Who has bought a Mercedes Benz?

[TwiceHorn 30716]

8 minutes ago, Okie State said:

In general if I can only afford the base level trim of a car, I can't afford the car and move on.

No doubt.  I just happened to test drive an E-Class just to see how it drove and the driving dynamics didn't impress me enough to add it to the list with better trim.  Found a CTS coupe to ultimately be a compelling bargain/drivetrain/chassis.  It has been a great car.  Interior isn't the greatest, but gets the job done and isn't unpleasant.

Edited May 5, 2019 by TwiceHorn

[Tailgate 2972]

I’ve bought from the Austin dealership a couple GLC 300s for the kids...I looked at other brands mentioned and just liked the safety and longevity of the MB brand. Got them fairly basic models.

I got $3,500 off each one for a fleet discount for being a USAA member. Check out what you may get if your a member as well.

Zero issues so far and very happy with purchase, price and service.

[Armybrat 40465]

On 5/2/2019 at 10:14 PM, blacklab said:

absolutely

I always get them 5-7 years old with 50k-75k miles and they are about 1/3 of the new car price. I really love this e63 and kinda want to keep it forever. I'm looking around at jeeps and will greatly reduce the number of miles I put on the benz so it will last longer. I'm also contemplating looking for a newer one with really low miles that I can then keep a long time.

Every time I see a mid 80's 300td I get the urge to get one of those again. If I'm ever poor again I'd sell the e63 and get another 300td

My brother has a 1984 300td with about 66,000 on it. Looks brand new inside & out except for a 1” door ding that’s barely noticeable. He has owned it since 1988 (bought it from a friend) and since 1995 has just used it for driving the wife to church on Sundays. 

His wife has one of those compact M-B sedans, a 1988, I think, with about 80,000 miles on it. It was her school car until retirement 6 years ago. It too looks almost new.

His daily driver is our late dad’s 1997 Saturn SL2 that at last look has 360,000+ miles on the clock. He has had the transmission rebuilt twice & a new water pump. Bro is kind of eccentric.

He did buy a used 2001Jeep Wrangler with 22,000 miles on it about 10 years ago from an old lady. He’s driven it about 2,000 more since. They have all been garaged since he’s owned them.

[RPM 26074]

23 hours ago, blacklab said:

Yes, e's and s's are good, c's not so much.

FTR I had 0 issues with mine. Luck of the draw maybe? Made several Vegas/Colorado trips in it. Hated to let it go.

[Archer 474]

We have been super happy with our GLC. The Pirelli run flats that came on ours were crap lasted 18,000 miles. 

Edited May 6, 2019 by Archer

[52-80 18963]

On 5/4/2019 at 9:11 PM, shakahorn said:

Agree. Mid to lower end of all German cars do not compete well with their non-German competitors in terms of price-quality ratio, IMO. C-class (non AMG of course) 528, 3 series, and below all fall into this category.

my logic is that the top-range is essentially the test-bed for all the completely superfluous 1st-gen technology .... fucking fragrance dispenser, hand-gesture recognition, 70 speakers and 40-zone climate control, etc.  all the shit that is prone to going wrong.

 

so if you go mid-range you get the benefit of the platform and chassis engineering, and matured trickle-down features. 

[chesthair 231]

bought 2 from texascarsdirect.com 

they buy lease returns and their prices are good.  mercedes depreciate like a mother the first year or two, buy 1-2 year old and save a ton.  

[EE2B 1560]

Well, what did you buy her? If you haven’t yet, I bet you will regardless of price/discount/etc...

[EE2B 1560]

Duplicate...

[shakahorn 1600]

On 5/4/2019 at 4:29 PM, Nueces River Rat said:

What do gals think of the MB SUV's?  

I am not talking about the G-Class as I am not a member of the Surly 1%.    Yet.....

GLE or GLC is probably in our price range on the CPO market.

