Buying a used Mercedes (no warranty) vs used American car with warranty (gasket, motorcycle)
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Also need to know how handy you are. Although to do most of the Benz's maintenance/repairs yourself, you will need to be "5-star" handy...Do you have a good independent shop that can do the stuff on the Benz that you can't/don't want to DIY?
Honestly, all this talk of needing superior mechanical skills with "complex" cars is a little silly IMO, when you break every component of a car down they are all the same... perhaps some things require to be handled more delicately, torqued correctly, put together in the right sequence and maybe even one thing has lots more little things inside of it than the other thing... in the end its all the same. A "trained", "5 star" technician is merely someone who knows how to properly interpret a service manual and abstains from skipping any part of maintenance procedure... not really skill but certainly good discipline.
If you take your time and perfectly follow the instructions of the person who built the thing then I dont care if its a spaceship your working on, its quite doable.
Do not purchase a second hand American car, you will inherit someone else's problems. I have been down that road before, two times, I purchased American made to be "patriotic," never again will I waste so much of my money.
If it were an older model Mercedes, I'd say go with the Mercedes.
Sorry, but the latest ones are known for being total crap, even in the luxury car world.
Do not purchase a second hand American car, you will inherit someone else's problems. I have been down that road before, two times, I purchased American made to be "patriotic," never again will I waste so much of my money.
Don't buy red shirts either, because it messes up your other clothes in the wash.
Trust me oh naive owner of machines, even being utterly "unpatriotic" you will experience the same problems. Grabbing from the communal opinion bag only makes fools out of people... we dont want that now do we?
Honestly, all this talk of needing superior mechanical skills with "complex" cars is a little silly IMO, when you break every component of a car down they are all the same... perhaps some things require to be handled more delicately, torqued correctly, put together in the right sequence and maybe even one thing has lots more little things inside of it than the other thing... in the end its all the same. A "trained", "5 star" technician is merely someone who knows how to properly interpret a service manual and abstains from skipping any part of maintenance procedure... not really skill but certainly good discipline.
If you take your time and perfectly follow the instructions of the person who built the thing then I dont care if its a spaceship your working on, its quite doable.
I'd defy you to come and work efficiently, productively, and without making a lot of mistakes in the real world of servicing cars such as MB's products with a view that they are no different than what's found under the hood of a domestic marque.
The engineering approach to solving similar issues is markedly different in the German cars vs the American cars vs the Japanese cars.
Good hand skills, appropriate tools, and the ability to understand the systems and take a reasoned approach to problem solving/troubleshooting are common to quality techs ... but that's where the similarities end with the various car marques.
I've had techs that were the top grads from VoTech schools, community colleges, and domestic marque dealer tech training programs that owned a successful track record of earnings in a domestic car dealership shop not be able to figure out the logic behind how stuff was put together in an MB. While I'm sure that they could have learned the tactics needed, they'd have starved before becoming productive .... and went back to the makes they were familiar with.
Just some basic examples ... I can overhaul a Subie 2.2 or 2.5 liter flat 4 motor with a very basic set of common hand tools and general practices and good techniques. The same cannot be said for a MB motor ... it takes a lot more tools, tooling, craftsmanship, adjusting/fiddling, contortions and blue air around the project to accomplish the same overall scope of work. In comparison, I just completed an in-frame overhaul on my JD4020Diesel tractor, and it was the simplest motor I've worked on in years. The tool count for the job was minimal ... it was the first JD diesel I've ever overhauled and it was simple; such cannot be said of MB's diesel motors (of which I've overhauled a couple hundred over the years ....). Electrical systems in the Subie are simple and straightforward, reliable, durable, and easy to troubleshoot ... again, you cannot make anywhere near that kind of comment about an MB. The German approach is complexity to an extreme for a very minimal theoretical gain in efficiency and performance ... a techno-wonder at great expense.
The MB factory issued workshop manuals are among the least effective means to troubleshoot failure causations in the cars, although essential to understanding what components are in the system. They are really targeted to dealership menu-tree parts replacement decisions, not making effective repairs in the cars. That's why there's so many aftermarket successful MB shops for such a limited volume of cars in the fleet ... somebody finally has to fix the cars instead of just swapping parts under warranty. Again, an example ... I saw more MB transmissions fixed in the aftermarket through the problem solving of ATRA and some good aftermarket parts suppliers than I ever saw come from a dealership service department. Similarly, a lot of HVAC fixes in these cars came from the aftermarket, and not from MB.
Do not purchase a second hand American car, you will inherit someone else's problems. I have been down that road before, two times, I purchased American made to be "patriotic," never again will I waste so much of my money.
I bought a second-hand 1995 Lincoln Town Car in 2006. It's been very reliable; has only needed a starter and that's it. V-8 engine, 4,200 lbs and averages 20 mpg.
Tough choices. I would reconsider. I consider buying a used Mercedes out of warranty, pure financial suicide. These cars are high-maintenance, period. It is hit or miss on whether you will pay more than average to maintain the particular car you get or much, much more than average. These cars are too damn sensitive for me, and IMO not worth the prestige, and false sense of superiority that comes with them. Luxury in these vehicles is as prominent as that lit check engine light.
I certainly wouldn't buy american either. American carmakers have had decades to build quality, reliable, gas-efficient cars to suit their home market. American consumers deserved as much. Decades to invest in technology to build vehicles far superior than anything put out by the japanese or europeans. They instead focused on profit margins and put out crap cars that can't compete with for instance the Lexus in any category.
I'm sticking with Lexus and if you are smart, you'd do the same.
I have a Lexus and Mercedes and unfortunately, parts for the Lexus are higher than the Mercedes.
Really? I wouldn't have thought that.
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