Hello all,
I have recently bought my first Mercedes, a 2005 E320CDI Avantgarde estate. For no particular reason I thought I'd do a review of my experience so far (based on 5,000 miles) in relation to my previous cars - this may get long!
My previous cars (in reverse chronological order):
Audi A4 Cabriolet 2.0TDi multitronic
A bit of a mistake really - lovely car to look at but not at all practical and the combination of the TDI engine and multitronic gearbox isn't great. There's a real delay from stationary and then the power all comes in at once, spinning the wheels. It also ate its oil cooler twice, meaning around 10 days off the road in my first six weeks of ownership.
I did about 10,000 miles in this (bought it new but didn't lose too much) and in relation to the Merc I'd give it 6/10 (I know it's not apples for apples).
Jaguar XJ6 SE
A predictable Jaguar experience. I bought this one a year old and did 80,000 miles in it over 3 years (well, in the third one - the first two went back to Jag as they had so many faults). I really bonded with this car but in the end it had to go as at 90k miles it felt like it was about to fall apart. There had been quite a few faults during my ownership but when I sold it the climate control had stopped working, one of the lights worked intermittently, the brakes squealed like mad and there was a lot of corrosion on the (four year old) aluminium bodywork. Depreciation was spectacular which I had expected, and for such a big car space inside was limited.
I did get an average of 27mpg though, and even on 20 inch wheels it was fantastic for a long run, really comfortable. 6/10.
Audi A8 quattro sport
I bought this a year old too (I tend to buy cars from 1-3 years old depending on history and condition) and did 100,000 miles in it over about 3 years. When I valeted it before I sold it, it would have passed for a 20,000 mile car. Built like an absolute tank and generally very reliable while I had it. In the end it went because the dealers were awful, servicing was very expensive and I was getting less than 20mpg. Very good for long trips in bad weather. 7/10.
BMW 330D touring
Bought this when our first child was born as a "practical" option. Objectively a great car, really impressive engine and build quality and I kept it for a year and 25,000 miles. In the end I got sick of it because of the way every other 3 series on the road is driven, the way other road users treated me, plus it was a bit small inside. Very good power and economy though, and I thought the dealer I used was excellent. 6/10.
Lexus GS300 SE
I had this for 2 years and 70,000 miles. Predictably, not a thing went wrong, the dealer was excellent and the car was safe, secure and comfortable. The only downsides were that it was a bit thirsty and the service intervals were at 9,000 miles which for me was inconvenient (even though the dealer always picked it up and dropped it off). 8/10.
Lexus IS200 SE
I had one of the first IS200s to hit the country and I can remember when I first sat in it, I couldn't believe how much better designed and built it was than my current Volvo S40. I had this for about a year and 40,000 miles and it held up really well. I only got rid of it because the dealer offered me a good px on the GS300. 8/10.
I guess I'm a bit of a brand tart looking at the above but at least my experience of other brands lets me calibrate my MB experience so far. Certainly in terms of the "honeymoon period", this is the best car I have owned. I did a lot of homework on the range and decided that the value/price hotspot for me was at around 3 years old. This meant new enough to still have a bit of warranty left and have the bugs ironed out, but old enough not to kill me with depreciation when the new one comes out next year.
I looked hard for the spec of car I wanted (mine has perforated leather, Comand, sunroof, memory heated seats, sports suspension, 17 inch wheels, parktronic, CD changer, phone pre-wiring and a couple of other bits and pieces) and this one is more or less mint. It has done 40,000 miles with a full main dealer history (I always really pamper my cars so condition and history are important to me - as to everyone I suppose) but to be fair, almost every one I looked at had worn its miles very well.
The car is very well put together and feels like it will last. It's quiet and comfortable on long trips and the ride is pretty good considering the sports suspension. I can coax 40mpg out of it on a long run which means a tank range of over 650 miles, but it really shifts when it needs to.
There's plenty of space for our two children and all their stuff and also easily swallows my mountain bike when I want to go off exploring.
My local dealer has been excellent so far and offers discounts on labour for cars over 3 years old so it will probably stay with them for servicing. I can buy Castrol Edge oil (229.51) for abour £5 per litre so that should save a bit on servicing costs.
All in all, a brilliant car and a fantastic ownership proposition for me. With the money I saved in buying a slightly older car I'm thinking of buying an SL for the weekend, but I'll save that for another thread. I'm a little concerned that I didn't seriously consider Mercedes earlier but I always viewed them as a bit staid and overpriced
(plus I probably would have been buying one during the quality lull), but I get it now - probably because I'm getting a bit long in the tooth myself 
.
I did warn that the post might drag on a bit, sorry. I'm looking forward to contributing here and trying to avoid getting banned .
Anyway, here are some pics - and no, you can't have this ten minutes of your life back .
