last of the reliable Mercedes

last of the reliable Mercedes

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xcentric

Original Poster:

722 posts

218 months

Tuesday 24th May 2016
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Am after a shopping car, to do the train station run. school run, and generally pile the boring miles on. Want comfort, reliability, capability t odd stellar mileage, for reasonable servicing and insurance costs. For not much money - shed++ money, really.

Am thinking the last of the reliable Mercedes (amongst a million other opting) - which do people think were the last of the reliable, bulletproof, stellar mileage capable ones?

Mr Tidy

22,065 posts

126 months

Tuesday 24th May 2016
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Only have limited experience of MB, but I would say a 190 or W123.

I had a 1989 190e that I replaced with a W202 C280 Sport which was the most disappointing car I have ever owned - build quality was appalling!

And I see so many W202s with crusty wheelarches - why not get a BMW? I'm on BM number 5 and they are so much better!

layercake

422 posts

103 months

Tuesday 24th May 2016
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Has to be a W124 a later one estate even better

so called

9,074 posts

208 months

Tuesday 24th May 2016
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Seems that there is more than one reliable MB then laugh

simonr100

640 posts

116 months

Tuesday 24th May 2016
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W124, it looks lovely too.

Mercky

642 posts

134 months

Tuesday 24th May 2016
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simonr100 said:
W124, it looks lovely too.
. Yes, the w124 is a superb car especially the diesel estate. The earlier ones are better quality than the facelift ones, but a good one is going to a lot more than shed money.

anonymous-user

53 months

Tuesday 24th May 2016
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The W124 is capable of racking up the miles, but this reputation has led to many owners neglecting maintenance of any kindfrown Those that have been looked after fetch good money - particularly estates and coupés. Most 'sheds' have either been broken for parts, scrapped - or shipped abroad.

Rusty wings, jacking points, wiring looms (on later models) and head gasket leaks are fairly common. The interiors can often seem a bit spartan, although they are durable.

hora

37,009 posts

210 months

Tuesday 24th May 2016
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Mythbuster- how many are still on the road? Like any mythical reliable car it WAS reliable. It's now old.

All the reliable cars get killed by high mileage: Toyota petrols, etc etc.


layercake

422 posts

103 months

Tuesday 24th May 2016
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i reckon you can get a shed of a w124 for well under a grand, but if your prepared to spend double or just under that you can end up with a very usable example which won't cost you anything in repairs and when it comes to selling you will get every last penny back and maybe even a profit ! i picked up a lovely 300e sportline not that long ago priced at £1800 originally which was still a good price but managed to get it alot cheaper wink

check the usual places, classic cars, ebay, retrorides usually has the odd merc up for sale and most have been looked after by enthusiast's

imo the W124 is the best merc still today it doesn't look out of place, its a decent size and if you get a estate its got bags of room, i prefer the saloon but any decent example will not disappoint

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/cat/3/31/w124/

plently about, as i said, buy cheap and u will spend money fixing best to get a decent example with a good history

Edited by layercake on Tuesday 24th May 09:07

Monkeylegend

26,226 posts

230 months

Tuesday 24th May 2016
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My 2011 E220 CDi has now done 287k miles with very few issues. It is serviced properly and on time. The only real issues have been a replacement water pump, a known weakness and a couple of coolant leaks, gasket related. I would call that pretty reliable.

And it doesn't rust wink

anonymous-user

53 months

Tuesday 24th May 2016
quotequote all
W123s, W124s etc. are all too old now to use as dailys

If it's reliability and cheap running costs you're after I would forget about Merc. Some of the models are plain bad design wise and others while reliable up to a point will cost a lot when they do go wrong.

My good friend runs a small independent garage and has done so for 30 odd years. When I ask him about the luxury brans he smiles wistfully. As he would say if you want a reliable luxury car get a Lexus, if you want a reliable luxury car with prestige get a Jaguar and if you want luxury, prestige and a badge get a BMW, but whatever you do don't get a Merc!

I have a Merc in the garage btw so this is said with no bias! In fact when I bought it he told me it would cost me a fortune..... it's cost me a fortune LOL!

Thankyou4calling

10,595 posts

172 months

Tuesday 24th May 2016
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xcentric said:
Am after a shopping car, to do the train station run. school run, and generally pile the boring miles on. Want comfort, reliability, capability t odd stellar mileage, for reasonable servicing and insurance costs. For not much money - shed++ money, really.

Am thinking the last of the reliable Mercedes (amongst a million other opting) - which do people think were the last of the reliable, bulletproof, stellar mileage capable ones?
I'll be a bit contradictory here.

Mercedes are at least as reliable now as they've ever been!

Look on Autotrader and see the number of E Class Mercs with 200,000 miles plus. They are 2010 onwards and used as cabs for a reason.

