Those must be awesome seats. Are they like what M-B used to call Ortho seats?
The only Mercedes seats I ever experienced were the standard, stock or base seats in the early '90's E-class, & a '97 E-class. Not great, probably worse than the "standard" seats in a bmw.
But yours sound terrific. What year E-430 is it?
One of my many car theories is that seats could be THE most important part of a car. Or that, you'll probably only get great seats in an excellent (& probably expensive) car.....
*I have the Multi-contour seats in my Mercedes E-430 that have air bellows that fill the lower and upper seat back separately. There is also a control for the sides to sqeeze you in. I think the seat is a 10 way power seat so there are tons of selections.*
Hello Woody... my E430 sport is a 2000. Maybe my seats are the "ortho" seats but when I purchased mine, they were listed as "multi-contour" seats.
The Two Thousand Mercedes E-classes were updated from when they were first introduced in 1996. The hood was lowered about an inch and a half, the lip on the truck lid is deeper, the tail-lights were changed, the front bumper cover was redesigned, the turning signal indicators are incorporated into the mirrors, the steering wheel controls for the radio and computer were added, upgraded interior materials, etc. They say there were 1,800 changes from the 1996-1999 models, but who knows for sure.
When the hood was lowered, the diesel was discontinued because it wouldn't fit under the hood. The diesel was re-introduced in 2005.
Mark
2010 Land Rover LR4, 2013 Honda CR-V, 2009 Bentley GTC, 1990 MB 500SL, 2001 MB S500, 2007 Lincoln TC, 1964 RR Silver Cloud III, 1995 MB E320 Cab., 2015 Prevost Liberty Coach
My 98 C43 has the air-controlled lumbar seats standard. I think they were optional across the board, but I don't think many non-AMG C-class cars had them. I bet the seats in a W140 are pretty good.
I will be trying these in a couple of days, a friend at work has a beautiful black S40 and she says I need to sit in the seats as they "are incredible" in her words. I hope it's true.
The Sandman
(Just turned in my Sorrento rental and I was not impressed. The gas mileage sucked, it shuddered when taking off from a stop & the plastics were way cheapo. It also wouldn't even fit in the garage. Totally disappointing!)
Depending on how you like the seats, have you considered the wagon version, the V50 I think it is? I think there's a T5 version as well (my current volvo knowledge is a bit rusty) that I bet would be great fun to at least test drive.....
Mark, an E430 sport? Did you buy it new, or used? Maybe it's more common to find the multi-contour seats on the more expensive E-class models (E420, 430, Sport versions, etc.)?
I have a whole collection of M-B catalogs dating back to the 1980's. For some reason I never bought an actual Mercedes tho. Probably scared off by the prices of the cars, & all the high cost maintenence stories.....I looked at a house FS about a year ago tho with a nice E55 AMG in the garage, & it got me thinking.....
Dad took his 2003 Beetle TDI to Carmax. I told him to expect an offer of $6,000-ish. I overbid! They offered him $5,000. That's not insulting considering the mileage (about 145,000), but he was hoping to be able to sell it the easy way. Looks like it's off to eBay at some indefinite point in the future.
He hasn't been driving it much lately because he wants to keep the miles off it! :P
Because of Wilma, we're getting a new roof and garage door. I think we'll stay with this house though. All 3 kids will be at college in the fall and we don't wanna downsize until I retire. Then we're off to North Carolina hopefully. I was looking online and the Civic and the S40 are very close in size to my current Sentra, so they'll both fit. I've got a feeling that even a small ute will a bit to long for the garage. But I plan to take my time and test drive about a dozen or so vehicles over the next few months to get the a car that is back friendly and that will put a smile on my face every time I walk into the garage. Neverever had that luxury before in my life!
Woody, I bought my new 2000 Mercedes-Benz E430 Sport, Brilliant Silver, Ash Leather in October of 1999. I traded in my 1991 560SEL (Black w/Palomino Leather, 83K) on the E-class. Actually, my 560SEL had the "orthopedic" seats that were very similar to the "Multi-contour" on the E-class. The ortho seats didn't squeeze you on the sides, just the bellows in the back of the seat.
My E-class listed for $60,500 and I got a $1,000 discount back then. When I bought my 2002 ML500, it listed for $52,000 and I got $1,500 off list. I traded the ML500 in on a 2006 Land Rover LR3 HSE, black with tan leather.. I really like it as it has seating for 7 like the ML but much more space. My E-class only has 32,000 miles so I'll keep if for a while. It has been very, very low maintenance so far. Oil changes every 10,000 miles new tires at 25,000 (Michelin Pilot Sports). The only extra expense in almost seven years other than maintenance was two rear window regulators. My "E" purrs like a kitten! :P
Mark
2010 Land Rover LR4, 2013 Honda CR-V, 2009 Bentley GTC, 1990 MB 500SL, 2001 MB S500, 2007 Lincoln TC, 1964 RR Silver Cloud III, 1995 MB E320 Cab., 2015 Prevost Liberty Coach
Sandman, I hope that your back continues to improve. I have to be careful when I sit in the drivers seat and turn to get out. My back can really hurt at that point.
I don't have kids so I have a little extra spending money. Although I kinda go crazy buying my 9 nieces and nephews things at xmas. Now I have 5 great nieces and nephews... Have they not heard of birth control? :confuse: :P
Mark
2010 Land Rover LR4, 2013 Honda CR-V, 2009 Bentley GTC, 1990 MB 500SL, 2001 MB S500, 2007 Lincoln TC, 1964 RR Silver Cloud III, 1995 MB E320 Cab., 2015 Prevost Liberty Coach
Well, for the most part. Have a black (what am I thinking??) 2006 Ram 3500 4x4 quad cab/shortbed, SRW, Cummins/auto on order. Should have a VIN# on Tuesday. The truck is expected the 3rd week of June.
After much discussion it was decided that since the 99 Ram will be paid off in 2 more payments that it's going to stay. 'Cides, who wants to take a brand new truck out in the woods and throw firewood at it??
