What's the view on Mercedes?

TTony

I'm thinking of changing my cars.

Currently have a 2.5TDi A6 (120k miles, my workhorse for the last 10 years) and a 6yo 3.2 TT (15k miles).

TBH, having 2 cars is getting to be a pita, and expensive, and the A6 is starting to rattle.

I've only bought Audis since my first one (1994) and don't really read the car mags (yes, that's why I've just bought Audis) so have no real idea what the current views are.  I'm not going to buy another Audi.  The brand has gone to shit, and the local dealership is worse than crap.

So, alternatives.  BMW - tried, but felt cheap.  VW - Golf is expensive!  Volvo - the V60 is option no2.  An MB C250CDi is current favourite.  C-class is smaller than the A6 (which is fine), the 250CDi is no slouch, and still gives 50-60 mpg on the sort of journeys I'll be doing.

I generally keep my cars a while (10 years), by which time they're worth nothing, but have paid for themselves.  I've bought new so far, but am looking at pre-reg and low-mileage s/h for the MB - a £36k specced car becomes £8k-£10k cheaper, which is nice.

So, oh wise fretboarders ... what's the view on Mercedes generally, and anyone have a current gen C-class?

stickyfiddle

The current Golf is excellent, but overpriced in the UK.

I haven't driven a recent C but passengers in a couple and they seem excellent from the "other" seat

mike_l

Dad won't have anything but Mercs. And has been that way since about 1984 (IIRC)

Limited experience of the C but both Dad and Mum have E class Mercs, mum's is an estate, which regularly has to carry my sister's horse feed, etc and is more than capable of doing so.

Both are good and reliable.

 

Personally, I find the seat a little uncomfortable, but that's personal preference rather than a rule. 

ICBM

TTony said:

... what's the view on Mercedes generally

Generally they're driven by arrogant old farts who think they own the road, drive badly and don't give a damn whose way they get in.

Like my dad.

Or rich middle-aged women to whom the same applies.

I'm sure they can't all be driven by twats though...

wibble

I've driven a few, the thing I hate most on Mercs is the archaic foot operated parking brake -  if there's one car that needs to move to electronic parking brakes, it's Mercs! At least they now have hill hold assist as standard now.

EricTheWeary

Their current tv ad ( the one with the Thunderbirds) may well be one of the most annoying and pointless tv ads in history.
If you can do a deal whereby you buy a car and they take that ad off that'd be great.
I do know someone who still has and runs the Merc he bought over 30 years ago. He is about 80 now though so I don't think it gets driven much but it still looks smart.

viz

Ask her.

Fretwired

@TTony I do what you do .. buy quality and keep it for 10 years or more. The current pro for Mercedes is the new engine technology. My wife's new Mercedes does on average 48 mpg. It's well built, fully equipped and nice to drive. It makes my 10 year old BWM 3 series M Coupe old fashioned although in fairness my BMW have never gone wrong and hasn't cost much to run. I think Audi, BMW and Mercedes make excellent cars. If you're buying new I think you have to look at the technology cycle - Mercedes has just leapfrogged some its competitors with certain models. I think BMW are next followed by Audi. I expect Audi to jump to the front again with their next major upgrades.

Axe_meister

The one thing about Mercs and BMW is rear wheel drive. Which you may well hate in winter.

Phil_aka_Pip

viz said:

Ask her.

you mean this lass?

http://s3images.coroflot.com/user_files/individual_files/original_72126_BlvUWPFsavsoZm6yqypE4Vmte.jpg

Fretwired

TTony said:

So, oh wise fretboarders ... what's the view on Mercedes generally, and anyone have a current gen C-class?

I missed that. A client of mine has a fleet of C Class Mercedes in his executive fleet. He buys them new and runs them for three to four years putting about 150K on each one. Very reliable, comfortable and easy to drive. Another client has a Jaguar which he swears by - he drives all over Europe in it. Could be worth a look.

