if a Mercedes has been well maintained, one owner, '99, and already has 110,000 miles on it, should I assume it doesn’t have much life left in it? Just how many more miles can it sustain AND still be a good dependable car?
I doubt that you can consider it ready for the junkyard yet. I have a '99 Isuzu Amigo with 190,000 miles on it and it sure isn’t built as well as a Mercedes. If you’re looking to buy the car, you may want to have a mechanic go over it first. That can save you a lot of trouble in the long run.
Mercedes automobiles have been known to go for much more than 100,000 miles. Now, they may require an engine rebuild at some point, but 500,000 is not unheard of. Of course if you’re considering purchasing this car, you should get it checked out thoroughly.
yes, Im considering purchasing this car, selling price between $12K-$14K… we’d only need it for 2yrs max, possibly much less, as we’ll be moving back to Italy and wouldn’t bother trying to ship it there (too costly +Italy is more bureaucratic).
Speaking from experience, a Mercedes will run for a VERY long time if properly maintained. I had a 1975 280 (gas, not diesel) that was put together very well and had well over 200K when I sold it. My neighbor swears by Mercedes diesels, takes very good care of his cars and has two that have more than 200K miles on them.
Modern Mercedes have about average mechanical reliability with below average electrical reliability, according to all I’ve read.
The engine in that car will quite likely turn in another 110,000 miles of dependable service as long as you give it the preventive maintenance as outlined in the owner’s manual. I could probably say that about nearly ANY internal-combustion engine, though.
The reason people claim that Mercedes are reliable is that they see lots of high-mileage Mercedes.
The real reason you see lots of high-mileage Mercedes is that Mercedes are expensive and retain value pretty well. If a 9 year old Chevy loses a transmission, it’s a fool’s move to repair it, or at best a break-even proposition.
If a 9-year-old mid-line Mercedes sedan loses its tranny, you’re looking at a car worth over $7000 even as a trade-in. The math favors repairing it. Once the tranny is fixed, you’ll probably get another 100-150,000 miles out of the tranny, and the same logic goes for most other repairs that would retire an aging domestic or Korean vehicle.
It’s a common notion that 100k miles is about the limit of reliable service. I think this idea is now obsolete - given reasonable maintenance, almost any decent car should approach or exceed 200k. My last 3 (VW, Ford, VW) have easily done so.