Vincent writes:
I’m having a bit of a dilemma in the car buying/selling front. First off, I’m a 21 year old college student. Last year, using money gifted to me by my wealthy grandparents (yes, I’m a spoiled brat. Sorry) I impulsively purchased a 97 Mercedes C36 AMG (yes, I’m an awful spoiled brat). It had a plethora of problems including the previous owner installing a faulty air intake, improperly lowering the car and damaging the suspension, and some thermostat issue. Several thousand dollars later, my mechanic got it back to speed. It hasn’t had any problems since, but I definitely can’t afford to fix it if anything else were to happen. Furthermore, premium gas is a bitch, especially here in Vancouver where gas is at an all time high. It doesn’t snow often here, but I’m not comfortable driving it when it does. I am contemplating selling the C36 and purchasing something more practical (I’ve had it listed on classifieds for months, but eh, no bites)
My mother, who I live close to, owns a 03 Chrysler Town & Country which she no longer drives because she now drives her New Beetle. She is trying to sell it, but is concerned she may at times need something with more cargo space than her VW. I considered perhaps if I were to sell my C36 to purchase a station wagon or crossover so that I could have a practical car that my mother could borrow if she needs cargo space.
Any advice? Should we just hold onto our vehicles? Should we sell both and buy something inbetween? And what should I buy if I do? Many thanks!
Sajeev Answers:
You need not apologize for being a spoiled brat! The mere fact that you (foolishly?) restored a spendy modern classic to non-ricer specs means you have the heart of a genuinely good person. That kind of self-awareness is worthy of Mike Brewer’s admiration.
It sounds like both the C36 and the minivan need to go for valid reasons. So put them out there, see which one sells first. If you are paranoid about the next big bill on the Benz, leave it in the spot where Mom keeps the minivan. Drive the mommy-mobile for a while!
As you might have already learned from your inheritance, money is fleeting. And college is expensive. You need to buy things that matter: books, tuition, food, nice clothes, etc that prepare you for a career and, um, potential girlfriends. You don’t need a nice ride in college, women are down for a smart guy who takes care of himself and dresses like a champ.
I would get a cheap CUV for your C36+Van replacement. Look at vehicles around USD $10,000. The Canadian market is significantly different than what I know, so all I can offer is a 5-7 year old CUV from Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Ford or GM. Don’t be picky, just buy one with service records! Parts will be cheap and easy, and none of them will do you wrong for a long time to come.
Steve Answers:
No one here will blame you for going after a dream. At least not the two of us. But you should be unceasingly thankful that your dream didn’t turn into a never-ending nightmare. A lot of folks who bought high priced wheels from the post-1995 dark ages of Mercedes can’t say the same thing.
With that in mind…sell it. Get rid of the thing and don’t even look back. You’ve had fun and the unintended consequences that go along with Das Daimler. As for your new wheels…
You live in Vancouver which, if I vaguely recall from my time at the Canadian Consulate, is the largest city in the entire world without a freeway. The place actively discourages car ownership. Throw in the fact that you’re in college, and I’m sure that whatever you get will still cost quite a bit even if it’s a cheap car.
My advice to you is hold off until you graduate and have a good job. Take the money you get from selling this car and invest it. The next car should be on your dime and ‘mom’ shouldn’t have to be your automotive resource. If you must buy something else… look at the owner. Get it independently inspected, and avoid debt like the plague.
Need help with a car buying conundrum? Email your particulars to mehta@ttac.com, and let TTAC’s collective wisdom make the decision easier… or possibly much, much harder.
Wasn’t there a financial advisor looking for some sort of impressive ride for $10K on here the other day? Seems like this AMG would be perfect for him.
I feel sorry for you son, I got 99 problems, but a 1997 Mercedes ain’t one.
Take mom’s Town and Country off her hands and let her borrow it when she needs to haul stuff. There’s plenty of room in the van to “party” if you know what I mean. Any woman who just wants you for your vehicle isn’t a worthy of long term consideration. Heck keep the MB around too for when you want to get a little… action.
