Is It Worth It - Your Opinion Needed

[slybydesignw210]

I have looked over many model types as my own and saw what other owners have down with thier vehicles. They all look realy good. I personaly like clean, crispy and classy. So here it is, I would like to do some very simple upgrades. Headlights, crome truck piece, flat hood emblem, orginal MB crome rims, wood grain shifter nob, and of course replace natuarly worn items in the vehicle. The MB has 155,557 on it as of this post. I am wondering is it worth all these upgrades? Maintanance will be kept up and I know thats first and formost. Just some opinions on this would be grate. I wanna keep these upgrades in the budget of $1,000.oo. So any opinions on the hi milage and upgrade would be nice.

[lkchris]

No such thing as "original MB chrome rims."

MB rims are either painted or polished, but never chromed.

[dpipkin]

Maybe I missed this, but what model/year is it?

[Musikmann]

I think you'll have to be a very smart shopper to do what you're proposing for $1000 and it also depends on where you live; I don't see Mercedes of any kind in the scrap yards here. As far as used parts go, keep your eye on eBay and I wouldn't buy any new parts unless they are something you can remove and use on your next Benz (sorry to sound pessimistic, but it's not likely that there are many more miles, or years, left on yours).

Try looking at it this way: Would you buy a house for $50,000 and replace all the windows for $20,000 if it only increased the value to $55,000? The same goes for your car, and I don't think your planned improvements are going to make it worth any more - believe me, I learned that lesson the hard way! The good news, if there is any, is that with 155,557 miles it will never be worth less than it is now (unless you crash it).

I bought a high-mileage car because it looked like a good deal, and spent the money to make everything right. When I was confronted with a very expensive repair 12 months later, I traded it off, and lost a lot of money. I had not increased the value at all, and I doubt that the upgrades you are considering will either.

Food for thought...

[Creative85]

hmm i am not into the chrome look so much i like the plain look maybe lights is a nice upgrade and some new tailights but honestly my car got 98 thousand miles and i wouldnt upgrade a damn thing on it....ill rather save money and get a new car then upgrade a car ..thats my opionion

[Musikmann]

Creative85 said essentially the same thing I did, but in fewer words. This is what I've said to people that want their "old" car to have the newer look e.g. buy the newer car, do not spend part of your next down payment on your old one.

Maintenance is different, there is no way around that - only a couple of ways to do it for less money than the dealers charge.

[slybydesignw210]

Wow, being that I am starting my own business, I would HONESTLY agree with every body. I feel like at that milage, I would only have about 3 1/2 years left and might wanna start considering a trade after 220,000. So I truely agree with every body. To be honest, I was kinda hoping ya'll said, "Go ahead. This car will last you another 150,000. LOL...LOL..LOL.." Ok no luck there, but thats right, Im not gonna do anything than. I will save my abmitions for 2011 when I trade her in. Thank you for ya'll honesty. PS when you set a round about budget, you become EXTREMELY creative..LOL..LOL..$1,000.00 would have easily turned into $2,000.oo of cosmetic interior/exterior upgrades..but I love the honesty.

[e320newb]

My e320 has 192k on it, and runs like it's brand new.


Assuming you've had all your maintenance done And don't drive the car like a teenage kid, I would expect 250k out of it or more.

[slybydesignw210]

Thank you E320newb, I detail cars on the weekends, I actauly chose this vehicle because I appreciate the natuaral art of vehicles, especialy Sedans. I am not a big sports car fan, even though they have alot that are ver nice, ASTON MARTIN. I am some what young, just turned 30, but have always liked a smooth nice ride, I see people drive and I tend to get saddened by the way people mis treat thier vehicles. In my opinion, with all the options vehicles come with, some people, not all, dont understand the dynamics of performance cars that come stock vrs, having the proper tuning upgrades they need for performance driving. Plus, American highways are not the place to test how ones vehicle can out perform some one following traffic laws. Long story short, I try and stay in or around 70 mph and will only go hire then that for passing purposes, I keep good distance so I wont wear the brakes and dont do drive throughs so Idling is at a minimum. Im not the best driver, but I do appreciate the fact that owning any vehicle new or old, expensive or cheap is still a luxury in it self.

[zam2000]

Doesn't matter how old the car, or how many mile on it.

It's all depend on how you treat the upgrade.

If you think they'll add value to your car, and you can recoup the investment when you sell, they're not.

If you think they worth the enhancement to the driving experience & car enjoyment, then it's worth it.

Originally Posted by slybydesignw210

I have looked over many model types as my own and saw what other owners have down with thier vehicles. They all look realy good. I personaly like clean, crispy and classy. So here it is, I would like to do some very simple upgrades. Headlights, crome truck piece, flat hood emblem, orginal MB crome rims, wood grain shifter nob, and of course replace natuarly worn items in the vehicle. The MB has 155,557 on it as of this post. I am wondering is it worth all these upgrades? Maintanance will be kept up and I know thats first and formost. Just some opinions on this would be grate. I wanna keep these upgrades in the budget of $1,000.oo. So any opinions on the hi milage and upgrade would be nice.