Mercedes have an award for high mileage Merc owners 1million "Miles" and over apparently been in existence since 1960s. So nothing new for Mercedes. As below:
My bil bought a new Accord in 1990. last time I saw him it 850thou on the clock. and still going strong.
saxman99,
Sep 4, 10:10am
Dad's merc had 720 when sold still going fine. Got in a taxi in Germany with 870.
kazbanz,
Sep 4, 1:11pm
billy--whats your point ? Those german taxi's do a few km -but your first example has mechanical issues.
billyfieldman,
Sep 4, 1:50pm
I was just so surprised to see such high mileage from European cars because of they have such bad reputation in terms of reliability.
I expected most of them to go to the wreckers way before that.
elect70,
Sep 4, 2:10pm
Those built in early 000 to 05 probably never reach the mill mile mark . the then CEO had them all down engineered in every respect . . But not uncommon for the old 280s & the deisels to do hi milage . the newer supercharged models no so reliable either
bwg11,
Sep 4, 2:37pm
Absolutely. The current (in fact, post 2000) Mercs are a totally different beast to the well engineered, robust cars like the 280, for example, of the 70's and 80's.
gammelvind,
Sep 4, 7:20pm
The 280? Which year(s) do you mean, to me the 280 is the W114, or maybe the W116, possibly the W123 but you might mean the W126. or.
poppy62,
Sep 4, 7:22pm
More mythology about the later Mercedes. There are a host of them here on Trade me with moderate to high mileages. Just check them out. The issue was mainly in the Singapore and Malaysian models that had local content inferior wiring and insulation, that broke down through humidity and heat. This also applied to Volvos and other cars that were fitted with the inferior locally sourced wiring harnesses. Nothing wrong with the Mercedes brand.
bwg11,
Sep 4, 8:09pm
I was thinking of the 1970's W114's as I wrote, I suspect build quality was slipping by the mid eighties W126 280SE.
gammelvind,
Sep 4, 9:56pm
That M110 DOHC engine was good in fuel injection, that Solex carb was a bit of a challenge though. I always liked the twin carbed M130 SOHC 280 engine, that was a honey. Both found in the W114.
franc123,
Sep 5, 8:43am
I remember those, later W114 (with the ridged taillights) were a 2.8 with twin carbs but were still badged as a 250! The 280E 114 was certainly a nice machine for its time, D jetronic injected but not a 'bloat' like a 280SE was. Nicely upgraded for the 123 series too. The M110 was a bit too small for a 126 body IMO.
henderson_guy,
Sep 5, 9:19am
I don't think that 385 thoukm is particularly impressive. Even my petrol L200 which had a poor reputation has 350 thou on it and I've seen them closer to 500. More to the point, what qualifies as high km these days? I recall the euro spammer has referenced 200thou as high before, but my Commodore is approaching that and I consider it to be quite low km.
billyfieldman,
Sep 5, 9:44am
Just wondering about the German taxis. With the high prices charged by Mercedes for servicing , parts and labour, wouldn't it be expensive to operate a Mercedes as a taxi?
headcat,
Sep 5, 10:01am
Saabs have done the million mile thing too.
franc123,
Sep 5, 10:31am
Operating a Benz commercially in Germany isn't going to be as expensive as here, at least as far as new vehicles being maintained by official agents is concerned. There is for the most part a good range of aftermarket gear available to meet the needs of those who choose not to as well, its where higher population and vehicle numbers and competition has its benefits. Service charges aren't necessarily that much higher if at all for European cars anyway, its when other things start going wrong is where the costs can kick in. But even that may not always be the case either, if the auto in your diesel E class cab in Germany does die there is going to be someone able to supply a remanufactured unit for a reasonable cost.
elect70,
Sep 5, 4:11pm
Thats not my understanding . The CEO did cut the quality of everything incuding the panel steel & he was on record as saying they were over engineered & they would be down engineered . Lots of complaints from customers from 02 meant falling sales & in about 08-9 he was replaced & mercedes published assurances the quality wold be reinstated . It was also reported in several car mags at the time & testers noticed the differences
gammelvind,
Sep 5, 5:00pm
Wouldn't imagine so, especially in Europe where they leave the factory already set up as a taxi. These are set up as working machines not unlike the vans etc. Here the distributors and dealerships appear to work on the basis that because MB is a luxury brand and we have to pay for our marble floors they charge moonbeams. There are plenty of second tier service facilities around where the servicing is reasonable. E.g. My mother gets charged $600 for a full service on her Corolla at the Toyota dealership, where I get the same service on my MB at a qualified but non dealership workshop for $300.
toenail,
Sep 5, 5:34pm
that's great, not sure why you would buy one tho, it would most likely have the stench of old men or smelly socks.
nothing beats the smell of brand top grade new leather in a car.
slarty45,
Sep 5, 6:11pm
I reckon your mum is getting shafted if that is what they charge every service
mber2,
Sep 5, 7:26pm
exactly. I just sold a Telstar with 365000 on it and still going strong so what is the point of this thread
bwg11,
Sep 5, 8:34pm
Seems totally excessive to me. A full service is $260. Add in a brake fluid flush, and an air filter & cabin filter should only be $465. See below:
Love that it ended up at a museum and he got given a new Merc, he must have had a great service and maintenance routine.
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