John - if you're coming to StarTech in May (Reston, VA), bring along your
iSCAN and you will have ample opportunity to really impress a lot of folks.
And I will gladly provide my '90 300D if you need any "props"! ;-)))
Werner
----- Original Message -----
From: "John W. Reames III" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Mercedes Discussion List" <mercedes@okiebenz.com>
Sent: Monday, January 22, 2007 12:17 AM
Subject: Re: [MBZ] Mercedes Quality
On Sun, 21 Jan 2007, andrew strasfogel wrote:
We drove a '76 Chevette for 3.5 years so we could afford a baby. By the
time our son was 3 we could afford a 9 year old Mercedes (1973 280).
There
has to be a mathematical formula in there somewhere, perhaps in
association
with one's zip code at each purchase or entry point...
Hmm maybe. I had an 84 SD until it was knocked from beneath me in
Leesburg. Seeing as how the sunroof popped and the paint chipped off the
rudely forced into intimacy, and the trunk pan split off the frame rail on
the left side, I felt fortunate to escape uninjured. I wanted another 84
SD, or maybe an 85 (I wasn't too into the SDL's) ... Anyhow SWMBO dictated
something newer, and there was a 1999 E300Dt on the lot at a local
dealership, so we snatched it. I just added a second one to replace the
jeep (fishbowl due to a failed windshield seal).
Looking at the safety record of Mercedes, you can't afford to NOT drive
one (given modern drivers). As far as I am concerned that 1984 did its
primary job: To keep the occupants safe in a collision. It also did its
secondary job very well (to haul my butt back and forth to work daily!)
I will say that I am completely and utterly spoiled by one thing on the
newer cars: with the extensive highway driving that I do, I am getting
about 16K between maintenance intervals(!) (So I let the dealer rake me
over for a complete "B" service everytime just to have independent eyes go
through everything.) Soem stuff, like engine mounts, torsion bars, brakes,
I do, others (Ball joints, control arm bushes) I leave for them. I just
picked up a used Baum/Autoland Scientech D91 (aka iScan) which covers them
and it is AMAZING what information those computers (plural!) will share
with you; theres one for each door, the overhead sunroof switch/dome
switch/etc, airbags, engine, tranny, each audio component in the fiber
ring, traction control, instrument cluster, automatic climate control,
headlamp range adjustment, "control panel" (the one with the hazard switch
in the middle) etc. I mean if you have a bulb out failure, the computer
will actually tell you WHICH bulb is out (okay not like it is hard to
figure out, but sometimes you forget about the license plate lamps)
...
anyhow wicked cool.. and if anyone needs to have codes pulled or cleared
in the baltimore area, drop a line... I supposedly have coverage from
1988->2001 or so and BMW as well)
-j.
