Buying a Mercedes is Maintenance a costly isse

[Xulfiqar]

I get bombarded with a lot of such questions. Its like every other vehicle, just dont try to half *** a job.. e.g. marschall above mentioned of mechanics who could not understand how to do a compression test on an M112 engine. (dont go to such people).. Its not voodoo or magic or dumm ka baba or some stars being aligned or some magic oil being rubbed for joint pain.

Every task and procedure has some rules and best practice approaches. e.g. in M112 engine the valve cover breather caps can leak - this causes a vacuum leak of sorts and messes up idle quality. It also has a 2 stage manifold, if its actuator is leaky - it will be a really bad driving engine. Trying to shotgun parts at any car is a bad idea, the reason it sort of works in Pakistan in toyota/suzuki/honda/nissan etc. is because of scrapyards, mechanics just swap parts until the problem goes away. Scrap benz parts are scarce in Pakistan. So a really good technician with proper diagnostic tools including owning a digitial storage oscilloscope for electrical issues and a good assortment of tools for mechanical issues along with good knowledge base of the task at hand (service books etc) is mandatory, otherwise you might as well be hiring a blind plumber to replace the elec. breaker panel in your house.

[Bughlol]

Duplicate

[Bughlol]

umm

how does an american market survey apply to Pakistan???

-Nobody does any survey in Pakistan
-Its more difficult to maintain a Merc in Pakistan than in the USA (Parts, mechanics, workshops, after sales service etc.)

[Xulfiqar]

-Nobody does any survey in Pakistan
-Its more difficult to maintain a Merc in Pakistan than in the USA (Parts, mechanics, workshops, after sales service etc.)

yes.

but how does JDpower survey apply in any sense to Pakistan??

[mehdi.hasnain1]

A ten years old Merc is a nightmare. Its not a simple "haathi" its a white elephant. I've practically gone through this and experienced it myself and wasted a lot of my hard earned money and then selling it with great loss. If you're damn rich with lot of spare money to dump, you can go for it. But if you're damn rich then why would you've been thinking of ten years old Merc rather than a new one?

:).... Thx for candid feedback.... I am not ultra rich bhai yehi tu problem hey...

[mehdi.hasnain1]

achaa .. haan yeah tu hai

[mehdi.hasnain1]

Very well said. I own a 2014 Mercedes E250 which has 40000 on the ODO and apart from regular oil and filter change there is no other maintenance required. But if I keep it for much longer, the maintenance bills will start to add up.

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thx t you and to qwertypoiu .... makes sense

[mehdi.hasnain1]

this is detailed feedback.. janaab much thx would surely help

[mehdi.hasnain1]

Marschall..... Based on your feedback its clear that the services are the biggest issue if one has a car with problems.. thx for reply

[Bughlol]

yes.

but how does JDpower survey apply in any sense to Pakistan??

It applies in this sense:
In Pakistan after sales service for Toyota is available in every nook and crevice, therefore no worry. For Mercedes situation is altogether opposite and you know all that. Therefore if Mercedes is unreliable than Toyota in USA its far more unreliable in Pakistan and this unreliability factor widens to a great extent. IMHO if you're damn rich you can afford whatever luxury you desire, otherwise one should buy a car which has a good after sales service in the city one is living

[Xulfiqar]

It applies in this sense:
In Pakistan after sales service for Toyota is available in every nook and crevice, therefore no worry. For Mercedes situation is altogether opposite and you know all that. Therefore if Mercedes is unreliable than Toyota in USA its far more unreliable in Pakistan and this unreliability factor widens to a great extent. IMHO if you're damn rich you can afford whatever luxury you desire, otherwise one should buy a car which has a good after sales service in the city one is living

do you know of the user mindset in USA??

they even damn complain of the car having shallow cupholders or having space/hatch not suitable for their dogs.... - I think you need to do some better research.. research which actually applies to Pakistan or to a country similar to Pakistan....

btw - mechanics all over Pakistan are frankensteining toyota repairs by shotgunning parts at the problem.. This is laughable

[Xulfiqar]

I own a benz myself. shes quite a senior citizen now.. about 16 years old... I just keep up with maintenance and drive.. Im my own mechanic.

