WQe have to replace our versus1992 Honda Accord (it was stolen). I was wondering what the relative repair costs are for them. I thought the Honda was a little higher than most, but then it only broke down once in 96k miles. The distributor and ingiter were replaced for $400. What would that be for the Mecedes E320 wagon?
Obviously, the parts and labor costs for the benz will be higher than a honda, you are comparing apples and oranges.
I’d suggest you call the dealer or shop that would do the work and ask.
Yes, much higher. As an example, I owned 2 Volkswagens. The first was a Porsche 914 and it was much more expensive to repair than the later Rabbit, despite using VW parts to make it less expensive than a 911 to repair. And as Craig said, it is an unfair comparison. They are not competing cars. If you like the Benz, it would be good for you but only if it has been very well cared for. It’s almost 15 years old and condition is everything. If it looks good inside and out, take it to a mechanic and pay the $200 or so for an inspection. Make sure he knows that you might buy the car and that you want to know everything that it needs to make it serviceable. Not necessarily perfect, but darned near.
A 1994 E class will have issues with the wiring harness, head gasket and mass air sensor. All three well known problems. Once these things have been sorted out, mostly under factory recall, they are wonderful cars.
Once a car becomes 10 years old or so it’s a myth that the German car parts are so much higher. Asian car parts are not cheap. The big factor is the Benz will have parts that break that the Toyota doesn’t even have. if it ain’t there it won’t break. Labor costs at an Indy my well be close in flat rate hourly costs, but again it may take more flat rate hours to do the same thing on the Benz.
Benzman
You won’t want to compare the differences. They favor the Honda.
“Once a car becomes 10 years old or so it’s a myth that the German car parts are so much higher.”
Probably true (I’ve never owned anything asian), but after about 25 years the benz part prices seem to start going up again. The dealer is currently charging $49 for the 617 air filter on my '82.
Wow, Im showing a factory Mann filter for the '82 617 at $17.50. This is a 300D, right?
Benzman
Yup, that’s about what I pay online too, but the dealer seems to have a 250% mark-up on that part (some other parts are more reasonable). Then they complain that no-one goes to them for maintenance parts or out of warrantee work. They do give me good service on “dealer only” parts and I would like to support them, but they need to be a little closer to reality.
Blockhead asked about the Honda because he owned an Accord. A better comparison would be between the Benz and an Acura of the same vintage. But it appears he wants to compare it to his past experience, rather than a comparable car. A Honda will be much less than a Benz; an Acura probably similar to the E320.
Just curious, why would the “acura” nameplate make the repairs more expensive than a honda? Is there any actual difference (other than trim level) between a acura and a honda (they look about the same to me)?
I’m assuming the OP has a line on a E320 and is considering buying that specific car.
They don’t use the same engines, either. My point about the VW 914 is that despite having parts made in VW plants to save cost, they were still a lot more expensive than VW parts. All they had to do was attach the Porsche name to it and the price magically escalated. I think that would be the case with any family of cars.
Yup, I’ve bought my share of 914 parts (I have a '73 2.0-4 all over my garage at the moment). The type 4 engine for that car is a little different than the VW version, but a lot of the parts are interchangeable. Other than the engine, all the parts are unique and only available through porsche dealers. The parts are more expensive than air cooled VW (dirt cheap), but really not to bad compared to most other euro cars. It was actually a joint venture, marketed as “VW-porsche” in europe.
I don’t know anything about the whole acura/honda, lexus/toyota, nissan/whatever badging thing; but it all seems a little silly to me.