Your story about what drew you to Merc ownership

[PeterCLK]

I'd always wanted a Mercedes but worried that if I drove one staff and customers would think I was doing rather too well out of them so opted for Audi instead. The Audi garage also had a Vauxhall division and I'd had Vauxhalls off them prior to Audi, so I was a long-standing customer. When my second Audi developed a gearbox fault (new gearbox 6k fitted) I asked them to fight my case with Audi. They were not interested and quite rude, ending up having an argument with Service Manager.

So it was a case of stuff Audi I'm getting a Merc and I still have it.

I did test drive BMW 7 & 5 series but didn't like them.

 

[burdy]

had them as company cars when i worked for a very famous photocopier company as one of the previous owners said boy were they spartan in those days ( i think in the 90's mb and bmw were in a race to see who could charge the most for the goodies you could put on their cars) i started with a 190e that had electric windows in the front but winders for the back seat passengers ...........what was that about????? and then had the c200 when that had to go, about that time a guy who shared the office with me bought himself a 124 cabriolet with an inheritance and i said i would get one .....one day...... anyway 15 years later and having spent nearly all the kids money i found my lovely example and they are going to have to plant me in it because when i am too old and clapped out to drive it i am going to have it craned over the roof and sit it in the back garden so i can look at it everyday:lol:

 

[st4]

wanted a BMW but the contract hire deal was very good on the Merc.

if they were the same money I'd swap tomorrow.

Why?

IIRC you have a C350cdi. Is the 330d any better? Drove a 204 and found it nice if a bit plasticy, but not much in it when compared to a 3 series. Both nice cars

 

[Rappey69]

I just wanted a replacement estate car for my high mileage and old golf.
Looked at a passat, bit pricey for what they were, looked at an audi but everyone has one now (yawn), looked at bmw but didnt like the "image" that comes with them and finally looked at mercs, the E class estate up to 2003 i think is just plain ugly (and bigger than i need) and then looked at the C. I think its one of the nicest looking estates and ticked all the boxes. the added bonus was how nice it drives, shame its started to rust away at 6 years old

 

[ryanadam]

I had always wanted a 320 cdi christmas i bought 2005 estate with full Mercedes history i have just sold it.This has been the most disappointing car i have ever owned i wont say any more.bill

 

[Jodel]

Just wanted a change from fleet cars and since I'm now in my 50's, I'm old enough to be seen in a Merc. Have had great service from the Vauxhall cars I've owned for many years, but noticed that I could buy a 6 month old W211 E Class for about the same money as a 3 month old Insignia so thought I'd give it a go.

Jury is still out on whether I'd have another one. It's a good enough car, but judged objectively, so is a Mondeo / Passat / Insignia etc.

 

[Dosco]

oatcakes ruke OK

Hi Mercedes 2010

I like your signature - their is only ONE oatcake AND that is made in Hanley..

 

[Captain_Pug]

Had 2 Ford Fiesta's in the house as there was only the 2 of us in the house didn't need any more. Then came the first bambina and well basically 3 door fiesta's became horribly small. A close family friend had decided to sell there W202 C200 sport which they had from new and buy a e class. They new i had wanted the C for a couple of years so they gave me first chance!!

Love the car and with the in laws living in scotland some 500 miles round trip it came into its own as a motorway cruiser its only at this stage i realised how noiser the fiesta's where.

Three years down the line and bambina No2 comes along so decided to retire the c as the family wagon and keep as the work mobile and replace the second fiesta with a new family car, i was all the way to buying a e class and some how ended up with an ML. I cant explain it there was just something about wanting a 4X4 as my dad has a LR disco and i love the ride height. During the snow the ML was great you just pointed it in the direction you wanted to go and it went, the c class was beached on the drive.

 

[biglips]

I have had loads of cars over the years, but generally always went Italian with alfas and even a ferrari 308 GT4 once (wrote it off, but that is a story in itself....).

However enjoyable these Italians were to drive, there is no doubt that they were not very well screwed together.

Got married, 2 children followed and needed something bigger than my 156 sportwagon but could not bring myself to buy an MPV.

I had always admired the 124 estates as they are handsome cars and I knew their reputation for build quality. I took a gamble and bought an E320 7 seater off ebay for £750 and was hooked! It had been unloved and eventually I sold it as it needed some welding, but still got £690 for it!

Had a w220 for a year. Good car, but the rust appeared and I never really loved it. Recently got the opportunity to buy an E36 124 AMG estate - what a car! Very happy once again!!

I remember taking my original 124 to a garage on a friday afternoon as it was making a strange noise and we were supposed to be driving to Cornwall that night and had the car all loaded up with kids strapped in. I explained the problem to the mechanic who without inspecting the car replied, ' they dont make them like this any more. This car will get you to Cornwall and back whatever noise it is making - I'll have a look at it for you when you get back' and he was right!

So to summarise I guess that I love the older mercs for their style and build quality.

 

[Xtractorfan]

This guy will have some story to tell in later years..
http://uk.cars.yahoo.com/14062010/36/diddy-defends-extravagant-maybach-gift-son-s-1-0.html

 

[stargazer]

to think it is to hold it

I worked for Mercedes Benz when i was delivering to a garage and saw and fell in love with a beautiful lemon c180 ,i said to the garage owner ,"oh! i love it , whos is it ". He said it was a customers in for service and he wouldn't part with it .I left my phone number with him and said ," if he ever wants to sell it i would love it !".over the next 12 months i always thought of the lemo
n Merc and i never saw it again . One Thursday morning 8am i got car jacked , i was in a terrible state , no house keys , no handbag with everything in it and no car and bruised.On the following Saturday i had a phone call off the man who owned the Lemon Merc asking was i the lady who wanted to buy it ..........i bought it , i had never been in it or test drive. It was just meant to be mine !!!!!!! It is the best car i have ever owned !!!!

