Built like a Mercedes (?)

If you have to ask how much one costs, you can't afford to maintain
one. They have a reputation in some parts of going forever - but they
ar a bit like great great-grand-dad's axe. It's the same axe he
brought with him to this country 150 years ago. The head's been
replaced 3 times, and it's on it's 10th handle - but it's still the
original axe!!!!

 

All joking aside, I DO appreciate cars engineered so that you CAN keep
replacing parts that wear out instead of having to pretend its a Bic
Disposable and throw the thing away. American cars were like that until
the 70s, and trucks still are (in most cases). Japanese cars were
*never* like that, which is why I'll never own one.

 

That's a 190 for you.

I bought my 300SD 7 years ago for $1800 with 189K miles on it. It's been
in the shop 3 times since then, about $350 per and has 400K miles on it
now. I did work on it myself for 2 weeks 2 years ago.

 

If you have to ask how much one costs, you can't afford to maintain
one. They have a reputation in some parts of going forever - but they
ar a bit like great great-grand-dad's axe. It's the same axe he
brought with him to this country 150 years ago. The head's been
replaced 3 times, and it's on it's 10th handle - but it's still the
original axe!!!![/QUOTE]

I _assume_ you are suggesting that one should throw them away when
problems develop.... are you kidding me? that's why I bought Benzes in the
first place. My 300 has had _NO_ problems (well except the evaporator and
the waterpump I recently replaced) for the past 250k km. The car is in like
show room condition. Sure I can let the dealer do it, but hey, I actually
enjoy fixing the easy stuff (water pump, not evaporator).

Do I need a brand new mercedes? No, why should I. I couldn't be
happier with the one I've got...... and it has nothing to do with any
nostalgia. there is nothing the newer cars offer that I really want..... well,
my wife does complain about the absence of cupholders... I give the cup to her
and suggest to her that 'she' might be the 'cupholder' ,.... she doesn't
see the humour

cheers

 

In theory/on paper, it blows up in your face because you're dividing a
number by zero. But in practice, in the real world, human beings are not
computers who can only emit showers of sparks, wave our arms spastically
and endlessly repeat "ERROR! ERROR! ERROR!" in a monotone when faced with
such a situation. Instead, we say the worst economy possible is "zero".

It's one of those things that works in practice, but'll never work in
theory.

Again, you're getting hung up on irrelevant theory. In the real world, so
far, fuel economy is always considerably worse than 1 litre/100km, so the
problem you mention here does not exist.

 

Speak for yourself, Stern.

 

I _assume_ you are suggesting that one should throw them away when
problems develop.... are you kidding me? that's why I bought Benzes in the
first place. My 300 has had _NO_ problems (well except the evaporator and
the waterpump I recently replaced) for the past 250k km. The car is in like
show room condition. Sure I can let the dealer do it, but hey, I actually
enjoy fixing the easy stuff (water pump, not evaporator).

Do I need a brand new mercedes? No, why should I. I couldn't be
happier with the one I've got...... and it has nothing to do with any
nostalgia. there is nothing the newer cars offer that I really want..... well,
my wife does complain about the absence of cupholders... I give the cup to her
and suggest to her that 'she' might be the 'cupholder' ,.... she doesn't
see the humour

cheers[/QUOTE]


I know, I have friends with Mercedes too, and some have had EXCELLENT
luck. Particularly the older 300 series etc - but the E-Class? later
model cars have been as bad as Cadillacs - spending more time in the
shop than on the road.

And I definitely do NOT suggest you throw a car away when problems
develop - unless they are either way to expensive to fix, or the
problems arrise too often. ANd then I don't advocate throwing them
away. One man's garbage is another man's treasure - so find someone
who wants what you don't want and is willing to pay you good money for
it. He might have better luck than you have had - or just be more
willing to spend time and money on it because of his infatuation with
that particular make/model, or whatever.

My Pontiac Transport has 334,000km on it. The previous owner replaced
all the suspension parts before I got it. I put in a new engine at
275,000, because I bought it when the previous (original) owner
decided to stop pouring money into it. I put a rebuilt tranny in at
about 300,000.I replaced the windsheild.
About all that's left of the original is the (plastic) body and
interior. Oh yes, and still the original exhaust.

It's still the original axe though!!!

 

Actually, they were. The old rear drive corollas,Coronas, celicas,
hilux, and land cruisers could be kept on the road virtually forever.
I've seen many of each well over the 1/4 million miles.
The old cruiser was basically a late forties or early fifties Chevy.
Half of it was made under licence from GM. The old "F" engine was a
metric stovebolt, and an early chevy engine would basically drop in.

