So…yeah…gasoline for Traveler is just going to be expensive.  It has about the same size tank as the Accord, but its V-6 is thirstier, so it gets emptied sooner.  And it requires premium.  I knew this when I bought it.  A Mercedes-Benz is just going to cost me more to own then a Honda Accord.  I went into that with my eyes wide open. For weeks before I bought it I stressed over whether or not I could afford it After I’d bought it.  Once I’d satisfied myself that I could, I went to the dealer and put my money down.  I admit I didn’t expect the price of gasoline to rise so…rapidly.  But there’s no getting around it.  So I’m more careful nowadays in planning my trips to the hardware store or the post office.  Is there anything else I need that I can get along the way?  Better one long circle then two or three trips back and forth.

Recently, the original equipment wiper blades on Traveler started streaking ever so slightly.  Most of you probably know how it is after that.  At the first sign of streaking it just gets worse really quickly.  So I figured today I’d go buy myself another pair.  Traveler came with a spare set, and my plan was to put the spare set on the windshield and make the new pair the spare.  And because I am such a Mercedes-Benz fanboy and I don’t want anything on my car that isn’t factory approved, I went to my dealer to buy the new blades.

I had a hunch they would be a tad pricey when the parts department guy behind the counter whistled under his breath when the part number came up on his computer display.  Sixty bucks.  That’s right…sixty dollars for a pair of wiper blades. 

Maybe it’s the falling dollar.  At least they’re lasting me about six months.  And I’ll say this about them…yes, they actually do their job better then the blades on any other car I’ve ever owned, including the Accord, yet their design is simple and elegant.  I’m a geek…shoot me…but one of the subtle little things that told me I was in a different world now was trying out the wipers and seeing how smoothly and thoroughly they cleaned the windshield. Partly that’s the odd little articulation Mercedes puts on the passenger side wiper to make it get more of the window.  But also it’s the design of the blade itself, which distributes pressure more evenly across its length then any other design I’ve ever seen.  In the package they’re actually curved inward.  When flattened out on the windshield every point along its length is exerting an even steady pressure against the glass.  I can swallow the extra cost of something if it gets me a better made something, and that is in fact the bargain you make when you buy into the brand; the theory being that a Mercedes-Benz costs more because it’s over-engineered a tad and that costs money.  But that means the maintenance is going to cost more too.

Here’s a lesson for all of you dreaming of that supercar you want to own one day.  Don’t buy it until you can afford the maintenance too.  Even if you see one in cherry condition on the used market and you can afford it.  Investigate how much the upkeep will cost.  I was reading on one of the Mercedes forums about a guy who bought himself a very nice "previously owned" ‘S’ class, only to discover that when it needed its next routine servicing work it was going to cost him close to a thousand dollars. 

The breakdown was this: the service schedule on the model ‘S’ class he bought called for the plugs to be replaced, and the oil and gas filters, really close to the mileage it had on it when he bought the car.  That’s something you have to consider when looking at a used car: when is the next maintenance due.  It had a V-8 engine with two plugs per cylinder and it used the most expensive plugs Bosch made.  The oil and gas filters were equally state of the art, precision made and just as expensive.  But that’s what you buy when you buy a high end car like a Mercedes-Benz.  I’m sure the top of the line BMW or Audi are just as expensive to maintain, and I don’t even want to think of what it costs to do routine maintenance on a Bentley or Rolls.  Between the parts and the labor the scheduled service on that guy’s ‘S’ class was getting close to the thousand dollar mark…

…which you figure someone who can afford one of those things new can also afford.  But not necessarily someone buying on the used, excuse me, "previously owned" market.  You may have bought the car for half of what it was worth new, but you still have to pay full price for the maintenance.  Unless you get it done in Butthead’s garage and junk yard emporium…and do you really want your lovely ‘S’ class worked on by Butthead?  Oh sure…a I can fix that…a little duct tape and glue and it’ll be good as new…and hey…sorry about the greasy shoe stains on your carpet there…

I could have held out for an ‘E’ class…barely.  I hear the new one coming out in 2009 is going to be really nice.  Sometimes I catch myself thinking that maybe after I’ve paid off Traveler I’ll trade up to one.  But if you can just barely afford the car, you probably can’t afford the maintenance too.  Unless I jump a few more rungs up the income ladder, a ‘C’ class is probably all I’ll ever be able to afford.  But that’s okay.  Every day when I go out for my after dinner walk I stop and just…gawk…at my car.  My neighbors are all probably getting the biggest kick out of seeing me standing out there nights just staring at it.  But there was a time in my life when I couldn’t even afford a car.