As far as safety, that Mercedes is more sturdier, and will protect your family far way better than that suzuki, I gurantee that. There is a saying that insurance is not worried about what's going to happen when you drive an S-class, they are worried about what that car will do to the other car.

And a year in work, hm. Oil changes are like on any other car but I advise synthetic( but that's me.) so it should not be any more expensive as any other car.

I don't know a bout the air filter because I have a K&N filter that I just basically shake out everynow and then, clean the intake area good, spray a very light, keyword, very light coat of the K&N filter and pop it back in. But I know my uncle gets it about $8 a pop.

Coolant. This car requires a special made coolant that's anticorrosive. The yellow stuff. It usually cost me about $20 a bottle for the real MBZ special coolant and a flush and fill requires about two of these. $40

And usually depending on what the previous owner did or didn't do before you bought the car, most people shouldn't be surprise to put in up to $2000 in the first year, but as I mentioned earlier one with 95,000 should be basically good to go.

And with the 420 you don't have to worry about that pesky (when it breaks.) rear self leveling air suspension thing that the 560s have and cost a few thousand to replace.

And please have that timing chain looked at and or tightened( not much.) or replaced (couple of hundred with labor.). No matter what Benz you get, have that timing chain looked at. If that thing fails on you, it can cause severe damage to the engine ($1000s) or to the point that the engine is dead. ($4000-$8,000 just for the engine replacement.)

Nice looking cars by the way, but of course the 300SEL is a little easier on gas due to the smaller engine but in this case it's not a diesel with a turbo. In my opinion the W126s was made to run off V-8s or diesels. The I-6, even though it's does an okay job for a 6 and way better than most 6s out there, it feels out of place here. But that's my opinion. It depends on your priorities and what's more important to you and what you are looking for. You have nice choices and no matter which one you take, you won't sacrifice safety, comfort, appeal, or quality. If I was in your shoes but had my 560, and wanted another W126, I wouldn't know whether to choose the 420 or the 300 (probably eventually go for the 420 but $3000 less and not many much more KM and depending on the conditions, I might of bought the 300 and pocketed the $3000.)

 

Hey Blackwolf, what's up? sounds that the car, in terms of maintenance, is just like any other car...is it advisable to buy qenuine merc. parts (oil filter, oil..diff. oil..) at the dealership or can i just pick up the stuff at any parts store?
I can do these little things myself, it's the bigger things i can't do :-(((
i like the comment about what the benz would do to the other car in an accident...too much! but i guess it's true.
I will call the guy up this week and find out when's a good time to meet and just take a look at each others' cars...
thanks again.
Fabs.

 

As far as everday replacement parts goes filters, oils, belts i just buy auto store parts. But any major stuff pure OEM Mercedes.

 

yep. The reason my water pump failed so quick was because the previous owner placed a cheap water pump into it. $715 it cost me to get it right with a brand new Mercedes certified OEM part.

But filters, oils, little wear and tear maintenence stuff, auto shop stuff is okay as MBZ just said.

Good luck with the car and have fun. Remember, once you go Benz, you'll never want to go back to regular cars.

 

PHEW! good to hear that i can use regular shop things for the car...like i said i can do the smaller things myself (oil change....) no problem. I'm at work now and just saw an old 420sel right outside my store! i was gonna go out and talk to the driver but took off right away, the car doesn't really look that big in person but nicccee!!! hahah

Remember, once you go Benz, you'll never want to go back to regular cars....hahah you said it!!! Like my fellow cook used to say

GO BIG OR GO HOME!!! HAHAHA LOVE IT! AND SO TRUE

715 for a water pump! wow...was that parts and labour too? it's not that bad...
well gotta run..take care.
fabs

 

UPDATE***
I called up my insurance agency today just to inquire about how much it would cost me to get this "bad-boy" insured...all-in-all i would be saving between 7-800 dollars/year with the merc. not bad!!! i guess it would compensate for gas/maintenance that would have to be done. The price would depend as well, on what type of policy i get (acc. / fire/ theft??) any suggestions as to what's a good option? thanks
fabs

 

Hey Blackwolf, how are you? fabs here with a little update on the 420. I went with my fiancee tonight to go see the car. It was in very good shape! where was a little "bubbling" of the chrome? on the front bumper..nothing major and of course the sunroof.

We went to a test drive (he drove, not me)..wow! what a car!!!! it is a big car i must say, but it's really nice! once inside we were off, he didn't floor it (we were in res. area) but he slowly dropped the peddle and i can feel the car starting to move and wanting more! it was such a safe, sturdy feeling inside, very quiet too!

My fiancee was in the back and was fiddling with the buttons on the door and OMG! i didn't know the back seats were electric!! soo cool! i was in awe with this car.

Unfortunatly after talking with the owner we was looking for a more "financial" deal instead of a trade for my car and the price was a bit out of reach for us..to bad *sigh***\
BUT there is still the 300 sel that i had mentioned, and i believe it is still for sale. I saw some more pics of it and seems quite similar to the 420..are they almost alike? (i know the 300 has a 6 instead of the 8 like the 420 (man that 8 sounded really nice!!!)) In terms of featers? ride/handling?? performance? let me know whatcha think..
thanks again for your advice and help, i hope i can pick up one of these cars soon..
fabs

 

$715 for parts and six hours of labor at $70 an hour.

 

I'm nice and doing well. A 420 SEL with the electric back seat? Rare. Even I thought that was a 560SEL only option unless it was the "diplomat" version, which had the individual electric rear seats.

The 420 and the 300 W126 basically differ mostly in the engine, as you stated, a 6 instead of the 8. Both engines are notorious for longevity (My uncle has a 300SE with over 300,000 miles on it and he stills drive it from Atlanta to way up North East without hesitation.)
The features should be about the same, electric just about everything, sunroof, I believe the seats are heated too. Ride and handling is should be identical. The six is nice, built of course it's no 8 cylinder, but the performance is not weak either. If you manage to get the 420, good choice, if you manage to get the 560 good choice, if you manage to get the 300 good choice. Only thing is that I don't think any 300SEL comes with the electiric back seats but it's comfortable though.

 

Blackwolf..i will definitly try to pick up that 300sel...i wasn't sure as to what it looked like and then found some more pics on the net. Very similar to the 420 actually, prob. i little bit smaller. I know that the engine is pretty good too. I know it's no V8 but with todays gas prices a 6 will do just well. I think that the interior is like the 420, like you mentioned, and even without the electric rear seats it still does look realllly comfy. I truely love these older S-class cars, they seem really prestigeous. take care.
fabs