How much???!! annual maintenance costs?

[bluevenetian]

Is it just me who pays out more than 1,000 pounds in maintenance/repairs each year?
My car's a '95 w124 e280 on 150k and can't be worth more than 1,500 quid.

I keep telling myself "this year it will be a couple of hundred....."
I've absolutely no mechanical ability at all, so DIY is not an option.
Although friends say I am mad to keep shelling out and tell me to "wait until it goes wrong before fixing", my view is that if the expert (mechanic) tells me something like the 'brakes need doing', then that's what I want done.

While I don't mind driving around in a 15-year-old car, I don't want to be tooling along in an old smoker. Essentially I need the car to be as reliable as a new car, and I guess that peace of mind is going to cost.
But out of interest, what do you guys/gals fork out each year keeping your STAR pointed towards the horizon?

 

[c2raig]

The same issue was raised when I posted about buying a 124 230E.

My opinion is that its still more economical than a new car because although servicing bills will be similar for a newer MB, there is zero depreciation. Remembering, when new, your W124 was a prestige badged hi-tech executive estate not leaving much change out of 30k GBP, so at 1k a year to maintain a car like that, it isn't really a massive amount.

I expect larger bills for the 230E I will hopefully by buying soon!

 

[Classic_car]

I've absolutely no mechanical ability at all, so DIY is not an option.

Why not enrol yourself on an evening class at a local College and learn? Or even just buy a Haynes manual and have a good study, then read some 'How to's' on this and other forums.

Doing your own Servicing is very satisfying, quite easy and will save you £££. If you have the ability to pass a driving test, then you have teh ability to learn to do and oil and filter change on your car, it's that easy.

Start by getting a basic tool set and changing your Oil and filters, then you will soon find you never visit a Garage again, other than the annual MOT test.

There is so much help on the internet if you get stuck and you might find you enjoy 'tinkering' with your car.

Jack

 

[d w124]

What work has been dome to it though?!!Ok the loom and the headgasket cost,but you only do them once
Don`t know about the 6 cyl but the e200 I had has cost me around 1500 maintenance in 3 years,that`ll include tyres and mot

 

[del320]

You've either been dead unlucky or your figures are well out.

I've had the coupe for exactly nine years and all servicing and maintenance costs total £5072. (ave £564 per year) This figure includes 8 tyres, 2 batteries, and MOTs - expense you'll have in any car.

Included in the above figure is unscheduled work totalling £1000 for a water pump and all costs incurred when the infrared/immobilisor was replaced.

 

[bluevenetian]

yup head gasket and loom done......but also shocks, elec window motor, engine mounts, top end mounts, gear box mounts, rear silencer, oil cooler pipe seals, new coils, spark plugs, oil changes, new tyres, wheel alignments etc etc etc.......
....car drives very nicely, and I guess so it should

 

[martin_a]

You aren't going to Kwik Fit are you?

 

[mattc]

Is your garage looking for things to change as he knows you will pay up! Have you in the past said you want to maintain it to a high standard.

By this I mean preventative stuff (or just stuff that if changed will improve the general feel of the car - for instance you engine/gearbox mounts may have been ok-ish but at 150K changing them probably made things a noticable degree smoother, especially when turning the steering wheel)

124's will hide numerous faults well and you could probably have left some of the stuff (clearly not the HDG or wiring loom).

You may be paying the price for stuff that was skimped over ealrier in its life.

Ours have only needed small stuff doing for a few years now (did do the HDG but that was at very good mates rates as a favour) and each time its only been ££'s for parts; not £££ or ££££'s. The suggestion about Haynes and a toolkit is valid. These cars are well laid out and servicing them is simple.

 

[d w124]

yup head gasket and loom done......but also shocks, elec window motor, engine mounts, top end mounts, gear box mounts, rear silencer, oil cooler pipe seals, new coils, spark plugs, oil changes, new tyres, wheel alignments etc etc etc.......
....car drives very nicely, and I guess so it should

After all that work,you have a nice W124 now.From now on i`ll be much cheaper

 

[grober]

Is it just me who pays out more than 1,000 pounds in maintenance/repairs each year?
My car's a '95 w124 e280 on 150k and can't be worth more than 1,500 quid.

I keep telling myself "this year it will be a couple of hundred....."
I've absolutely no mechanical ability at all, so DIY is not an option.
Although friends say I am mad to keep shelling out and tell me to "wait until it goes wrong before fixing", my view is that if the expert (mechanic) tells me something like the 'brakes need doing', then that's what I want done.

While I don't mind driving around in a 15-year-old car, I don't want to be tooling along in an old smoker. Essentially I need the car to be as reliable as a new car, and I guess that peace of mind is going to cost.
But out of interest, what do you guys/gals fork out each year keeping your STAR pointed towards the horizon?

You would have to detail your annual mileage to put those costs into perspective. For say 6,000 miles its a tad expensive for 30,000 it's dead cheap. The greatest loss on nearly new cars is depreciation running costs pale into insignificance.
The "break point " often comes with significant body structural rust usually related to suspension , jacking or subframe mounting points. Even then the car can be rebuilt but the value of the car ,time "off the road" , cost of repair and the further long term longevity of the car as a whole need to be carefully appraised at that point.

One further aspect to be taken into consideration for owners with young families is that safety technology has moved on considerably in the last 10-15 years. In particular protection in side impacts with side and curtain airbags and rear impacts with child seat integration and active head restraints. These factors might influence the purchase of a more modern car?

