2011 Mercedes-benz Ml350 4matic on 2040-cars

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The 10 car brands most expensive to maintain over 10 years

Car maintenance has got to be one of the least fun things you can do with your free time, right behind going to the dentist and filing your taxes. However, depending on the brand you buy, your time spent at the shop could be much more than you bargained for. Consumer Reports’ new study on the most- and least-expensive-to-maintain car brands found that European car companies are most likely to break your wallet with costs nearly five times that of the automakers at the other end of the spectrum. Land Rover had the highest ten-year maintenance costs, at an average of $19,250. Porsche was second worst with $14,090 in costs. 10 car brands most expensive to maintain over 10 years: Land Rover: $19,250 Porsche: $14,090 Mercedes-Benz: $10,525 Audi: $9,890 BMW: $9,500 Volvo: $9,285 Infiniti: $8,500 Acura: $7,800 Mini: $7,625 Subaru: $7,200 The Euro brands at the “top” of this list arenÂ’t all that surprising. Land Rover has consistently landed as one of the most expensive vehicle brands to maintain for years now, though Porsche is generally viewed as being one of the more solid performance brands. That could suggest that some models donÂ’t always require more repairs, but the fixes they do need are significantly more expensive. Tesla, Buick, and Toyota were the three cheapest to maintain car brands, with 10-year maintenance costs of $4,035, $4,900, and $4,900, respectively. Consumer Reports noted that these numbers could be slightly skewed due to the fact that some automakers offer free maintenance for the first few years of ownership, and all companies cover their new vehicles for at least a few years after the purchase. Routine maintenance is a great way to avoid costly repairs over time, as itÂ’s much cheaper to catch a problem before it starts causing other issues. Check your oil, rotate your tires, and avoid driving like a wild person, and youÂ’ll likely fare much better than others, even if you own one of the scarier-to-maintain brands.

Online Find of the Day: Lexus-engined Mercedes pickup is a vintage hybrid

You have to love someone who gets incredibly committed to a very weird idea. What you see for sale here is a right-hand drive 1971 Mercedes-Benz 220D in South Africa, but this old Mercedes is now converted into a pickup, complete with bed cover, and there's big secret under the hood, too.
The pickup conversion appears well done based on seller Sedgefield Classic Cars' photos. Even the tonneau cover fits well. You could almost believe that this Mercedes lived its life as a Chevrolet El Camino-like pickup from the very beginning.
However, the rear-quarters conversion might not be the weirdest thing about this Mercedes. The original diesel is gone from the engine bay in favor of a Lexus V8. It seems really odd to pop the hood and find a Japanese mill in this German car, but the photos make it look like a fairly well performed swap. So, bravo to the crazy thinking. According to the seller speaking to Autoblog by email, "as far as we can establish, this was done a few years ago, with all Lexus components."

Daimler eMERGE2 test proves ignorance breeds dislike of EVs

Out with the old EVs, in with the new. Daimler announced today that it has finished up the eMERGE electric vehicle project that used Smart Fortwo Electric Drive cars and will now start up eMERGE2, which will use Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive and PHEV vehicles. As before, the tests will take place in Germany. The first, just-finished eMERGE program ran from May 2013 to June 2015 and put over a million kilometers (621,000 miles) onto 146 Smart Fortwo EDs. Daimler said that over the two years, the vehicle with the most efficient annual energy consumption used just 10.4 kWh for all of its 100 kilometers. The best full-charge range over the year was 161 kilometers (100 miles). Perhaps most interesting, though, was one of the projects findings: "the less an interviewee knew about electric mobility, the more negative their opinion" about the technology. In other words, here's some more proof that getting "butts in seats," as it were, is one reasonable way to promote electric driving. eMERGE: key contribution to developing the mobility of the future Stuttgart/Berlin, Jul 30, 2015 Broad-based real-world trial of eMERGE project completed Especially for daily distances of 50 km or over the E-car is financially attractive eMERGE2 fleet project now launching with 200 Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive and plug-in hybrid models Stuttgart/Berlin – After more than one million kilometres in two years – from May 2013 to June 2015 – the real-world trial of electric cars known as eMERGE has been completed. Those taking part in the project were private and business customers with 146 smart fortwo electric drive cars from Berlin, Potsdam and North Rhine-Westphalia. Some of them set records: the lowest average energy consumption over one year was 10.4 kWh/100 km, while the longest range was 161 kilometres. The smart fortwo electric drive is certified with a consumption of 16.3 kWh/100 km and a range of 145 kilometres. The broad-based field trial within the framework of the eMERGE project has not only provided information on user behaviour and e-car technology; it also studied intelligent charging systems for improving the utilisation of the power supply as well as various pricing systems with regard to customer acceptance. Based on transport models, the project partners examined the need for a publicly available charging infrastructure. Within the project Daimler was responsible for collecting the driving and charging data required for evaluation of the field trial.