MB repeat owners?

I am very spoiled by my two Mercedes, but i wonder if anyone knows of someone that has bought a Mercedes and then later sold it and not replaced it with another Benz? I have heard of many buying a newer Benz and keeping their older one instead of trading it in. Anyone ever been turned off from Benz? If so, what did they go to? thanks Shannon

80 450SL 218k miles 86 300SDL 286k miles
Reply to
sdp1s
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Lexus, BMW, Rolls, Jag, Chevy

Reply to
MCBRUE

This is my last Mercedes. I am out shopping now and it is either Infinity of Lexus with Lexus in the lead. The quality of Mercedes has just dropped too much and their styling is boring. Yes the Lexus styling is perhaps worse but they are cheaper and better.

Reply to
CX

You're brutal McBrue but that's part of your charm You say what you think and cause no small alarm But this one thing know your opinion is respected In spite of the bridge your good judgement is not effected. And now recent events with my MB's sublime Have given me pause... made me think one more time Are MB's all they should be? No, decidedly not! The next car in my garage may be Mercedes, or not!

Dale (not Camille)

88 560SL 00 CL500 just traded the 96 S500C :-(

MCBRUE wrote:

Reply to
Camille

Indeed, I'm on my third consecutive E Class and this will be the last as soon as the lease is up. Not a terrible car, but dealer service has been horrid. Lexus or Infiniti for me.

Reply to
Gerald G. McGeorge

You're goin' backwards, McB.

John M. Vauxhall > Rambler > Chevy > SAAB > E320 Makin' constant progress, me

Reply to
John Mauel

They went to Lexus! Seriously!

Reply to
B. Newman

After 4 "S" Class Mercedes in a row, I am PLEASED to be driving a Lexus LS430. The hassles are over!

Reply to
B. Newman

I see many of us at work giving up MB and buying brand new Lexus.

Keith Beast E14 4NS Docklands

"B. Newman" news:6IRib.123548$%h1.128649@sccrnsc02

Reply to
k

I did not mean to post my message to hassle you Mercedes lovers. I had 7 Mercedes over the years and other family members have had 5 or 6 others. In the end they were great cars to drive but the overall Mercedes ownership experience was ALWAYS "love-hate". One particularly annoying problem here in the steep hills of Pittsburgh was the constant brake pad wear. Yeah, yeah, yeah...I heard all that dealer crap about soft pads blah blah blah blah. If I can get 40,000 out of pads on my wife's Explorer, why not more than 10,000 on my (former) S320? In the end, if you review recent history, Lexus came out with a better product 14 years ago. And while Mercedes did (in 1994 or

1995) finally realize they had to compete on price, they just have not gotten anywhere NEAR the quality that Toyota/Lexus has. It's 14 years later and nothing has changed. Nothing. I owned the very first Lexus LS400, 1990 Model. I sold it and started buying "S" Class Mercedes. After 12 years of driving the "S", I realized that that darn Lexus was the best overall auto ownership experience I ever had. So I went back and now enjoy a 2003 LS430. It's just "no-hassle". And to make matters worse, the sinking financial boat known as the former Chrysler Company seems to have made Daimler cut corners EVEN MORE in the Mercedes division.

This all reminds me of how the "Cadillac" name...one where I grew up (I am

43) to understand it to be synonomyous with "quality" degenerated into a joke in the mid 1980's and beyond, except to old retired men in plaid pants. Mercedes isn't THAT bad (yet), but seems to be moving in that direction.

Reply to
B. Newman

Reply to
KINGLIFER

How many years did you own S Class vehicles, cumulatively? Did you own the 140, and if so, what year, and what hassles did you have with that vehicle? My '99 is now at 54,000 miles, and I'm concerned. I have the 420 if that matters. Car seems like a very good car after about 1.5 years of ownership.

Reply to
REInvestments

I thought Mercedes OWNS Chrysler. not the other way around. that is what the dealer told me... but hey. dealers right....