In Pk I had a VW Golf - parts in Pakistan were like the wisdom tooth of a hen. I didnt need JD power to tell me about the car, I just got the parts from outside pk and worked on it myself. Excellent car - but useless for a common person.

[Marschall]

I own a benz myself. shes quite a senior citizen now.. about 16 years old... I just keep up with maintenance and drive.. Im my own mechanic.

In Pk I had a VW Golf - parts in Pakistan were like the wisdom tooth of a hen. I didnt need JD power to tell me about the car, I just got the parts from outside pk and worked on it myself. Excellent car - but useless for a common person.

Sir my car is having oil breather leak i replaced gasket a month ago, but i changed my oil last week, i poured 7.5 ltrs approx , later on i drove to isb and parked the vehicle and came to Karachi.Report from home is that the oil is leaking from both the breathers. What do u suggest replacement again?

[Xulfiqar]

Sir my car is having oil breather leak i replaced gasket a month ago, but i changed my oil last week, i poured 7.5 ltrs approx , later on i drove to isb and parked the vehicle and came to Karachi.Report from home is that the oil is leaking from both the breathers. What do u suggest replacement again?

gasket??

they are sealed with engine sealant - loctite 5800 to be exact. Other subsitutes are threebond 1207B (sold by toyota) - replace the little screws with stainless steel ones. Make sure the grooves are clean before you apply sealant.

Dont use generic RTV = it will leak in under half n hour. PCV vapor is super hot. - and make sure the pipes are good and the passages are clean too. Bank1 (smaller cover) has a 1mm hole only, use a pin to clean it and make sure to not enlarge it.

[kkoool]

ہاتھی پالنے کا شوق ہے تو دروازہ اونچا کروایے جرمن گاڑی ٢ نسل کی خدمت کرتی ہے

Mercedes with regular maintenance is a car for 2 generations, comparing Japanese tin boxes with Mercedes is gross insult to German car manufacturer,
in price of 1 E-class you can comfortably buy 2.5 Japanese tin boxes

By japanese tin boxes I hope you didnt mean,
Honda Accord
Toyota Crown Athlete
Mark X

Some lexus, infiniti models etc etc

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[kkoool]

My cousin had a 2003 something, remained more in workshops than on road.

Once had a totally locked down boot, had to break the lock free to open it up,

Then had a stuck sunroof

Then in june had the worst thing to happen, the climate control messed up and heater came on automatically with family on board.

Sold the ride and never ever thought about it again.

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[Bughlol]

do you know of the user mindset in USA??

they even damn complain of the car having shallow cupholders or having space/hatch not suitable for their dogs.... - I think you need to do some better research.. research which actually applies to Pakistan or to a country similar to Pakistan....

btw - mechanics all over Pakistan are frankensteining toyota repairs by shotgunning parts at the problem.. This is laughable

Such personal complaints or mindsets are not included in the professional surveys. Only the established problems! And its not always about replacing the parts for troubleshooting, one can find a genuine Toyota mechanic in the neighbourhood

[usman1texh]

I own a benz myself. shes quite a senior citizen now.. about 16 years old... I just keep up with maintenance and drive.. Im my own mechanic.

In Pk I had a VW Golf - parts in Pakistan were like the wisdom tooth of a hen. I didnt need JD power to tell me about the car, I just got the parts from outside pk and worked on it myself. Excellent car - but useless for a common person.

I don't know man. For some reason I never really liked the M272 2.5 V6 in my w203. What was it? I think somewhere around 186 hp but man was that thing lazy off the line. My theory is that Mercedes deliberately made it that way keeping Canadian winters in mind. Sometimes driving a RWD in Canadian snow was a nightmare. A friend of mine had that 2010 chevy camaro SS lol. Keeping that thing straight was a mission on ice.

But I loved the w203 on the highways. What a cruiser. Flooring it on the highway was always way more fun than getting it off the line.
I don't know about you but I preferred the E90 to W203 for city driving.

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[Xulfiqar]

Such personal complaints or mindsets are not included in the professional surveys. Only the established problems! And its not always about replacing the parts for troubleshooting, one can find a genuine Toyota mechanic in the neighbourhood

hmm

well - thats what you think.. once you come here and check reality you will know what Im talking about..

[Bughlol]

hmm

well - thats what you think.. once you come here and check reality you will know what Im talking about..

I lived in the US for quite a long time!