February 6th, 2009
Once Around The Earth…Already?
I was re-reading the previous post, and just realized that I’d driven Traveler the equivalent of somewhat over once around the earth at the equator. But so far all that’s been up a little bit into Pennsylvania (to Stroudsburg to visit a friend), twice to Ocean City New Jersey, twice to Florida…once all the way to Key West, once only as far as Orlando and Disneyworld…once to Memphis Tennessee, once to Hillsville Virginia, and a lot around central Maryland and between Baltimore and northern Virgina.
It’s just a small portion of Planet Earth I’ve been driving on, yet I’ve already racked up enough miles to have theoretically driven once around the equator.
February 7th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
It’s amazing once you start keeping track, isn’t it? My husband counted all the miles he walked last year since getting a pedometer. 2,891!
February 7th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
My odometer hasn’t worked since before I got the Volvo. But I have documentation (Via service records) that it is over 350,000 miles. Can I get to me moon and back a couple of times?
Yes, I’m sure that maintainance will be expensive of a Merc. BUT, that seems a lot cheaper then having to buy a new (peice of crap American car) auto every few years. Even crappy Detroit products will go for a while if you keep oil and maintainance on schedule.
But I have a hunch that Merc owners are "the type" (in general) that get a new car every other year anyway?
February 9th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Valorie: I can’t imagine totaling up the miles I’ve walked. I am walking constantly just to burn off nervous energy.
Bob: Mercedes owners tend to split along lines of enthusiasts verses status seekers. The enthusiasts tend to hold onto their cars forever just about. In a recent issue of the Mercedes Owners Club magazine (yes…I got my membership Right after I bought the car) they had a story of a regional sales manager for Fender Guitar who had driven his ‘S’ class nearly half a million miles. It had pictures and that car looked almost factory new, save for the aging you could clearly see in the leather seats. He’d pampered it the whole time.
Mercedes enthusiasts take pride in how many miles their cars have racked up. That was always supposed to be part of the brand’s aura. The joke was that a Mercedes with 100k on it was only just broken in. Then in the late 90s the quality started going down and the enthusiasts got really pissed off at Daimler (me included). Management changed, Daimler fessed up to the problem and promised to do better. I think they are.
But there is this: Mercedes never did roll out new models every year like the American brands. Instead they would keep on making these incremental improvements over a period of many years. The 2009 C300 (I have a 2008, and it’s really known to Daimler as the W204…that’s the frame designation) has a bunch of improvements including better iPod integration and redesigned sideview mirrors to cut down on wind noise at highway speeds. My car is very quiet, but they say the 2009 is noticeably quieter going down the road. They re-engineer things in a model over time to improve reliability and add new safety features. That’s how Mercedes does things and it’s why some of us, particularly the tech geeks, are fans. By the time they retire the W204 they’ll be building a greatly improved version over the first ones they made. So there is some incentive to upgrade if you have that kind of money.
But I’m gonna hold onto mine. This could be the last car I ever buy. Unless gasoline becomes so expensive I have no choice but to get a more fuel efficient one. Daimler is really working hard to make their cars more fuel efficient. They make the W204 with a four cylinder diesel that gets over 50 mpg, but that one isn’t being imported to the U.S. yet. The new ‘E’ class that’s coming later this year is said to be 35 percent more fuel efficient thent the current model.