The Merc

[El Camexican]

That’s what we called my wife’s 2004 ML350 and having sold it this afternoon I now post this as a warning to anyone who might be considering a per-owed Mercedes one day.

To preface this please know that I’ve bought and sold vehicles for a living, so it’s not like I can’t tell when someone’s jacked with an odometer, or welded two halves together.

In early 2010 I saw an ad in the paper for a one owner ML with the equivalent of 45,000 miles on it and went to see it. I had a cracked grill and some punks had removed the emblems for jewelry. It needed tires and the pads had less than 25% left, ran great. The owner had moved to France due to security issues down here and left his nephew to sell off his cars and bikes. We did the negotiation dance and he wouldn’t agree to my offer without the uncle’s blessing, so we parted ways and a few days later I got a call telling me the equivalent of $9,000 would take it. The original invoice was for $54,000, so I thought I’d made a pretty good deal.

I changed the motor and trans oil, replaced the emblems, tires, all the pads and sensors and added side steps and took it in for an alignment. Good as new, but I should have realized what was coming when I went to get the alignment done. The machine is proprietary and locks onto holes in the rims, the cost was $300 compared to $30 bucks for my Ford. The guy I bought it off swore he had two keys when I picked it up, but never did find the second one, so another $200 bucks at the dealers. A few months later the throttle position sensor went out. $150 and a tow and it was all downhill from there.:cry:

When I started looking for a manual all I could find was a likely pirated Mercedes CD that ended up opening in German and blocking me before I could figure out how to enter the pass code. At that point accepted that I would be using the dealer for pretty much anything more complicated than oil changes.

One sensor after another, the A/C pump, steering pump hoses, vacuum lines, trans leak, u-joint, AWD sensor, and torsion bars. At one point the brake pedal became spongy and the fluid looked a little funky, so I sent it for a flush because the antilock system has a pump that is connected to a pressurized box that has a dozen lines connected to it which needs to be bled by a vacuum pump. Another $300 and when I got it back the peddle was worse than before. Long story short every component of the braking system was replaced and the brakes never came back to normal. The truck was at the dealers for almost 2 months and we picked it up and returned it the following day at least 4 times during that period. After taking to the Mercedes rep for Mexico and North America I finally gave up and just accepted that the pedal reaching the carpet every time I stopped hard was the new norm.

Every freaking time I spent money on it I would tell myself that this was the last one and that it would now last me for 200,000 worry free miles like everyone else with these things seems to be getting. Boy was I wrong. I ended up buying the wife a new Honda (it has issues too) a year ago so that this time could be at the dealers as long as they wanted to keep it and we’d use it as a spare car when our were getting serviced, but after having it in the shop for almost all of November and a large chunk of January for steering pump issue I decided to blow it out today for $3,000 bucks to a dealer with only 71,600 miles on it. I likely could have gotten an extra $1,000 bucks had I sold it to an end user, but I wouldn't have been able to sleep at night. Not because I’ve got moral issues with selling a POS to an unsuspecting putz, I’m afraid for my life once they realize what a money pit it is!:lol:

So a few minutes ago I started throwing out my receipts and decided to add them up. Turns out that not counting oil changes, or accessories I spent $8,528 on repairs over the past 26,600 miles. Then I added up the receipts from the first owner that he’d accumulated after the warrantee had ended, $7,338. Holy crap! I didn’t get those until after I purchased the vehicle and never bothered to look closely, I wish I had. Fuel pump, suspension, sensors, etc. and the odometer readings were between 28,000 and 35,000 miles when all this work was needed.

Never again! My advice to all: DON’T EVER BUY ANYTHING THAT HAYNES OR CLYMER DOESN’T MAKE A MANUAL FOR!

[Rob Canadian]

Ouch man...

Heard some horror stories about vehicles. Quebec, Canada has a whole set of different rules. I would look long and hard at a USA vehicle. They would ship a flooded (water damaged) from the USA into Quebec and reregister it and sell it in another province. Also airbags made in Quebec they were putting gun powder in them...

[tripledog]

I think I bought the cousin to your Merc, and it is a 2006 Chevy Colorado with only 74K on the clock. It developed a vacuum problem... it sucked nearly $2,000 out of my wallet above and beyond the $5,000 purchase price, and it still won't pass inspection. It runs great, but it is going to need a new cam chain, tensioners, and variable valve timing (SPAWN OF SATAN) actuator. On the brighter side, it would make a splendid boat anchor.

[El Camexican]

If it makes you feel any better, I just found one more receipt at the bottom of the drawer. It's for 1100 bucks and that one was during my ownership

[tripledog]

It doesn't make me feel any better, but it does put things in perspective. I'll just keep increasing my lawn ornament inventory and stop sniveling.