Phil_aka_Pip

Axe_meister said:

The one thing about Mercs and BMW is rear wheel drive. Which you may well hate in winter.

I beg to differ. If you lose traction with RWD at least you still have your steering. Gimme RWD any day.

octatonic

I went through this a few months back- looked at BMW, Mercedes, Audi, VW Passat, Volvo and a few other things.

I ended up going for a BMW 3 series saloon- we already have a 3 series convertible bought a year ago and I like them & how they drive.

My experience with Mercedes is they are great to drive if you go for C Class or better.

I find the A/B class a bit twitchy- probably the front wheel drive.

They (C Class) are expensive to run though and definitely avoid a diesel (unreliable, noisy).

Has a small boot and the rear seats are cramped.

This wouldn't bother me as we don't have kids but you might need to consider it.

Don't get me wrong, they are a quality car and I would have been happy with one, but I'm glad I went for a 3 series.

There are loads of 3 series about used and you can get them cheaper because so many people get them as rep cars.

When I was looking I had the pick of about 20 BMW's with low miles and the options I wanted whereas I could only find one Audi A4, a couple of A6's and 3-4 C Class'.

I quickly ruled out VW Passat and Volvo. There are hardly any Passat's about and Volvo felt too 'grand dad' for me.

What are you looking for in a car?

Do you want something that puts reliability over performance?

Do you care about performance at all?

Do you want something that is a work commute & cruiser, or something you can chuck around country roads?

If you are looking at a bit of everything then the BMW 3 series hardtop convertible is a good compromise between a motorway cruiser and a fun drop-top.

It has more boot space than other convertibles and the hardtop is really solid.

What BMW did you try?

octatonic

Axe_meister said:

The one thing about Mercs and BMW is rear wheel drive. Which you may well hate in winter.

I don't find it a problem with the right tyres.

I put on Continental Sportcontact 5's and they are very good in the wet.

Pirelli P7's (for example) are a bit of a nightmare on wet roads.

viz

Phil_aka_Pip said:

viz said:

Ask her.

you mean this lass?

http://s3images.coroflot.com/user_files/individual_files/original_72126_BlvUWPFsavsoZm6yqypE4Vmte.jpg

Actually I meant the one whose mind is tiffany twisted, but you could definitely ask her too!

TTony

Fretwired said:

Another client has a Jaguar which he swears by - he drives all over Europe in it. Could be worth a look.

I did take a quick look at the XF.  Nice without a doubt, but It just felt big ... but I might just check out the local dealer to see if they've got anything that they want to shift ...

Axe_meister said:

The one thing about Mercs and BMW is rear wheel drive. Which you may well hate in winter.

If the weather gets too bad, we have a 4wd Subaru on the driveway ...

octatonic said:

They (C Class) are expensive to run though and definitely avoid a diesel (unreliable, noisy).

Has a small boot and the rear seats are cramped.

This wouldn't bother me as we don't have kids but you might need to consider it.

Looks pretty reasonable on running costs ... particularly when I'll be swapping 2for1.  Rear seats just get used for coats most of the time.   Have spent some time reading reviews this afternoon.  Interesting comments in What Car, where the review said (as you did) the C-class diesel was noisy and unrefined.  The user reviews disagreed though.

octatonic said:

What are you looking for in a car?

Do you want something that puts reliability over performance?

Do you care about performance at all?

Do you want something that is a work commute & cruiser, or something you can chuck around country roads?

Bearing in mind that I've been driving Audis for 20-odd years, my priority is reliability over performance, but not to the exclusion of performance.  I've done 600 mile day-trips in the A6, and also done several rather high-speed trips in it.  It does both with ease and with me in comfort.

I don't want a wallowy barge, but then I don't do much chucking about country roads either - there tend to be too many tractors around blind corners round here.

I was disappointed with the 3-series (320d).  There were too many obvious compromises with the quality and I couldn't imagine it lasting 10 years without bits breaking, falling off or rattling well before the 10 years. 