 

Had a 2017 GLS 450, really liked it, but it was just too big.  Traded it in for a 2018 GLE which is OK but really nothing to differentiate from other luxury SUV's in the same size/class I  think.  The GLS has a bigger engine, 9 speed and it was surprisingly fast for such a big vehicle.  Loved the 3 row seating, but that meant I was the driver for everyone and their brother.  When i had the GLS I was invited to review a host of competitors, put on by Cadillac I think but not sure.  They paid me $200.  I rated the two best models as the 450 and the Lincoln.

[blacklab 11808]

On 5/6/2019 at 11:23 AM, chesthair said:

  mercedes depreciate like a mother the first year or two, buy 1-2 year old and save a ton.  

ding ding ding. A while back there was a guy trying to sell his <1 year old e63 amg on craigslist that he paid $110k for. The ads started at $100k and worked their way down to $60k before they stopped showing up.

Another thing to do is avoid cars in the years the cars are new models or they changed the model up. They typically have issues they fix over the next few years. For e-class avoid  2003, 2009, 2016.

[Gil Bang 25509]

so I live in San Diego, and bought mine from Mercedes of Laguna Niguel (in Orange County) 2 years ago next week.  Today I used the free car wash for the first time.  Was driving home from LAX  with a dirty car, so why not save 15 bucks?   Plus a cup of pretty decent coffee, for Starbucks anyway.

One thing about MB dealerships, they seem to treat everybody the same, no matter which model you bought.  My service advisor does everything short of draining my balls when I come in for a service. 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13272]

8 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

so I live in San Diego, and bought mine from Mercedes of Laguna Niguel (in Orange County) 2 years ago next week.  Today I used the free car wash for the first time.  Was driving home from LAX  with a dirty car, so why not save 15 bucks?   Plus a cup of pretty decent coffee, for Starbucks anyway.

One thing about MB dealerships, they seem to treat everybody the same, no matter which model you bought.  My service advisor does everything short of draining my balls when I come in for a service. 

Yep.  The luxury car dealerships are a good experience 

[blacklab 11808]

15 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

One thing about MB dealerships, they seem to treat everybody the same, no matter which model you bought.  My service advisor does everything short of draining my balls when I come in for a service. 

yep  When I had my 300TD with 300,000 miles on it that I paid $2500 for in there it would be sitting next to brand new $100k cars and I always chuckled how we were treated the same. In fact I think I got more attention as people would come over to look at the car because it was in such nice shape and tell a story about their 300 they had 30 years ago.

[Nueces River Rat 5485]

57 minutes ago, blacklab said:

yep  When I had my 300TD with 300,000 miles on it that I paid $2500 for in there it would be sitting next to brand new $100k cars and I always chuckled how we were treated the same. In fact I think I got more attention as people would come over to look at the car because it was in such nice shape and tell a story about their 300 they had 30 years ago.

Yes they do it better than anyone as I've seen with my Father in law and his MB.   I love the way some of the American brands try to do the same, but you can tell they will kiss the hand of someone who is driving a King Ranch edition  pickup vs an XLT edition at the drop of a hat if you arrive at the service entrance at the same time.  Never mind the dude in the King Ranch might be paying $700 or more on an 84 month loan vs the simpleton like yours truly who doesn't chose the carry a loan for such a long term.  But Ok, the service guys and gals don't know that..   I think?

 

 

[DalTxHornFan 3066]

16 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

My service advisor does everything short of draining my balls when I come in for a service. 

He should.  You are probably paying at least double (or more) for the service you could get at an independent shop.  Those "free" cups of coffee at the MB dealerships are damned expensive.

[UTCzech III 2892]

 

[52-80 18963]

18 minutes ago, Nueces River Rat said:

Yes they do it better than anyone as I've seen with my Father in law and his MB.   I love the way some of the American brands try to do the same, but you can tell they will kiss the hand of someone who is driving a King Ranch edition  pickup vs an XLT edition at the drop of a hat if you arrive at the service entrance at the same time.  Never mind the dude in the King Ranch might be paying $700 or more on an 84 month loan vs the simpleton like yours truly who doesn't chose the carry a loan for such a long term.  But Ok, the service guys and gals don't know that..   I think?

