Now this is a nice tool box!!!!!!

[SteveL]

Went to a local car detailing clinic today that was held at a Mercedes collision repair shop and saw this Snap On set up. According to the shop mgr. this is all owned by their lead mechanic, who is an equipment freak. They took inventory recently for insurance purposes and he said that the cabinets and contents are valued at $150,000!

The two large side cabinets are actually MAC that have beed repainted and labeled to match the Snap On. Total length was around 25'. About 40' away was a set up almost as nice. Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic.

 

[enginerd]

$150k sounds about right, if not a bit low in some cases.

If its a Mercedes shop, you can count on a about a dozen specialty tools each weighing in at a couple grand, easy. Throw in a diagnosing tablet, and you get up there, quick.

The cabinets alone in that picture are probably $40-50k [new], plus hardware/misc items. Assuming there are power and air tools in there, you can see where I am going

Very clean setup...its always nice to have the exact tool for each job, unfortunately, I need that setup in a trailer for the racetrack.

Btw, Not a bad pic for cellphone.

 

[car-nut]

WOW!!!!!

I thought I had enough with the 40k I have in mine.

 

[SteveL]

One of the most impressing things were the casters on the two center cabinets that had a mini suspension set up! Looked you could go off road with it.

 

[Major Ramifications]

Remind me not to buy a Mercedes.

 

[Junkman]

Remind me not to buy a Mercedes.

Up until about 12 - 15 years ago, they were great cars. Today's Mercedes are throw away cars once they are out of warranty. Talk to any owner that has one that was built after 1990, and you will quickly learn that spending thousands of dollars a year just to keep it running is common place. I purchased my first Mercedes in 1965, and it was a diesel. If the body hadn't rotted away, I think it would still be running. My last diesel was a 1987 turbo, and it was a great running, and riding car. It was retired after a truck ran into the back of it doing more damage than the car was worth. I then got my first gasoline Mercedes.... a 1995 E320... I still own it, but haven't driven it in 2 years. I fear that it is more of a money pit than anything else. When the exhaust rusted off for the third time, I just put it to the side and started to use the Ford on a regular basis. It is a '97 and runs flawlessly with only oil changes, and still has the original exhaust!!!!! So much for German reliability......

 

[boiler7904]

Up until about 12 - 15 years ago, they were great cars. Today's Mercedes are throw away cars once they are out of warranty. Talk to any owner that has one that was built after 1990, and you will quickly learn that spending thousands of dollars a year just to keep it running is common place. I purchased my first Mercedes in 1965, and it was a diesel. If the body hadn't rotted away, I think it would still be running. My last diesel was a 1987 turbo, and it was a great running, and riding car. It was retired after a truck ran into the back of it doing more damage than the car was worth. I then got my first gasoline Mercedes.... a 1995 E320... I still own it, but haven't driven it in 2 years. I fear that it is more of a money pit than anything else. When the exhaust rusted off for the third time, I just put it to the side and started to use the Ford on a regular basis. It is a '97 and runs flawlessly with only oil changes, and still has the original exhaust!!!!! So much for German reliability......

One of the guys I work with has the same problem with his wife's C class - want to say it's about 3 or 4 years old. They're constantly spending 6 or 700 dollars on it. For me, once the cost of maintenance is more than a monthly payment, it's time for a new one.

 

[rocco]

german cars aren't known for their reliability or low ownership cost.
they are quite durable though. I've owned 6 Vw's in the last few years, the older the better.

 

[bmwpower]

german cars aren't known for their reliability or low ownership cost.
they are quite durable though. I've owned 6 Vw's in the last few years, the older the better.

Ok, time for me to step in here. I don't think you should make a blanket statement that ALL german cars aren't known for their reliability. There are other German cars besides Mercedes Benz. I can't speak for Mercedes.

I've never thought any of my 5 current/past BMWs were unreliable...and I've bought them when most other owners would dump them for a newer car due to mileage/age. The upkeep on them is not high either for what you get.

Ok...back on topic...

 

[PAToyota]

For me, once the cost of maintenance is more than a monthly payment, it's time for a new one.

Personally, I'd rather spend one monthly payment a year on maintenance on an older vehicle than have to make twelve monthly payments a year on a new one...

As for German cars, my father's '87 VW Golf is still going strong and nearly matching the miles I have on my Toyota truck.

 

[SteveL]

OK, since I started this thread, I guess I will chime in here.................My '98 BMW 528i was without a doubt the best car I have ever owned. Had it not been totaled last year by a stupid teenager, I would still be driving it and it would likely have 175,000 miles on it now.

Over the 6 years I owned it, I spent less than $2,000 on repairs, including brakes and rotors. My wifes's '02 330Ci has been in the shop exactly twice, and both times were for scheduled maintenance. I regret not getting another one as my daily driver after the accident, but I will be back some day.

 

[M5 LiTE]

My 7/96 build '97 BMW 540i 6-speed has about 204,000 miles on it now. Drives beautifully and is quite reliable. I maintain it mostly myself. Get OE parts at the right places (read cheap) and it doesn't cost much more than a high-end Japanese car to maintain.

One of the techs I used to work with has of those center boxes sandwiched between a pair of Snap-On cabinets. He also has a cabinet "bridge" that ran between the two end cabinets. With the stainless steel top and lighting from IKEA, that "box" is the bomb. I think he said that the setup was supposed to be over $35K (without tools) but he had gotten it for something like $15K at an estate sale.

 

[JMURiz]

That's one crazy amount of storage, and tool value, wow.

I'm a german car guy myself, have an new-ish Audi, old Porsche and old MB. I agree the old ones are built like tanks, and the scheduled maint is expensive on the newer ones but they are still rather reliable. My brother has a 330ci and loves it as well (hard to beat an old inline 6 from MB or BMW....well maybe a Porsche one can )

 

[hoof]

150K?!?!?!?
Haven't you ever heard of Harbor Freight? You could get all those tools, plus a dialysis machine and a soft icecream maker for about $500 there!
I am too cheap, and WAY too hard on my tools to spend that kind of money.
CHAZ

 

[KingPerformance]

One of the tech's I work with has that Snap On bottom with a top on one side.

 

[Junkman]

BMW today is far superior to anything that Mercedes makes today, but the repair costs are also just as high. The problem with all German cars today is that in the quest to make them more efficient, they have sacrificed reliability. The older the VW, the better that they were built, and same for the BMW & Mercedes. Todays German built cars are not like the older ones, and they have improved the vehicle to make them more luxurious, whereas the old ones were more utilitarian. The best way to determine the true reliability of the vehicle is to look at its resale value. Some cars that cost less, actually are holding there values better than some of the high end cars today. If a car has a high maintenance cost, it is reflected in its resale and desirability value.