Some of you may remember a post I made back a few weeks ago titled "My Mercedes Was Murdered!" I have been wrangling with the offending party's insurance carrier for the past few weeks and finally opted to take my own providers offer and let them go after AAA - who has been pathetic througout this ordeal. I'm filing a complaint against them with the California Insurance Commission, but that's another thread.

I have been considering either a direct replacement or a newer model and I failed to find anything quite like what I wanted in the W210 chassis. I was probably too picky, but if I'm going to buy a 10 year old car it's going to be what I want.

Yesterday I visited a dealer and found a nice 2006 E350, Black/Charcoal. The car is loaded, everything I wanted with the exception of the Xenon headlamps. I like the extra ponies that the 3.5L engine provides and I bought the warranty expension so I'm covered until 2012. Hopefully the big gains that MBz made with this model year in the JD Power initial quality rankings will show up in the long term reliability as well, but if not I have some peace of mind.

So, I have a newer, slightly sportier ride, with the dynamic seats (that feel great on a winding road) and I have a Navi system, in dash CD changer, even Tel-Aid - just in case. In exchange, I now have a car payment for the first time in 8 years, so that's the downside, but I'll have it paid off before the warranty expires and now I can start focusing on my next tri-star, which I am pretty certain will be an adventure to try the European Delivery Program. Hopefully by that time California will have gotten over their "cerebral/rectal inversion" and will certify the Blue-Star diesel for CA use, and maybe MBz will have also refined this engine and worked out any initial bugs.

Thanks for letting me share with you. Now it's off to read up a bit on the manual and reset the adaptive trans.

Cheers,
Ron




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congrats on your new ride.

 

Thanks Sleepwalker. I took a drive along Skyline Drive today and I like the handling better than my old E320, probably in part due to a nice set of Michelins and the adaptive seats. It's quieter also, which is nice, though some prefer to hear the engine growl. When I want that I either hop on the Harley or go for a ride with my gal in her Porsche, so it's nice to have a smooth, quiet alternative.

Life is good - it would be better with my old car back but since that's not possible, I'm happy with where I am.

Cheers,
Ron

 

good luck with the new ride! looks sweet

 

Thanks bstar!

So far I like it, but with the nav system I have a bunch of new stuff to learn - not a problem, just an observation. Drove another winding road today, up to the "Alice's Restaurant" of Arlo Guthrie fame. I am really beginning to like the dynamic seats, full-size Mercedes comfy on the straight, but sport car grip when riding the twisties - what a great idea!

Cheers,
Ron