Here's a question for those who WORK on these cars. I may be selling one of our cars to make room for a bigger family hauler. My question is which car makes the most FINANCIAL sense to sell, my 1995 C280 or my 1998 Volvo V70 T5.

C280: 77,000 miles. Everything is "ok" or better on car (knock wood) and we both love to drive it. It's worth a few thousand less than the volvo.

V70 T5 - 66,000 on the clock. Car's in perfect shape. It's a stick, so I like driving it buy my wife can't. (which has it's own pros and cons)

I want to know which car will likely last the longest, based on past history and experiences you all may have had with each. Forget about the emotional, spiritual, etc. aspects of each, because they each have their own strenghts!

Thanks!

Adam,

I checked your website and I wouldn't think twice about selling the MB. If you're going to get a minivan let your wife drive it so you can enjoy your T5M. Compared to your Volvo a C280 will be terribly booooring :-)

But that wasn't the question. He wants to know which will make the most financial sense. The Baby Benz will hold value longer.

0-60 just isn't as much fun with a child's car seat in back anyway.

And his wife can't drive stick in a car swap for repairs or an emergency.

So the C280 isn't as exciting as the T5M. He can still have fun with it if he wants.

As they say; if money is all you want all you're going to get is money. Having kids doesn't make any financial sense too and if wife cannot drive stick so much the better. Can you imagine the terrible noises coming from the gearbox when she takes the poor T5M for a drive? Dump the stoogy MB and get ECU upgrade. BTW, kid will ride with mom :-)

Cheers.

Actually, the Benz is WONDERFUL to drive. It's quite quick, actually feels faster than it is due to low 1st gear. And up top, well, that thing really is just getting started at about 80 mph.

Handling is impressive for a "luxury" car. 5 link independent rear suspension combined with RWD makes it FEEL wonderful. Sure, it could use stiffer sway bars, and lower springs, but so does/did my T5. (And while we're at it, FWD is the only thing I HATE about my T5.)

There are a million reasons to go eitther way on these two cars. That's why I like having these cars right now.

What I'm trying to do, is take emotion out of the equation, for a moment, and think about what makes more sense to keep for the next 5 years or so financially.

I'm thinking if both cost me the same in maintenance over the next 5 years, and I could get almost $5k more for the Volvo, then I should take the money and run.

And for the record, I'm going to have to take this car from my wife KICKING AND SCREAMING as she LOVES it and does NOT want a minivan and I don't want an SUV. I think the compromise might have to be an E320 wagon (4matic) circa 1998.

But I appreciate the banter, it's helping. So please reply.

Thanks.

Adam,

I never approach cars on pure financial level because, financially they don't make much sense. If you take only financial aspects into consideration it would probably be the best to dump both of them and get a 10 - 15 year old cheap wagon; a Chevy, Olds, Buick, etc. Big, cheap to get, and parts are plentiful (junk yards). But this line of thinking doesn't make any sense at all. We buy cars that are extention of our image or at least the image we would like to project (Porche, Ferrari, etc.) and money usually come second and only as an affordability issue. I wouldn't like to make all my decisions based on my bank account balance only because this would remove all the fun from buying and owning my toys. If my account (Visa, bank, etc.) can support them, I do my best to enjoy them.

I'm not a big MB fan although I think that MB multilink suspension is far superior to anything Volvo has to offer. If I were to shop for another car, as an addion to my 98 V70GLT, my first choice would be Audi S4 or BMW 300 series. They are far, far sexier than MB, even if MB can be described as sexy at all, fast, reliable, and with a good resale value.

So, enjoy whatever car suits your fancy (and bank account) better and don't worry about financial implications too much :-)

Cheers.

Adam -

The way you pamper your cars, they are both in thier infancy. The costs to keep them a very long time is a toss-up. MB parts aren't cheap, but you need them less often.

The reality is, your wife is probably tired of wrestling the baby in and out of the C280. Then she needs a minivan or something. That leaves you with the decision: what are you going to use your car for most. If you're not the one in the family hauling groceries, kids, hockey sticks, etc, then the wagon doesn't make much sense unless you really love it.

Keep the Mercedes. Baby it. The older you get the more you'll appreciate it. There are lots of independent service techs who are passionate about MB. (Not so true of Volvo) There's a great MB club and website/BB. Keep visiting us here so we don't miss you.

- Tom E

Your reply made me laugh, and it's dead on correct. I'm leaning that way unless financially someone can tell me it's the dumb move. I've got a good local mechanic and a good rapport with the MB dealer too, not to mention the guy at the parts counter. Oh, then there's Rusty Cullens, the CHEAPEST parts guy around (sells Volvo stuff too, by the way). So I've been doing quite a bit of small work to the C myself.

So, what's that good BB you mentioned? I was a member of MBCA for a while, but let it lapse.

Thanks.

http://www.mbca.org/