I’ll second that. Keep the Benz and take the T&C. You can get it for peanuts…heck, maybe mom will just let you have it for a couple of years until you finish up school.
Best of both worlds. You get to enjoy the AMG when the weather’s nice. And if it’s nasty out or something breaks, you’ve got a backup vehicle with little to no investment. So what if it’s a minivan? Yeah, no 21 year old wants to be caught dead in one. But a wagon or CUV isn’t exactly, stylish either.
For the record, I drive a new Mustang GT that’s currently a garage queen because I’ve already racked up too many miles and because the weather really sucks right now. My daily driver is an ’02 Civic sedan that I purchased for cheap…from my mother; it wasn’t my first choice for second car – far from it – but the price was right, I knew the vehicle history very well, and I’ve got my fun car waiting in the wings to, uh, compensate for the Honda’s shortcomings.
I must warn you, brat: whether or not you keep the Merc, DO NOT EVER ALLOW YOUR PEERS TO SEE YOU DRIVING a T & C. or ANY van. I’m guessing that some of us still remember when vans were mobile bedrooms and had a coolness factor. We’re predisposed to saying it would be okay for you to take over Mom’s ride. But that was then. This is now. You are 21. If the ladies see you in that, you are not getting any action. None. Nada. Zip. No girl’s gonna ride in that thing with you because she’s going to feel like she’s on a date with her dad.
No girl’s gonna ride in that thing with you because she’s going to feel like she’s on a date with her dad.
With some of the ladies I’ve been with, I think that feeling would be a major positive.
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Anyway, my experience is that college-aged people really don’t care what you drive. My best friend from school drove an Astro Van and he never suffered any social consequences. Another friend actually did drive in his mom’s Town and Country and his girlfriend could have been a Ukrainian supermodel. YMMV, I guess.
Get a motorcycle with ABS, generous waterproof saddlebags, and (at least) a waterproof riding suit. If you need a big cargo area to haul stuff from whatever the Canadian equivalent of Costco is, or if you are going on a ski trip with a bunch of friends, rent.
If I could go back in time to tell my college self that, I would. But then, they didn’t have ABS on motorcycles when I was in college :/
I made a very similar spoiled brat first car mistake when I finished undergrad school in Boston. My first wheels were a Porsche 1967 911s. I could afford to buy it, but not maintain it. When Boston’s winter tin worms finally ate through the torsion tubes, it was time to part ways. The pendulum swung in the opposite direction and my next vehicle was a Dodge A100 Sportsman van (see Murilee’s post below). Vancouver is one of my favorite cities in N. America. I could easily live there without a car — riding a bike (when it’s not raining), taking public transportation and renting a car on the weekends. If you really need your own wheels, look at a gently used Hyundai Sonata. Upgrade when you graduate.
I almost made that same mistake (’68 911) with dotcom money, only I was in grad school at the time. Still grateful that I had a couple buddies who talked me out of it.
Sell the Merc and pick up that Town & Country. Invisible to cops and you can pack plenty of freshmen girls in for a ‘tour of campus’.
Vancouver… hmm. Any Mercedes Benz Dealers around?
If so, swing by the dealership. See how much they’d offer you for the car as it sits (they will lowball you of course). If the price is acceptable (or anywhere near what you paid for it) jump at it. Chalk up the few grand you spent on maintenance as a learning experience, and move on.
You may be able to work out a deal where they detail it, and try to sell it off their lot, then you split the proceeds above your original purchase price 40/60 (with the 60 going to the dealership). I dunno, it all depends on how stuck up the dealer is. Leave the car with them, let them shop it for a month or two, and drive Mom’s Caravan in the mean time. Just an idea.
Thermostat issues aside, it sounds like the problems with your car came from the previous owner and you have the car back in great shape. Since nobody’s biting on it, could you garage or store it, take over driving the town and country, and lend it back to your mother when she needs it? A less aesthetically appealing option would be to add a roof rack and cargo pod, or something.
