Can a Mercedes-Benz E350 be a canoe car?

[Glenn MacGrady]

In setting up the new Canoe Transportation and Storage forum, I came across this February 2017 thread of mine, which I had forgotten. Worse, I never gave the answer to whether I bought that Mercedes E350 in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

I didn't.

I was about to email "yes" to the dealer as my three day period was expiring. My finger was literally on the send button of the email, but then my phone rang. It was my new heating oil company calling me, which they have never done before or since. I took that call as a sign that I shouldn't buy the car, so I emailed "no" and canceled the provisional purchase.

But I kept thinking about that same model Merc for a year and bought a used 2013 CPO E350 in March of 2018 in Westchester, NY, after a dental appointment.

I quickly bought a very lightly used set of ($400) factory Merc custom roof racks for $60 from a guy about 40 miles from me, and he also threw in two brand new sets of original equipment Merc brakes that he had no use for because he had sold his W212. This was all around the time I quit posting the forum for about a year, and long before I'd ever conceived of owning it.

So, to answer my own topic question: YES, a Mercedes-Benz can be a canoe car. After all, it's a car. I've used my E350 for day trips with my Nova Craft Bob Special.


I car topped the Bob Special over the Smokey Mountains to Florida.



And I picked up my reproduction wood-canvas Morris with it.



It's probably been my favorite car of my life. I've had no problems with it for almost six years now except for rusted brake lines. A month ago the back corner of my car got bashed by a hit-and-run driver while we were parked on the side of the road in Millerton, NY. My wife memorized the license number, the cops got her, and she admitted all fault to my insurance company. While my rear bumper was being replaced, I had a new Toyota Camry as a rental. NO comparison, at least to me as a driver.

 

[JohnSand]

From 2006-2019 I used a 1979 Cordoba to car top dinghies, canoes, kayaks without racks and to tow trailer boats. I put canoes and kayaks on the top of a 2006 Magnum with a sunroof and no racks. I would put a canoe on anything but a convertible.

 

[kbobb]

The white Merc is nice - probably nice to drive on paved roads but I'm afraid the underside would not last 50 yards on some of the roads I use to get to the water. On a few I'm afraid my Highlander will scrape. Regarding reliability - good to hear yours is doing well. My brother is a big German car nut and repairs seem to be complicated and very expensive - headlight unit replacement on a BMW 5 series (after a deer hit it) - $4000. The old saying - "the most expensive car you will ever own is a cheap German car".
As I've gotten older the 2 main criteria I use for choosing a vehicle are reliablity and longevity, therefore I'm a Toyota/Honda die hard - If Toyota is good enough for the African safari hunters it's good enough for me.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

The white Merc is nice - probably nice to drive on paved roads but I'm afraid the underside would not last 50 yards on some of the roads

99.9% of my driving to and from canoe trips over the last 43 years has always been on good roads and highways. I drove 10,000 miles on one trip. But you're right, the final several miles of some remote trips can be on dirt roads I wouldn't take a sedan. For those, I would take my full size van. Many canoeists have more than one vehicle in the family.

"the most expensive car you will ever own is a cheap German car"

My German car was not cheap. Most German cars aren't. The "old saying" about repair expensiveness might be correct for a German car that is cheap because it is very old and high mileage. I'd say the same is generally true for any car.

As I've gotten older the 2 main criteria I use for choosing a vehicle are reliablity and longevity

As you get even older, longevity in a vehicle and many other things declines in importance. My four vehicles are 28 (Ford), 26 (Dodge), 16 (Saab) and 10 (Mercedes) years old. The most expensive to repair has been the Ford because of frequency of needed repair.

As to Japanese cars, my Mazda and Nissan didn't last very long. My 1999 Honda CRV, which was my canoe vehicle for a while, lasted over 300,000 miles with modest repairs. That was a very good vehicle.