 

 

they make more money from bilking the dude with the loan so

[Liquor and Poker 3659]

On 5/2/2019 at 11:54 AM, Nice Guy Eddie said:

My MB E320 airmatic suspension struts all failed one after another. $1000/pop.  At least the first 2 failed under warranty.  And when they failed, the car dropped so it was undriveable. Meaning tow truck time.

Agree that you have to find a good non-dealer mechanic once it's out of warranty.

My old E500 ran like a top for 12/100k except for this.  Replaced every single one of them, and front right got replaced twice.  Super fun to be driving along and the whole dashboard turn red and flash, then hope you didn't tear up the tire, wheel and wheelwell.

Wife's Land Rover was also bulletproof for over a decade (I know!) except for those fucking stupid things.  

The replacement for me had coils.  The replacement for her was a Lexus.  So it has an air suspension, but somehow they don't break.

[Liquor and Poker 3659]

On 5/6/2019 at 11:23 AM, chesthair said:

bought 2 from texascarsdirect.com 

they buy lease returns and their prices are good.  mercedes depreciate like a mother the first year or two, buy 1-2 year old and save a ton.  

Is that the place at 35 and Forest?  That's where I bought my last one.  Nothing like the discount on a rolloff MB.

[A-Tex Devil 2406]

We were looking at the GLS 450 CPO as a family vehicle.  We found a shockingly low price (relatively) for a 2017 GLS63 AMG.   Was leased for 18 months.  We pulled the trigger. 

Its fucking awesome in almost every aspect (good for kids, super fast for an SUV, great tech) except gas mileage is embarrassing.  

Mercedes still doesn’t beat Lexus for a dealership experience, but it is miles better than Audi.  We have a Q5 which we really like, but are done with Audi South Austin.  

[Nueces River Rat 5485]

2 hours ago, 52-80 said:

they make more money from bilking the dude with the loan so

True.   But they probably know the dude will be back in four to five years when Ford comes out with a redesign for which the same dude will want to be the first in the area to get the new look.  

[Gil Bang 25509]

5 hours ago, DalTxHornFan said:

He should.  You are probably paying at least double (or more) for the service you could get at an independent shop.  Those "free" cups of coffee at the MB dealerships are damned expensive.

It's she, and my car is under warranty, so I take it in for warranty issues.  Yeah, I get my oil changed there too, and probably overpay, but they give me a loaner for the day.  I usually drop it off in the afternoon, so I end up putting 2 days worth of miles on their mercedes instead of mine. .  Hell, I even bought tires there.  I could have saved $75 bucks by going to discount, but discount doesn't give me a loaner car. 

[DalTxHornFan 3066]

10 minutes ago, Gil Bang said:

It's she.

Good to know.  NTTAWWT.

[TwiceHorn 30716]

So, I sat in, but didn't test drive a 2016 E400.  I was semi shocked to see a column-mounted shifter.  It was clearly more electronic than say, the one one my 69 Delta 88, but I havent driven a column mounted shifter in 30 years?  Is this the new, new thing?

[Gil Bang 25509]

my 2014 has it.

[TwiceHorn 30716]

I found it rather off-putting.  On reflection, console shifters waste a lot of space (most of which is wasted by the console, which is still in full effect), but column mounted just screams luxobarge to me.

[Gil Bang 25509]

it was weird for a bit.  Now it seems completely normal. 

[Sam Lin 3532]

On 5/8/2019 at 11:08 AM, Gil Bang said:

One thing about MB dealerships, they seem to treat everybody the same, no matter which model you bought.  

Can second this, sort of - I brought in a brand new S-class and was given a Buick Century loaner car.