 

clare at snyder.on.ca wrote:

And ironically at the same time (mid 90s) that many Mercedes models
turned into unreliable money-pits, the Cadillacs started getting
incredibly reliable again after a 25 year journey through hell. Credit
for the improvement goes to the Northstar drivetrain. Nice piece of
engineering there. Of course, they cost darn near as much as the
Mercedes now....

 

3 customers of mine - lifelong caddy owners and also friends, have
gotten rid of their Caddies in the last 2 years and got Lexus'. After
the last 3 caddies, including an escalade and a CTX? spent more time
at the dealership than at home, and he had to spend too much time
chasing them back and forth, the first friend bought a Lexus 450 SUV.

After having the caddy let him down just about every time he took it
out of town - just about everything but the engine, and between
Ontario and Florida, or between Ontario and North Carolina, the second
friend bought a 300 series Lexus sedan.

Third one just got fed up with all the little stuff that kept failing
- again, and again, and again. Got a lexus sedan as well.

Another friend - who just celebrated his 60th anniversary, is
replacing his wife's caddy with a new Avalon. He currently has a Lexus
300 series that replaced his old BMW LWB. They used to use the caddy
(it's 3? years old now) going back and forth to Michigan State for the
college football games (his alma mater) and they've had suspension
problems let them down 4 or 5 times - they don't take it out of town
any more -haven't for over a year - none of the dealers who've looked
at it have been able to pin down the problem. 3rd or 4th caddy, and he
says it's the last one. At 85 he can't waste time with an unreliable
car.

The engine's have not been totally without problems either. The first
guy has has 2 northstars go south under warranty, and he takes good
care of everything he owns.

 

No, you are absolutely wrong. Baking requires precise measures, and I am
not talking about bread machines. But you are obviously not going to
believe me and I haven't got the time to convince you of something everyone
else already knows. Ask a chef.

 

I must be a very lucky person. My '83 300SD is at a bit over 338k miles
with no majors, nor do any majors appear to be needed. Still looks (almost)
like a new car when washed and waxed, too.

 

< my wife does complain about the absence of cupholders... I give the cup to
her
and suggest to her that 'she' might be the 'cupholder' ,.... she
doesn't
see the humour>

You had better be careful. If I said that, she'd probably hand me back my
cup--upside down!

 

top posting idiocy corrected...

UI don't need to ask a chef, I bake often enough to know. Simple
logic will suffice. You claim that if one is not precise, the item
will not come out right. I am never precise in baking, and everything
I make comes out just fine. Obviously your baking skills are as bad
as your posting skills.

*************************
Dave

 

You are not a cook, and obviously not a good baker saying what you are
saying. To deny that baking does not require as precise measures as other
cooking is absurd. I suppose I could quote from chefs I've studied under or
from a couple of cooking textbooks, but obviously, you've made up your mind
and wouldn't listen. I certainly don't need to prove the obvious. As far as
posting skills go, you are the one who feels the need to resort to personnal
attacks, which is an obvious ploy when one can't use facts or truth to back
up their argument.

Never precise and everything comes out fine. Yeah, right.

 

If you two would agree to knock off the bickering, I would be happy to
explain how you both could be right on that particular point.

 

Depends what you are baking. Bread can be pretty well all over the
map, and still come out "OK" while cakes and pastries need much closer
controls.
"when my daughter says she'll make a cake - that's theory. When she
makes it, that's concrete".

 

You have the floor, sir.

 

First, the most critical proportion is arguably between flour and
liquid. You may have noticed that directions vary widely regarding
measuring flour sifted, unsifted or by weight.

Next, if you watch a master baker, you'll notice that even after
meticulous measurement, after mixing there'll often be the addition of
small amounts of liquid or flour in order to get the consistency just
right (based on that person's experience).

Speaking as someone who, when it comes to measuring ingredients can
almost put Mr. Monk to shame -- in the final analysis, the experienced
hand and eye of the baker has to trump the graduations on the side of
measuring vessels.

So, I'd say that you two are both right, in the perspectives from which
you are respectively arguing.

ObMercedes: which Mercedes model of the last 30 years or so has the best
access for repair purposes?

 

ObMercedes: which Mercedes model of the last 30 years or so has the best

Best: 126 diesel. Worst: 300SEL 6.3

I'm amazed this thread-that-will-not-die actually cameback to something MB
but then usenet never ceases to amaze me.