 

[Classic_car]

but also shocks, elec window motor, engine mounts, top end mounts, gear box mounts, rear silencer, oil cooler pipe seals, new coils, spark plugs, oil changes

All of these, you could easily learn to do yourself from a Haynes manual and armed with a few basic tools.

I agree with the other posters that stated that your car will probably now be reliable and cheap to run. May be the last owner(s) had skimped on servicing and repairs for a while, the same has been true with my W126. But, once you go through the car fixing what needs doing, they are cheap to run and last a long time, the only worry then being rust proofing.

You have a good car, if you ignore my suggestion to do the work yourself, then it's surely worth £1000 a year maintenance anyway, to drive such a wonderfully engineered car.

Jack

 

[bluevenetian]

so, in say a 5 year old e-class estate, would people be reckoning on paying about 300-500 quid a year on maintenance, or are we talking an MOT and the odd tyre and bulb?

I'm curious because I've never had a car newer than 10 years old.
I have had old cars that cost almost nothing to run -- a 1986 Golf a while back springs to mind -- but that was just for pootling around London sans enfants. If it gave up the ghost going around Hyde Park, so be it -- as in fact did my old Audi 80 in Earls Court rush hour traffic.

As to the garage charging like a wounded rhino -- well, who knows. I don''t exactly like paying for a job well done, instead I tend to grin and bear it. I certainly wince and grimace when I come to actually hand over my credit card and I do question why they "have" to do certain things. To be fair to the mechanic, he's advised that some stuff needs doing, but also says it will be alright to "keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get any worse".

I'm sure there are items that haven't been essential..but then I don't want to drive around in a "nice car" that rattles or shakes or blows smoke in the air... I want my merc to waft, and stop like a merc should.

So 'fess up, anyone taking big hits like me?, or everyone doing merc ownership for 2.99p? Do newish merc's need much doing to them?

 

[Ade B]

It depends on the mileage and what you are prepared to live with. I started out being very fussy with my car (which was expensive) and slowly started to tolerate irritating niggles (failed cruise, intermittent rear passenger window, erratic idle) as I just got fed up with constantly shelling out for fixes. The final nail in the coffin was lack of comfortable rear seat space for two kids and then there was the cost of petrol which was at the time £1.24 a litre.

I predict that even factoring depreciation in and dealer servicing, based on current experience, my gadget laden jap oil burner is a much cheaper proposition to run. Its no 90's tank though - I miss the design touches and solidity of the CE every time I shut the door on the Honda.

I was doing around 15k miles pa.

£1000 per year sounds cheap


Ade

 

[d w124]

so, in say a 5 year old e-class estate, would people be reckoning on paying about 300-500 quid a year on maintenance, or are we talking an MOT and the odd tyre and bulb?

Do newish merc's need much doing to them?

Let`s say someone breaks your mirror while you`re parked,how does 800 pounds sound to you for a new one

 

[bluevenetian]

Hi Ade, good to see the Honda is serving you well....I always enjoyed reading your posts when you had the coupe, at least I didn't feel I was the only person with an old merc spending wads of cash

On mileage I probably do 6,000 miles a year -- not much I know...but as I've posted previously, these miles tend to be on longish haul trips/holidays, so the prospect of a breakdown is not welcome.

800 pounds for a wing mirror!!! crikey, that's nearly half an annual service

 

[Classic_car]

Ouch! Plus, when the newer cars go wrong, you often need to get it hooked up to a diagnostics machine, it's not gonna be cheap..

I was watching that program on Discovery Realtime the other day called 'The Garage', it's basically a fly on the wall docu about an english garage in Marbella or somewhere. They had a newish E-Class in and changing the headlamp bulb, required hooking it up to diagnostics, a wait of 48 hrs whilst they struggled with the software and a bill for around £150 Lol!!

 

[Classic_car]

Also, tyres on the new model will be twice the price, because they will be lower profile. Insurance will be much more, because you can't get a Classic policy, parts are usually more, because you have to buy a whole unit, rather than just the bush or whatever it is you need, etc, etc. I think your newer car could cost you a LOT more than the £1k a year you are currently spending and that's ignoring depreciation, the biggest cost of all.

 

[d w124]

800 pounds for a wing mirror!!! crikey, that's nearly half an annual service

Well I was a bit myself,and sorry but it turns out is 700 http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/spot...elift-2006-onwards.html?highlight=w211+mirror

 

[stevieb15]

My 1998 SL500 has cost me £459.66 over the last 18 months and 24000 miles in mechanical maintenance and servicing.
The breakdown
is
Service A 109.25
Service B 161.00
New brake light switch
and air con top up 110.63
New ASR switch 78.78
Plus a new set of tyres c.£600

I may have been lucky and it is(was)a very low mileage example but these costs multiplied many times,compared to depreciation on a new or newer car,make running something older so affordable.
When I bought mine I expected to spend between £1 and £2k annually on mechanicals so I feel well ahead of the game.
As you've already had a lot done I would expect you'll have some cheaper years ahead but with older cars you always have to expect the odd big bill.

 

[Ted]

Let`s say someone breaks your mirror while you`re parked,how does 800 pounds sound to you for a new one

WHAAAT???!!!!!!

I bought a W124 and ran it for a year for less than that.

And then 'sold' it for a 'profit' (i.e. Mrs Ted did a deal for four new DG windows, fitted, and some roof tiles replaced.