[Okie State 3687]

I actually liked having a column shift in my F150. Not sure about a car though.

[Okie State 3687]

Can second this, sort of - I brought in a brand new S-class and was given a Buick Century loaner car.

Back in the day, my friend took in his pretty nice Volvo S60R and they gave him a loaner Smart Car. I just happened to see him cruising down the highway in it and almost died laughing.

[Native Horn 3465]

9 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

my 2014 has it.

As does my 2013 E350.  It was weird at first, but I got so used to it that when I rent a car while traveling, I automatically reach for the column shifter instead of the console shifter that the rental inevitably has.

[chesthair 231]

14 hours ago, Liquor and Poker said:

Is that the place at 35 and Forest?  That's where I bought my last one.  Nothing like the discount on a rolloff MB.

Yup.  Good experience.  Walk in, point to the car you want, out the door in 20 minutes.  They dont haggle, which kinda sucks, i like fighting with those dudes, but prices are good.  They also gave me top dollar for my trade.  Wife is in a jag now, trying to talk her back into a mb.  

[Liquor and Poker 3659]

10 minutes ago, chesthair said:

Yup.  Good experience.  Walk in, point to the car you want, out the door in 20 minutes.  They dont haggle, which kinda sucks, i like fighting with those dudes, but prices are good.  They also gave me top dollar for my trade.  Wife is in a jag now, trying to talk her back into a mb.  

What’s weird is that one day you will walk in and they will have 20 E-Class sedans.  Walk in 3 weeks later and it’s 15 C-Classes. Wait another 2 weeks and its a dozen E convertibles.  Wait again and its 15 S-Classes. All always the same age and mileage as each other.

Can’t figure out how that happens.  What fleet or bulk buyer buys 12 E convertibles, keeps them 2 years and then ditches them so that they all have 9-12,000 miles. Same question for S-Classes -African dictator group buy?

They are not returns, lemons, or something like that either.  You can get the VINs and run history.  

[Okie State 3687]

Looked at their site yesterday and they did have a nice selection. Good to know for the future.

[TwiceHorn 30716]

1 hour ago, Native Horn said:

As does my 2013 E350.  It was weird at first, but I got so used to it that when I rent a car while traveling, I automatically reach for the column shifter instead of the console shifter that the rental inevitably has.

I think the one I test drove way back when was a '10 or '11, sedan, still had console shifter.

[Gil Bang 25509]

8 hours ago, Sam Lin said:

Can second this, sort of - I brought in a brand new S-class and was given a Buick Century loaner car.

Heh.  Once, I called to schedule service on mine.  They called me back to warn me that they were running short on loaners and may have to give me a non MB loaner.

They didn't.  Coco Vandeweghe was returning her loaner as I walked up to the counter, and I took that one without it being  washed. 

Edited May 9, 2019 by Gil Bang

[elfenix 34001]

2 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

Heh.  Once, I called to schedule service on mine.  They called me back to warn me that they were running short on loaners and may have to give me a non MB loaner.

They didn't.  Coco Vandeweghe was returning her loaner as I walked up to the counter, and I took that one without it being  washed. 

did you smell the seat first?

[Gil Bang 25509]

3 minutes ago, elfenix said:

did you smell the seat first?

I edited that part out of my  post, but yes. 

[TwiceHorn 30716]

On 5/9/2019 at 7:51 AM, Liquor and Poker said:

What’s weird is that one day you will walk in and they will have 20 E-Class sedans.  Walk in 3 weeks later and it’s 15 C-Classes. Wait another 2 weeks and its a dozen E convertibles.  Wait again and its 15 S-Classes. All always the same age and mileage as each other.

Can’t figure out how that happens.  What fleet or bulk buyer buys 12 E convertibles, keeps them 2 years and then ditches them so that they all have 9-12,000 miles. Same question for S-Classes -African dictator group buy?

They are not returns, lemons, or something like that either.  You can get the VINs and run history.  

