hi guys, new here to the forums. i have been looking at cars to buy for a while now. i have come down to 3 cars, 2 of them being MB. 2005 or 2006 c230 OR an Acura TL of the same year. the MB would be my choice hands down if it weren't for one issue: maintenance.

while i can afford to pay for maintenance on my car, i am very mechanically savvy with a little online help here and there, but it seems most MB owners don't do any work on their car themselves and so therefore online information is hard to come by.

do any of you do your own stuff? oil changes, battery changes, alternator change, transmission fluid change...these are all things that if they can't be changed by me personally, i have a very difficult time forking over hundreds of dollars to have taken care of. is buying a mercedes not for me? thanks for any insight on what is doable as far as maintenance goes and what is not.

and one last question - do the 2 model c-class i mentioned have timing chains or belts? i would assume chains.

FYI - i have changed clutches on previous cars, as well as installed headers, camshafts, heads, pushrods, and pretty much seen every piece of an engine. all costs i've spent on fixing up cars topples 6 grand; had i paid for labor, that money would be near 15k i imagine. that is why it is hard for me to pay someone to do most of my own car work. cams/clutches/etc...hope to never have to touch on a MB though. just giving you an example so you can know where i come from.

 

Everybody I know in here does their own maintenance. In some cases, it is because they cannot stand anyone else touching their car. The only times we get stumped , it seems, is onthe fuel injection. But there are people in here that work with it every day.

Blue

 

I too had the same car choice problems. Not that I could afford 2005 and newer, mine was 1995-2001. Maintenance of these cars, everything looked alien to me. Heck, I went old school W123 diesel. Lots of parts and DIY advice too.

As for 2005 and newer. I think everything is still under warranty or the parts are still holding up.

Acura TL, nice car, but you'd look like a character from Need for Speed, Tokyo Drift. Get a C230 it literally adds to anyones face value.

 

I own a 07 C230 sport and I love the little thing. I bring my car into the dealer forservice only because they have to reset the computer. It prompts me with a service light and a noise that over time will bug the mess out of you. But I would pick the Mercedes any day if given the choice. The hood ornament speaks for itself.

 

A good point. It is also worth noting that in Germany it is the law that car manufactures must be able to supply all parts for cars made for 10 years after the end of the date of production.

Mercedes used to claim (i've not heard them publicize this recently) that they could easily supply parts for all the cars they sold in the last 30 years, and any they didn't have to hand they just re-machined, but in the days of cutting stock levels, who knows if this is true any more. I suspect unofficially it probably is, as I read an article about the restoration of a 300SL and they said for lots of parts they just went to Mercedes, and they were able to supply them (at a big cost though!!!).

Also there are an awful lot of firms selling reconditioned parts, or 3rd party substitutes....so dont worry about the availability of parts, just the cost......

James

 

From reading what you have done in the past with cars you understand the theory behind "Preventive Maintenance" so the MB's you listed should not be much of a problem for you to solve if anything does come up. Think about it this way. The 2005/ 2006 C230 Sports packagescome with all the bells and whisltles from the factory. AMG body kit, big brake kit up front, agressive suspension package including electronics, 17 inch wheels on all corners, and a sport tuned exhaust, oh yeah RWD.I got the 2005 Kompressor which is a 1.8L Supercharged that get's very good gas mileage, fun to drive, good looks, and for a 4 banger has alot of spunk. The TL is nice I like the newer models design but still falls into the Import racer catagory so by going with MB you graduate outta that scenein my opinion.

 

I am about to do my first oil change since my warranty ran out and it is due for an A-service. I have the air, oil & cabin filters, 10 qrts of Mobil1 0W40, a Mityvac 7201 extractor standing by. I'm waiting to hit the 50,000 mark. My dealer did a B-service for me the last time so I will do an A-service & not have to fork out $320 but $180. My tires are new, wipers new, windshield new, front brake pads & rotors, rear pads, all done 3 weeks ago by dealer. So I will be set to do another year or 10,000 miles which ever comes first.