Mercedes engine

Garbage engine, would pull like a 300 Cummins, take about 10-15, miledepends on tail or head wind, from dead stop to 65mph on a flat road at 80k, I know a guy who pulls a hopper with one.
They were bad about leaking antifreeze

 

I had one. Rebuilt it at 550,000
Kind of gutless but was reliable. I traded it off in January 2013. Next guy that bought it runs step deck regional daily. 8 years later he is still running it.
Can’t be all that bad to still be in use after 15 years.

 

The biggest issue I see with the Mercedes is simply lack of popularity. Hardly ever see them out in the world so I can't imagine parts are readily available and many mechanics being overly familiar with it. Only know of 2 people who've owned them.

 

Lots of them around here. Some had head gasket leak problems. Something about a failed camshaft drive seemed to be a financial Achilles heal. Ruins the block.
As Mercedes owns Freightliner I do not see not being able to get parts a problem anytime soon.

 

good luck working on it or finding someone to work on it. Merceds engine is big fail

 

We're having a nightmare getting parts for anything from overseas lately. Even getting parts shipped from Eastern Canada to Western Canada is taking twice as long as usual.

 

One thing to note also is fuel milage.
The mercedes at my last company (and there were several) the best mpg I'd get was 5.5. Same load, same trailer, same route with any other engine I would get between 7.5 to 8.5 depending on time of year.

May not sound like much, but over 120k miles it adds up.