[El Camexican]

You can't go wrong with pink flamingos. Gnomes are good investments as well.

[tripledog]

I was referring to yard ornaments of the motorized variety, but I suppose there's gnome place like home.

[bkm]

I hate daily driver cars and have been considering selling my ecoboost because I'm tired of paying for a vehicle that sits in the garage. I've only put 9k miles on it in 2 years so I'd love to sell it and then just pay cash for an older diesel, but I don't want to buy someone else's problems and I'm at a point in my life where I'm tired of pissing money away on vehicles. My 07 Corolla has been the best car I've ever owned. It's my daily and I've put every mile on it except for the 3 it had on it at the dealer.

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[knappyfeet]

Don't feel too bad.......my neighbor a couple houses down had the same Mercedes and it was a constant problem to them. He purchased it gently used as well. Is it a model thing? We're there problems consistent with that model?

Hey.....good rittens. Hondas are good vehicles

[El Camexican]

Don't feel too bad.......my neighbor a couple houses down had the same Mercedes and it was a constant problem to them. He purchased it gently used as well. Is it a model thing? We're there problems consistent with that model?

Hey.....good rittens. Hondas are good vehicles

Supposedly they got their act together after the 2003 ML got roasted on Top Gear. What I liked about the 2004 is that it was the last year that it came with a full chassis. The roads down here are crap and unibody's start making funny sounds after the first two years of use.

I'd love to tell you that the Honda is a wonderful vehicle, but I don't want to lie to you. It makes a sound like the transmission is going to fall out of it when you're going uphill I've taken it to the dealer three times and they keep telling me things like we tightened the dash, or we reprogram the computer, or Honda is coming out with and updated flash for the computer next year. WTF!

I've been told by some people that it is an issue with the AWD System, so when they release the 2017 models in March I plan to trade this one in and get the same unit in 2WD. I might actually get a couple bucks back in the process.

[El Camexican]

I hate daily driver cars and have been considering selling my ecoboost because I'm tired of paying for a vehicle that sits in the garage. I've only put 9k miles on it in 2 years so I'd love to sell it and then just pay cash for an older diesel, but I don't want to buy someone else's problems and I'm at a point in my life where I'm tired of pissing money away on vehicles. My 07 Corolla has been the best car I've ever owned. It's my daily and I've put every mile on it except for the 3 it had on it at the dealer.

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I'm getting too old for used vehicles. I would much rather spend my spare time wrenching on a pretty little motorcycle, as opposed to a greasy old truck. That said I had been fantasizing about one of those new Rapters, but got sticker shock when I did a little research. I guess I'm stuck with my Chevy for a couple more years.

[bkm]

I absolutely love my truck, just hate paying for something I don't use all that often. I just need to suck it up three more years and I'll have a practically new truck that's paid for and like you said, don't have to wrench on. But the flip side to that is sell it now and pay cash for a truck that'll sit just like this one, but is paid for. #firstbworldproblems

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[Rob Canadian]

My 07 Corolla has been the best car I've ever owned. It's my daily and I've put every mile on it except for the 3 it had on it at the dealer.

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I am a big Toyota guy. It pays my bills. :)

[bkm]

I am a big Toyota guy. It pays my bills. :)
Toyota Tech?

[Rob Canadian]

Toyota Tech?

I come from a big family of Toyota. And yes...

[bkm]

I come from a big family of Toyota. And yes...
If Toyota made every one of their vehicles as good as they did my Corolla, you'd starve.

[fabiodriven]

Bryan get yourself a 7.3. It's like marrying a smokeshow with no voice who wants to blow you and only you constantly (block your eyes Mosh! Oops, too late!) They run forever and any repairs I've had to make thus far have been teet.

[bkm]

Bryan get yourself a 7.3. It's like marrying a smokeshow with no voice who wants to blow you and only you constantly (block your eyes Mosh! Oops, too late!) They run forever and any repairs I've had to make thus far have been teet.
You must have been reading my mind lately. I'm waiting for the right one to pop up and I'm willing to fly across the country to get it. I'm going to be very picky with the one I buy, and since I have a reliable truck, patience, (which is usually not a virtue of mine) will hopefully pay off in the long run. I figure if I find one around 150k miles, it's just starting to break in. I've been looking at Texas trucks because of the pristine body's.

[86T3]

7.3, lol. Didn't Derrick Adams buy a sweet used one?

[83ATC185]

After working for 4 suppliers and at the Mercedes plant, i can tell you, I'd never buy one!

