dvenneman

Am not looking to sell yet … and my car does not meet your low mileage criteria. But my service records, maintenance, will likely yield a longer lasting wagon than many others. If you are really interested, lmk. I’m up to 243,000 and it is coming out of Mercedes service for engine mounts and lower oil pan gasket reseal. Literally all maintenance and almost exclusively Mercedes OEM parts on wear items. Control arms - new, bearings - new. Etc etc

Red Ryder

I'll ask you this...when a prospective buyer asks you a question do you answer them? Cuz if so, you have a HUGE leg up on anyone else I've talked with thus far. Seriously, I am absolutely staggered at how terrible people are at communication. I've engaged with 4 different dealers and one individual seller and the communication was painfully slow, or it wasn't there at all - as in I got no reply. And it's not like I threw out some lowball figure to **** someone off, we hadn't even gotten to that conversation yet! Just trying to get basic info is like pulling teeth. I don't get it. Yes I am a polite and courteous person haha.

You don't need to hear all that, sorry. Just fed up with this car search right now. I've looked for many cars over the years and this is by far the worst. But I hate SUV's/crossovers and even my wife doesn't want another minivan, wagon with a 3rd row is what we want. And that pretty much leaves the S211 or high mileage S212.

Anyway, I guess when you do decide to sell just private message me whatever info. I believe there is something to be said for a well maintained car with high mileage, but yours may be too high to sell the wife on. I almost bought one with 124k miles w/good history (even had a PPI done on it), and even that was a tough sell. But I get her point of view too (we hate buying cars and like to keep them forever). Another potential factor is some methods of financing a car of this age come with mileage conditions, at least from what I've seen so far. I mean yeah we could buy one with cash, but that's not our preference. Still, haven't ruled anything out just yet, and we aren't in a rush so anything is possible at this point. Thanks for reaching out, car looks nice.

dvenneman

Let’s start with this - based on your note above the husbands here care about the utility, safety, reliability, and luxury, and much less about modern features. My wife specifically would continue to be satisfied with the 2007 but it lacks Apple Car Play. The car is very reliable and has been so in response to prompt maintenance and replacement of all wear out parts. So, she recognizes that the vanity reason for something newer does not require 60k - 80k to replace it. That said, we could afford this if we chose to do so.

I have two inches of receipts and services records. But,

Your wife and my wife would not want to be take on a car with 243,000 miles if they did not already know the car. Here are the things I suspect the car may need over the next 60k miles:

Engine chain guides and/or timing chain. Probably 3k job at Mercedes.

Struts/springs up front. I’ve done this job before and I had to have Mercedes put the spring and strut/mount together because a standard spring compressor did not have the travel that these springs require. On the 4matic, this involves axle shaft removal. Probably another 3k.

If you fired off a list of “has this been done and/or replaced” the answer would likely be yes.

IF I sell Wheezy to anyone it would have to be someone who understands and wants this car, and the money paid would be going to another Mercedes product that simply has modern technology that has no value to me, but makes the daily drive for my wife what she would like.

it’s the rub. You want what I wanted in 2014. A well kept wagon for under 20k with low mikes. I bought this one at 105,000. I can warn you that what you seek may not exist and if you can find something at 105,000 be prepared to spend 18,000 on normal wear out maintenance as I have from 105,000 to 243,000. I bought for 18k and spent another 18k over 8 years. Divide 36k by 8 and that is 8,000 per year.

that math leaves you with the reality that you could spend 60k - 80k for a new one and be in roughly the same monetary place at the end of 8 years, but with the joy of a new Benz. But you would lose the joy of an old “new” where it matters Benz.

THIS IS THE WAGON CONUNDRUM

dvenneman

36k / 8 is 4,500 annually. Sorry

if you buy new at 80k you are over 10k per year for 8 years. Is new worth it? We are not so sure and have not been able to “pull the trigger”

Red Ryder

Agree, I care about all those things you mentioned, plus I also like the looks, handling, fuel economy, and rarity of a wagon (also don't care about infotainment/tech). Luckily my wife doesn't care about tech either, if she can charge her phone in the car, then she's good haha. For example, I tried to convince her to let me set up bluetooth calling in her Toyota Venza back when we had it, she wasn't interested. BUT on the flipside she is about affordability and practicality which sometimes conflicts with the automotive enthusiast/purist in me since I am so picky about cars (and I only drive manuals). So she has her reservations about German cars as they are notorious for being more expensive to own, but she also knows if we ARE getting another vehicle that's for ME to haul us and all 3 kids in (soon to be 4 kids)...a wagon is all I'll consider as I simply can't drive something I don't have some passion for. The Odyssey is her family hauler. Anyway one of my bargaining chips is it's an automatic so she can drive it too, seems to carry some weight hah.