How often does your mother need to haul something that wouldn’t fit in the beetle? My parents were always concerned getting rid of our old ’94 MPV meant we couldn’t carry anything larger than a small box of legos, but we’ve never had anything we couldn’t cram into our 03 Accord, which gets better gas mileage and doesn’t smell like gas fumes inside.
Hi. Spoiled brats don’t drive 15 year-old econocars. You want to be a spoiled brat, but simply saying that doesn’t make it true.
This is what passes for spoiling these days? The recession really hurt North America, apparently.
Probably a lot of bad things you can say about a C36 AMG, but “econocar” is not one of them.
This car is the European equivalent of the Z24, zx2 and R/T neon.
W202 was equipped, as factory-base, with a simple power package. It didn’t have ACC, leather power seating or even a CD player. That, my friend– is an economy car. No matter how many “upgrade modules” were installed on the line.
Base w202 came with basic power package, manual vinyl seats, tape player and manual climate control. It came with hubcaps, cruise control and a rear defroster. It does not matter that they installed a larger engine and body kit– this is an economy car.
Unless you’re willing to concede ZX2 Escort, R/T neon and Z-24 Cavalier are something special– you may wish to back off.
The base ’97 C-Class we got in the US did not have hubcaps, manual vinyl seats, or manual air. Unless your definition of “economy car” is anything with a 4 cyl engine, the ’97 C230 wasn’t one, let alone the AMG.
Back off? OK, whatever. Still wouldn’t consider that AMG an econocar, nor would most folks. Kind of surprised anyone would even bring up “econocar” as an insult… to each their own.
The way I see it, calling the AMG an econocar based on its base platform is a pretty poor attempt at being patronizing. And I grew up on the land of 190 cabs.
Base North American C-Class in a w202 chassis was a c220– the c230/230k were mid-line trims. The c36 may be top-line trim, but it is an economy car.
W210 E320 came with vinyl seats as-standard– w211/2 still did whenever I walked away from the brand.
“Base North American C-Class in a w202 chassis was a c220– the c230/230k were mid-line trims. The c36 may be top-line trim, but it is an economy car.”
In the USA the 2.2L and 2.3L were never sold side-by-side (implying the 2.2 was “base” and the 2.3L was “mid-line”). Same is true of the 2.3k. The 2.2, 2.3, and 2.3k were each the lower-priced configuration of a 2-tier system where the high-priced configuration was the 2.8L. The C36 (and later C43) were marketed and sold as a very special vehicle with price and feature content more in line with the V8-engined W210.
It is amazing to see how far cars — all cars — have come since the 1993 debut of the W202. The base 220 had ABS, seatbelt pre-tensioners, and dual airbags as standard. Those items alone marked the car as special at that time.
I am tempted to say: Give it a rest Neon-boy, an AMG is not an econo-car, and you are probably just testy because folks say that about Neons so much… but that would be so spoiled-brat of me, so I probably won’t do it.
So– are you arguing that you’re spoiled, or that a micro-sedan is luxurious? I can’t tell.
You’re not going to convince me the w202 is anything but a RWD Escort with cast-rubber doorpulls. Keep trying, though– it’s rather hilarious.
If a C36 AMG is your definition of an ecnocar, how would you describe a Neon? LOL.
@iNeon:
It does not matter that they installed a larger engine and body kit– this is an economy car.
So the ’64 GTO, ’71 Plymouth Duster 340, ’87 Buick GNX, ‘96 Impala SS, ’05 SRT4, and ’10 EVO X MR are all just either economy or floaty old man cars to you?
Is a last-gen Charger SRT8 just rental car fodder because of the equipment level and common destination for the SE version?
If you are truly a spoiled brat worth your salt you will keep the car and whine to your grandparents when you need more money. Problem solved.
+1 on Steve’s advice that you invest what ever money you have left over. I would also point out that since you’re in college, now would be a golden opportunity to actually learn about investing. I would take a finance course dealing with investments. I would also take an intro accounting course so you can learn how to read a balance, income and cash flow statement. Then start putting that money to work for you. If you’re savvy enough you may be able to recoup those losses you put into the Merc by the time you leave college.