I know I may well be shot down for this but that's my take, the downside is that when something goes wrong it's often a main dealer visit and that will be expensive.

Monkeylegend

26,226 posts

230 months

Tuesday 24th May 2016
quotequote all
Thankyou4calling said:
I'll be a bit contradictory here.

Mercedes are at least as reliable now as they've ever been!

Look on Autotrader and see the number of E Class Mercs with 200,000 miles plus. They are 2010 onwards and used as cabs for a reason.

I know I may well be shot down for this but that's my take, the downside is that when something goes wrong it's often a main dealer visit and that will be expensive.
Not contradictory, they have been the vehicle of choice for taxi/chauffeur work for many years and will do mega miles reliably if looked after properly.

My previous two E classes both did well over 300k miles, again with very few issues, and there are many around with 500k miles plus.

I am not sure how well the new cars will fare, they have so much more technology built into them. I personally would not buy any of Mercedes latest offerings, to flashy for me.



ChasW

2,135 posts

201 months

Tuesday 24th May 2016
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I met a chap who runs a body shop. He told he much prefers working on the older Mercs as, in his opinion, they were designed to be taken apart making major body repairs so much easier.

lostkiwi

4,584 posts

123 months

Tuesday 24th May 2016
quotequote all
W124, W123, 190 and even early W202 are all reliable. Pretty much anything before 1998 should be good. They're all a bit long in the tooth now so rust will be a bigger issue than mechanical reliability.

As has been mentioned they tend to be a bit spartan (and W202 seats are made from hardened granite) but will generally pile on the miles very happily.

I personally have an R129 500SL and its done 130k miles. No rust, no major faults at all. Fires up every time its asked to and is still quiet, comfortable, refined and quick and is our preferred vehicle for any trips away.

Thankyou4calling

10,595 posts

172 months

Tuesday 24th May 2016
quotequote all
Monkeylegend said:
Not contradictory, they have been the vehicle of choice for taxi/chauffeur work for many years and will do mega miles reliably if looked after properly.

My previous two E classes both did well over 300k miles, again with very few issues, and there are many around with 500k miles plus.

I am not sure how well the new cars will fare, they have so much more technology built into them. I personally would not buy any of Mercedes latest offerings, to flashy for me.
I have a new E Class. I'm sure it will do mega miles however (I posted on here about six months back) I needed a new headlight and the unit was over £1500 to supply and fit.

Issues like that will make them worth very little in 10 years time.

Monkeylegend

26,226 posts

230 months

Tuesday 24th May 2016
quotequote all
Thankyou4calling said:
Monkeylegend said:
Not contradictory, they have been the vehicle of choice for taxi/chauffeur work for many years and will do mega miles reliably if looked after properly.

My previous two E classes both did well over 300k miles, again with very few issues, and there are many around with 500k miles plus.

I am not sure how well the new cars will fare, they have so much more technology built into them. I personally would not buy any of Mercedes latest offerings, to flashy for me.
I have a new E Class. I'm sure it will do mega miles however (I posted on here about six months back) I needed a new headlight and the unit was over £1500 to supply and fit.

Issues like that will make them worth very little in 10 years time.
That's the same for most modern cars now. You hear of some eye watering replacement parts costs.

I will continue to run mine until I am faced with one of those financially unviable repairs. In the meantime I hope to get many more miles on the clock.

k-ink

9,070 posts

178 months

Tuesday 24th May 2016
quotequote all
cb1965 said:
W123s, W124s etc. are all too old now to use as dailys

If it's reliability and cheap running costs you're after I would forget about Merc. Some of the models are plain bad design wise and others while reliable up to a point will cost a lot when they do go wrong.

My good friend runs a small independent garage and has done so for 30 odd years. When I ask him about the luxury brans he smiles wistfully. As he would say if you want a reliable luxury car get a Lexus, if you want a reliable luxury car with prestige get a Jaguar and if you want luxury, prestige and a badge get a BMW, but whatever you do don't get a Merc!

I have a Merc in the garage btw so this is said with no bias! In fact when I bought it he told me it would cost me a fortune..... it's cost me a fortune LOL!
My long term lovely mechanics tell much the same thing.

Horse Pop

685 posts

143 months

Tuesday 24th May 2016
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Would an IS300 sportcross be big enough in the back?

scherzkeks

4,460 posts

133 months

Tuesday 24th May 2016
quotequote all
Monkeylegend said:
Not contradictory, they have been the vehicle of choice for taxi/chauffeur work for many years and will do mega miles reliably if looked after properly.

My previous two E classes both did well over 300k miles, again with very few issues, and there are many around with 500k miles plus.
You can add the W204s to the list. Probably one of Mercs most-tested and reliable model series ever.