Maintaining a MB - how expensive is it?

[Bry]

I've been thinking about trading in my Fortuner to upgrade to a 02' or '03 C-class.

I've read about stories here and in other local forums about how expensive it is to maintain these vehicles. Is it like double of the price of parts and maintenance that Honda is asking for? Or much higher pa?

Anyway, thanks for reading.

[mbeige]

I thought you wanted an older MB, because the new ones, although new, have a lot of electrical issues. Get a nice, well maintained, pre-1993 w124 with every option possible.

The thing is, parts cost much more, especially for the new ones. The labor would also cost more, because of specializations in dealing with diagnosing these cars. The w124 doesn't have much electrical problems prior to 1993, but it has wiring harness issues after that (up to 95). The 190E baby Benz is great for city driving, small and nimble but has the suspension features of a w124 (similar sila).

Parts availability for the earlier models will be great too but as the model gets newer, parts get more expensive.

[agtm3]

Cost of maintaining older model such as the 201 (190) and 124 (230 / 260) are basically at par with the newer japanese parts.

[Bry]

I thought you wanted an older MB, because the new ones, although new, have a lot of electrical issues. Get a nice, well maintained, pre-1993 w124 with every option possible.

The thing is, parts cost much more, especially for the new ones. The labor would also cost more, because of specializations in dealing with diagnosing these cars. The w124 doesn't have much electrical problems prior to 1993, but it has wiring harness issues after that (up to 95). The 190E baby Benz is great for city driving, small and nimble but has the suspension features of a w124 (similar sila).

Parts availability for the earlier models will be great too but as the model gets newer, parts get more expensive.

Thanks for the info, but I'm not into the older MBs. I've got my eye on the soon to be phased-out C-class body.

[boyscout]

compared sa maintenance ng fortuner mo ngayon, we can safely say na 2 to 3 times more expensive and maintenance ng euro car. You rarely see Euro car owners who drives it daily.

[hens]

sakit nga sa ulo/bulsa yung C-Class..

btw, ayaw ninyo ng E-Class (w210) na E55 AMG? 1.9M neg..I think mas-safe kayo sa w210 kung sa w203 lang..yun lang, malamang malakas sa gas un E55..

[toyboxph]

been wanting to ask this same question to MBEIGE. i am currently looking at a 190D 2.2 diesel A/T. not sure what year ito, maybe late 80's or early 90's baby benz. mura kasi and very good body condition with all power and moonroof. how is the maintenance cost kaya? what are the most common problems? ok ba itong daily driver? la lang, gusto ko lang kasi magka benz.

[Bry]

sakit nga sa ulo/bulsa yung C-Class..

btw, ayaw ninyo ng E-Class (w210) na E55 AMG? 1.9M neg..I think mas-safe kayo sa w210 kung sa w203 lang..yun lang, malamang malakas sa gas un E55..

Hens: You own a C-Class, right?

[m_ron]

sakit nga sa ulo/bulsa yung C-Class..

btw, ayaw ninyo ng E-Class (w210) na E55 AMG? 1.9M neg..I think mas-safe kayo sa w210 kung sa w203 lang..yun lang, malamang malakas sa gas un E55..

w210 i think are the most problematic car built my benz except for the amg engine.

[mbeige]

Thanks for the info, but I'm not into the older MBs. I've got my eye on the soon to be phased-out C-class body.

Goodluck! I hope the unit you get won't be as problematic as I've heard.

[Walter]

I thought you wanted an older MB, because the new ones, although new, have a lot of electrical issues. Get a nice, well maintained, pre-1993 w124 with every option possible.

The thing is, parts cost much more, especially for the new ones. The labor would also cost more, because of specializations in dealing with diagnosing these cars. The w124 doesn't have much electrical problems prior to 1993, but it has wiring harness issues after that (up to 95). The 190E baby Benz is great for city driving, small and nimble but has the suspension features of a w124 (similar sila).