Post up the benz on here:
http://www.benzworld.org/forums/
You likely won’t find takers on normal car for sale venues.
Keep the Benz for nice weather: You’ve already spent time and money undoing the “improvements” that the previous owner cursed the car with. Nobody wants it, owing to the maxim that there’s no car more expensive than a cheap Mercedes. Use the T&C in the bad weather. If you keep the Benz long enough, you may actually get the benefit of it’s high price. Write back in 10 years and if you still have the C36, the transformation from spoiled brat to wise Mercedes owner will have been complete.
If you -do- keep the benz, for chrissakes make sure the suspention is in perfect shape, and put excellent tires on it. That vintage Mercedes have abysmal crash tests – head-bouncing-off-the-b-pillar and legs-folding-up-in-3-places bad. It’s an awesome car, but make sure you give yourself a shot at avoiding a personal re-enactment of Euro-NCAP tests.
Also, if you’re spoiled, convince the powers that be to pony up for a Skip Barber school, or similar. It’ll stand you in good stead whatever your wheels are.
Try Auto Trader. We first tried Craig’s list with no results for the C 43. We had so many calls through the Trader we decided to keep it. If it is any comfort, after 11 years, it still runs as new.
Parts are NOT cheap here in Vancouver. We pay at least double what you pay in the US, even for something as common as a Civic.
Driving in Vancouver sucks anyway. People regularly stop at green lights. I’m not making this up! I see it happen about once a week.
The Benz is a Good car, I almost bought a C280, but instead went with something more reliable and affordable, E34 525i. You paid a lot for the car, enjoy it a little longer then get rid of it. Plenty of cars out their that offer a lot. Personally I buy my car parts online and do a bit of work myself, like brakes and shocks. saves a ton of cash. Taking the minivan is a good idea, I did that for a while and I felt great driving around in my moms Caravan. I also like the E36 325i, parts and working on the car are not particularly expensive, the car is affordable, reliable and handles as well as the Benz. Ask yourself what matters to you, and be patient and understanding with yourself. What ever car you buy you need to be ok with you, not the car.
Take the Town and Country. I presume that it has been well maintained. Change the transmission fluid. It will take good care of you. My 99 has 201K on it.
Oh, well…that’s the way the Mercedes bends…nyark! nyark!
From someone who’s burned a LOT (well, for me a lot) of money turning and churning vehicles…
Advertise privately, the Benz in the free papers and Craigslist; asking a fair price for it (use the NADA or KBB to figure). Don’t get lowballed – hold out for what it’s worth. You may have a long wait.
And don’t go buying your CUV yet. Doing something dumb – once – is a mistake. Doing the same dumb stuff over and over…is something else.
Buy or borrow that minivan. I’ve owned cars, pickups, a Jeep and several minivans; and a minivan is THE most practical vehicle out there. You’re not interested in practical? Wait until your next move; until the next time you want to tow something or move crap any distance. Or take a trip with nine of your closest friends…nothing like a minivan for a rolling party. It gives a low profile to the cops, too…
And you’ll still have that Daimler for the occasional hot date, until you sell.
Good luck. If you learn from this…it’s not money wasted; it’s an education purchased.
Get rid of it ASAP. This is the era where Mercedes quality went down the crapper. Save and invest your money, buy a beater until you’re done with college/
Mercedes AMGs have phenomenal performance, but they’re really meant for wealthy people to only own new while they’re still under warranty. They’re semi-disposable, unless you like throwing money down a black hole.
You can get close to this performance but from a reliable car with something like a used Infiniti G35 or Acura TL for a good price. (but it’s not as sexy or rare) I’d recommend though getting something basic, cheap and reliable, like a Subaru wagon that needs a paint job so you don’t worry about it. College public parking destroys cars.
