That is just a matter of time; I believe that within 2 years you will be able to buy diesels in many AWD cars or wagons.
The Acura MDX my neighbor has is extremely sophisticsted and a road manchine and has AWD. Honda and Toyota will probably offer Hybrids in all there vehicles first along with diesels in some of their cars.
Agree that on paper the Passat is a near perfect car; good seats realtively quiet, but quite fragile and costly to maintain.
BMW has an AWD vehicle now which will be offered in diesel soon since it’s already available le that way overseas. It’s more of a perfoemanc vehicle than an all-weather carrier.
All cars sold in the US have to meet increasingly stiffer fuel mileage (CAFE) standards, so milege improvement are a must. At all cost, avoid a Jeep with a diesel; it lacks many of the amenities you look for, and the diesels so far have been Mecedes hand-me-downs.
To answer the larger question, it depends what you want to drive. I’m in the process of having the engine replaced in my '82 benz after 438K miles (at significant expense). It’s almost always less expensive to repair them than replace them. I would much rather write the occasional $5K repair checks than a $50K new car check every few years. The resale value is only an issue if the car is for sale, if you want to keep it consider the replacement value.
And to think I was stupid enough to spend all of those years in the Honda/Nissan/Subaru service dept. drinking countless gallons of coffee while waiting for something to break as the tool box accumulated cobwebs.
Makes sense to me! Of course this is way easier to say than if I were facing a $4K repair. Got my car back and I am in love all over again. thanks all…wbp
I think we’re getting confused about three things; reliability, life expectancy, and repair costs.
Mercedes cars have a long life expectancy by design for most components, especially the ones that are engine and body related. Unfortunately the overall reliability has gone downhill, while many other makes, such as BMW have improved.
Because of the depreciated dollar, repair and maintenace costs on any European car are higher or much higher than those of domestics or Asian.
Any mechanic working on 1980s Mercedes cars will swear that nothing touches them for durability and reliability, and he’s right.
On modern cars the electronics and other non-esssential gadgets are the most troublesome. Asian electronics tend to be more reliable.
On another post a Volvo owner told the OP that his car was inexpensive to maintain and repair. Owners often see their cars and their children through rose-colored glasses.
wbp; we’re very happy for you. You may have many more years of happy ownwership and when the time comes to trade up, there will be many desirable cars on the market.
In a recent test by a well known car magazine, the best road/highway AWD vehicle was the top of the line Acura. Audi Quattro was second, Mercedes rated 3rd. Nissan also rated extremely well.
Personally, I would recommend “trading up” to a older benz. (-;
This is funny, one of my colleagues and I are in TX at the moment, he has a few 90s vintage benzes and mine are 80s vintage. We have a long term “debate” over which are “better.” Basically, he likes (trusts) electronics and I don’t (he’s an electrical engineer, go figure). It’s all good fun, everyone should get to pick their own toys based on their own criteria.
like most said i would find an independent to go over it. i would not let the dealer touch it. i hate to say it but i’m sure it crossed the dealers mind that it time to sell you a brand new one and give you next to nothing for your car as a trade so he can sell it for 6 or 7 grand. i’ve had 9 used mb’s and never had a serious problem with so low miles on it. (maybe 350 - 400) it does sound like drive shaft. you didn’t say wether you had the dealer repair the rust or not. you don’t need to it’s true that you can’t use regular dupont paint on a mb but there are plenty of shops out there that understand german paints and will do a great job. but if you insist on getting a new car please, please, please let me buy your 99. sounds like a well cared for used mercedes with plenty of life left in it.
I don’t usually buy cars until they are 5 to 8 years old, but I drive them 10 to 15 years. Some of them have been saved from the junk yard by the skin of their rusty chrome. One E250 got tossed when there was no metal left to weld the driver’s door back on the second time. I don’t know if my recomendation is worth the email, but I always tell people if the car is not rusted out and you like it, keep it. Resale value is irrelevant of you are going to keep it, and if it is basically reliable then why buy the risk of a lemon? I seen horrors when people get stuck with new cars that have problems. Granted, the newer cars tend to be somewhat more reliable, but trading in for new is always a risk, worse if trading for used.
Service is as good as the mechanic, and dealers have no patent on good mechanics. The MB dealer in my town pays his mechanics on commission for what they can sell. I wouldn’t take anything to those guys.
