My Benz 2

Here are more pictures (these came from the delearship).



I picked up the Benz on Tuesday August 11th. Finished work at 5 PM. And got myself to Union Station, bought me a ticket for Clarkson Station. and took the Go train to Mississauga. It was raining at the time and it appeared to be a bad day to pick up the car. I was surprised however that the rain quickly cleared and the sky turned blue by the time my buddy picked me up at Clarkson.

It was pretty simple buy (as I mentioned before). When I got there we had to settle the financials. I gave them the bank draft. They gave me another bill for the fines/plates/plate permit. I paid them using my Mastercard. Blah blah blah.

After finalizing the transaction I jumped in the car and I gingerly drove it out of the lot. I was trying to get comfortable but I had to get used to the idea that this was my car.

My Benz

It hasn't hit me yet but I'm a new proud owner of a Mercedes Benz!

Ripped off images from the Internet. My rims look the same as these!

Funny, but it's my first true car. I've driven other cars in the past, see my previous post, but I've never chosen one with my own money.

The deal was struck yesterday afternoon. Americo and I went car shopping early in the morning of Saturday August 8th, 2009. This was really our 3rd time looking at cars. The first day we went to the closest dealer (in Etobicoke) and the following visit (July 25) I made an offer on a Volvo S40 2001. It was a clean car and attractive. The price was really right so it seemed like a no-brainer. Unfortunately it turned into a can-I-trust-you. Eventually I had to walk away.

Our second day out, Americo and I went to a dealer out in Mississauga. I compiled a list of C240 Mercedes Benz that I was considering and we decided to visit a few. We only got to one place. It was half way between Americo's work and my work. There wasn't really anytime after work to look at cars, but we tried. This time we met a friendly guy who showed us the showroom. All the cars were indoors. What a difference it was. There's such a wide variety of people in the automobile resale industry. You can meet some really classy gentlemen and some really slippery dealers. And the cars, unfortunately, really do reflect the salesperson.

Our third day (Aug 8) I bought a car. We visited like 5-6 dealers. 2 of them were ok, the others were pretty slick. It was a gut feeling (Americo felt the same way as I did) but I knew I wasn't going to buy anything from them. Basically, we went back to the dealer that I met on my second day and bought the car that they showed me. Weird but I almost walked away from it at the beginning. You see, I was under the impression that I was looking at a C240. But when we went back the second time we learned that the car was in fact a C230 Kompressor. Believing that I wasn't interested in the C230 I was ready to walk away. But this other sales guy (owner) suggested a test drive. I gave the C240 a test drive already (next door to this guy) so I knew how it handled. So I didn't think there was anything to gain from driving a smaller car (C240 has a 6 cyl. engine, C230 is a 4 cyl. with turbo).

What a difference! The C230 was just peppy. It wanted to run. And with Americo egging me on I put the pedal to the medal and it was fantastic. Hehehe, I was having so much fun. I never felt a car feel so strong, responsive and in control. The turbo engine made the car sound like a futuristic spacecraft with wonderful (easy) acceleration in the 2000 RPM to 6000 RPM range. Americo and I got the car to 150 KM/h on the entrance ramp to the 403. I loved driving the car. It was so much superior to the C240 that I quickly realized that I couldn't consider it (C240) any longer. My intention was to buy a cruiser ... but I didn't realize a cruiser could be so sluggish. Perhaps it was just the C240 that I drove. But it was like night and day. And since the C230 had the amenities that I wanted, i.e. sunroof, heated seats, cool rims, I thought that I would make an offer for the car. 5 minutes later we closed the deal.

Car shopping

Started shopping for a used car. We experienced some funky behaviour on our Toyota Camry 2 weeks back which prompted us to look around.



1. the windshield wiper fluid stopped spraying around the time that I came back from my mechanics around end of May.
2. light bulb on the driver side (front) stopped working (July 13) and started working again when I had it checked out (July 16).
3. I started the car to get it checked out (July 16) and the car started pumping out white smoke out of the muffler.

Because of these, my sister and I decided to begin looking for another car.

I started with the Automart. Located a sweet Volvo S40 2001 for a really good price. After further investigation and a visit to my mechanic I decided against buying the automobile.



It's really too bad because the car was beautiful. But there was enough reason NOT to purchase the car. And I learned alot from dealing with them. My only advise is trust your people. If your going to trust the advice from anyone, trust your people.

Car shopping (checklist)

1. Any liens on the car?
2. Any accidents (causing structural damage)?
3. Take the car to your mechanic.

If your paying in cash a good start for a price discount is to subtract the tax. It's a wise move (which I learned from my buying co-pilot). Standard costs that go into buying a used car are:

1. D.O.T. - $350
2. Admin fees - $150
3. Safety test (and repairs) - $300
4. Emission test - $50

These were the standard costs on top of the listed price for the car.

So I'm still in the market for a used car. My first choice was to buy a Mercedes. I've got over 10 years of driving experience and in that time I've driven a Chrysler Reliant (1985), Honda Civic (2003) and a Toyota Camry (1988). I want to try a luxury vehicle. My co-workers at work are telling me that I should go for the car of my dreams. It's the time. "In a few years you may be married with kids and that opportunity won't be coming back soon". It makes so much sense. When I found the Volvo (practically the first car I saw) I considered it a purchase in which my sister and I would share (since we'll be parking it at her place). It's a good thing it didn't work out because I'm not sure my sister would want it after I move out. So in that case I really should shop for myself. And the car that I've been wanting to buy is the Mercedes Benz.