They are made just as cheap as your ford/volkswagen, in fact most suppliers make parts for all three!

Example of build quality: The power windows use the same crappy plastic pulley/cable system like my moms buick had that self destructs in a few years

The whole thing, in its entirety, is put together with torx screws and rivets.

Negative, ghostrider.

[bkm]

I`ve had this discussion with my son ........don`t feck up a wet dream .......either drive the FART now and then to work (it`s bad to let ANY vehicle sit) and get over the remorse (lost wages) or trade em both in for a Porsche boxster and be a metro sexual or tree hugging Prius owner ! The problem is he has a brutal 18 mi. commute that takes over an hour and drives a 5.7 L Tundra so the little gnats on the fwy cut him off and hover around his arse and piss him off ....i`ve driven his truck if you hit that 5.7 you`ll kill someone in traffic it`s a bat out of hell and gets about 16 mpg ........so he thinks he wants an old lexus or rice eater to beat on .....you know .....somebody else's problem ......i told him beat the 5.7 and be happy doing it .....and den buy another one .....fack the fossil fuels anyway ! How much was the Eco Snoot any way ?........are you looking for a kiss after they fack you for it ? ......remember you can only drive one thing at a time thats why i like my 250R cause i know there's nothing better !
The eco stickered for 47k, but was a leftover '14 I bought in '15 for 33k. Trade in is 30k. So if I traded it in or sold it, I basically drove the truck for 2 years for 3k. Because I got such a good deal on it, I could get rid of it and almost be out nothing. That doesn't happen very often in the used vehicle world. I think I owe maybe 13k on it, so the difference would pay cash for an older truck that would sit until needed just like this one and not eat a thing.

[ironchop]

They are made just as cheap as your ford/volkswagen, in fact most suppliers make parts for all three!

Negative, ghostrider.

THIS is spot on. I have a local smelter that makes the front suspension arms for Toyota, Mercedes, Ford, Range Rover, VW, and many others.

Our involvement is to take newly cast/ forged parts and cut them up to machine bars from them that will be pulled apart in a machine used to test tensile strength. They make these components as thin as "safely" possible so testing daily is a necessity. The object is to use as little material as needed to keep it from snapping under normal wear and tear.

Cost trumps quality. Today's cars are piles of afterthought and cheap materials mixed together to make temporary transportation which lasts nearly as long as the auto loan you took out to purchase it ;)

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[sledcrazyinCT]

You must have been reading my mind lately. I'm waiting for the right one to pop up and I'm willing to fly across the country to get it. I'm going to be very picky with the one I buy, and since I have a reliable truck, patience, (which is usually not a virtue of mine) will hopefully pay off in the long run. I figure if I find one around 150k miles, it's just starting to break in. I've been looking at Texas trucks because of the pristine body's.

YES to finding rot free chassis! My search for a 7.3 netted many nice rot free trucks from Texas, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and Washington state. Amazed how much more $$ a rot free F350 commands over a F250.

I settled on a decent 2003 7.3 F250 crew cab lariat 4x4 I found locally. Minimal rot but I still would like to make a road trip home from a rust free state with a nice superduty.

[sledcrazyinCT]

Good news you cut loose your money pit Mercedes! Sucks that the ML350 was such a turd!

I like German made products, but am convinced if I get another BMW it will be only owned by my family while it still has a factory warranty!

[sledcrazyinCT]

BKM that is a good way to buy a vehicle as a dealer left over and flip it before you start to loose money. Had a very long conversation with a good friend who has always had a car payment, but he managed to upgrade on every trade in and gain equity. He is at the point if it needs a set of tires or brakes he starts to shop around for a new one. His logic convinced me to use our TDI jettawagon that is part of the emissions scandal to upgrade to a real nice new car. I figure based on our mileage and what VW is paying to buy back that we got to use the car for 40,000 miles and put some cash in our pocket even after throwing a big chunk towards a new car. I want to keep my same monthly payment amount, but put enough down to pay the sucker off in 3 or 4 years...just in time to sell privately before warranty expires or dicker with a dealer on another new one off the lot.

[bkm]

I`m glad the #`s work for you ......Ford had the nerve to ask 47K for a V-6 pickup ? ........we bought the Tundra in `13 the asking was 33K he got it for 26K work trim truck ......holy sheet by the time you retire they`ll be paying you a $1000 an hour !
Trust me, I've takin it up the arse many times on used cars in the past. This is the first time I've come close to winning. I'm tired of feeding the machine and it's time bkm starts paying himself first. Priorities in life are changing and needing to constantly have a new ride in the garage is going to be a thing of the past. Fabio will agree with this. I've been researching diesel trucks for probably 5 years now and there isn't a more reliable truck out there for the money than a 7.3. A rust free truck with under 200k miles will virtually lose no money at this point. With all the epa facked diesels running around eating the owners out of house and home, the 7.3 is money in the bank. They've depreciated all they're going to and most still have 250k left in them. I won't put that many miles on a truck in to lifetimes.

