Mercedes-benz vs. BMW vs. Audi

You should drive some of those older Benzes in foul weather, especially the non-ABS cars

The handling is AMAZINGLY bad :frowning:

The very thought gives me the willies. Although, when I think about it, all of our cars handled pretty badly in the '60s. Of course the bias ply tires didn’t help none! I remember taking corners with my '64 Fairlane and holding on for dear life!

The styling is not the best but I would rather get a Lexus when it comes to reliability.

mountainbike

I’m talking about cars with atrocious handling, which were sold in the 80s and 90s . . . !

It goes without saying . . . IMO . . . any non-sports car sold in the 70s and earlier did NOT have good handling, maybe okay for the time, but lousy by today’s standards

IIRC, it was a 300D.

Do you want to know why they owned a diesel-powered car?
It was because her husband owned a lab that tested home heating oil for
purity
or something
and he always had lots of left-over home heating oil sitting around.

He regularly poured the left-over home heating oil into the tank of his Mercedes, and drove for
almost no cost.
Yes, I am aware that he was violating both federal and state laws by using a fuel on which no road tax had been paid.

Edited to add:
Prior to that Mercedes, he owned a Peugeot diesel sedan, so clearly the MB was a step-up!

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If they’d get rid of that weird grille they’d look pretty good.

That is a great looking car from every angle except nose-on. And if you ever see that paint color in person, it’s stunning.

I personally like the grill, but that is pure, unadulterated, 100% taste. Or lack thereof. People either like it or hate it.

At first, I didn’t like it, but it
grew on me
to the point where I now think it’s pretty good-looking.
Judging from how many of these late-model Lexi that I see on the roads, apparently we are not alone in liking it.

I recently read an auto magazine in the doctor’s office and the author derided the front end of th RX-350 as a cow catcher.

My son in law bought a 2005 C230 from his boss a few years ago. He has had a few trim problems, but the drive train works well. His main complaint is service cost. He went into the closest dealer (Baltimore area) for a quote on service. He described it as a glorified oil change. The Benz dealer wanted $750 for it. He drives a lot for work, and had it done at a Benz dealer in Macon, GA (I told ya he drives a lot) for $375. Still a lot of money, but half price of the big city dealer. I suggested he try a nearby indie that specializes in European vehicles. Maybe they will be a bit better price-wise. He isn’t complaining too much because he got it at a great purchase price. Still, it has 125,000 miles on it and he thinks he wants a 2015 Mazda6.

The best way to bring this down is to read the owner’s manual and list the maintenance items required at that time. Then tell the dealer to just perform those.

Dealers have been adding extra items on their own to increase their profit.

He did read the manual and the items list were for the work described in the maintenance manual. That is how he knew the service was so overpriced.

Run with the rich guys, expect to pay rich guy prices.

Someone who drops the price of two cars on one car can probably afford overpriced mechanical work, and so they’re going to encounter that.

My mom bought a BMW awhile ago, and likes to go around talking about how financially smart it was because she gets free maintenance for 3 years. Yeah
 You paid almost 70,000 bucks for that free maintenance, and then once the warranty runs out you’re gonna pay out the nose. And she’ll complain about that, but if she doesn’t want to pay overinflated repair charges she should have bought a less-big-money car.

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Yes, that would likely reduce it to “only” $150 for the oil change! I’m sure Mercedes air in the tires will cost more as well.

A Mercedes-Benz spec lambswool oil filter and 8-10 quarts of Euro spec synthetic oil and $150 is right in the ballpark. We’ll top off the tires with 78% US nitrogen at no additional cost.

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Unfortunately too many kids think the high price of the purchase is the only difference between a BMW and a Corolla. My son had a couple of BMWs years back when he was in college. He learned. Fortunately for him, he can now easily afford his Audi, but he had a Scion for some years in between his BMWs and his Audi. He’s smart, been lucky, and worked hard, so he deserves it. But he learned long ago that fancy cars simply cost more to own. But I feel bad that so many kids don’t learn and end up in serious financial trouble.

That author must have really confused his younger readers with that reference.
Do most people under the age of
maybe
45
even know what a cow-catcher was?

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I couldn’t agree more. HATE that look.

I hate that front also. When I see one I immediately think “ugly”.

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I’m 44 and know what a cow-catcher is

Then again, I was actually paying attention during my history classes, versus passing notes and hitting on chicks, when the teacher’s back was turned :wink: