Hello. Looks like a very informative website. I have never owned a mercedes, or even had any experience with them, but I have always wanted one. My wife and I are looking at buying a 2004 C-240 with 35k miles. The car looks to be in excellent shape and the price is within our budget.

My main concerns are reliability, and maintainence costs. I am a do it yourself type guy and do most the work on our cars. I have heard horror stories of how expensive parts are and how many things are dealer only.I guess what I am asking is what to expect in terms of cost of ownership.

Believe me I am not trying to start any kind of brand war as I really know nothing abouteither but even the salesman who had this C-240 told me he would recommend a Lexus instead (they had both on lot). He told me that he loves the Mercedes but that the maintenece costswere so high he would not own one that is out of warranty. Any truth to this or was thesalesman just trying to steer me to another carthat he could make more profit on?

Like I said I never had a luxury car but have always wanted one. I can afford the upfront cost but I don't want to get in over my head on ownership costs.

 

I know everybody has an opinion on a given brand car, so having said that, and owning a MB myself, I'll try not to be judgemental of other
brands when I tell you this: If it's reliability you are mostly looking for, outside sources such as Consumer Reports would tell you the Toyota
and the Lexus are highly rated in this regard (as you know, I'm sure) and Mercedes is no where near on their charts. This has been true over
the years if you look at the stats. This isn't MY opinion, it just is. Number of problems per cars sold. Does this mean your 240 won't be reliable?
No. It might be very reliable, and many have been. If not, it could get real expensive real fast....out of warranty these cars and their parts
and labor are steep. You can do oil changes, brakes, etc. and such things if you work on cars yourself. You can save money there. Let me add
this......IF the person who owned the car before you did all the maintenance properly, it might make a big difference for you as the next owner.
Look for service records! If you buy it and have any problems or questions, we are here to offer what help we can from our own experience.
This is a great site for that. Or at least I think so. Again, my opinion.

 

Hi,
Ihave aC240 2003. I bought it brand new, and have more then 72K on it. The maintenance that I have paid onmy carhas been very minimal, such as front break work, which is not like a Honda, since you have to change the pad and the rotors at the same time. And it runs to around $500+. I can give you no suggestion of what kind of car you should buy, but since you are in the forum of MB, I can suggest to look for C240's and see what problems people talk about. If you ask me, I would look into Lexus forum too and compare the two cars.
Wish you good luck.
Thanks
Ken

 

I have carsat a 2004 C240 4matic and three people I know all say the same thing. "What a great car" They love it I do also. Its reliable, solid build, quick, luxurious, good mpg also. I would recomend it.

 

How much do u have to spend is what u have to first decide and then pick a car out of two seperate lines. doing so will show u how ur dream car compares to reality.
do u have kids?
will u want kids?
do u commute to work?
do u travel alot long distances?
is fuel mileage an issue?
how long will u "plan" on keeping this car? 5 yrs 10 ? til it rusts n gas runs out?
now preferences-
sound ?
leather?
comfort?
leg room?
do u carry alot of friends or family ?
leg room and head room-

a merceds is a great car. very misunderstood and looked down on by other german car lovers. its not a backyard mechanics friend so it takes skill and means to work on it once the warranty is up. bmw glorified lexus imo very easy to work on heck u can motorswap all kinds of 3 series n e way merceds harder to do. no v8 or v12 swaps i know of correct me if im wrong.

gas-prices and avaiability,things are leaning towards eco friendly so id want a diesal u can always convert it to bio fuel like my oldest brother did and pay 60 bucks a month and sacrifice nothing.325 miles to a tank and 60 a month in actual fuel. veggie oil free from the local resturant.
ml 's are super sweet family getters.
c classes fun effiecient can be easily upgraded and fun to drive.
cl pricey not so good w gas and very insurance unfriendly do to heavy part price tags if wrecked or vandilized
slk 2 seaters
r not practical even if u are rich by a toureg or a turbo cayenne for that price you know?
e the all around mid size battle ship but again gas is ur only factor on that one seriously no complaints at all just gas.
n my favorite the amg's c63 both suv and car but again a cayeene in the suv or toureg v10 destroy the power and are equal in size performance and room. vw has the best leathers of the three soft as a babys skin.

hope that helps no one seems to care about resale value n e more but trust me buying certified pre owned takes alot of the price tag and gives u an additional warranty besides the one on the factory.I went 2 yrs used purchased from a one owner non smoker found all the TSB's had them replaced or fixed 4 free new tires of my choice n an extended warranty that covered my headlights n wipers till 100,000 miles or 3yrs. i saved 9,000 off the sticker price. do ur homework answer ur questions n then u have a clearer picture.

as far as parts they give and take. some dealers are more expensive than others i have seen a 20% diff in my own city. some oem parts are not as good only in price as aftermarkets but the qualityalways seems on par or better. except brakes or exhaust for example.

hope i helped.

 

I have owned a 2000 C-280 (104K) for over a year and have had 10, 000 miles of effortless driving so far. I bought it used from a local lot and had one problem with the iginition key switch within a week. The (CarMan -Richmond VA) dealer fixed the problem and I have been enjoying the car ever since.

I will say the digital readout for the gear and time has never been readable and I would like to fix them but I'm not sure if i could get in that deep and come out alive. Any ideas about fixing that problem would be appreciated.

Also, I just bought an 87' 560SL (105K) convertible last week, I'm getting various input about replacing tensioners, guides and timing chain at 100k miles. I'm contemplating replacing the timing chain although I can hear no slop in the chain itself upon startup. I even had the local Mercedes Benz Manager come out and say it sounded good. However, everywhere I read it says to change it. Also, not to run on, I'm considering joining the Pinselski.com website for information. Any thoughts on any of these questions would be greatly appreciated.