[fabiodriven]

Trust me, I've takin it up the arse many times on used cars in the past. This is the first time I've come close to winning. I'm tired of feeding the machine and it's time bkm starts paying himself first. Priorities in life are changing and needing to constantly have a new ride in the garage is going to be a thing of the past. Fabio will agree with this. I've been researching diesel trucks for probably 5 years now and there isn't a more reliable truck out there for the money than a 7.3. A rust free truck with under 200k miles will virtually lose no money at this point. With all the epa facked diesels running around eating the owners out of house and home, the 7.3 is money in the bank. They've depreciated all they're going to and most still have 250k left in them. I won't put that many miles on a truck in to lifetimes.

Now you're reading my mind! I was just about to post how you all are slaves to your vehicles! Before I get caught in a roll that is difficult to stop, I think I should end here, lol. You people are insane paying all that money for a vehicle!

[bkm]

Now you're reading my mind! I was just about to post how you all are slaves to your vehicles! Before I get caught in a roll that is difficult to stop, I think I should end here, lol. You people are insane paying all that money for a vehicle!
Trying to bust free from the shackles brother. My corolla has 150k and honestly don't see why it won't go another 150k? Selling the ecoboost and paying cash for a 99-03 7.3 is what I plan to do. I won't have the latest and greatest, but in turn I'll have reliable vehicles that will pay me while I drive them instead of a bank getting my money. I could set aside just the interest on a 5 year car note, and that would probably pay for the yearly maintenance on both my cars. The best part about this is my wife is totally on board with paying ourselves instead of the banks.

[fabiodriven]

No not the latest, but certainly the greatest.

[Mr. Clean]

My new ride. Truck blew a head gasket.

It's fun.

[knappyfeet]

I`m glad the #`s work for you ......Ford had the nerve to ask 47K for a V-6 pickup ? ........we bought the Tundra in `13 the asking was 33K he got it for 26K work trim truck ......holy sheet by the time you retire they`ll be paying you a $1000 an hour !

47K....35K......too many K's. Old trucks are great if you don't use them as daily drivers. This cost me $4500. I've since dropped about a $1000 on this or that. But that saves me $25000 over something newer and nicer and at 6% my $25000 will turn into around $40000 in 7 or 8 years.......the average term of large car loans.

I know it's dated but I get some thumbs up and some chuckles......whatever.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u105/knappyfeet/IMG_20170108_142146_zpsjs0uwclq.jpg (http://s166.photobucket.com/user/knappyfeet/media/IMG_20170108_142146_zpsjs0uwclq.jpg.html)

[Evan Hagenow]

The 7.3 is great and might be one of the best produced motors of all time, but the one and only problem is that they are all in trucks that are coming up on 20 years old. A buddy of mine thought the same thing and bought a 2002 5.9 cummins with 1750000 on the clock and it was clean as a whistle, original powdercoat still in perfect shape on the frame and you could still read the stamped markings on the rear leaf springs. He bought it thinking it would give him hundreds of thousands of miles no problem. With in a year he put a clutch, u-joints, ball joints, brakes, wheel bearings, and now his fan and radio don't work from some electrical bug in the wiring harness. Could just be a dodge quality thing I guess, or things just wear out.

Have you thought about doing a builder, finding a truck that was wrecked and rebuilding it with a salvage title. You can get a newer truck for much less money.

[bkm]

The 7.3 is great and might be one of the best produced motors of all time, but the one and only problem is that they are all in trucks that are coming up on 20 years old. A buddy of mine thought the same thing and bought a 2002 5.9 cummins with 1750000 on the clock and it was clean as a whistle, original powdercoat still in perfect shape on the frame and you could still read the stamped markings on the rear leaf springs. He bought it thinking it would give him hundreds of thousands of miles no problem. With in a year he put a clutch, u-joints, ball joints, brakes, wheel bearings, and now his fan and radio don't work from some electrical bug in the wiring harness. Could just be a dodge quality thing I guess, or things just wear out.

