Bloody Big Bad Benz is the Bloody Biggest Piece of Tosh

[richardmorris]

The 166 looks good, and is just down the road from me (for collection coffee backup!). Seller in Camberley, but car in Lincoln.

[billyboy406v6]

Get a goooner, post more frequently. Winnnnarr.

[carlo]

Indeed that Alfa 166 in silver looks stunning.  Surely a Mr Junkmanmobile if ever there was one.

[forddeliveryboy]

Perhaps not, since manual. Looks good, dunnit?

[carlo]

Yes I've just started looking at all the Alfa 166s for sale.  They are actually stunning looking cars.

[forddeliveryboy]

Stunning even at four times the price. Plus engine win.

 

 

Trying to remember why JM has a diesel taxi instead. He must be wearing the hairshirt to pay for past misdeeds.

[carlo]

Funny how the old ones are banger money and youngest ones up for strange over-inflated optimistic prices.

 

(Sorry to hi-jack the rusty old shite Mercedes thread)

[Peter C]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/272202666831

 

How much did you pay for yours?

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/272202666831

 

How much did you pay for yours?

 

 

Marginally less. 

[Junkman]

And ours has flapping rear headrests.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

But not a sunroof anymore.

 

 

Maybe a fuse had blown. These continental fuses are shite and blow all the time. Unfortunately neither the handbook nor the fuse cover stated which fuse the sunroof motor uses, but this one looked a little suspect:

 

 

...although it didn't fix the sunroof. Anyway, no matter, because the handbook book says that 'a hexagon is provided' if the sunroof cannot be closed. All I had to do was use the wheel brace and a screwdriver to turn it, as illustrated in the book.

 

 

No problem at all! So long as the Hexagon doesn't immediately...

 

 

...do that. 

 

 

Fortunately I was able to get a short handled adjustable wrench onto the bit the Crispy Hexagon was supposed to be turning. This allowed me to wind the sunroof closed millimetre by millimetre. 

 

I'm glad that broke just in time for summer.

[Junkman]

That's just maintenance, you know.

German cars are so good, nothing ever breaks.

[Junkman]

This allowed me to wind the sunroof closed 0.04 inch by 0.04 inch.

FTFY

[forddeliveryboy]

Was the clicking noise ever tracked down?

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Went away on its own. No idea what it was. 

[Junkman]

Whatever it was, it must have fallen off in Italy.

[Longblackcoat]

I know it's fashionable to knock Mercedes, less reliable than a Wartburg etc, but we've stuck 11k miles on a 130k/£3k E220 since December and precisely nowt has broken. Not a sausage. Averaged 38mpg in the process too, consuming no oil/water in the process. No engine parts have been ingested, no electrics have failed, and I regret to say that it's been hugely comfortable in the process, and even rather fun.

 

Yep, Mercedes are shit, terminally so.

[Junkman]

Well, there is hard evidence that ours is a miserable piece of shit.

Or do you think we are making this up?

[bub2006]

I couldn't get over how little go it had considering the engine size. Felt comfy enough though

[Longblackcoat]

Yep, you've got a crap example. But in my experience (and I've owned a large number of Mercedes, most of which have been older and high-mileage ones) they're far more dependable than most. Doesn't make it a representative sample, obviously, and maybe I've just got lucky. Or you've got unlucky.

[forddeliveryboy]

Thing is, they're complex old beasts with lots of refinement - so fast forwards 25 years, buy one for a few hundred and they can be loads of trouble. Sunroof mechanism is a perfect example, remote motor just so that the thing opens silently. 

[Inspector Morose]

I know it's fashionable to knock Mercedes, less reliable than a Wartburg etc, but we've stuck 11k miles on a 130k/£3k E220 since December and precisely nowt has broken. Not a sausage. Averaged 38mpg in the process too, consuming no oil/water in the process. No engine parts have been ingested, no electrics have failed, and I regret to say that it's been hugely comfortable in the process, and even rather fun.

Yep, Mercedes are shit, terminally so.