The idea was to find one with a good history that's been well maintained. I'll take care of regular maintenance/any minor issues myself as they arise, if it's cost/time effective. I wrench on cars so should be able to handle anything that's not too crazy or involved (I'm sure I'll have to invest in a few new tools though - like a better scan tool). Anything I can't handle I'll pay a reputable independent shop to do. I won't go near a dealer unless it's for recalls, personally. Yea I read about the whole front strut/springs thing, and that you need a special spring compressor.

Wheezy...haha that is a great car name. Interesting story behind that?

I am finding what could be acceptable 2008-09 wagons with 92-135k miles for between $8-13k. The main challenge is verifying they are good examples as that comes with a variety of difficult variables as none of the cars are local to me...so I have to meticulously review Carfax reports, analyze photos, decode VIN's, etc, and if all that checks out then proceed to finding a shop near the seller where the car can get a PPI. It is very very laborious to do over and over again, and I get tired of it. Especially when people's communication is sub-par which has been the standard so far. I desperately wish I could find one local or within my own state, even...but for some reason most of these wagons are on the east coast. All of this is why I very much wish I could just find one being sold by a trustworthy individual, it would cut out a lot of the frustration. Even then I did find one being sold by an individual recently, and I message him like 4 times, and no reply at all. Anyway that's another podium.

I can't quite relate to having $60-80k for a car, I mean we could afford a car half of that cost but even then we would never do that just because we both hate car payments. The biggest car payment we've had was $335/mo and we couldn't wait to get rid of that. Between the cost factor and all the safety, tech, and fuel economy junk being stuffed into newer cars, I don't see myself ever buying anything newer than my 2014 ATS. Just as well too, since I prefer manual transmissions and those are only getting harder to find in newer cars. That's another selling point for the S211 though, is that I have picked a car that is very affordable to buy. And if you get one with a good past, can wrench on it yourself or find a good indie shop to take care of it, won't be super expensive to own either. I mean the engine and 5spd transmission is solid, so there's two huge factors you don't really have to worry about. Is it more expensive to own than a Honda? Sure. But you paid so little for it that it doesn't cause pain to put some money into it to keep it in good shape.

dvenneman

Wheezy - the Jeffersons. Phat and black and moving’ on up. She got the knickname in the first month or two when I had to replace the computer…

I’m on the east coast.

My recommendation is to dive in on an 08 - 09 as you describe above. You can send me a Zoom invite to dvenneman@gillandchamas.com and I can talk you through what to expect in maintenance on then in the next four years. You can do most yourself. At those miles, as long as oil and air filters have been done, and a trans service, you can bring it up to speed. Don’t buy anything that has been in NYC or the five boroughs because the roads beat those cars to ****.

I will sell my Mercedes to you after it comes out with a clean bill of service from this one. They are diagnosing the oil leak and timing out oil filter housing/pump versus the oil pan oil cooler lines that I think it is. I have asked them to install the OEM engine mounts despite them not really wanting to because of the “age of the car”

With a caveat emptor about the chain wear guides - I trust Wheezy has 100k life in her.

I still think if you can afford a lower mileage wagon you should do that. But as far as a tank and safety, yup, that’s why we still have Wheezy. Any time after 2pm today until 4pm or tomorrow is good for Zoom.

Red Ryder

Ahh haha gotcha, nickname makes sense.

What does the age of a car have to do with replacing engine mounts? They don't think it's worth their time, or they think they'll find another host of age-related things that will need addressed?

Thanks for the offer on the zoom call and being willing to divulge helpful info to a stranger, much appreciated. If this search ever goes anywhere, I may check in with you.

dvenneman

I think it is a function of mechanic hours available and not wanting me to “throw money” at the car. Probably 1:100 owners see their car as worth spending a couple of thousand dollars at 200k plus miles.

After car shopping yesterday I don’t think we will be selling the wagon. Everything with low mikes is 50k up in luxury sedans.

Red Ryder

I still love my 22 year old, 215k mile Accord V6 manual trans coupe. I've put more than I should into it but hey cars are my passion. You'd think mechanics could relate haha.

Cars are way too expensive, a base Accord now starts at $32k or something, just ridiculous if you ask me. If you have a car you still like that's not breaking down all the time (or completely breaking your bank account), then it just makes sense to hold onto it. Wheezy will be relieved haha.