I have recently bought my first Mercedes, a 2005 E320CDI Avantgarde estate. For no particular reason I thought I'd do a review of my experience so far (based on 5,000 miles) in relation to my previous cars - this may get long!
My previous cars (in reverse chronological order):
Audi A4 Cabriolet 2.0TDi multitronic
A bit of a mistake really - lovely car to look at but not at all practical and the combination of the TDI engine and multitronic gearbox isn't great. There's a real delay from stationary and then the power all comes in at once, spinning the wheels. It also ate its oil cooler twice, meaning around 10 days off the road in my first six weeks of ownership.
I did about 10,000 miles in this (bought it new but didn't lose too much) and in relation to the Merc I'd give it 6/10 (I know it's not apples for apples).
Jaguar XJ6 SE
A predictable Jaguar experience. I bought this one a year old and did 80,000 miles in it over 3 years (well, in the third one - the first two went back to Jag as they had so many faults). I really bonded with this car but in the end it had to go as at 90k miles it felt like it was about to fall apart. There had been quite a few faults during my ownership but when I sold it the climate control had stopped working, one of the lights worked intermittently, the brakes squealed like mad and there was a lot of corrosion on the (four year old) aluminium bodywork. Depreciation was spectacular which I had expected, and for such a big car space inside was limited.
I did get an average of 27mpg though, and even on 20 inch wheels it was fantastic for a long run, really comfortable. 6/10.
Audi A8 quattro sport
I bought this a year old too (I tend to buy cars from 1-3 years old depending on history and condition) and did 100,000 miles in it over about 3 years. When I valeted it before I sold it, it would have passed for a 20,000 mile car. Built like an absolute tank and generally very reliable while I had it. In the end it went because the dealers were awful, servicing was very expensive and I was getting less than 20mpg. Very good for long trips in bad weather. 7/10.
BMW 330D touring
Bought this when our first child was born as a "practical" option. Objectively a great car, really impressive engine and build quality and I kept it for a year and 25,000 miles. In the end I got sick of it because of the way every other 3 series on the road is driven, the way other road users treated me, plus it was a bit small inside. Very good power and economy though, and I thought the dealer I used was excellent. 6/10.
Lexus GS300 SE
I had this for 2 years and 70,000 miles. Predictably, not a thing went wrong, the dealer was excellent and the car was safe, secure and comfortable. The only downsides were that it was a bit thirsty and the service intervals were at 9,000 miles which for me was inconvenient (even though the dealer always picked it up and dropped it off). 8/10.
Lexus IS200 SE
I had one of the first IS200s to hit the country and I can remember when I first sat in it, I couldn't believe how much better designed and built it was than my current Volvo S40. I had this for about a year and 40,000 miles and it held up really well. I only got rid of it because the dealer offered me a good px on the GS300. 8/10.
I guess I'm a bit of a brand tart looking at the above but at least my experience of other brands lets me calibrate my MB experience so far. Certainly in terms of the "honeymoon period", this is the best car I have owned. I did a lot of homework on the range and decided that the value/price hotspot for me was at around 3 years old. This meant new enough to still have a bit of warranty left and have the bugs ironed out, but old enough not to kill me with depreciation when the new one comes out next year.
I looked hard for the spec of car I wanted (mine has perforated leather, Comand, sunroof, memory heated seats, sports suspension, 17 inch wheels, parktronic, CD changer, phone pre-wiring and a couple of other bits and pieces) and this one is more or less mint. It has done 40,000 miles with a full main dealer history (I always really pamper my cars so condition and history are important to me - as to everyone I suppose) but to be fair, almost every one I looked at had worn its miles very well.
The car is very well put together and feels like it will last. It's quiet and comfortable on long trips and the ride is pretty good considering the sports suspension. I can coax 40mpg out of it on a long run which means a tank range of over 650 miles, but it really shifts when it needs to.
There's plenty of space for our two children and all their stuff and also easily swallows my mountain bike when I want to go off exploring.
My local dealer has been excellent so far and offers discounts on labour for cars over 3 years old so it will probably stay with them for servicing. I can buy Castrol Edge oil (229.51) for abour £5 per litre so that should save a bit on servicing costs.
All in all, a brilliant car and a fantastic ownership proposition for me. With the money I saved in buying a slightly older car I'm thinking of buying an SL for the weekend, but I'll save that for another thread. I'm a little concerned that I didn't seriously consider Mercedes earlier but I always viewed them as a bit staid and overpriced
(plus I probably would have been buying one during the quality lull), but I get it now - probably because I'm getting a bit long in the tooth myself .I did warn that the post might drag on a bit, sorry. I'm looking forward to contributing here and trying to avoid getting banned
.Anyway, here are some pics - and no, you can't have this ten minutes of your life back
.
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