That means my beloved Titan and my precious Zippy are both leaving in June when the new truck gets here. I had mixed feelings but after seeing what towing all those trailers has done to the Titan I felt it might not hurt to move up to a bigger truck. After 50,000 miles I don't have anything bad to say about the Titan, its a tough truck.
Now Zippy I'm having a harder time giving up, she will probably be sold in the next month or so. Already have people asking. After 53k miles she has had exactly 4 repairs......seatbelt retractor, alignment, PCV valve, and a door adjustment. She still drives like a new car and gets great gas mileage. However, she also does a lot of idle time in the yard, she's had maybe 1500 miles put on her in the past 6 months. Seems silly to keep a car that nobody really drives and to pay the $1300/year in insurance.
I have been told that I can't have another new truck until I put at least 250k on the new one......what's that....maybe 4 years??
$5000 seems pretty good for a 145K-mile car. I bet if he had the gas the offer would have been less - they are a dime a dozen. The diesels are so rare it makes them special! :-)
I just got back from a trip up the coast, and I saw a bunch of Jetta diesels (the new model) in Washington, which of course we don't get here in California. I talked to one lady at the gas station, she said she usually goes more than two weeks between fill-ups, and loves the car. I can definitely see the attraction - gas up to $2.80/gallon in my area, and not even mid-April yet. :sick:
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Jolie, so the new Dodge truck will be yours? I thought your husband was getting the new vehicle for himself and his business.
I really hate to see you get rid of Zippy just when gas is starting to go up. I bet that little car will come in handy quite often. Each year, the insurance should go down as the value falls, right?
Anyway, I know you are excited about the new wheels coming. And, I'm sure your husband knows that you will never keep a car over 60,000 miles! He knows that! :P
-mark156
2010 Land Rover LR4, 2013 Honda CR-V, 2009 Bentley GTC, 1990 MB 500SL, 2001 MB S500, 2007 Lincoln TC, 1964 RR Silver Cloud III, 1995 MB E320 Cab., 2015 Prevost Liberty Coach
Jolie, so the new Dodge truck will be yours? I thought your husband was getting the new vehicle for himself and his business.
I really hate to see you get rid of Zippy just when gas is starting to go up. I bet that little car will come in handy quite often. Each year, the insurance should go down as the value falls, right?
Anyway, I know you are excited about the new wheels coming. And, I'm sure your husband knows that you will never keep a car over 60,000 miles! He knows that!
Yes, the new truck will be mine, but it will also belong to the business and be used for that as well.........just no firewood in the bed. It will pull our 14k lb dump trailer.
Hubby decided that he didn't want a new truck to replace his Dodge, he wanted one to pull the dump trailer and the travel trailer.
I've come close to keeping a car over 60k miles, Zippy has 53k on her and the Titan has 50k on it with still 2 months to go. Never know, I might tip the 60k mark with one of them.
Not really overly excited about the new truck, maybe a little. Will be a relief to be able to pull whatever trailer needs to be pulled and not worry about hurting the Titan.
Oddly enough, hubby is pushing more for getting rid of the Titan than I am. As for Zippy, well, we can break even on her right now so its a good time to let her go. Plus with the kids and all we hardly drive her unless I need to run to town for a quick errand.
The Beetle TDI is not nearly as common as the Jetta. Skimming eBay's completed listings has given me figures of $8,000-ish for a 2002-03 Jetta with similar mileage, and some of those were in very rough shape. Dad's has no dents or scratches and has fairly new tires.
As for unexpected repairs, it's already had plenty of those. The timing belt and tensioner were replaced on schedule at 100k. The tensioner locked up at 119k, but I shut off the engine before it was damaged. The front bumper was gouged in the process of towing it to the mechanic after that incident, but has been repainted. Something in the ignition system let go and caused a CEL, so we just replaced all the glow plugs and the harness, which fixed the problem... I could go on, but would rather not. :lemon:
Getting 49 MPG is nice, but we are willing to pay higher gas bills for life's little conveniences, like not being left stranded, and having a decent dealer network with competent repair facilities, neither of which are available from VW.
Went to the pharmacy tonight to pick up my daughter's meds for the month........total cost was $5645.62 and that doesn't include the $600 in enzymes that she also takes.
Don't know what we would do without the insurance that we have and medicaid (she qualifies because of her illness).
I'm very thankful for what we have, otherwise her health would not be as good as it is. Now if they could just find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis my prayers would be answered.
went around doing a little window shopping tonight, and there are too many choices!
The VW dealer has a gazillion leftover '05 Jettas (the new model) and is offering $5555 off MSRP for all of them, blanket policy. That brings the nice model with package 1 down to less than $18K, and he had a few with a stick!
OTOH, I found that rarity of rarities: a 5-speed Accord EX stick with cloth, in this case an '04 with 17K miles for $19,9 certified.
But then I walked across the lot and they had stick shift Civic EXs in stock, which would be a new car for slightly less money, and really I don't need a car as big as the Accord anyway, although I do really like the current model.
And on the more minimalist side of things, I finally found a Yaris stick shift with cruise - it is loaded to the gills with the biggest package Toyota could shove in there, the color is blue, and the sticker is exactly $16K. Of course, for $16K, I could get a Corolla S stick and get a moonroof and side airbags and curtains for the same money. I am still convinced that the only Yaris that makes sense value-wise is the base model with stickers up to about $14K. Beyond that, there is so much competition!
And shoot, that Toyota dealer had an '05 Mini Cooper S stick shift with only 7450 miles on it that looked sweet and he was asking $24K - I am assuming he would come down a bit, and it had me wondering if maybe I shouldn't wait and save up a bit for something like that. Of course, at that kind of price, I would probably just go the extra bit and buy a new one. This one had the cool Union Jack on the roof - yesss! :-)
No matter what money you are looking to spend in the under-$25K bracket, there are so many good choices. Don't even get me started on the Fit Sport, which isn't even here yet, or the new Golf which I so like the look of, also under $20K.
Oh yeah, and my local dealer still has four '05 GTIs left, for which he is offering a $5000 discount across the board, which makes that model about $18K too - too bad all 4 are automatics. On principle I must look away...