My guess would be M-B lease returns.  Checking carfax, they're all lease returns, but not from any one entity.  I suspect that there is a broker that specializes in lease returns and TCD probably has a "hook up" or deal with that broker.

Back to the column shifter.  Apparently, pretty much all Benzes now have column shifters, except AMG.  It is to free up space on the console.  I also happened to sit a Lincoln MKZ (I think, the sedan) and it had a column shifter, which isn't terribly surprising considering Lincoln, but also had a fairly substantial console.

This is sort of juvenile, I guess, but way back in the day of my first car, I wanted a console shifter really badly (a Hurst shifter in a 442 to be precise).  By hook or crook, everything I have driven then has had a console shifter, including a couple of manuals.  I seriously am not sure I am ready to go back.  I might for a truck, but even the upscale F150s have console shifters.

[Chewbacca 7612]

The E63s i drove had a column shifter. It started raining during the test drive and i accidentally put it in neutral on the highway because that dumb shifter is where my wipers are.

[Liquor and Poker 3659]

1 hour ago, TwiceHorn said:

My guess would be M-B lease returns.  Checking carfax, they're all lease returns, but not from any one entity.  I suspect that there is a broker that specializes in lease returns and TCD probably has a "hook up" or deal with that broker.

Back to the column shifter.  Apparently, pretty much all Benzes now have column shifters, except AMG.  It is to free up space on the console.  I also happened to sit a Lincoln MKZ (I think, the sedan) and it had a column shifter, which isn't terribly surprising considering Lincoln, but also had a fairly substantial console.

This is sort of juvenile, I guess, but way back in the day of my first car, I wanted a console shifter really badly (a Hurst shifter in a 442 to be precise).  By hook or crook, everything I have driven then has had a console shifter, including a couple of manuals.  I seriously am not sure I am ready to go back.  I might for a truck, but even the upscale F150s have console shifters.

I just think it's weird that, however that place does it, they have 10-12 of the same model, then they sell them and get 10-12 of a different model.  So, for example, if you miss the E400 convertibles, it will be a while before they get more as they cycle through E550 sedans, C300 coupes, etc.  There are always a few random odds and ends there (there was a Murcielago when I bought my car), but over half the cars are different options and colors of the same MB model.  

I hated the column shifter at first, but now I really like it.  With a column shifter it's so easy to drive with one hand and hold my beer, bong, or bottle of pills in the other.

It's a fucking automatic anyway.  I would certainly rather have a stick than paddles for a true manual, but most MBs are fake manual with the paddles at this point - even most AMGs.  On mine, you can use the paddles in any of the 4 modes (Eco, Sport, Sport+, Manual), but in all modes but Manual it will shift for you if it thinks it's time - you have to downshift if you disagree.  Even in Manual mode, if you run it up it shifts for you somewhere in the early redline. 

 

[TwiceHorn 30716]

1 hour ago, Chewbacca said:

The E63s i drove had a column shifter. It started raining during the test drive and i accidentally put it in neutral on the highway because that dumb shifter is where my wipers are.

I haven't driven one yet, I wondered if it was as easy as a turn signal/wiper stalk.  Yeah, I could see myself doing that.  I'm just going on about because, peculiarly to me, I find it odd.

[Gil Bang 25509]

My issue with the MB shifter, is that it automatically goes into park when you open the driver's door.  I have a bad habit of opening the door before the car is stopped.  For example, I have a long driveway, and I'll open the door to grab the newspaper, without the car coming to a complete stop.

It's fine in my truck, but not so good in the MB. 

[shakahorn 1600]

6 hours ago, Liquor and Poker said:

...

Even in Manual mode, if you run it up it shifts for you somewhere in the early redline. 