Wolftone

ICBM said:

TTony said:

... what's the view on Mercedes generally

Generally they're driven by arrogant old farts who think they own the road, drive badly and don't give a damn whose way they get in.

Like my dad.

Or rich middle-aged women to whom the same applies.

I'm sure they can't all be driven by twats though...

Bit of a broad sweeping brush don't ya think eh?

KevKahuna

I recently got a new facelifted E Class 220 cdi estate...my first MB having come from a VW Touareg. Quality wise, it's heaps better than the VW particularly when it comes to interior trim. The 220 (167bhp) engine is no slouch really and the 250 engine gives another 100lb of torque I believe which is pretty significant. The 250 in the C Class would be a great combination I'd think. The 7G gearbox is a peach, particularly after the DSG in the Touareg which I hated. The pause on acceleration was darnright dangerous in my opinion. Bear in mind that the C Class is due complete redesign in the next few months.  On a decent run mine averages around 48-52mpg, and overall, since the start is 39 (4500 miles).  I do tow a heavy band trailer so that does have an affect on the average. I don't know if the E is too big but there are some great deals around on them at the moment and when you look at what is standard on it compared to the C it may well come out cheaper. My  auto SE estate listed at just under £38K but comes with standard leather, command, parktronic, LED dipped lights(which are brilliant) etc. The 4 pot diesel is a bit gruff compared to a 6, but the cabin is so quiet it;s not noticeable once up and running. I don't find the SE (Avantgarde) wallowy at all, but the AMG Sport would be firmer and harder. All in all, really happy with mine although dreading the snow that the papers are all predicting.

octatonic

TTony said:

Bearing in mind that I've been driving Audis for 20-odd years, my priority is reliability over performance, but not to the exclusion of performance.  I've done 600 mile day-trips in the A6, and also done several rather high-speed trips in it.  It does both with ease and with me in comfort.

I don't want a wallowy barge, but then I don't do much chucking about country roads either - there tend to be too many tractors around blind corners round here.

I was disappointed with the 3-series (320d).  There were too many obvious compromises with the quality and I couldn't imagine it lasting 10 years without bits breaking, falling off or rattling well before the 10 years. 

There is a known issue with 2007-2009 320d (as well as 520d and 120d) engines.

The timing chain can snap and it is around £3k to fix it.

(One of the reasons I went for a petrol- also I don't do a lot of miles so mileage isn't as big an issue for me)

What did you find on the 3 series to be of low quality?

The base model interior isn't as luxurious as a Mercedes (or an Audi) but I much prefer the engines (issue above not withstanding) and you can up-spec the car to something more luxurious.

I've had no problems with the beemers I've had- no rattles or major engine issues at all.

I just jumped on Which and did a screen grab of the 3 series and the C class:

http://www.jamesrichmond.com/misc/car_bmw_merc.jpg

The BMW rates slightly than the Mercedes but there isn't a lot in it.

Van_Hayden

wibble;55686" said:

I've driven a few, the thing I hate most on Mercs is the archaic foot operated parking brake -  if there's one car that needs to move to electronic parking brakes, it's Mercs! At least they now have hill hold assist as standard now.

That's never bothered me to be honest - and I live in hills.

My now aged E class is one of the crap ones but it's still more reliable and cheaper to fix than the wife's much younger VW. But I had a 7 week old passat tdi gearbox fail so I'm not enamoured by the VWs at all.

I don't know if the modern ones are the same but my avantgarde is stiffer than the standard model but not as stiff as the amg.

I've also been on the receiving end of merc c class vs polish lorry on the M1, the lorry pulled into the middle lane when I was in his blind spot, spinning me around the front of it and into the crash barrier. Bit scary but we all came out ok, the car did it's job well.

mike_l

one thing I really don't like on the A class is the battery in the drivers footwell, ok it's under a cover, but, IMO should be safely in the engine bay.