:-P
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
The 2005 model had a 2.5-liter five-cylinder with 150 HP. I think the 2.0T is a much better fit for that car. The 2.5 makes noises like most of the other inline fives I have driven (GMC and Volvo).
I feel the same way about Renal failure. Sucks going to dialysis 3 times a week and the $50k in charges for a transplant that doesn't work suck pretty bad too. Renagel costs $250 a bottle I think. I was going through about 2-3 bottles a month for a minute there. Not to mention the cost of dialysis and travel too and fro.
Anybody see that movie "The Island"? I'm almost to the point where I wouldn't mind a little cloning action to get a kidney.
Not to offend the VW lovers, but I wouldn't buy a VW, period, no matter what. A Honda for around the same $$ would be a much better buy IMO.
The Mini.......there was an Owner's survey for the Mini in R&T recently. It kind of cooled me off on the Mini some.......but if you live near a Mini dealer for service, & it's under warranty, & you want it, I sure wouldn't try to talk you out of it.
Check out the Mini website, where you can "build your own Mini". For less than $24K, if you go easy on the options. The Union Jack on the roof--I could see getting that! I have my own favorite colors & options all picked out, if I had $24K or so to blow on a 2nd car.
But the great resale value: think about it: you could own a really fun car, & sell it after a year or 2 if you needed to & get most of your money back. Unlike VW's, for the most part.....just my own 2 cents.
I just wish it had a sunroof. If it did I would definitely push Gee to replace the 96 Civic with one. As it is, our 96 Civic is a great runabout. And it was cheap.
I just wish it had a sunroof. If it did I would definitely push Gee to replace the 96 Civic with one. As it is, our 96 Civic is a great runabout. And it was cheap
You on a sunroof kick too?? When I ordered the new truck I told hubby it had to have a sunroof. Of course I almost changed my mind when I found that Dodge doesn't offer memory seats.........what's up with that?? The only HD truck that does is GM and I don't like the ride of them. Ah well, one option I'll learn to live without.......have it on my Titan and its nice.
Sheesh that sounds spoiled, lol. Guess I just got used to having certain options and grew to like them. Have only owned 3 vehicles with memory seats.......99 Quest SE, 97 Explorer Limited, and my 04 Titan LE.
It drives like a brand new car. I called the dealer that was on the oil change sticker in it when i bought it, they said that the timing belt was done at 118K. Won't need another one until 180K. I'm gonna drive that car into the ground.
It drove so good that I'm gonna do the brakes on the Accord Monday.
There's a reason the VW dealer has a gazillion leftover Jettas and is advertising $5500 off sticker. From my experience with VW/Audi service & reliability, I'd take the Jetta if the dealer was offering a buy one/get one free promotion. This way you have a spare when one is in the shop.
The price of the used MINI seems high (I know they depreciate well). For $24K (maybe a little more) you can order an '06 to your specs.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
Looks like you, woodyww, and I are the bitter ex-VW owners. Using a spare while one car is in the shop is only useful if the dealer is actually willing and able to fix the broken one. My friend who owns a 2004 Jetta TDI has made five visits to Don Jacobs for a check engine light. After two years of owning the car, he's tired of dealing with the car and the bad dealer service and wants to trade it, but only if and when the light is fixed.
I considered the MINI, and really enjoyed driving it, but reading about a handful of brake failures at 10-15 MPH was kind of off-putting.
My 1990 Passat was one of the 2 worst, & most unreliable, cars I ever owned. The VW dealer was horrible during the purchase, & then when I took it in for "service". Thankfully I had bought a slightly used one & didn't lose very much when I traded it 6 mo. later.
I read about "weak A/C" on the mini. Also, not absolutely the most reliable, altho not awful from what I understand, so it can be a problem for people who don't live near a Mini dealer.
Hey british_rover..... you mentioned a few posts above that you own a Mini Cooper... what other cars do you own? Just curious since you are in the car business.
Thank, Mark156
2010 Land Rover LR4, 2013 Honda CR-V, 2009 Bentley GTC, 1990 MB 500SL, 2001 MB S500, 2007 Lincoln TC, 1964 RR Silver Cloud III, 1995 MB E320 Cab., 2015 Prevost Liberty Coach
One was a 1994 Jetta GL 2.0L 4-cyl, fairly reliable car concidering its history......it had been in a front end collision (I bought it before I knew what to look for).
The other was a 2001 Jetta GLS 1.8T that I bought new, loved the car, always kind of regretted getting rid of it. It was a pretty good car, only on the back of a tow truck twice in the 8 months/20k miles that I owned it.
I've always been partial to VWs, maybe it stems from my husband being that way, he grew up with VWs, his parents always owned them.
My VW was a 1973 Volkswagon Bus (rare automatic), bright blue with creme vinyl... bought it used in 1978 with 32,000 miles. After I bought it, I figured out why the mileage was so low... it would flood itself out and have to sit for a while before it would restart.
Seems like the mechanics couldn't seem to get it fixed right. But, I was only 20 yrs old and had a blast with it, especially in summer of '78 (I won't go there)! :P
I only kept it for 8 months and then bought my brand spanking new 1979 Datsun 210 hatchback! Bought the Bus for $2,000 and traded it for $1,600. I can't believe cars where that cheap, wow.