Have you thought about doing a builder, finding a truck that was wrecked and rebuilding it with a salvage title. You can get a newer truck for much less money.
The one problem with the 5.9 Cummins is it has a Dodge truck wrapped around it. Great engines in horrible trucks. I'm perfectly fine with ball joints, u-joints, bearings and such because those are normal wear items as far as I'm concerned and I'm no body man so I'd never buy a wrecked truck with a salvage title. When buying a truck with 150 -200k on the clock you have to be careful because that's right about the time everything you mentioned will need to be addressed. If you play your cards right you can find one with all that already done and let that poor sap absorb the cost. Sorry El, I didn't mean to turn this into bkm's 7.3 thread.

[El Camexican]

I always suspected that the biggest problem with my Mercedes was that Chrysler built it in Alabama.

[sledcrazyinCT]

The 7.3 is great and might be one of the best produced motors of all time, but the one and only problem is that they are all in trucks that are coming up on 20 years old. A buddy of mine thought the same thing and bought a 2002 5.9 cummins with 1750000 on the clock and it was clean as a whistle, original powdercoat still in perfect shape on the frame and you could still read the stamped markings on the rear leaf springs. He bought it thinking it would give him hundreds of thousands of miles no problem. With in a year he put a clutch, u-joints, ball joints, brakes, wheel bearings, and now his fan and radio don't work from some electrical bug in the wiring harness. Could just be a dodge quality thing I guess, or things just wear out.

That is pretty much maintenance on any vehicle with 40,000+ on it....especially when people like Ironchop and others can attest to the minimal quality built into parts anymore. Stuff is made to trailprotrailprotrailprotrailpro the bed two months out of warranty.....

[Ghostv2]

All this talk about newer fords...buy an OBS powerstroke! Get a truck that actually looks good.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170123/ea6a727116010568e9dc1944199304cc.png

[fabiodriven]

The OBS's do look great, but the Powerstroke 7.3 is the pinnacle of that motor. It's better than the non Powerstroke version for a lot of reasons. Nice looking rig Ghost!

[Ghostv2]

The OBS's do look great, but the Powerstroke 7.3 is the pinnacle of that motor. It's better than the non Powerstroke version for a lot of reasons. Nice looking rig Ghost!

You might wanna tell that to whoever owns the truck/google. ;)
My OBS had a headache earlier this month.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170124/665bc3cce4ae2b3e35f2c89d7dc48f49.jpg

I have an ugly thunderbird now. But was well taken care of and I love it. She's old, but still has some pretty cool technology in those old thunderchickens. Drives like a cadallic.

[Evan Hagenow]

The one problem with the 5.9 Cummins is it has a Dodge truck wrapped around it. Great engines in horrible trucks. I'm perfectly fine with ball joints, u-joints, bearings and such because those are normal wear items as far as I'm concerned and I'm no body man so I'd never buy a wrecked truck with a salvage title. When buying a truck with 150 -200k on the clock you have to be careful because that's right about the time everything you mentioned will need to be addressed. If you play your cards right you can find one with all that already done and let that poor sap absorb the cost. Sorry El, I didn't mean to turn this into bkm's 7.3 thread.

There are shops that will do a builder just for you. My brother just had one done. It was all bolt on parts and its good as new. Would never know its been wrecked. The company bought it from texas specifically for him. It has a salvage title but if your going to drive the truck for a long time, resale is a minor detail.

They way your talking about doing it by going all across the country is the way to do it. Its just a matter of time until all trucks in the midwest are rusty. The liquid brine they put on the roads doesn't help at all.

[bkm]

There are shops that will do a builder just for you. My brother just had one done. It was all bolt on parts and its good as new. Would never know its been wrecked. The company bought it from texas specifically for him. It has a salvage title but if your going to drive the truck for a long time, resale is a minor detail.

They way your talking about doing it by going all across the country is the way to do it. Its just a matter of time until all trucks in the midwest are rusty. The liquid brine they put on the roads doesn't help at all.
Salvage titles are a pain in the arse here in Missouri. If it's from out of state it has to be inspected by the Highway Patrol and receipts of all parts provided. I ran into this with an 87 F150 from Arizona with a salvage title.

[sledcrazyinCT]

Funny the thread titled 'The Merc' made me think of boat motors or an XR7 not about Mercedes but then the thread turned into Ford Diesels.

[Hurley250R]

My old boss had a 06 E350 Mercedes. He had the dealer service it every couple months for oil changes and routine stuff. I used to drive the car to the dealer and back on occasion and really didn't feel like anything special to me. I know they charged alot to do the simplest of jobs on that car. One time he backed into something and broke the tail light, I think it was $1100 to repair it.

I love driving my Cadillac and besides a water pump and a wheel sensor she has been reliable. But now my waranty is up I kinda fear anything breaking.
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