superangrypenguin

I'm facing a unique dilemma with my W204. Some background. I've owned these cars and since sold them (with the exception of the 204): W220 S. W221 S, 2013 X5 4.4L, Infiniti QX4, Audi A4, and now this W204.

I've never owned a car this long (bought my 204 in 2012 new, and only have 60,000km today). No car is perfect, and every car has their own frustration, but quite frankly I've never had more difficulties figuring out what car to buy next than right now. I think i've been looking for about a year now, and nothing has made me go "wow, can't wait to get rid of my 204!". The 204 isn't perfect, but man, I never noticed how much I was in love with it until I tried to get rid of it! To put this in perspective, the 204 is long paid off, and yeah, I've been eyeing a stupid next decision, like buying a W222, or even a Maybach (as in - really stupid financial decision), but between the car payments for a new car, and all that, the net benefit of buying a new S or whatever isn't really outweighing the car payments because the 204 seems to do so much so well. It's been super reliable to me, it's comfortable, and it's been a good fun car.

I mean sure, I bought my 204 fully loaded and thus have no toys that I wish I would have bought when I did, but I feel like if the 204 had Airmatic (not an option for our cars) then I wouldn't even be "here" looking for a car in the first place. I guess outside of that, I'm just looking because I'm a guy and I love cars and I'm bored right now, but yeah, man, this 204 has been my best vehicle purchase thus far!

Curious what you guys think about your 204s!

And before anyone trolls me, my Maybach comment upthread is this. Is it a MUCH better car than the 204? Of course, duh, it's like a million x the price, but is the "gain"/benefit from buying such a car worth $2000/month financed (or more?) given the marginal benefit that the Maybach would give me over the 204? That's not a black/white answer, but since it's so grey, am I better off keeping the money in the bank? I think so, lol.

Adi-Benz

Alfa Romeo Giulia or C450

Although if you have the budget S63 Coupe

im sure you've already gone through these options. I would just modify the 12 to cater to anything else you'd need.

When I was looking for a replacement car instead of getting a new transmission, I just couldn't find anything that was worth it to me. However I wasn't going for a budget that large lol.

Ooh. Chrysler 300 SRT8 if they even make newer ones. Our 300 is dead silent and ride is smooth. All the reviews say so too - super quiet at 80mph.

tekfoc

LOL that's because underneath it's a Mercedes chassis

superangrypenguin

To be fair, as I indicated upthread, it is a catastrophically stupid financial decision to be paying that much for a car, only to have it depreciate like $30,000 a year. Am I comfortable lighting $30K on fire? Of course not, but do I live once, only? Yes. I had no issues spending $60K (Canadian) on my W204, mainly because the value gleaned from the car was worth the incremental price increase I paid for the 204 vs my last car, but is there that big of a gap (value wise) between a W222 vs the 204? No, not really.

This is a case of a guy's brain fighting with his gentleman's sausage. It's completely irrational, but even then, I guess what I've noticed is how much I like my 204 and how well it's treated me. If it didn't treat me so well, I'd have give it the boot already

Alfadude

Why not lease a Maybach for a year? Still a stupid financial decision in the big scheme of things, but you would only be locked in for a year and if you wanted you could easily go back into a W204. Sure, you will be spending a lot of money, but might be the best way to mitigate the amount, You know you want it, and like you said you only live once and if you don't don't it now while you are able you might never get the chance. I say screw it and go car shopping on Monday. Just don't in six months start a thread trying to get the interior sound level of the Maybach as loud as the W204.

Good luck and keep us apprised,

superangrypenguin

Can't lease or finance a Maybach in Canada apparently.

Alfadude

I would talk to a dealer about that. Maybe not able to lease through Mercedes, but maybe the dealer. has some options for that. Seems odd to me, but I know that there are a lot of things different in Canada compared to the US.

ezshift5

Replacing an age 10 6M V-6 with a beautiful little CPO Iridium Silver coupe was easy.

Fuel efficient, reliable and my better half loves it.

Never had a problem.

ez

xsever

If you can't find a replacement for the W204 after a year of looking, you need to go spend around 12k on a private pilot license and trust me you won't be short of ideas to spend your money and you'll get to keep your car.

Getting my pilot license made me switch from wanting to buy "dream cars" to driving a car I like and spending the rest on flying all over and enjoying it 100x versus driving a 4-wheeled vehicle on the road.

I know this isn't probably the answer you're looking for but this was my experience.

superangrypenguin

You're not the only one who has that hobby Thankfully I've put down my wings years ago mainly because the financial damage to my wallet was devastating, LOL.

xsever

Hahaha oh wow! Well then you know exactly what I'm talking about. An old pilot at the club once told me: "The sky is no longer your limit, it's your wallet!".

edgalang

I've seen you mention this more than once now and I've also noticed it in your sig from prior posts. I'm curious why you continue to claim that it's "fully loaded", especially at that price point.

Going from memory alone, some of the items in 2012 were...
Radar guided cruise control...
Parking Assist...
Driver Assistance Package...
Full leather package (with memory passenger seats)...
Dynamic Handling Package...
Lighting Package...
Command/Multimedia Package...
Panoramic MoonRoof...
PowerRear Sunshade...
Keyless Go...

Are you saying you got all the items above for 60k Canadian (46k USD)? The reason why I mention this is because I opted not to get at least 4 items from that list and still paid more.

superangrypenguin

Hmm, either your memory is failing you or it's because we live in two separate countries, or maybe because your taxes are a lot more than here. Also, keep in mind that the US CDN $ in 2012 wasn't what it is today. That said, there are several options you listed that are not an option on the C300, either because it's not available for the 300, or because it wasn't available at all for that MY C class in Canada. I've attached a brochure to my post here of the exact one that was given to Canadian customers, but I'll copy and paste your list above and comment accordingly.