Parts availability for the earlier models will be great too but as the model gets newer, parts get more expensive.

Models with larger engines (E320 up) are more prone to the wiring harness problem.

[m_ron]

Models with larger engines (E320 up) are more prone to the wiring harness problem.

not really. the real reason to this is sometimes Mb likes to experiment and used biodegradeable wiring harness which can be found on late model 300e and 500e.

[mbeige]

Agreed, even the 1998 w202 cars with smaller engines have wiring harness problems.

[BlueBimmer]

IMO if you're thinking about owning an old benz, make it your weekend car, wag mong gawing daily beater para kahit papano di masakit sa ulo.

kaya i still stick with my old E36, weekend cars lasts longer and generally problem free IMO.

but there's always the daily beater Merc thats bulletproof.

[s211Flyboy]

mga sirs! konting enlightenment lang. I wanted to have an MB. alin mas maganda between 190e or 230e. tanx!

[s211Flyboy]

im after w124 body ng 230e or 190e. wala pa kasi ako experience sa mb. thanks for the help.

[uwak18]

No experience with MB here but I really wanted one especially the 190E/D or W123 W124. But after reading your reactions parang ayaw kona. What other MB models na dapat iwasan. But models is the best and gives you less or even no headache?

[mbeige]

I find myself driving my w123 300D-T more often than I drive the w124 300TE despite the wagon's more comfortable interior, more supportive driving seats, more electronic toys, quieter highway sound, and ice cold AC. Since it's getting colder now the w123 with non-perfect AC still has that character that the w124 will never have. I might work on the w123 this weekend to install some new parts I just bought.

These cars are not Japanese ultra-reliable machines. For instance, the m103 engine has been said to be notorious for headgasket problems, the om603 turbodiesel engines have a vacuum pump that's not well-designed, the "rod bender" 350SDL's have a generally short lived engine design (for a diesel), and some complain that the w201 190E or 190D's have really cramped interiors. When you compare these to newer models, probably so, but for their time they were the "standards" other cars were based on. It's easy to mistake them for newer cars because as Bruno Sacco intended, these cars are meant to have a lifespan of 30 years from conceptual and production time to maybe another decade later. I forgot the article but it generally said these cars weren't designed for the general time period but for 7 years in the future. So if you see a new MB today, it will still look new 7 years later. Something like that.

I drive my 300D daily, the 300TE was just taken to the desert recently with a few business clients. The 300D has 179k miles while the 300TE has 225k miles and they still function well for their age and condition. Some parts may have to be replaced and may cost more than it does to replace the same parts from other manufacturers.

Some say the '95+ cars to '98 maybe have some electrical problems that had to do with biodegradable materials used in the wiring harnesses, or have reliability issues even to maybe 2005 models but the brand new ones are catching up in terms of build quality and reliability. I think this is also an effect of the splitting of MB (or Daimler) from Chrysler.

Then again, parts sourcing is another matter for owners there in the home country. Here I have no problems even with classic parts since the 2nd Classic Center is just 30 mins away here in Irvine. The first is in Stuttgart of course.

Aftermarket replacement items can also be used but they usually have subpar quality compared to the OE MB items. It all depends on which items I guess. For one the key head of the w123, w116, w115/114 keys easily break and cost $7 now but used to be $15 before.

I think the misconception lies in the fact that these are really old cars and it might not be a good idea to compare them to newer ones because they've had so much more use and if you do not know the previous owner that's another unknown you have to consider when buying used MB's. On the contrary can you find similarly aged cars that can replace these MB's? I just read an article about the e34 BMW and w124 MB's and some have advantages and disadvantages but one thing that struck me was build quality. The MB was better built than the BMW, for the same generation models. But the BMW has better handling "on the edge" daw yung dating compared to the MB which is more planted, more relaxed.

Finally there's a quotation that I always mention to MB buyers. The most expensive MB is a really cheap one. You figure out the rest.