 

[selectcase]

I was looking for a 406 turbo diesel and couldnt find a decent one so a couple of months ago i bought a 96 c180 for £750 with a years t&t as a stop gap - I am no longer looking for anything else (except another merc in the future)

 

[bobceeuk]

After a bad bout of redundancy I decided to try taxi driving. That way I'm secure if a bit skint. I figured 50,000 + cab drivers around the world can't ALL be wrong so started a search.
Found a '96 E300 diesel at well below book. 50k miles full history. Discovered the reason for the price was that previous owner was a careless twit and had to do a bit of tidying up. Then the rust appeared. Got that cured and was mightily impressed with the way the car drove and the number of fat b'stards that I could fit into it.
Here we are with 321k on the clock and still going nicely but with a few odd problems with the electronics rearing their heads every now and then.
Had the gearbox rebuilt at 312k as a precaution. Found a couple of good indi's, as well as afew unhelpful ones.
I was thinking of changing it but was told it's only halfway through its life .
What has amazed me is the low price of the nuts and bolts type spares and the help and advice I've had from a couple of garages enabling me to save a fortune by doing jobs myself. It's really quite agricultural for a prestige car.
I'll shut up now but will be back somewhere for advice on a couple of probs. that even have indi's scratching their heads.

 

[ElLawro]

I've never owned a Merc........... until I picked up my '02 C270 cdi Avantgarde today! Haven't stopped smiling since

 

[television]

I've never owned a Merc........... until I picked up my '02 C270 cdi Avantgarde today! Haven't stopped smiling since

Congratulations and welcome to you

 

[dac5]

I was looking for an estate on the internet and found one,So I let the wife Angela have a look and she spotted the clk 320.
We went for a drive to see the estate and it was not there.
I was disapointed then Ange lead me over to the CLK I liked it Ange liked it.
One test drive later it was sold.
I didn't get my estate.
Ange got the CLK she had her eye on.

So I was Conned Again!!!
Dean

 

[racall]

R170 as second car

I was on my second c class estate and whilst on holiday in majorca decided to rent a slk tintop for a week.Well after i came back i was hooked!!!
I managed to find a r170 with all the bells and whistles and treated my self and never looked back.

 

[d215yq]

Saw a w124 coupe when at university and just loved the elegant simplicity of the design. When i got my first proper job i was bored one day and decided to look at a cheap one listed on autotrader nearby. Despite having a car already I came back having left a deposit.

On picking it up the radiator was leaking and I did not like the auto, the big steering wheel and unprecise handling - thought it would be an expensive mistake....But after a week of driving it and a bit of Radweld I got used to it and began to love driving it... 3 years and 40k miles later on it has given cheap, relatively hassle free motoring and it still puts a smile on my face.

I know there's shinier, technically superior metal out there with all the gadgets that could leave it for dead on a country road, but in the real world where 95% of driving is in heavy traffic or long distance motorway cruising I can't think of any other car I'd rather be in and dont think i'd buy anything other than a 90's merc!

 

[dougjoy]

I had bought a brand new BMW 530D touring just before my wife decided she wanted to move from Sawbridgeworth to Canterbury. I had a year left on a contract I was working on which meant a round trip from Canterbury to Stanstead five days a week.
My wife had an auto mini cooper which she hated so we traded it in for the Mercedes E300TD. I had heard that mercedes were excellent at racking up the miles and it would save all the miles going on the beamer. Initially I wasn't that enamoured with the car but over the next few weeks I grew to love her. She did all the miles ( about 160 a day) without a murmour in all types of weather even snow. She always surprised me. Every time I drove her she would do something better than the previous day. She still surprises me now. She does her second job now of getting me to Glasgow every month to visit my 90 year old Dad who is in a nursing home again without a problem.
I will never part with her I don't think even when I don't have to go North any more. She still looks beautiful and still starts first time. She loves the long drive North and seems to look forward to it.
The beamer is long gone I just did not like it any more and my wife could not stand the beeping of the reversing warning sensors.
The old girl is up to 163K miles now and still drives like new she sailed through her MOT and her emissions have not changed since her first MOT.
Like all the previous replies It is the car that sells mercedes not all the adverts. I think once you have driven one for a while you are sold on them for life.

 

[Jack the Lad]

I crashed my 04 reg Citroen and idly searched on Autotrader to see what I could get if it was written off.

Couldn't believe how much Merc you could get for £4K. You could get one in good nick just 2-3 years older than a like for like replacement dull family hatch with the same sort of mileage.

In the end the Citroen wasn't written off, but the bug had bit, so I had to add a bit more cash to get a trade, but still got a bargain. Audis (boring), Jags (yummy) and BMWs (chavvy) all seemed to hold on to higher prices for much longer, so Mercs (classy) are good cheap cars if you avoid diesels and buy after the shine has worn off.

It will be impossible to go back to an ordinary car now, so if I can't afford to buy or run a decent V8 XJ, S or SL when my E320 needs replacing I think I would have to go for something at the opposite extreme - either a Jeep Wrangler or a camper van!