Sell the Benz! Affording to buy a car and affording the maintenance on said car are two different things. Just the insurance on that thing can’t be cheap. You’re young and have so many more important investments ahead of you that your money could be going towards. Pay your mom for the T&C and stuff the rest of the money away. As far as the ladies go… if you can’t afford the maintenance on a Benz, you’re definitely not going to afford the kind of girls that go for it. Minivan will make you look like a responsible kind of guy, play that as your advantage. I wish I would have had someone giving me this advice when I was 21 and signed a 5-year paper on a Mustang.
OMFG! Drive his Mom’s minivan?
And since he gets that “free healthcare” maybe he can make an appointment to have his testicles removed at the same time.
Maybe buying it was not the right thing to do, but that’s water under the bridge at this point.
The car apparently is OK right now so keep it, join an online forum for the car and learn to wrench some. Brakes, oil changes and the like.
Downtown Vancouver and the burbs are relatively flat. A good set of snow tires with a spare set of steelies if he is not sure about the Winter.
The grandparents should have set up a testamentary or inter vivos trust to prevent the sort of squandering of inheritance that can happen with these inter-generational wealth transfers. Kids + money = a marketer’s dream.
The C36 was once one of my dream cars, so I say keep it and find yourself a Rust Check dealer to keep it pristine. What 20-something males really want is to save face, and I still think there’s status in this timeless Q-ship. If you maintain it you’ll hold your own against other male rivals who drive newer compact German marques. Buy a set of winter tires on separate rims, or performance winter tires and run them year round in Vancouver’s mild climate.
Get a Dodge Magnum. Trust me. I’m a 23 year old grad student and I get compliments on mine wherever I go. (And girls love it, and so will your mom when she see’s the cargo space haha)
Sell the dumb benz and get a normal car that you can actually afford, like a econobox. To think that you could have spent all that money on a car that wasn’t stupid and pointless. Hey I’m all for stupid and pointless but you have to have the money to keep stupid and pointless rolling, if you are about to go in to college, you don’t, unless you are a trustifarian, in which case stop bothering the prols with your problems.
He’s not spoiled, just a bit too old to impulsively buy things, especially cars. But to restore a car back to its original form is not foolish. The only spoiled brat here is the guy that buys a Benz and modifies it since having a generally perceived “high-class” sedan isn’t enough.
Sell the Benz if the insurance is too high but otherwise I’d say drive it around and sell the minivan, you only need one car. I dunno if I could recommend German cars, I’ve owned 2 and they needed loads of work done.
I had a ’93 C280 — most unreliable car I’ve ever owned, including my ’73 Chevy Vega (!).
Nice car to drive, but after 25 warranty repairs in 5 yrs. I dumped the POS and have never missed it. A friend is the svc mgr of the M-B dealership (has been there since the late 60s) and said he doesn’t recommend owning any current mfr M-B not under warranty.
“No one here will blame you for going after a dream.”
Ummm… okay. He blew a wad of cash on a ridiculous car, ran out of money, and is now digging himself out of the hole he is in. The definition of idiocy.
Buy a used Honda CR-V or other reliable as hell CUV. And enjoy trying to scrape back that cash you blew.
Sell both the Merc and the minivan and buy yourself a gnarly old truck with bull bars, brush guards and either dual fuel tanks or propane.
Why?
1) Driving standards in Vancouver are appalling – I know I live here too, I’ve been driven into more times in my 2 years here than in the previous 8 years in the UK – so the next time some mindless fool in a brand new BMW/Merc/Lexus/Infiniti tries to cut you up in your gnarly old truck covered in rusty metal bars, you don’t have to bother braking or worrying about the repair cost.
2) Propane is cheap, so you don’t have to worry too much about fuel costs, or with dual tanks you can take a trip south over the border once every two weeks and save a hell of a lot of money on gas. Go to Point Roberts – the lineups there are usually very short.
If you’re not comfortable driving it in snow, then you should not be comfortable driving any other vehicle on similar tires. Buy some decent tires, whatever you do.