What do you mean? My wartburgs were very reliable. And comfortable. Used oil though. 'Bout 30:1.

[Jim Bell]

I've had a 2 Mercedes. I've also had 10 Peugeots. I never had any major problems with any of them.

I THINK that means that Pugs are five times more reliable than Mercedes's.

[dugong]

I know it's fashionable to knock Mercedes, less reliable than a Wartburg etc, but we've stuck 11k miles on a 130k/£3k E220 since December and precisely nowt has broken. Not a sausage. Averaged 38mpg in the process too, consuming no oil/water in the process. No engine parts have been ingested, no electrics have failed, and I regret to say that it's been hugely comfortable in the process, and even rather fun.

 

Yep, Mercedes are shit, terminally so.

That isn't to be celebrated. I'd expect that, ten times over.

 

This whole 'Mercs go on and on without needing work' is bollocks, sorry.

[twosmoke300]

Yup and when they need work they seem to be deliberately difficult to fix

[mercrocker]

Reliability from an MB is the product of sustained, systematic and expensive maintenance.    Except W123s.   The more you spend on them the more they fuck you up.

[richardmorris]

I've just come home to find 30 emails notifying my of this thread updates. Obviously something not working correctly avec Le site shite. But for goodness sake, if you don't like it and its foibles annoy you just sell the bloody thing.

[Captain Furious]

On the contrary, the contrasting contempt/enthusiasm for this car by junkman/Conrad respectively are making this a fab read

 

I say keep it, forever.

[Longblackcoat]

That isn't to be celebrated. I'd expect that, ten times over.

 

This whole 'Mercs go on and on without needing work' is bollocks, sorry.

That's the latest one. Others have had a lot more miles on them, and although my old E300 Turbodiesel was a rust-monster, it cost sod all to buy, had a zillion miles on it, and was (guess what) utterly reliable. My 190s were the same (not really very rusty though), the 124 was the same without any rust issues, the X164 is the same as that. The ML was a bit shit, admittedly.

 

The whole " 'Mercs go on and on without needing work' is bollocks" is bollocks, at least in my view. Others will have different experiences, obviously. I've had a lot more problems with Fords over the years, and some truly horrific experiences with Citroens, but in the latter case I bought shitty worn out examples. No surprise that they were crappy money pits. I'd still not say, based on that, that 'all Citroens are shit' just that I bought crap ones.

[dugong]

That's the latest one. Others have had a lot more miles on them, and although my old E300 Turbodiesel was a rust-monster, it cost sod all to buy, had a zillion miles on it, and was (guess what) utterly reliable. My 190s were the same (not really very rusty though), the 124 was the same without any rust issues, the X164 is the same as that. The ML was a bit shit, admittedly.

 

The whole " 'Mercs go on and on without needing work' is bollocks" is bollocks, at least in my view. Others will have different experiences, obviously. I've had a lot more problems with Fords over the years, and some truly horrific experiences with Citroens, but in the latter case I bought shitty worn out examples. No surprise that they were crappy money pits. I'd still not say, based on that, that 'all Citroens are shit' just that I bought crap ones.

So they need no maintenance at all and 'just work'? Holy shit. That's impressive.

No car can run indefinitely without work. Neglect a Merc enough and eventually it will bite you in the arse - hard.

They're heavy, complicated cars with a lot of bushes and complex electronics.

 

I wonder what a nicely maintained Merc drives like. 95% of the older ones must be fashed.

 

Hilariously, all the German stuff owned by my family (VAG and BMW, no Mercs) have had fairly serious niggling faults - an A6 Avant with sticking rear calipers, a 5 Series that seized its PAS pump on the M60, an A1 that kept cracking windscreens.

All of these cars were looked after. Customer services on the latter two were hilarious: "Our cars don't do that."

Actually, I'd expect a £200 snotter from Loot not to shit its PAS pump or crack its windscreen. I must be unreasonable.

 

Experiences - as you say - vary.

 

I've got my first VAG product, a Seat Leon. We'll see how it does; that'll decide whether I ever have another.

My fallback will always be a cheap PSA diesel.