota camry with it. (which is a lot newer.)

One thing to look out for though is the self leveling suspension. Make sure it is working and not leaking somewhere.

 

[njpumphrey]

My impression has been that 100,000miles is just about worn in. The problems come when the cars have done 200,000miles and have been clocked to half that mileage. As they wear so slowly it can be quite hard to tell.

 

[heckflosse]

My opinion has always been that condition and history are far more important than mileage and year.

Why not sell you convertable and buy a high mileage SL :lol: