neanderthal

there are so many idiots on both sides of this argument its not even funny.

who the fark cares if you think mercedes or lexus is better. if you dont like your car, sell it, buy something else. but dont come here gloating about your new megabashi gxle 3.9 touring coz this is a mercedes board. take it to the megabashi boards
perhaps this type of car doesnt suit you. go find one that does.

and you mercedes idiots. these cars are far from perfect. far far far from it. they may be "overengineered" but they also seem to be under well thought out in many areas. should i make a list? compromises have been made in many an area for various reasons. as a former mercedes mechanic i can tell you that id rather replace parts on a mercedes then just about any brand because they are intuitively thought out. they didnt just put the part there, they considered the mechanic who would have to replace it.

have you seen how there are different lug nut lengths for the same bolt width, thread pitch simply because they have different wheel designs?

i can also tell you that the parts are cheaper then comparable asian car parts a lot of the time. and that they are available new, from the dealer, for just about every model ever made, as long as you have the money and the part number. perhaps its because they need to be replaced more frequently than on those japanese cars you loathe so much. though you might spin it and say that in thier infinite wisdom, the germans considered future generations of mercedes owners and decided to help keep the cars on the road.

do you think there are more old mercedes on the road because parts are easily available (vs any other brand) or because they are more reliable.
if you think its because they are more reliable, then you are a fool. period. if you dont believe me why dont you google "auto reliability poll" and see for yourself.

btw, mercedes haters. my avg monthly cost of ownership for my 300E 2.6 is $47 and decreasing monthly. aside from basic maintenance, its only been the headgasket (rebuilt the cylinder head. many years of problem free driving shall ensue as a result,) a hole in the exhaust (caused by road debris) and the waterpump. im sorry the car you bought is a piece of junk, but mine has been reliable and worry free. in fact, i drive it more places than most of the people i know who own newer cars that are still under warranty. i dont worry about increasing the miles on the car (odo doesnt work anyway) because a car is a tool. its an implement for getting you up and down to where ever you need to go. if yours isnt doing that to your satisfaction, get one that does.

and all of you stop being immature prats

Germancar1

Scathing post.....

What is your opinion on a W124 500E/E500? Anything specific to look for? What parts of this model that aren't shared with regular W124s have problems? A mileage to stay under when looking at one?

M

ZorroAMG

Pretty wide brush, there Neanderthal.

My earlier post still stands as correct and cannot be debated.

appatula

AGREED!

danholm

We're still talking about reliability and cost. That's a stupid reason for owning a Benz. Who ever got going on that has never owned one. I own them for the ride, safety, quality and feel. Quality does not necessarily mean reliability.

What I can't figure out is why those who don't like their Mercedes, keep talking about it, and not get something else. You own a car but it's parked because you don't trust it? WTF?

appatula

Yeah exactly, as Z said it best you "Pay to play" those of you who don't want to play, registration on http://www.clublexus.com/forums/index.php is completley free.




I am so tired of these dismal threads............

shdoug

OK, you heard the Appatula. From here forward if you have any frustrations about your W124, keep quiet about it. NO COMPLAINING! These are the greatest cars ever built and this forum is not restricted to USA so freedom of speech does not apply. If you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all. What's wrong with all you dismal people, anyway? I want to see nothing but from now on! Peace and love rules!

Chappy

Don't get all emotional on us Hillary.

appatula

hahahaha

I do think we need a Democrat though.

shdoug

On the forum or in the white house? I think we need an engineer in the white house. They would never get elected though because of lousy social skills.

ZedStyle

but you have nothing nice to say ever, you're always all over these threads making the point that you are glad you sold your mercedes and bought a dodge.
however, one in twenty of your posts is to help someone out, so i can put up with your opinions...

shdoug

I don't know if "glad" is the right word. It doesn't quite feel like "glad" when I'm driving it. I mentioned the other day that I was having second thoughts about it. But yes, I see your point. I will try to not jump on the hatewagon so readily. Apologies for the bad form.

appatula

Ehh engineers tend to be very stiff and by the books, the only reason Keynesian economics was implemented was because of Roosevelt. Hoover (a Engineering graduate of Stanford) believed that economies are self correcting, and refused to implement a "theory".

ZedStyle

actually, you help out a lot more than 'one in twenty posts', you're probably one of the larger contributors, so yeah, don't go anywhere...
what you need to do is find a low mileage w124, maybe a 94 or 95, they go for peanuts now, and you'll be good! mine hasn't given me any issues yet at all, touch wood, it just needs new brake pads and an oil change asap... and i think maybe plugs at some point too.

appatula

Yeah Zed's got it right. You get a low milage W124 and your in for the highest "pleasure to price" bracket any 10-15 year old car can give you.

shdoug

You both must be right. Mine felt like it had a very hard life at 160,000 miles even though it was always serviced at the dealership. It seemed like everything was brittle, hard and creaky. I blamed the Arizona/Dallas sun and heat, but who knows? On Ebay, the ones in Florida look nice. Everything around here is junk after 10 years. Potholes, salt and such. My father-in-law's '92 300E with 64,000 miles that first got me hooked was so much more supple and quiet.

carlson03

they way I see it, if you like Mercedes or not, they still are beautiful cars....

vili1982

Another unhappy Mercedes owner, what you gonna do,. I'll be honest I dont liek them, I dont like Toyota, or Jap cars in general, simply because wehre I grew up I saw the quality of german cars and I'm talking back 20 years ago. I have to also agree that yes Mercedes has made some **** in the past few years but they are continuing to improve.

But good luck with the Lex, have fun with it.

Cheers.

MoTorque

I had a GS400 and 430 and to their credit were very reliable.

For me Lexus is like a girlfriend that cooks and cleans the house, but she does not give me a massive hard-on, or she does not wear sexy lingerie or mini-skirts to make me drool or she doesn't get her ***, legs and breasts checked out all the time when we are around town.

Yeah, she may be a little bitc*hy and high maintenance sometimes, but dude, when she blows you all you can think about is...don't stop baby, don't stop!!!

And if she gets too bitc*hy dump her, get a new younger one!

STLe320

Haha that theory will go for many other topics...than just lexus

Federic0W124

this is entertaining.

ShanMan

Speak for yourself my friend. They couldn't handle a guy like me in the White House. Nothing worse than an engineer with an opinion AND a big mouth! Come to think of it, might be a refreshing change of pace to have a president who can actually articulate at the same time they pontificate, and still not menstruate! Bwahahahahahahaha!

Hesam1

I've owned 8 Mercedes and 3 lexus cars. Here's my opinion:
=
Lexus 6 cylinder models are more trouble-free than MB cars, but MB has more space, smoother ride and better material quality.
Lexus 8 cylinder models are underpowered until later models and even in later models they would cost as much as a slightly used MB 8cylinders.
I'd take MB-S500 anyday over Lexus V8.
Without a doubt MB cars are way overpriced and they have a terrible re-sale value because dealers and mechanics take advantage of it's name to overcharge us, not because cars get into too much trouble.
The car that original poster bought was probably abused by the first owner and the wife probably forgot to check the water/oil/fluid/belts+++ regularly.
I prefer the newer MB turbo-diesels which give you 300,000 miles of smooth, trouble-free driving with decent freeway power and in a normal situation diesel should cost 30 cents less than gas.
For around $60,000 I would buy either a Hybrid Lexus or a MB S-class with 10k miles.
For $30,000 I would buy a low mile 2006 Infiniti M45 or a low mile 2003 MB-S500
For $15,000 I would buy a Lowmile Lexus GS400 or a 1996+ MB SL500
For Under $15000 I forget the luxury MB and Lexus cars and buy a Great Subaru Outback or a Toyota Camry 6cyl

neanderthal

hey y'all.
the broad brush applies to those who it applies to. if you are the person who is here pissing and moaning about benz quality, then please, just say your piece sell your heap of junk, and go away. we seriously don't need you here pissing on our parade. we like our cars, that's one of the purposes of this forum; to get together and talk about them in a positive light.
if you are only here to **** and moan then you are just a troll who happens to own a 124.

swings the other way too. these cars are not only old, but far from perfect. this consant "mercedes is better than honda/ toyota/ lexus/ BMW/ megabushi" crap is stupid fanboyism. just because mercedes was first to pioneer many of the safety systems that are in place today doesnt mean that the japanese havent taken that innovation and perfected it. yes, its a mercedes site, and we are here to talk about em and share ideas. but to talk as though mercedes is the favoured brand of God is simply to show ignorance.

there are many facets of car ownership. some people are willing to put up with cars that are more maintenance heavy as long as those same cars can give you a visceral thrill in some area of performance or something else. i like the understated sense of class and elegance that comes from the old school mercedes, the solid dependability and go foreverness of them. not something you can say of pretty much any other car brand. id wager there are more old mercedes on the road than old lexus, even discounting the years when the lexus brand was not yet formed. i see more decade old benzes, particularly 124s, when i drive from los angeles to san francisco or denver or phoenix or las vegas.

one facet is dependability/ reliability. you want a car that you can drive and never worry about anything breaking, then you dont want a ten year old car. go buy a new car and complain about its breaking down in that forum. not here.

as for me, im a fan of the old benzes. i would rather pay more to keep my old car on the road than pay for a new car that lacks substance, but doenst break down. but perhaps thats just me.

Arnie

Oh boy, I never intended to start an avalanche by posting my little rant here. Well since this is post #100, it will be my conclusion.

First of all, I was comparing a NEW Lexus to a NEW Mercedes. Read some posts from W221, W211 or W204 forums and you will see what I am talking about. Those 2007-2008 cars break all the freaking time! Also, I was compairing my '94 E320 with my nephew's '93 LS400 w/ similar milage, sounds close to apples-to apples, doesn't it? Again, I am speaking from the stand point of QUALITY first of all. If I was still 25, the looks and impressing chicks would be on the top of my priority list, but I am 43 and married.

Do I love the way MBZ looks? Yes! Do I like the way it's handles? Abslo-freaking-lutely! Am I tired of dumping money into it all the time? You bet. See, I am a perfectionist when it comes to cars and when something does not work right it drives me nuts. Some members here mentioned that they would just hot-wire a fan when the sensor goes out and that's it. I don't do that, I want everything to be perfect. When my suroof cable went out I spent $250 on parts and fixed it, even though I never open the darn thing (I don't know why and how it even broke).

Those of you that say MBZ quality is improving, don't forget to thank Japs for it. It was after Lexus started building their cars, MBZ got off their a$$ and started improving quality and changing body styles more often than once every 10-12 years, because they were losing market.

There is nothing wrong with loving your car, just don't be a fool about it.