-mark156
2010 Land Rover LR4, 2013 Honda CR-V, 2009 Bentley GTC, 1990 MB 500SL, 2001 MB S500, 2007 Lincoln TC, 1964 RR Silver Cloud III, 1995 MB E320 Cab., 2015 Prevost Liberty Coach
I guess some are better than others. I hope we're not going to get scorned by the host for being off topic and somewhat bashing VW, but we're trying to help out our CCBAers from making a bad decision. Although they might just rid themselves of the car before the first problem arises :P
My sister has an '00 Jetta GLS VR6 Automatic. Nice interior materials, excellent mid-range power, very comfortable car to drive on long trips. About 3 weeks after we took delivery (in 2000 when VWs were HOT -- Silver & Black Jettas were selling at sticker, while they discounted all other colors...Her's is White) she heard a whining from the car while accelerating. Brought it back to the dealer and they diagnosed it as a bad transmission. Sat there for 4 weeks until they could get a new transmission and install it. We should have gotten rid of the car then and there. There's always some kind of rattle, noise, or dash light illuminated. The ignition coils were replaced before VW issued the official recall (they did reimburse us). They went bad about 2 years later and the dealer wouldn't replace them free of charge, then tried to tell me that the entire front end was bad and would have to be replaced at a cost of about $4500! The alternator had to be replaced. The car has about 53,000 miles on it, the coolant leaks now :mad:
To be fair and honest, I know people who own Passats that have NO trouble with them at all.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
My Jetta VR6 was a 1999.5 model. It also had the whining noise from the auto transmission, but I waited until 40,000 miles or so when I knew for sure that the replacement transmissions didn't have the same noise before having it replaced under the powertrain warranty.
The coolant leak may be from the expansion tank, near the electrical connector. I think there's a TSB on this. It's very important that coolant *not* get inside the electrical connector, as it can spread down to the car's main wiring harness if it does. The rubber seal around the electrical connector can be removed to ensure that any leaks in the tank spill on the ground instead of injecting pressurized coolant into the connector.
Coilpacks? Surely you jest! The VR6 doesn't have coilpacks. Are you thinking of the spark plug wires? I had to replace those around 45,000 miles because they were arcing and causing a rough idle.
I haven't owned a VW newer than 1991 (a 16v GTI my brother bought used, lots of fun to drive when it wasn't in the shop, a complete lemon otherwise). Had an '89 Golf, '85 Golf, '85 Jetta and '83 GTI, all fun but somewhat troublesome, mainly for suspension problems and faulty door handles on the '85s, just the door handles on the '89. Don't know if I'd buy one again. I'm feeling right now that my next car will be domestic (if used) or Japanese (either new or used). I've been burned on Euro cars a bit too much (having owned only VWs and SAABs skews the statistics, admittedly). They're just too much hassle and expense to fix for me, I have enough drama in my life. Yes, they're 'fun to drive', but since 90% of my driving is in city traffic at under 40mph, though potholes streets, it's kind of immaterial. I'd rather know what is basically a grocery-getter is just going to start and not cost me a fortune to own, YMMV.
that used Mini is gone already - those cars just command INSANE resale. Oh well, I suppose if I were serious about a Mini I would buy new - the difference in price is so small.
I still hold out hope that Honda will bring out a new RSX in the fall, and not just let the line die. This is probably a good year to wait and see what happens - if I am still in a minimalist mood in a few months I can always get an end-of-the-run Corolla for under $15K.
And yes, I will probably steer clear of the VWs, although I have a pretty good dealer nearby, and I do like the look of the new Golf, which I understand now will be called the Rabbit, fun! And did I read correctly, a base price of just $15,260? Not bad. I would say the price puts it in contention - the warranty is 4/50 after all.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Looks like you, woodyww, and I are the bitter ex-VW owners. Using a spare while one car is in the shop is only useful if the dealer is actually willing and able to fix the broken one. My friend who owns a 2004 Jetta TDI has made five visits to Don Jacobs for a check engine light. After two years of owning the car, he's tired of dealing with the car and the bad dealer service and wants to trade it, but only if and when the light is fixed
I had a 1996 Jetta Trek (GL), and I still have nightmares about that car. Tell your friend that the "check engine" light will come back on roughly 3 weeks after it's 'fixed', so don't even bother. When I gave the car back to the dealer (lease), the check engine light was on, and had been for the prior year. I got tired of fixing the same thing.
If I listed out everything that went wrong with that car, you wouldn't believe me. Even as a fellow torched ex-VW owner, you wouldn't believe me. Suffice to say everything electrical in that car failed at least once, and that's both before and after the battery literally exploded.
My favorite exchange went like this, though:
Service guy: "Mr. Perna, we changed the oil in your car, but I'm afraid we need to keep it another 30 minutes or so."
Me: "What happened now???"
Service guy: "The radio won't turn back on. I'm not sure why, we only changed the oil."
They ended up replacing the entire head unit.
Another wacky time was when it was around 5 degrees outside, and after brushing a ton of snow off my car, I put my key in the lock to open the car.. and the entire handle comes off in my already-numb hand.
And that's just the amusing stuff. There is the not so amusing stuff, like the cruise control failing on the highway, or the headlights shutting off, or the driver's side window breaking off its track, or the mystery water leak...
Oh, there is one more amusing thing that I nearly forgot.
After my dad and I signed the paperwork and shook the hand of my salesman(my first new car!), I put some CDs in the Jetta's CD changer, and fired her up and drove off the lot. I literally made it a quarter mile down the road, and the changer started skipping like a madman. That would be the first of 4 changers I'd go through, eventually resulting in VW cutting me a check for ~$400 for the changer.
I should have taken that as an omen, driven the car to an empty field, set it on fire, and bought something else.
His CEL comes on as he's leaving the grounds of the dealership. It's almost like they're just resetting the code and sending him on his way. And, he always picks his car up at closing time, so he can't turn around and go back.
That's wild! I guess buying a new Mini may be a really good idea.....at least for resale. And you could get a really basic model for less $$.
Have you priced a new Civic? I'm guessing it might be a lot more fun to drive than a Corolla? (Not that I'd try to talk anyone out of buying a Toyota at a good price)!
Having owned a '99 New Beetle (2.0L gas, 5 speed GL trim level) for 6 years and 70,000 miles, I'm not sure if you could categorize us as "lucky" or "very lucky".
Yes, we had a few problems - noticably, the power steering rack had to be replaced and there was some issue with the AC unit, but other than that, it was trouble-free. Wife and I drove it for the first 4 1/2 years, then our son drove it the last 18 months before we sold it.
Would I buy another VW? Probably - we received pretty decent service from our local dealer, so I wouldn't be hesitant on that account. Other than the new GTI and the soon to be introduced Eos, VW doesn't make anything that I'm all that interested in - at an affordable price.
