Truth in advertising on eBay - Bad Mercedes

[masraum]

2003 Mercedes S55

Well, the guy seems pretty darn honest.

The ad starts out:

Here we have is the most expensive piece of crap car i've ever owned.

and gets better from there.

[motion]

Bad Engrish, too cheap, smells funny.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by motion

Bad Engrish,

Well, his name is hangtruong...

smells funny.

Really? I've got to get a monitor like yours. I wonder if it's like that Seinfeld episode where they couldn't get the BO out of the car?

Oh, not THAT kind of "smells funny".

[speeder]

I'm sure that was not the best car Mercedes ever sold but I'd also wager that this guy's experience is nowhere near typical. If it was, the internet would be blazing with similar stories...

[widgeon13]

He ain't the sharpest knife in the drawer. He bought because the wife wanted it! That was his first mistake.

[wdfifteen]

I feel for the guy. At least he got some satisfaction from listing in on Ebay. I wish I could ebay my BMW 535, but the POS is a lease.

[kaisen]

Originally Posted by speeder

I'm sure that was not the best car Mercedes ever sold but I'd also wager that this guy's experience is nowhere near typical. If it was, the internet would be blazing with similar stories...

I'd say his experience isn't atypical. The difference is that most S-Class owners have the pockets to take the service bills in stride, where he obviously doesn't. Don't buy a higher mileage S-Class without expecting $5K a year in service expenses (if dealer maintained), but that's still way less than the depreciation of a new one. It's gonna cost you one way or the other.

His experience with the ABC system seems to be in line with a 80K mile warm-climate car. And that is all over the internet.

[McLovin]

stuff going wrong with the hydraulic suspension, brake by wire system, electronics, etc. etc. etc. on the early 2000s MBs are all over the innernetz.

[Bill Douglas]

It looks nice, but I'm easily fooled.

[Wickd89]

I think there were a few years that Mercedes were crap. There were tons of recalls and tons of lemon returns. 2003 was one of those years; explains why 50K cars sell for 13K.
Also Mercedes even anounced that they had reduced the amount they spent in parts versus labor, and were going to change that moving forward. In other words, for the same money, we will start putting better parts into the car (as we had before)..

Really dig the current S550 and hope to get one in the next 3-4 years..

[legion]

Mercedes from the mid-80's were the last ones that looked distinguished. They kind of lost themselves to formless blobs during the 90's and early 2000's. The new ones, even the sedans, look badass.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by McLovin

stuff going wrong with the hydraulic suspension, brake by wire system, electronics, etc. etc. etc. on the early 2000s MBs are all over the innernetz.

All models, or just S-class? Reason I ask is because I was looking at a 2001 E320 wagon for cheap and started a thread a while back, didn't get much response. The S-class was considerably more complex w/ more electronics and expensive systems to break, such as that height-adjustable suspension, etc.

Any experience w/ early 2000s E-class?

[GG Allin]

I'm tempted to pick up a 95 C36 for 5 or 6 grand. No interest here in anything built beyond 1999. Ingore the Cayenne in my sig, it's the wife's.

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by speeder

All models, or just S-class? Reason I ask is because I was looking at a 2001 E320 wagon for cheap and started a thread a while back, didn't get much response. The S-class was considerably more complex w/ more electronics and expensive systems to break, such as that height-adjustable suspension, etc.

Any experience w/ early 2000s E-class?

All models, pretty much all years, in answer to your original comment ("I'd also wager that this guy's experience is nowhere near typical. If it was, the internet would be blazing with similar stories...")

If you go to Benzworld, etc. you'll see all sorts of horror stories, for all years.

That being said, just because the internet is blazing with horror stories about a certain car, doesn't mean it's a bad car. The internet was designed for drama and complainers.

But, IMO there were some issues with some of the early 2000s MBs. People say it was because of the "Chrysler influence," but that is nonsense. MB acquired Chrysler, which became just a holding of MB (Daimler, actually), and that holding had absolutely no affect on the MB cars.

IMO what happened in the early 2000s was a push by MB into "new technologies," mostly on the electronics side. There certainly were some bugs in some cars during those years, but in all the lines (C, E, S) they were all worked out by mid-production and were fine. And, most of even the early cars were fine, too.

When something does go wrong, though, it is often very expensive to fix. Like with the 7 series, over time the S class becomes the hardest to keep on the road, because it has the most electronics, motors, wiring, relays, etc. etc. etc. to fail.

I wouldn't be afraid of an '01 E class.

[HardDrive]

The early 2000 MBs were pieces of schitz. Like McLovin said, the electronics were totally half baked. The E320s of the time were utter lemons. You would find them new as dealer buy backs on E-bay all the time. When they introduced the 3.5 engine in the E series (05?), they brought in second generation electronics that were much better. I have an 06 E350, and I have not had any major issues in almost 2 years. For a land yacht, its actually pretty fun to drive as well.

[kaisen]

Denis, another factor is where the model is at in terms of product cycle. The first year and second year of a Benz model can really suck. The E-class you're asking about came out in 1997, so the 2001 that had little change should be pretty well sorted. And the S-class DOUBLED the problematic gizmos, electronic or otherwise.

[McLovin]

06 was the year that the E320 became the E350, and I agree, the E350 is a much better car in all ways. Other than reliability issues, they got rid of the 3 valve engine for the much better 3.5, 4 valve engine, and it finally had acceptable modern day power.

The only thing the 06 didn't get rid of what the SBC (brake by wire, i.e. electric brakes) system. They finally got rid of that in '07.

Still, I'd not be afraid of an '01 E class. If the car is still on the road, and it functions, the electronics work, and everything is fine, it can be a good car for the money. If it has survived this far and is still working, chances are good it has some good years left in it. At least to someone who has some desire to do some work on it themselves.

The biggest issue for the DIY is while there is a growing database of DIY stuff on the interwebs, it still isn't huge.

[masraum]

I keep waiting to see Z-man chime in, but probably better if he doesn't.

[greglepore]

Well, I'd just go a few years older. I just picked up a 95 E320 TE and its a wonderful cruiser-and handles better than you'd think, once you get used to the initial softness/roll.

Paid just over 3500 for it, 138k miles. All systems except cruise work flawlessly (cruise, for some odd reason, works fine below 60mph). Tex is perfect. Not a single squeak. Came out of an M5 and frankly miss it less than I'd expected.

They do have issues if you read the boards, but not as many as the early 2k's. But none of these are bad cars for the money. I mean, seriously, these were 50k cars when new that you can buy for less than 10% of their actual value and they retain 99% of their original excellence.

[Sarc]

Originally Posted by speeder

Any experience w/ early 2000s E-class?

Here you go, Speeder.