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Time for a new family car.


MikeT

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Given the make of car I would have been disappointed if it had needed any. My w115 Merc did 450,000 km before it needed an engine rebuild. Also of note, the rebuild was really easy like all jobs on a Merccedes.

 

Proper cars. :)

 

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I thought so too - this is the last of the proper FWD Mercs that's not sort of half Nissan-Renault or whatever. My Peugeot 405, which did drink a lot of oil despite not blowing blue exhaust, made it to 366,000 km before the head gasket blew and I decided to scrap it die to so much other work being needed. 

 

This one seems much more solid and 500K km is my base target.

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+1 on that.

 

Renault are the one make of car I refuse to own or work on. Anyone that designs such that you have to break the taper before you can get the nut off a ball joint needs the little white coated men to give them help.

 

One interesting fact about Renault is that they are the only manufacturer in the world that have the means to make a car from raw materials. Iron ore to car with no bought in bits.

 

They also have their own vineyards that make reasonable wine if you can get hold of it.

 

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  • 8 months later...

Update: about 12 days ago the alternator stopped charging and there was also a "new" noise from the poly-V belt. It snapped, fragmented/shredded on the way to the Nanaimo dealer and the car got hot too: 120°C or more, the temp warning came on. The temperature gauge in modern cars seems to dampen out normal temperature variations so the drivers don't get worried but this dampening meant that the temperature gauge showed 90°C one minute and 120°C the next. I thought I may have cooked it even though I shut the engine off within 10 seconds of the warning light.

 

The smart was ahead of the broken down B200, with my son-in-law driving it...

 

The root cause according to the dealer was the failure of the idler pulleys, which was making the belt slip and eventually overheated it to the point that it died. In the process the tensioner pulley "exploded" according to the work order!

 

In the end the alternator was also damaged so I authorized its replacement  - 340K km is a good innings for an alternator - along with the two idler pulleys as well as the tensioner pulley and belt. $2290 all in with labour. That's three months' payment on a new car, which I'd prefer not to have to buy right now.

 

The engine seems fine after the getting hot episode so on we go towards 400K km.

Edited by MikeT
photo link busted.
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  • 8 months later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

At just under 355,000 km on the B200 odometer, we ordered the 2025 GLC 350e and when we got home in the B200, the car smelled funny. The right rear brake was binding and the wheel was HOT! A couple of buckets of cold water cooled it down. I have to get that puppy freed up because we still need to use this car for the rest of the winter. The smart doesn't see salt. If I can avoid it. So far it's worked.

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Yes it has. I did a caliper service yesterday and the brake is no longer binding. The pad ears were being pinched by corrosion under the stainless steel tracks. Easy repair.

 

It's from the DaimlerChrysler era too! The engine is bulletproof. No oil consumption. The worst part is the brakes.

 

 

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