When I bought my L300 3 years ago, I took a close look at the Passat. My requirements at the time were leather, V6 and an automatic transmission ... to get this in the Passat was going to run north of $26K.
In between posts bashing VW's, I looked up the value of my 2000 bmw 528 wagon. Very depressing. NOW it's supposedly worth between $13.9, & $15.6. That's with 24K miles (add on for mileage), & the options, in "Good" condition. I paid $34K 4 1/2 years ago.
Maybe I'm crazy, but "losing" $20K in depreciation, in 4 1/2 years, is a lot of bread, or cabbage.......for people who aren't rich, or super-yuppies. Oh well.
I think......at this point, it's probably a great buy at $15-$16K for someone (?) if I sold it myself. Which probably means I should keep it. And: I don't want to jinx it, but the car has had almost Japanese car reliability.....
The toyota shopping: 1. I could buy a loaded "cute-ute" new RAV4 for $28K something. They looked "dinky" to me, & I crossed it off my list. 2. New Red Solara convert., sticker around $31K: interior looked more Lexus-like. I was interested! 3. New FJ Cruiser in Black Cherry. Sticker was $33K something (W/o dealer add-ons), so I assume it was fully loaded(?) The vehicle looks as stunning in person as it does in the photos; altho probably totally impractical unless you do off-roading.
However, I could see owning both a brand new Solara convert., AND a New FJ Cruiser. I bet the resale values would be excellent (?)..... Winter truck--off road, & a summer convert., both great looking, for $50-$60K brand new. It's not a bad fantasy.....if you had the $$ to blow. And would look great in my driveway!
Well right now I just have the MINI and a Jeep Grand Cherokee that is my wifes car. We bought the Grand Cherokee for her this past fall so she would have a winter car since we moved up to New England. She has wanted a VW Cabrio ever since I met her but I have finaly convinced her not to get one cause they are too loud inside. She is hearing impaired and trying to have a conversation with her in a convertiable would be impossible. When the Eos comes out we will try that out and see if it is quiet enough being a hardtop.
So right now just the Jeep and the MINI that I own but my demo is a 2002 Discovery that is doubles as the dealerships off road demonstration car. It was in a wreck and the frame was repaired which is a no no on a Disco since they have a fully boxed frame. We can't sell it because of that so I drive it most days and use it for off road test drives.
When I moved up to New England I sold off my other two cars since I wouldn't have a place to put them up here.
I sold my 1989 Pontiac Bonneville to a coworkers friend who had just had his car die. That was a great car even with 140,000 miles it still got above 35 mpg on the highway. It was my car left over from college and hardly ever drove it anymore anyway.
I gave my 1979 Toyota Pickup to my mom since it would never be able to drive all the way to CT and she needed a little truck for yard work.
Per resale on the MINI I killed the miles on mine and put over 24,000 miles on it in one year. I could turn around and sell it now pay off my note, was a five year term but I put about 20% down, and still pocket about five grand.
No, I haven't priced out a Civic, except to know that the sticker of a 4-door EX would be about $19K, Honda dealers are a NOTORIOUS PITA when it comes to trying to negotiate a good price, fueled this year I AM SURE by the wildly successful sales of the Civic, and the seat is kinda narrow in the Civic.
Compared to this, a Corolla S stick with moonroof and airbags and curtains stickers at about $18,1, and dealers have been telling me they could do $16K flat without fooling around. This is an old model at this point - four full years and counting to the replacement next spring.
But if I decide to go this route, I will certainly test drive them back to back. I have access to fleet pricing for Hondas, which at least eliminates the haggling with those impossible people, if not actually getting me a great price.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Went over to the nearby VW store on Sunday and saw what I'd really like, a 2004 Jetta. They had 4 of them, 2 silver, a white & a red. The silver with 21k miles really caught my eye, but being an almost 3 year old model and the reliability issues make me leery. And the other half would kill me, as she hates anything used. But I've really lusted over the 2004 model since they came out, particularly the dark gray color. Have a Sebring convertible tonite as the Sentra's back at Nissan with the service light on since Friday. But got a call that when the tech started it to drive to the back bay, the light was off. They kept it running for about an hour and drove about 10 miles and still no light. I still say they should replace the 4th coil, but they won't. And they also said that the computer didn't have any codes in it even with the light on since Friday. That I don't understand. I figured an error code would've been stored in the computer. Convinced them to keep it over night and start it up in the morning with the computer attached to the car, as it alwsys feels like it wants to tumble first thing in the morning. This is starting to get annoying now and eventhough it's fun to drive different rentals, I just want my car fixed and running like it did when new!
Funny, my friend's Jetta is a dark gray 2004 (TDI), and my dad's Beetle is a 2003, also dark gray...
My impression of Nissan is that they're pretty flexible. If the fourth coil (or something else) does go, after you've had CEL's under warranty, you can probably call Nissan USA and get it comped. The impression that I got when I was on the Altima boards was that they were at least a little flexible. But, if you have a dealer that really takes care of you, you probably won't have to call Nissan corporate to get it taken care of.
Comments
The only Mercedes seats I ever experienced were the standard, stock or base seats in the early '90's E-class, & a '97 E-class. Not great, probably worse than the "standard" seats in a bmw.
But yours sound terrific. What year E-430 is it?
One of my many car theories is that seats could be THE most important part of a car. Or that, you'll probably only get great seats in an excellent (& probably expensive) car.....
*I have the Multi-contour seats in my Mercedes E-430 that have air bellows that fill the lower and upper seat back separately. There is also a control for the sides to sqeeze you in. I think the seat is a 10 way power seat so there are tons of selections.*
The Two Thousand Mercedes E-classes were updated from when they were first introduced in 1996. The hood was lowered about an inch and a half, the lip on the truck lid is deeper, the tail-lights were changed, the front bumper cover was redesigned, the turning signal indicators are incorporated into the mirrors, the steering wheel controls for the radio and computer were added, upgraded interior materials, etc. They say there were 1,800 changes from the 1996-1999 models, but who knows for sure.
