13th Oct 2019, 14:33

I am/was the owner of that car. As a matter of fact after sending my example of “Great German engineering” to the scrap yard (got $300, hurray), I did switch from the Mercedes E430 to a Lincoln MKZ.

The cars are comparable in luxury, size and performance. The appointments are almost identical except that in Lincoln they all work, which was not the case with the E430 (see the itemized list). Sometimes overenthusiastic owners tend to not remember all the costs of vehicle usage. For business and tax purposes, I do keep the log for all car expenses. The comparison of the the upkeep (excluding the fuel) costs limited to the time when both cars had the same mileage is: Lincoln CDN $0.02/km, Mercedes E430 is CDN $0.08km.

The fuel mileage for both vehicles is the same except for the fact that for Lincoln it is a regular gas; not a higher grade as it is required by OEM with all the cost implications…

As far as, at least “regular” passenger cars are concerned, the supremacy of Great German engineering is not that obvious. My son has 2010 Mercedes and hasn’t complained about the costs yet. The reason could be a very low mileage on the car (98000 km). I am not trying to bash one engineering over another (this year, I did purchase a 2000 911). Just comparing my particular costs of the ownership for the benefit of others…