907,511km (563,924 Mile) Mercedes. (52 Plate)

Scania · 4 Aug 2007 at 21:54

I've never been much of a fan of the more modern Merc Trucks, until today that is.

I've just had a most impressive demonstration of German reliability & build quality today - Hell I may even consider a Merc as my next car!

I've been driving a Mercedes 2543 "Actros" today, complete with more electronic gizmos than your average modern car (electronic gear selector, for example)

Its 5 years old and has done a mere 907,511km which indeed works out @ nearly 564,000miles! :eek:

The impressive thing was it drove as well - if not better - than an 06 plate Merc I had with my last job, it was smooth, quiet and most importantly, had plenty of go left in it - most high miler trucks are very gutless.

The only sign of wear is on its drivers seat.

Have a look.

Would you think that wheel had even done 100k?

This has had a lot of truckers sat on it!

I'm now very tempted by an 04 plate C220 CDi with a mere 290k on its clock that I know of - priced @ £2k......

Sone · 4 Aug 2007 at 21:57

R124/LA420 said:
I'm now very tempted by an 04 plate C220 CDi with a mere 290k on its clock that I know of - priced @ £2k......

is this a mates special? if not any chance of passing on details if you don't want it?

penski · 4 Aug 2007 at 21:59

Not built by the same people(robots?) that build the cars is it?

I'm still waiting for Mercedes to pull their socks up with regards to build quality and reliability.

*n

Scania · 4 Aug 2007 at 22:00

Sone said:
is this a mates special? if not any chance of passing on details if you don't want it?

Its a company car thats in the fleet of a large PLC that my brother in law works for, I'll make some enquiries & let you know.

[TW]Fox · 4 Aug 2007 at 22:01

Merc cars built between 2000 and 2005 are NOT impressive quality and reliability wise at all. They went through a VERY bad patch indeed which very nearly permanantly scarred their reputation.

As penski said, the only thing the trucks have in common with the cars is the badge on the front.

The_Dark_Side · 4 Aug 2007 at 22:01

exactly why merc truck seats are so bad is frankly beyond me.
they redefine uncomfortable.

Sone · 4 Aug 2007 at 22:02

R124/LA420 said:
Its a company car thats in the fleet of a large PLC that my brother in law works for, I'll make some enquiries & let you know.

thanks mate

The_Dark_Side · 4 Aug 2007 at 22:02

R124/LA420 said:
Its a company car thats in the fleet of a large PLC that my brother in law works for, I'll make some enquiries & let you know.

so they HAVE to sell it cheaply as they've already offset their tax bill against it's depreciation. could be a bargain for you mate.

Scania · 4 Aug 2007 at 22:02

penski said:
Not built by the same people(robots?) that build the cars is it?

I'm still waiting for Mercedes to pull their socks up with regards to build quality and reliability.

*n

Until today penski, my view of Mercedes (especially the trucks build quality) was very poor, iirc Mercedes commercials come from a different plant , the cars being put together by monkeys somwhere else!

Any C class owners with tales to tell here???

The_Dark_Side · 4 Aug 2007 at 22:03

[TW]Fox said:
Merc cars built between 2000 and 2005 are NOT impressive quality and reliability wise at all. They went through a VERY bad patch indeed which very nearly permanantly scarred their reputation.

As penski said, the only thing the trucks have in common with the cars is the badge on the front.

Fox have you heard that their parent company is for sale?
i don't read the motoring press anymore but have heard that recently and was shocked.

Scania · 4 Aug 2007 at 22:04

The_Dark_Side said:
exactly why merc truck seats are so bad is frankly beyond me.
they redefine uncomfortable.

Not a patch on that in a Scanny 4 series - and they cripple your back after an hour or two!

That said, I've found the Actros's I've been in this week to be very comfortable.....

(perhaps, I'm getting less fussy?)