When the hood was lowered, the diesel was discontinued because it wouldn't fit under the hood. The diesel was re-introduced in 2005.
Mark
I hope it's true.
The Sandman
(Just turned in my Sorrento rental and I was not impressed. The gas mileage sucked, it shuddered when taking off from a stop & the plastics were way cheapo. It also wouldn't even fit in the garage. Totally disappointing!)
-mark156
I have a whole collection of M-B catalogs dating back to the 1980's. For some reason I never bought an actual Mercedes tho. Probably scared off by the prices of the cars, & all the high cost maintenence stories.....I looked at a house FS about a year ago tho with a nice E55 AMG in the garage, & it got me thinking.....
Woody
He hasn't been driving it much lately because he wants to keep the miles off it! :P
I was looking online and the Civic and the S40 are very close in size to my current Sentra, so they'll both fit. I've got a feeling that even a small ute will a bit to long for the garage. But I plan to take my time and test drive about a dozen or so vehicles over the next few months to get the a car that is back friendly and that will put a smile on my face every time I walk into the garage. Neverever had that luxury before in my life!
The Sandman
My E-class listed for $60,500 and I got a $1,000 discount back then. When I bought my 2002 ML500, it listed for $52,000 and I got $1,500 off list. I traded the ML500 in on a 2006 Land Rover LR3 HSE, black with tan leather.. I really like it as it has seating for 7 like the ML but much more space. My E-class only has 32,000 miles so I'll keep if for a while. It has been very, very low maintenance so far. Oil changes every 10,000 miles new tires at 25,000 (Michelin Pilot Sports). The only extra expense in almost seven years other than maintenance was two rear window regulators. My "E" purrs like a kitten! :P
Mark
I don't have kids so I have a little extra spending money. Although I kinda go crazy buying my 9 nieces and nephews things at xmas. Now I have 5 great nieces and nephews... Have they not heard of birth control? :confuse: :P
Mark
After much discussion it was decided that since the 99 Ram will be paid off in 2 more payments that it's going to stay. 'Cides, who wants to take a brand new truck out in the woods and throw firewood at it??
That means my beloved Titan and my precious Zippy are both leaving in June when the new truck gets here. I had mixed feelings but after seeing what towing all those trailers has done to the Titan I felt it might not hurt to move up to a bigger truck. After 50,000 miles I don't have anything bad to say about the Titan, its a tough truck.
Now Zippy I'm having a harder time giving up, she will probably be sold in the next month or so. Already have people asking. After 53k miles she has had exactly 4 repairs......seatbelt retractor, alignment, PCV valve, and a door adjustment. She still drives like a new car and gets great gas mileage. However, she also does a lot of idle time in the yard, she's had maybe 1500 miles put on her in the past 6 months. Seems silly to keep a car that nobody really drives and to pay the $1300/year in insurance.
I have been told that I can't have another new truck until I put at least 250k on the new one......what's that....maybe 4 years??
Yeah, right.
I just got back from a trip up the coast, and I saw a bunch of Jetta diesels (the new model) in Washington, which of course we don't get here in California. I talked to one lady at the gas station, she said she usually goes more than two weeks between fill-ups, and loves the car. I can definitely see the attraction - gas up to $2.80/gallon in my area, and not even mid-April yet. :sick:
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Of course, with any car of that mileage, one or 2 unexpected repairs before you sell it could negate any extra $$ you'd get selling it privately.
But good luck with it! Woody
I really hate to see you get rid of Zippy just when gas is starting to go up. I bet that little car will come in handy quite often. Each year, the insurance should go down as the value falls, right?
Anyway, I know you are excited about the new wheels coming. And, I'm sure your husband knows that you will never keep a car over 60,000 miles! He knows that! :P
-mark156
I really hate to see you get rid of Zippy just when gas is starting to go up. I bet that little car will come in handy quite often. Each year, the insurance should go down as the value falls, right?
Anyway, I know you are excited about the new wheels coming. And, I'm sure your husband knows that you will never keep a car over 60,000 miles! He knows that!
Yes, the new truck will be mine, but it will also belong to the business and be used for that as well.........just no firewood in the bed. It will pull our 14k lb dump trailer.
Hubby decided that he didn't want a new truck to replace his Dodge, he wanted one to pull the dump trailer and the travel trailer.
I've come close to keeping a car over 60k miles, Zippy has 53k on her and the Titan has 50k on it with still 2 months to go. Never know, I might tip the 60k mark with one of them.
Not really overly excited about the new truck, maybe a little. Will be a relief to be able to pull whatever trailer needs to be pulled and not worry about hurting the Titan.
Oddly enough, hubby is pushing more for getting rid of the Titan than I am. As for Zippy, well, we can break even on her right now so its a good time to let her go. Plus with the kids and all we hardly drive her unless I need to run to town for a quick errand.
As for unexpected repairs, it's already had plenty of those. The timing belt and tensioner were replaced on schedule at 100k. The tensioner locked up at 119k, but I shut off the engine before it was damaged. The front bumper was gouged in the process of towing it to the mechanic after that incident, but has been repainted. Something in the ignition system let go and caused a CEL, so we just replaced all the glow plugs and the harness, which fixed the problem... I could go on, but would rather not. :lemon:
Getting 49 MPG is nice, but we are willing to pay higher gas bills for life's little conveniences, like not being left stranded, and having a decent dealer network with competent repair facilities, neither of which are available from VW.
Don't know what we would do without the insurance that we have and medicaid (she qualifies because of her illness).
I'm very thankful for what we have, otherwise her health would not be as good as it is. Now if they could just find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis my prayers would be answered.
The VW dealer has a gazillion leftover '05 Jettas (the new model) and is offering $5555 off MSRP for all of them, blanket policy. That brings the nice model with package 1 down to less than $18K, and he had a few with a stick!
OTOH, I found that rarity of rarities: a 5-speed Accord EX stick with cloth, in this case an '04 with 17K miles for $19,9 certified.
But then I walked across the lot and they had stick shift Civic EXs in stock, which would be a new car for slightly less money, and really I don't need a car as big as the Accord anyway, although I do really like the current model.
