Like you, I was thrilled to pay cash for my first Mercedes, a 2014 E250 ("clean" diesel) AWD that had all available safety and driver assistance options. Also like you, I've had it serviced exclusively at a dealer, including the emissions modification/recall that finally made it actually clean. I've enjoyed driving Maximillian Mercedes every single day. I winced at the charges of annual service and (post-warranty) frequent repairs but told myself it was getting cheaper by the year as depreciation tailed off. But this summer, the technician saw a broken rear spring and documented corrosion on the brake lines. No way to determine how close the brake line was to failure, they said. An estimated repair cost of up to $6k brought my delight with Max to a wistful end. I figure "Drive it until it dies" no longer applies when the car's value drops to $12-14k. So will I get another Mercedes? Nope - a Kia EV6 electric car sits in my garage, giving me just as much delight as Max the Mercedes.
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Like you, I was thrilled to pay cash for my first Mercedes, a 2014 E250 ("clean" diesel) AWD that had all available safety and driver assistance options. Also like you, I've had it serviced exclusively at a dealer, including the emissions modification/recall that finally made it actually clean. I've enjoyed driving Maximillian Mercedes every single day. I winced at the charges of annual service and (post-warranty) frequent repairs but told myself it was getting cheaper by the year as depreciation tailed off. But this summer, the technician saw a broken rear spring and documented corrosion on the brake lines. No way to determine how close the brake line was to failure, they said. An estimated repair cost of up to $6k brought my delight with Max to a wistful end. I figure "Drive it until it dies" no longer applies when the car's value drops to $12-14k. So will I get another Mercedes? Nope - a Kia EV6 electric car sits in my garage, giving me just as much delight as Max the Mercedes.
Post: My Car Journey
Link to comment from September 2, 2023