Saturday, July 30, 2016

150,000km mark probably coming up in 4 months!

Time for an update on our Mercedes Benz B250. But in case you're just joining us, or forgot how we got here, check out the original purchase story, the first review, and the 50,000 km review.

It's July 2016 and my car has 137,400 km on it. That's only 3.5 year
s of ownership. So how are my feelings this far along?

I am still loving this car. For all of the same reasons I listed in those other posts. But of course, there are some things I wish were better, if I'm going to be picky. And I am picky.

I wish this car had the same intelligent cruise control that comes on newer, upper end Mercedes models. I am really looking forward to the days of self-driving and even the incremental steps we're using to get there. It will definitely eliminate a lot of fatigue on long drives.

I wish this car had a softer suspension. It's jarring for this 55 year old body. I think that going forward Mercedes would do alright to offer the stiff suspension as part of the sports package and otherwise put a softer suspension on the car. Now that the run-flats are gone, things are better though. I opted for Michelin Premier for my regular (non-winter) tires.

Mercedes really charge way more for routine maintenance than they need to. $400 and $600 for the A and B service respectively. Having said that, there is a 20,000 km gap between visits (normally), but my maintenance costs have gone up on average. This would turn a lot of people off who might consider buying this brand. I don't regret the purchase, I've just budgeted more per month. That's right, I actually budget for my car maintenance.

Although newer versions of my car have 4Matic (all-wheel drive) as an option, I don't regret not having all-wheel drive. The car is so small and light, it doesn't really need it, especially if you throw on good winter tires when it's needed.

I finally found a phone mount that works. I went with the Aukey magnetic mount. I put a metal disc in between my iPhone and its case and now mounting it for navigating is so easy.

The only unexpected maintenance I've had to do is fix a wire harness pin (under warranty).

As you may have read in another post, I drove the B250 to San Diego in May. Over 5000 km round trip. That was a fun drive. Especially with the 80 mph speed limits in some parts of Montana, Idaho and Utah.

So, in summary, so far, so good.

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