And on the more minimalist side of things, I finally found a Yaris stick shift with cruise - it is loaded to the gills with the biggest package Toyota could shove in there, the color is blue, and the sticker is exactly $16K. Of course, for $16K, I could get a Corolla S stick and get a moonroof and side airbags and curtains for the same money. I am still convinced that the only Yaris that makes sense value-wise is the base model with stickers up to about $14K. Beyond that, there is so much competition!
And shoot, that Toyota dealer had an '05 Mini Cooper S stick shift with only 7450 miles on it that looked sweet and he was asking $24K - I am assuming he would come down a bit, and it had me wondering if maybe I shouldn't wait and save up a bit for something like that. Of course, at that kind of price, I would probably just go the extra bit and buy a new one. This one had the cool Union Jack on the roof - yesss! :-)
No matter what money you are looking to spend in the under-$25K bracket, there are so many good choices. Don't even get me started on the Fit Sport, which isn't even here yet, or the new Golf which I so like the look of, also under $20K.
Oh yeah, and my local dealer still has four '05 GTIs left, for which he is offering a $5000 discount across the board, which makes that model about $18K too - too bad all 4 are automatics. On principle I must look away...
:-P
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Although since the MINI's just don't depreciate hardly at all it kind of makes sense to buy new.
Do you know what packages it had like Premium or Sport?
The 2005 models could be had with a LSD as well which almost makes me wish I had bought a 2005 instead of a 2004.
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Anybody see that movie "The Island"? I'm almost to the point where I wouldn't mind a little cloning action to get a kidney.
The Mini.......there was an Owner's survey for the Mini in R&T recently. It kind of cooled me off on the Mini some.......but if you live near a Mini dealer for service, & it's under warranty, & you want it, I sure wouldn't try to talk you out of it.
Check out the Mini website, where you can "build your own Mini". For less than $24K, if you go easy on the options. The Union Jack on the roof--I could see getting that! I have my own favorite colors & options all picked out, if I had $24K or so to blow on a 2nd car.
But the great resale value: think about it: you could own a really fun car, & sell it after a year or 2 if you needed to & get most of your money back. Unlike VW's, for the most part.....just my own 2 cents.
You on a sunroof kick too?? When I ordered the new truck I told hubby it had to have a sunroof. Of course I almost changed my mind when I found that Dodge doesn't offer memory seats.........what's up with that?? The only HD truck that does is GM and I don't like the ride of them. Ah well, one option I'll learn to live without.......have it on my Titan and its nice.
Sheesh that sounds spoiled, lol. Guess I just got used to having certain options and grew to like them. Have only owned 3 vehicles with memory seats.......99 Quest SE, 97 Explorer Limited, and my 04 Titan LE.
It drove so good that I'm gonna do the brakes on the Accord Monday.
The price of the used MINI seems high (I know they depreciate well). For $24K (maybe a little more) you can order an '06 to your specs.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
I considered the MINI, and really enjoyed driving it, but reading about a handful of brake failures at 10-15 MPH was kind of off-putting.
I read about "weak A/C" on the mini. Also, not absolutely the most reliable, altho not awful from what I understand, so it can be a problem for people who don't live near a Mini dealer.
Thank, Mark156
I'll be the first to admit that I have an axe to grind, but on the off chance that VW leaves the US market, I hope they take their dealers with them!
The other was a 2001 Jetta GLS 1.8T that I bought new, loved the car, always kind of regretted getting rid of it. It was a pretty good car, only on the back of a tow truck twice in the 8 months/20k miles that I owned it.
I've always been partial to VWs, maybe it stems from my husband being that way, he grew up with VWs, his parents always owned them.
Seems like the mechanics couldn't seem to get it fixed right. But, I was only 20 yrs old and had a blast with it, especially in summer of '78 (I won't go there)! :P
I only kept it for 8 months and then bought my brand spanking new 1979 Datsun 210 hatchback! Bought the Bus for $2,000 and traded it for $1,600. I can't believe cars where that cheap, wow.
-mark156
My sister has an '00 Jetta GLS VR6 Automatic. Nice interior materials, excellent mid-range power, very comfortable car to drive on long trips. About 3 weeks after we took delivery (in 2000 when VWs were HOT -- Silver & Black Jettas were selling at sticker, while they discounted all other colors...Her's is White) she heard a whining from the car while accelerating. Brought it back to the dealer and they diagnosed it as a bad transmission. Sat there for 4 weeks until they could get a new transmission and install it. We should have gotten rid of the car then and there. There's always some kind of rattle, noise, or dash light illuminated. The ignition coils were replaced before VW issued the official recall (they did reimburse us). They went bad about 2 years later and the dealer wouldn't replace them free of charge, then tried to tell me that the entire front end was bad and would have to be replaced at a cost of about $4500! The alternator had to be replaced. The car has about 53,000 miles on it, the coolant leaks now :mad:
To be fair and honest, I know people who own Passats that have NO trouble with them at all.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
My Jetta VR6 was a 1999.5 model. It also had the whining noise from the auto transmission, but I waited until 40,000 miles or so when I knew for sure that the replacement transmissions didn't have the same noise before having it replaced under the powertrain warranty.
The coolant leak may be from the expansion tank, near the electrical connector. I think there's a TSB on this. It's very important that coolant *not* get inside the electrical connector, as it can spread down to the car's main wiring harness if it does. The rubber seal around the electrical connector can be removed to ensure that any leaks in the tank spill on the ground instead of injecting pressurized coolant into the connector.
Coilpacks? Surely you jest! The VR6 doesn't have coilpacks. Are you thinking of the spark plug wires? I had to replace those around 45,000 miles because they were arcing and causing a rough idle.
I still hold out hope that Honda will bring out a new RSX in the fall, and not just let the line die. This is probably a good year to wait and see what happens - if I am still in a minimalist mood in a few months I can always get an end-of-the-run Corolla for under $15K.