[TW]Fox · 4 Aug 2007 at 22:05

The_Dark_Side said:
Fox have you heard that their parent company is for sale?
i don't read the motoring press anymore but have heard that recently and was shocked.

The last I heard, Daimler had split from Chrysler which it had been wanting to do for a while. That was NEVER a happy merger.

[TW]Fox · 4 Aug 2007 at 22:05

R124/LA420 said:
Any C class owners with tales to tell here???

The Yank C class forum, one of them at least, has a 5 page sticky on how to stop rattles..

The_Dark_Side · 4 Aug 2007 at 22:06

R124/LA420 said:
Not a patch on that in a Scanny 4 series - and they cripple your back after an hour or two!

That said, I've found the Actros's I've been in this week to be very comfortable.....

(perhaps, I'm getting less fussy?)

Volvo fit decent-ish seats as do Daf.
Merc don't even fit seats as good as their car range :confused:

The_Dark_Side · 4 Aug 2007 at 22:07

[TW]Fox said:
The last I heard, Daimler had split from Chrysler which it had been wanting to do for a while. That was NEVER a happy merger.

i've had relatives who live in the US over here this week and they told me Chrysler was up for sale. :eek:

[TW]Fox · 4 Aug 2007 at 22:08

The_Dark_Side said:
i've had relatives who live in the US over here this week and they told me Chrysler was up for sale.

It is - it's de-merging from Daimler-Benz.

Scania · 4 Aug 2007 at 22:09

[TW]Fox said:
Merc cars built between 2000 and 2005 are NOT impressive quality and reliability wise at all. They went through a VERY bad patch indeed which very nearly permanantly scarred their reputation.

As penski said, the only thing the trucks have in common with the cars is the badge on the front.

So that 290k c220 would'nt be "the cheaper to run than my 7 Series option" that I imagine then? - The last thing I want to do is swap a reliable well built German motor for the opposite!

Your thoughts appreciated mate - 1 owner (although numerous drivers) C220 CDi FSH 290k miles Auto 'box.

Cyber-Mav · 4 Aug 2007 at 22:10

thats a very good price, i was offered one but it had just over 1 million miles on it. shocking how much mileage these engines can handle :eek:

Vita · 4 Aug 2007 at 22:11

No rattles in our C-Class. But I have to admit going from a E220 Estate '96 to a '01 C220 CDI Estate, is like from a Tank to a Car. Mercedes build quality has been crap from 00+. Everything seems fragile, in the older cars it was tuff and rugged.

But if you're getting one @ 2k, go for it. Only problem I've had is the MAF. Everything else is all good.

[TW]Fox · 4 Aug 2007 at 22:16

R124/LA420 said:
So that 290k c220 would'nt be "the cheaper to run than my 7 Series option" that I imagine then? - The last thing I want to do is swap a reliable well built German motor for the opposite!

Your thoughts appreciated mate - 1 owner (although numerous drivers) C220 CDi FSH 290k miles Auto 'box.

Personally, no, I think it has potential for hassle - not least becuase its a commonrail turbodiesel with the added complexity they bring.

Mercs quality problems started when they changed the way they built cars. It used to be the case that the engineers would design a new model, and then it would be priced. Then this was changed, so that a price would be decided, and the engineers would design a car to this price.

So we saw a dive in quality from the absolutely staggernigly build of cars like the 89-02 Mercedes SL to the sort of rubbish like the 01-05 C Class. The 96-03 E Class, for example, has serious rust issues. You find me a spec of rust on even the most sheddy SL...

Then of course in the early part of this century cars started to get an awful lot more complicated, this coupled with quality cutbacks spelt disaster for Mercedes.

Some of their ranges kept the quality feel - current SL, the S Class and the CL for example, but were still plagued with niggly annoying faults whilst the lower end of the range just didnt feel like a Merc.

Getting their act together now, which is good, because Mercedes always was a byword for absolute quality - when the world is nuked nothing will exist bar rocks and 89-02 Merc SL's.