solid drive turns sloppy

[sherco450]

Owned a handful of MB and other Germany makes, some far better to drive
over others , with general up keep and maintenance not all cars
have always been a tight and solid drive. Others no matter how thorough l have been with maintenance , quality of tyres and suspension components seem to be of a sloppy nature to drive when the miles are stacked on. Be interesting to know of vehicles that drive as the day they left the showroom floor while clocking up the miles.

 

[219]

My W124 300TE-24 with full MBSH and reams of receipts for maintenance carried out regardless of cost drove as tight and solid as a new car with 430'000 miles on it .

Pity an uninsured driver piled into it when it was parked on my drive and wrote it off

 

[jamesfuller]

Some people under estimate how much geometry can make a difference. If its not quite right then it doesn't matter how good the condition is of springs/dampers, it just wont feel right.

 

[kianok]

Some people under estimate how much geometry can make a difference. If its not quite right then it doesn't matter how good the condition is of springs/dampers, it just wont feel right.

100% agree.

I bought my current car from MB retail used cars unseen/ driven.

Not an issue I thought as i'd bought one from them before and it was spot on, as was my current car, apart from the geometry.

The car just didn't feel right when I picked it up and i noticed some strange scrubbing on the front tyres after a couple of hundred miles (they allowed me to keep the wheels from my old car as they had just been replaced under warranty so were brand new, plus their wheels were pants!)

MB retail covered the cost of having a full laser line geo correction and all has been fine since.

 

[John Jones Jr]

Be interesting to know of vehicles that drive as the day they left the showroom floor while clocking up the miles.

Well there's loads, all makes and sizes but it depends on several factors. There's the time factor rather that just mileage, suspension rubbers will deteriorate over time. 80,000 motorway miles on three year old car, it could very well drive like new. The same mileage on a six year old urban car, it could drive like a cart. Generally speaking, I do think there're few cars after 80K that wouldn't drive better with new shocks, top mounts etc.

So, really what I'm saying there's probably no cars that drive like new after clocking a fair few miles, not even the good old Lexus LS400.

 

[sherco450]

Have to say dads w124 e220 (1995) drives as good as the day he picked it up . 460,000km not as smooth engine as my w210 e240 (2000) with 280,000 km . the w124 solid and precise .