SY-997

For those of you who also read Mercedes forums, could you post or pm me with URLs to the boards you think are best? The ones I googled don't seem to have a level of discourse and participation comparable to what I've read here.

I just got socked with a $3K service bill on my wife's 2001 E320 4matic wagon with 88K miles, after having spent $2K in repairs earlier this year. I'm feeling its time to quit pouring money into the car so I can spend more on the p-car <grin>, but she loves the marque and the ability to haul extra kids in the 3rd row without needing an SUV or minivan. I'm thinking a gently used post 2007 model might be okay, but want to research reliability issues.

TIA.

OldGuy

I had a AMG for a year (09 C63) and the mercedes sites are pretty worthless. ALOT of kids over there where Daddy bought him/her a NEW AMG and they are driving next to me and you. Its really not anywhere NEAR as good as RL.
Benzworld.com MBworld.org I think were the most popular. Dont expect to be treated over there like you get treated here.

boolala

I was on both forums for a while having owned MBs for 20 years. I think that you can get some pretty good info on either one. MBworld.org, if I recall, was somewhat better.

FRporscheman

I've never tried mbworld, but I do use benzworld.org a lot and there is a load of good information there. I don't post so much, but I do a lot of searching and reading, and I usually find my answers.

I used to use mercedesshop.com but for some reason I stopped. Good info there and lot of people.

No forum on the net is as good as RL. I've been on a lot of them, and there are good ones, but RL rules.

brendo

i just did a lot of research on an mb wagon purchase and used benzworld for much of it. pretty lean on info on the new wagons coming out (2011 models) but i could not tell if that MB having fewer product leaks or a less informed forum base or just less interest in the wagon.

i did get some good info on the 2006 model i picked up as an interim solution for my wife's carpool needs...

while we're OT (http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w212...ss-estate.html)

Fahrer

MBworld.....it is the place to go for MB forums and comparable to Rennlist.

daddyscar

mbworld.org has been a good source for my GL. not the car of choice for most punk kids with daddy's money so that members for that model are pretty mellow like on rennlist.

have you been taking your benz to a dealer? out of warranty work at sf benz has always been a game. i get a quote, i tell them it seemed high, they lower the quote. my father in-law has been taking his out of warranty 2004 e320 4matic wagon there too except he just pays whatever they say he needs to. been trying to get him to check out some well reviewed independent dealers after $3500 in repairs so far this year. i leased our GL from sf benz because they beat the RAB quote by $1k. after going to sf benz twice to try to repair the same problem and putting up with other poor service, we finally brought it to RAB. they fixed it and replaced our front brakes and rotors for free for all the problems we had, at another dealer! they basically went to bat for us and got corporate to help us out. check them out if you're in the bay area.

if you get a newer model, keep in mind that you're usually either paying for repairs or depreciation. you already paid out $5k on your car this year. how much will a newer depreciate in a year? but than again, getting a new car is always fun.

SY-997

Thanks for the referrals. I found both mbworld and benzworld but my initial (cursory) reaction was that there was a lot of hot-rod AMG chatter plus serious discussion about wagons from the 80s, but not as much about the 3-5 year old wagons. I'll dig deeper.

daddyscar, I've been taking the car to Park Avenue Motors in Palo Alto. They were a small M-B dealership that was acquired by Smythe several years ago. I will never buy another car from Smythe after the bait-and-switch they pulled on me when I bought my 1999 ML, but my service advisor @ Park Avenue is great and has gone the extra mile to get warranty coverage, take care of minor items gratis, take care of us on a rush basis, etc. You've anticipated the debate I'm having with myself about whether to keeping paying for repairs for a car we know has been well tended, or pay for depreciation on a newer model that is very shiny and the seats aren't sticky yet from spilled juice and goldfish crackers.

Thanks again all.

OldGuy

What I remember most about the Benz and AMG sites was the M3 kids coming over and talking crap.
I asked them about inferior brakes on the 08. They had the single piston brake instead of a brembo design, that I think is now on the later 09s and beyond. BOY did those weenies take it hard. Those guys thought the new M3 was a real race car. But the vitriol over there was too much. Maybe it was because I was in the testosterone laden AMG forum.