Radar guided cruise control... -no, not an option at all
Parking Assist... -yes, part of the premium package on my car
Driver Assistance Package... -yes, on my car
Full leather package (with memory passenger seats)...- have memory passenger seats on my car, but there isn't a "full leather" package, short of going to Designo
Dynamic Handling Package...-no, not an option at all on my car
Lighting Package... - by lighting, if you're referring to the ILS, that's standard on the C300 here. (bixenon lights etc)
Comand/Multimedia Package... -no, not an option package, but it is part of the premium package on my car
Panoramic MoonRoof...yes, part of the premium package on my car
PowerRear Sunshade...no, not an available option
Keyless Go...-no, not a separate option, but part of the convenience package on my car

--
In particular, my vehicle has the:

C300 4matic premium package
C300 4matic Convenience package
Entertainment package
Driving assistance package
AMG wheels (had no choice but to buy this)

And a few other things that didn't cost additional money (such as the burl walnut wood trim) that I bought. I could have sworn the 110V plug was a separate option that I chose, but it appears to be part of the premium package. If I had to nitpick, the only option I didn't pay for was the Designo package, which I don't want given the shi*** winters we have here. That said, yeah, I remember the MSRP was around $60 or $65K for my car, something around that, taxes in, I believe. This was before the trade in I had too. -and that's why it's fully loaded, there's no other option to buy for my C300. You're also going to hate me, but after a few significant discounts and about 9% off of the car (due to yours truly haggling), I paid quite a bit less than that. :-) After having demo-ed a few new MBs, the new sales guy did pull up what I paid for the C300, and he asked how I got a car below their cost. Perhaps he's BSing me, but it made me feel good (I suspect it's because MB had a promo on as well to waive the first three payments, so that added about another $2 or $3,000 off of the car too at no cost to the dealer.

edgalang

No hate here. I was just curious what your definition of "loaded" means since IMO it means everything but to each their own. I too didn't opt for the designo package nor did I go for the extra rear seat amenities like what in your brochure lists as "PREMIUM REAR SEATING PACKAGE". I only mention the above list, since those were the options given to me when filling out my factory order, whereas the dealer will generally just stock whatever they feel will sell at that particular location. As an example, the "Dynamic Handling Package" wasn't even listed in any of the brochures here in the US.

But to get back on topic...I too love my W204 (helps that it was my wedding anniversary gift)...and plan to take it to at least the 1st high mileage award.
https://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/herit...ghmileageaward
As for a replacement (estimated 3 years from now), my wife and I are planning for a Tesla to take advantage of our solar panels.

Adi-Benz

Hes right about the options

heres the car you want

superangrypenguin

Sorry - I read your first sentence and that made me double take - maybe my tone was off or something, but I certainly wasn't hating on anything. It was an early morning post and I was just recalling and spewing out facts Definitely get your point of view. If the premium rear seating package was available on the C300 (which it wasn't as per the PDF I attached), I would have bought it. On the current E class it's like $750, and to me that's money well spent! Too bad they didn't sell it make it available on the 300.

I'm fairly certain even if I get a new car I'll keep the 204. It's sentimental to me, I think. The other interesting bit is I'd love to win the high mileage award, but it's not something I'll win, and off topic, I think it's a very unfair award. Someone who drives 40,000 miles a year will win that prior to someone doing 10,000 miles a year, and how's that fair? There's probably been more wear/tear/usage out of the latter than the former. I guess that "hate" (lol, too strong a word) comes from my frequent flying days when someone who does 95 short 1 hour flight qualifies for Super Elite with Air Canada as someone who does 100,000 bum in seat miles. Oh well, I don't think MB will be changing the new model to 1,000,000 faultless starts/turnovers award! LOL

superangrypenguin

You know, the point of a car is to get from point A->B, and even the Clarkson trio admit that an Alfa will probably get you butt raped at the side of a road b/c it broke down, lol.

Adi-Benz

It's an F-type Jaguar bro lol

superangrypenguin

You mean F-type Tata. That's like buying a Range Rover and expecting it to work

Alfadude

Seems more like the car YOU want.

Adi-Benz

Yes I want many cars

If it weren't for the exhaust, it's relatively quiet.

Alfadude

[QUOTE=Adi-Benz;7402367]Yes I want many cars

Don't we all....don't we all....?

Adi-Benz

[QUOTE=Alfadude;7402635]Yes, but it seems like the OP wants to stay with German cars. However, in his case, it might not be the answer. Top Gear, although I love the guys, are not always right.

For example a common thing to say is Jeep Grand cherokee's are unreliable. We've had one from the past 3 generations and they have been incredibly reliable, 2 made it over 150,000 miles and traded with only used tires. This newest one is going strong as well.

That's why I say grab the decibel meter thing and go try a Chrysler 300, even an old gen SRT8. Each car is different (as if some w204's don't have creaks and rattles) so the best way is just to go out and look.
Then try a Lexus ls500 or similar, and a Genesis. Just go around and see what you like, doesn't matter if it's a "Hyundai," cause it has a 10yr warranty.

Alfadude

For some reason I just am having a hard time picturing someone shopping for a car with a decibel meter............................................. .....

shotgun_banjo

This is my advise....put that money in canadian marijuana stocks and after this year you can buy a lamborghini. I did exactly that last June and right now if I sell my stocks I can buy a Aventador and S63 in cash if I want to.

The w204 is a keeper. I will keep it and open my wallet to whatever it needs to get going on the road as I have not done that yet as that is how reliable it is. Then sell my stocks and buy the stupidest things in life can offer.....maybe a Maybach or 2.