That Cadillac story is soooo true. how did that happen eh? darn. crazy. and look they have that 2 setter which is plain as day and they want so much money for it.

PLEASE tell me what does this car do? lol.

Reply to
KINGLIFER

I had them from 1991 (the 126) car to 1999. My last was a 1999 S320...same year as your car. Kept it until a few months ago with 73K miles. I had a few electrical problems out of warranty that cost me maybe $1500 total. Actually, the '99 was the best car of the lot...maybe they "got it" by the time they made that last of the 140 cars. The main thing was tires, brake pads and rotors. ALWAYS something needed replaced. Tires NEVER lasted more than 18K miles. I'd be inclined to say that at "a mere" 54K miles in a '99 S420, you'll probably be OK at least for a while. Especially if you've had the car as you stated and it's been OK. The car IS truly the king of the road, so enjoy it. Until you get your Lexus (heh, heh).

Reply to
B. Newman

I have had my current 98 S500 for a couple years and it has now about 90K miles. It has been basically problem free for me except the radio antena (motor) and a few minor issues. I've also had a 93 500SEL before this one. I've had some problems with it. The other MBs we had, ML 320, C280 all had more troubles when we owned them.

I've had two LS400s during the same time I have had the S500s. The LS400s are amazingly reliable and comfortable cars. No problems with them whatsoever. All you do with them is drive them and change oils.

Reply to
Joe Liu

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com (sdp1s) hat in Betrag news:3f8b6419.38324018 @netnews.comcast.net dies gedichtet:

I had two Mercedes W123 and was extremely pleased with the overall quality. Then I talked myself into a convertible. Mercedes convertibles seemed unreachable in terms of buying and running cost. So I decided to stay reasonable and bought a Renault R19 convertible, which turned out to be no wise decision. After two years of trouble I sold the Renault, but I was infected by the convertible virus. So my next car became a BMW 325i convertible, which offered a package that would cost about twice as much if bought from Mercedes. I had four very plesant years with that car. This year I decided to store away the BMW during winter time and buy another car for winter and long range trips. First I wanted to buy a Mercedes again, but then I found out that in the 5k$ range, all suitable Mercedes are worn out. Now I bought a Citroen, well maintained, nice options, just what I wanted.

I still like the brand Mercedes and I can very well imagine to own one again in the future.

Frank

Reply to
Frank Kemper

to be honest the tires are due to cheap tires. I changed my rims so I have brigstone so3. cant go wrong.

Reply to
KINGLIFER

Reply to
KINGLIFER

Not true on the tires. Mercedes initially shipped the 1992 140 cars (prior bodystyle "S" Class, first year) with UNIROYAL tires that burned up almost immediately. They then went to Pirelli. Those lasted 8,000 to 10,000 miles. Eventually, Michelin made them a tire and they got about 18,000 miles. The problem had something to do with the weight of the car and the distribution of it. Anyway, Michelins go miles and miles and miles and miles on most other cars. The 140 was a tire eater. MUNCH!

Reply to
B. Newman

I have been finding the comments in this newsgroup worrying.

Until recently my daily experience of Mercs was confined to W123, W124 and the 190E from 1993. All very nice (and not just because they were mostly company-supported cars).

A little while ago I had some water leaking into my 190. After a visit or two to a dealer the problem wasn't fixed, but then I went again and the problem WAS found -- it wasn't obvious. I was charged very little.

Two-and-a-half years ago I bought a new (shock, horror, having said I would never buy new if it's my own money) car, a CLK Cab. So far there have only been a couple of minor issues after 14 000 miles and I am enjoying the car. It has, so far, started first time every time, despite low useage.

From what a lot of people are saying I can expect a heap of trouble from the car and the dealerships. Thing is, I haven't had any, so far. Let's hope it stays that way! (Do I hear a chorus of "Amen"?)

DAS

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Reply to
Dori Schmetterling

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