(SINGING) 1, 2, 3, 4.
Rev up your engines.
[ENGINE REVVING]
It's time for the Scotty Kilmer Channel.
Today, I'm going to show you why it's not a good idea
to buy a Mercedes Benz unless you're a millionaire.
Who could afford to buy a new car when the ashtray gets full
and it's just too much bother to clean it up.
Or if you're one of those people that buys a new car every two
or three years when the new models come out
and you just have to have them.
They're expensive to maintain.
Check out this bill on this Mercedes
that just came from the dealer, $932.02.
And that was mainly for an engine oil change and a fuel
filter change.
They did check the air in the tires and stuff,
but basically all they did was change the oil and the fuel
filter.
And since the dealer wanted another $4,000 to $5,000
to fix the other stuff, they brought the car to me.
And I'm fixing the things that really
need to be fixed for a lot less than that.
You have to realize that these are extremely high tech cars.
The Germans have put technology in their cars
often just because they can, not that it really
needs to be done.
Take the spark plugs, for instance, on his V8 engine.
There are 16 spark plugs on an eight cylinder engine.
So each cylinder has two spark plugs on it.
So you have to change two spark plugs for each cylinder, which
of course costs twice as much.
And these plugs aren't cheap.
And, OK, they say that two plugs per cylinder
make them run better and work more efficiently.
But I'm not buying that, because Nissan and Ford tried that
on engines years ago, and it pretty much was a failure.
Because if you look here, this baby
is only getting 11.9 miles per gallon,
and I wouldn't call that very good gas mileage.
So much for the more efficient engine design.
And that's just the tip of technology in this car.
While this car is running fine and there's no check engine
lights or anything on, I decided to hook up this high level
scanner.
And if you look at all the red faults as I go down,
you'll find it's found a whole bunch of faults with the car.
Just read the definitions of some of them--
rear SAM, rear signal acquisition and activation mode
has a fault. Heck, you wouldn't even
know what that means until you go into what the code is.
Trunk lid ambient light is faulty
or the line to the component has a short circuit
or open circuit.
Now, I ask you, do you really want a car that tells you
that there's a problem in the wiring
to the light inside the trunk?
And look at this doozer of a code.
It tells you there might be a problem with the washer fluid
pump.
But if it's working OK, it tell you
to erase it and then do a function
check of the whole system.
Even the computer knows that sometimes it's
given out squirrely advice.
I certainly wouldn't want a car like this.
But if you're really into crazy gadgets,
look at all these buttons on the steering column.
There are buttons all over the place.
Look at them all.
I have to say that 3/4 of the customers I have with Mercedes,
they don't even know what half the buttons do.
I had one over here the other day.
And I swear it took me about half an hour
to figure out how to open the gas cap to put gas in the car.
I mean, seriously, there's something
wrong with the engineers that designed these cars.
I mean, I just don't understand what's
behind their thought process.
Now, over the years, I've had a few customers come to me.
And they bought a used Mercedes and said, wow,
I got a great deal on this used Mercedes, to which I always
respond you think you got a good deal on a used Mercedes.
Their resale value actually is rather low,
because people have discovered they cost so much money
to maintain that their value plummets radically
after they're three or four years old.
But I have to admit, I've had customers
that enjoyed their Mercedes.
They were all people who leased the car and got rid of it
when the lease was over.
So if you can afford $20,000, or $30,000, or $40,000
over a two or three year period leasing a car,
they're the car for you.
But if you're like me and try to keep your cars forever--
10 years, 20 years, even longer--
stick to your Toyotas.
This one's got the same color as the Mercedes anyways.
So if you want to be a cool cat in a Mercedes,
and you've got money to burn, go right ahead.
They're great machines for fat cats.
And remember, if you've got any questions,
just visit the Scotty Kilmer Channel.