Used Mercedes are so inexpensive! Pitfall waiting to happen? (2015, German, manual transmission)
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Unfortunately Mercedes and BMW products that were not maintained perfectly are kind of risky....and they can be very costly to maintain. On the other hand, much of what you see on the used market are probably lease returns. Those often come with maintenance packages and their vehicle history is usually pretty easy to find.
It's a risk. I think it depends on how much you really want a premium used German car. For $35,000, you can get a fantastic new car from Honda, Toyota, Chevrolet, VW, etc.
One of the worst things you can own is a late model German car without a warranty... IF you are not a DIY type of owner.
FTFY.
I loved my BMW 740iL and it was quite reliable and impressively cheap to won even with the maintenance and few repairs it needed over the 5 years I had it. I would recommend one to any moderately skilled enthusiast out there.
Hello, I am in the market for a used vehicle to replace my current car.
Living in Dallas, with its insatiable appetite for new Mercedes, BMW and Porsches, there are a lot of used vehicles coming off lease it seems.
In my research, I have found that Porsche holds their values the best, while BMW and Mercedes drop like a rock in utter free fall, especially the S-class. S class are around 90-120k new and you can a 2012 with low miles for 48k! E class for 35k!
Are these famous German brands that woeful in terms of reliability?
So, therefore, need advice on these makes and models....buy or stay clear?
Other option is to go the other direction and buy new Lexus I series or Hyundai genesis/equus.
I had a used SL600 for a few years. I paid $4k for an aftermarket warranty... it saved me about $5k more in repairs, so $9k total in work over a 2 year period. The problem with Mercedes (and to a lesser extent, BMW) is that they've mistaken technology for luxury. They've packed the cars full of so many gizmos and gadgets in the name of luxury that reliability has taken a beating. My car was great when it ran, but I'm one of those guys that if I see an idiot light on in the dash, it has to get fixed immediately, it's annoying to me. With a Mercedes, that light was on a LOT.
My mother has an S550... It's been a great car, loaded with features... but she doesn't know how to use any of them. It's a 2010 model I think, no problems yet, but I'm sure they'll start cropping up soon.
As you've noted, Porsche holds value the best. That's because they are reliable cars. I have two, a 911 turbo, and a Cayenne S. Both have given me many years of pretty much trouble free ownership.
If you're looking for a car that is a lease return though, be careful. A Porsche that was leased may have been run hard vs a Mercedes or BMW. Make sure you get a PPI done if you are thinking about a Porsche.
Wow, the horror stories! If German cars are REALLY as bad as this thread makes them out to be, it's a wonder they even sell any, let alone are lauded for technological prowess.
Just like with ANY kind of cars, certain models/trims/engines/years are going to be better than others. Porsche makes some of the most reliable cars on the road (according to Consumer Reports).
It's true over the past 10 years German car reliability was a little spotty, but anything new-gen is going to run pretty darn well. A lot of the "reliability issues" are with the complex optional multimedia systems that are simply fixed with a software patch.
Wow, the horror stories! If German cars are REALLY as bad as this thread makes them out to be, it's a wonder they even sell any, let alone are lauded for technological prowess.
That's the thing though... when new, German cars are in a class by themselves. They are perfect. Cutting edge technology, and innovative.
Fast forward a few years though, and all that stuff needs maintenance. For my SL600, the air ride suspension went out. That was an expensive fix. (To be fair, I've had Japanese cars with adjustable suspension that have also failed, and it wasn't cheap either, but it still cost half of what Mercedes charged to fix.) They also use pneumatic pumps for a lot of things, like the power hard top, seats, etc. Those can fail. It adds up.
Wow, the horror stories! If German cars are REALLY as bad as this thread makes them out to be, it's a wonder they even sell any, let alone are lauded for technological prowess.
Reliability and cost of ownership aren't on the top of everyone's lists.
How did you go from benz bmw to lexus to Hyundai genesis?
How did you go from big body s class. To medium e class. Now to small lexus IS?
They are all different in class and price.
What are your price range? What is it your looking for.
Bmw and Mb- it takes money to play.
That's a great question. I am very flexible in terms of size, from small to large sedans. My main thing is a luxury sporty vehicle around 35-45k, pre-owned. This is completely an elective purchase for fun.
I looked at every used Porsche 911, Panamera, and Cayenne in every trim possible, and they were just too expensive. For example, used Cayenne Turbo, 2011, with 45000 miles is STILL 74000!
So, on a whim, I started looking at MB and BMW. The prices were just too good to believe....so I thought I would ask how a car with every gadget, panoramic roof, massage seats with cool and heated options and park assist/lane assist etc. could be so inexpensive.
Thanks for the advice.
I will test drive all makes and pay for a private inspection, look at extended warranties, etc with these German makes. I will also look at Lexus.
At the end of the day, I may elect to stay with my 90k miles Prius given how cautious I am about spending. It runs well, is solid in terms of quality, and just needs a detailing and TLC.
MB was still a viable used car through the 1991 S class and 89 SL class. The E class was ok through 2002 in terms of affordable/used car.
OK, if you think so.
These were the beginning glory years for our electronics remanufacturing business for everything from idle control amplifiers, seat/mirror memory units, ignition amplifiers, FI computers, cruise control amplifiers, climate control amplifiers/push button panels, and similar electronics for these cars. The computer units were still built on PC boards with discrete electronic components and weren't terribly difficult to reverse engineer and analyze the consistent failure points in the units. They had many cold solder joints in the original assemblies, we started out by hand resoldering each and every connection, then bought a wave solder tunnel and a cleaning machine; we could run boxes of purchased cores and the returned cores through this per hour. We got the process down to automatically removing and replacing certain standard components with upgraded items and wave soldering before we ran the units though a computerized test stand analysis ... previously, we'd install the units in cars and test drive them. It was kinda' fun, in a way ... head out with an SL and a box of reman idle control amps and spend an afternoon test driving them around town (we had cabling set up to install the computer box right next to the driver). The computerized test stand eliminated the driving and was much faster, a matter of a couple minutes to diagnose each item. At the time, there were over 35 employees in the place and the business gradually built up to almost double that staffing level through the years, such was the demand volume for the products.
Initially, we were selling mostly to independent repair shops (and a few OE dealers!), wholesale more than $200,000 per month in sales volume. Later, end user direct sales via automotive magazines and trade shows. Not too shabby ... easier money than actually working on the cars. All went well until the OE manufacturers realized the impact we were having on their sales volume and added many more SKU's with the most minute variations. On top of that, they went to surface mount components which were much more difficult to remove and replace.
Anyway, my perspective on how reliable these cars were takes a very different slant than folk who had a couple of the cars or worked on a few in a shop. We got to see the overall failure rates and it worked out to average more than several electronic units per car sold. The '80's and 90's were very good to us for these cars until the market and newer products limited what we could do. You can still find a couple of businesses that remanufacture (as opposed to "repair") the electronics for these cars, they advertise in the owner's club forums and in automotive magazines. The profit margins are still there and there's enough of the cars still on the road to provide them a viable marketplace; with electronic instrument clusters and information displays and integrated climate control/radio/engine management and/or transmission electronic controls, it's an ongoing business.
Last edited by sunsprit; 09-15-2014 at 09:56 AM..
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