 

That's not my experience in my GLE 350.  Unbeknownst to me at the time, while pulling out of a parking lot, the dog hit the manual button which is on the console, and put me in manual.  I couldn't get it out of M1 and I kinda froze up and forgot that the paddles would shift it.  No matter how fast I went, it would not shift up, I'm sure the RPM's went up fairly high, but I didn't actually look at the tach.  The sound of the engine made me take my foot off the pedal.  Anyway, because I didn't know the dog had hit the switch, the only way I could get it back into auto was to turn the engine off and back on again.  I looked down at the dog and he had his paw on the manual button.

[Liquor and Poker 3659]

18 hours ago, shakahorn said:

That's not my experience in my GLE 350.  Unbeknownst to me at the time, while pulling out of a parking lot, the dog hit the manual button which is on the console, and put me in manual.  I couldn't get it out of M1 and I kinda froze up and forgot that the paddles would shift it.  No matter how fast I went, it would not shift up, I'm sure the RPM's went up fairly high, but I didn't actually look at the tach.  The sound of the engine made me take my foot off the pedal.  Anyway, because I didn't know the dog had hit the switch, the only way I could get it back into auto was to turn the engine off and back on again.  I looked down at the dog and he had his paw on the manual button.

Maybe it's just the cars then, although that would be weird.  Mine (2015 E convertible) will let me run up to about 1/3 way into the red, then the dash will flash red text telling me to shift, and if I don't it will just do it for me.  If I downshift after that it won't do it again.

Same for the others I've driven since they switched to column (2017 C43 and 2018 S560).

It's kind of silly to this to happen at all because it's fake - to me it's like the exhaust note BMW pipes through the speakers.  Makes me feel like they think I'm an idiot.  But then again, I did buy the car.

[Liquor and Poker 3659]

 

On 5/21/2019 at 10:22 AM, TwiceHorn said:

I haven't driven one yet, I wondered if it was as easy as a turn signal/wiper stalk.  Yeah, I could see myself doing that.  I'm just going on about because, peculiarly to me, I find it odd.

 

On 5/21/2019 at 9:00 AM, Chewbacca said:

The E63s i drove had a column shifter. It started raining during the test drive and i accidentally put it in neutral on the highway because that dumb shifter is where my wipers are.

I could totally see doing that, but thankfully it only lets you drop to Neutral - no damage.  And it pops back into the correct gear for speed without issue when you correct.

23 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

My issue with the MB shifter, is that it automatically goes into park when you open the driver's door.  I have a bad habit of opening the door before the car is stopped.  For example, I have a long driveway, and I'll open the door to grab the newspaper, without the car coming to a complete stop.

It's fine in my truck, but not so good in the MB. 

You're right - God I hate that.  Comes up all the time.  Right now I have an issue with my rear camera's picture acting up.  The camera only activates in reverse.  I can chock the rear wheels and put it in reverse and it won't move unless someone hits the accelerator.  So ideally I could put it in reverse and then go back and work on it.

But I can't go work on the camera to figure out the problem unless someone else is in the car because it shifts to park when I open the door to get out.  Which means I'm relying on them not to accidentally touch the pedal while I am behind it while it's in reverse.  And the reverse will overpower the stupid electronic emergency brake.

I have worked around this by putting the top down and jumping out 70's cop style, but if it were a hardtop it would be impossible.

[Gil Bang 25509]

GF's gone in the car right now, but I'm pretty sure that there's a setting to turn on the camera without putting it in reverse. 

[shakahorn 1600]

8 minutes ago, Gil Bang said:

GF's gone in the car right now, but I'm pretty sure that there's a setting to turn on the camera without putting it in reverse. 

Yeah I actually have this programmed as the first selection in my favorites.  So hit favorites, hit the wheel and the camera comes on.  When I get my lazy ass off the computer I'll check it out.  So like 6-7 hours and a gig of porn from now

[RPM 26074]

Talking column shift, I think the last "3 on the tree" I had was an 81 Chevy pickup. I did have a "4 on the tree" on a 62 Ford 1 ton Econoline van. Only one of those I ever saw. You had to know what you were doing or you'd get 1st and R mixed up.