And yes, I will probably steer clear of the VWs, although I have a pretty good dealer nearby, and I do like the look of the new Golf, which I understand now will be called the Rabbit, fun! And did I read correctly, a base price of just $15,260? Not bad. I would say the price puts it in contention - the warranty is 4/50 after all.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I had a 1996 Jetta Trek (GL), and I still have nightmares about that car. Tell your friend that the "check engine" light will come back on roughly 3 weeks after it's 'fixed', so don't even bother. When I gave the car back to the dealer (lease), the check engine light was on, and had been for the prior year. I got tired of fixing the same thing.
If I listed out everything that went wrong with that car, you wouldn't believe me. Even as a fellow torched ex-VW owner, you wouldn't believe me. Suffice to say everything electrical in that car failed at least once, and that's both before and after the battery literally exploded.
My favorite exchange went like this, though:
Service guy: "Mr. Perna, we changed the oil in your car, but I'm afraid we need to keep it another 30 minutes or so."
Me: "What happened now???"
Service guy: "The radio won't turn back on. I'm not sure why, we only changed the oil."
They ended up replacing the entire head unit.
Another wacky time was when it was around 5 degrees outside, and after brushing a ton of snow off my car, I put my key in the lock to open the car.. and the entire handle comes off in my already-numb hand.
And that's just the amusing stuff. There is the not so amusing stuff, like the cruise control failing on the highway, or the headlights shutting off, or the driver's side window breaking off its track, or the mystery water leak...
Oh, there is one more amusing thing that I nearly forgot.
After my dad and I signed the paperwork and shook the hand of my salesman(my first new car!), I put some CDs in the Jetta's CD changer, and fired her up and drove off the lot. I literally made it a quarter mile down the road, and the changer started skipping like a madman. That would be the first of 4 changers I'd go through, eventually resulting in VW cutting me a check for ~$400 for the changer.
I should have taken that as an omen, driven the car to an empty field, set it on fire, and bought something else.
:P
Have you priced a new Civic? I'm guessing it might be a lot more fun to drive than a Corolla? (Not that I'd try to talk anyone out of buying a Toyota at a good price)!
*that used Mini is gone already*
Yes, we had a few problems - noticably, the power steering rack had to be replaced and there was some issue with the AC unit, but other than that, it was trouble-free. Wife and I drove it for the first 4 1/2 years, then our son drove it the last 18 months before we sold it.
Would I buy another VW? Probably - we received pretty decent service from our local dealer, so I wouldn't be hesitant on that account. Other than the new GTI and the soon to be introduced Eos, VW doesn't make anything that I'm all that interested in - at an affordable price.
When I bought my L300 3 years ago, I took a close look at the Passat. My requirements at the time were leather, V6 and an automatic transmission ... to get this in the Passat was going to run north of $26K.
Maybe I'm crazy, but "losing" $20K in depreciation, in 4 1/2 years, is a lot of bread, or cabbage.......for people who aren't rich, or super-yuppies. Oh well.
I think......at this point, it's probably a great buy at $15-$16K for someone (?) if I sold it myself. Which probably means I should keep it. And: I don't want to jinx it, but the car has had almost Japanese car reliability.....
The toyota shopping: 1. I could buy a loaded "cute-ute" new RAV4 for $28K something. They looked "dinky" to me, & I crossed it off my list. 2. New Red Solara convert., sticker around $31K: interior looked more Lexus-like. I was interested! 3. New FJ Cruiser in Black Cherry. Sticker was $33K something (W/o dealer add-ons), so I assume it was fully loaded(?) The vehicle looks as stunning in person as it does in the photos; altho probably totally impractical unless you do off-roading.
However, I could see owning both a brand new Solara convert., AND a New FJ Cruiser. I bet the resale values would be excellent (?)..... Winter truck--off road, & a summer convert., both great looking, for $50-$60K brand new. It's not a bad fantasy.....if you had the $$ to blow. And would look great in my driveway!
So right now just the Jeep and the MINI that I own but my demo is a 2002 Discovery that is doubles as the dealerships off road demonstration car. It was in a wreck and the frame was repaired which is a no no on a Disco since they have a fully boxed frame. We can't sell it because of that so I drive it most days and use it for off road test drives.
When I moved up to New England I sold off my other two cars since I wouldn't have a place to put them up here.
I sold my 1989 Pontiac Bonneville to a coworkers friend who had just had his car die. That was a great car even with 140,000 miles it still got above 35 mpg on the highway. It was my car left over from college and hardly ever drove it anymore anyway.
I gave my 1979 Toyota Pickup to my mom since it would never be able to drive all the way to CT and she needed a little truck for yard work.
Per resale on the MINI I killed the miles on mine and put over 24,000 miles on it in one year. I could turn around and sell it now pay off my note, was a five year term but I put about 20% down, and still pocket about five grand.
Compared to this, a Corolla S stick with moonroof and airbags and curtains stickers at about $18,1, and dealers have been telling me they could do $16K flat without fooling around. This is an old model at this point - four full years and counting to the replacement next spring.
But if I decide to go this route, I will certainly test drive them back to back. I have access to fleet pricing for Hondas, which at least eliminates the haggling with those impossible people, if not actually getting me a great price.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Have a Sebring convertible tonite as the Sentra's back at Nissan with the service light on since Friday. But got a call that when the tech started it to drive to the back bay, the light was off. They kept it running for about an hour and drove about 10 miles and still no light. I still say they should replace the 4th coil, but they won't. And they also said that the computer didn't have any codes in it even with the light on since Friday. That I don't understand. I figured an error code would've been stored in the computer. Convinced them to keep it over night and start it up in the morning with the computer attached to the car, as it alwsys feels like it wants to tumble first thing in the morning. This is starting to get annoying now and eventhough it's fun to drive different rentals, I just want my car fixed and running like it did when new!
The Sandman :mad:
My impression of Nissan is that they're pretty flexible. If the fourth coil (or something else) does go, after you've had CEL's under warranty, you can probably call Nissan USA and get it comped. The impression that I got when I was on the Altima boards was that they were at least a little flexible. But, if you have a dealer that really takes care of you, you probably won't have to call Nissan corporate to get it taken care of.