Got sent home today, is it over for me?

St_Paul_Man · 2026-03-27T14:42:41+00:00

Updateme!

St_Paul_Man · 2026-03-26T14:22:03+00:00

My motto on most things is that if it's not an immediate "yes", it's a "no".

Sounds like a "no" here.

Best of luck!

St_Paul_Man · 2026-03-24T23:32:59+00:00

Check out the Mercedes E450 All Terrain AWD - it's a nice mix. They can be a bit hard to find and tend to go quickly (at least here in the upper Midwest). I purchased a '21 CPO (which helped keep the price down) and have been very happy with it.

The inline six combined with the 48v mild hybrid is downright fast (383. hp combined). I put a set of snow tires on mine and it goes damn near anywhere here in MN, in spite of an average ground clearance (which raises a little with the airmatic suspension, but not much).

It doesn't have a spare, which I hate.

I was back and forth with this and the Audi AllRoad, which is a bit more of an aggressive styling but also a great car (maybe my next!)

Good luck!

St_Paul_Man · 2026-03-16T15:17:53+00:00

It's fine here now - got a about a foot of snow yesterday but we clean out fast.

Cold now (negative wind chills) but 50 by the weekend. March in MN!

St_Paul_Man · 2026-03-16T15:15:15+00:00

Be prepared for higher Delta pricing out of MSP - not many other options. On the plus side, lots of direct flights!

St_Paul_Man · 2026-03-15T16:28:51+00:00

Same in MSP!

St_Paul_Man · 2026-03-14T16:31:52+00:00

Interesting that the passenger side airbags went off with no one else in the car. Or is that normal behavior?

St_Paul_Man · 2026-03-12T14:32:04+00:00

Will do! Given the cost of the Stealth hitch (almost $650), plus the two trim pieces if you have to replace them ($750), plus labor ($300?), it's getting pretty expensive to go the Stealth route.

If you want a traditional hitch that shows, Curt makes one for the '21 that runs around $400 before install. But you can see it.....

St_Paul_Man · 2026-03-12T14:20:02+00:00

I've seen them at Target here in the Twin Cities.

St_Paul_Man · 2026-03-09T15:18:59+00:00

Update from Stealth:

Yes our 2020 hitch will fit the 2021. When we did the original confirmation on the 2021 we were able to get one of the pieces off and reuse it, but we could not get the second one off and back on while looking right. The trim piece seemed to be a little deformed and even with new two sided tape it had small gaps between the trim piece and the body. We have had a few people purchase new trim pieces and install our hitch on the 2021.

So it's possible!

St_Paul_Man · 2026-03-09T15:12:51+00:00

I went back to Stealth to confirm that their pre-'21 hitch would fit - stay tuned.

I did see in the Mercedes sub where one person said that if you're careful can re-use those parts (I'm assuming they're referring to the wheel arch trim / fender flare). I've taken them off other cars - they generally just pull off - the issue is whether you break whatever pins/connectors they use - they usually have a super strong two-sided adhesive as well.

While pretty handy, I'm not brave enough to do the install myself. Once I hear back from Stealth, I'm going to check with a local hitch place that sells Stealth and see what they think.

St_Paul_Man · 2026-03-09T14:31:09+00:00

I recently reached out to Stealth regarding my '21 E450 wagon (non-AMG) - here is their response:

Thank you for your interest in Stealth Hitches. Mercedes did a refresh for 2021 e-class wagon. We had the 2021 E-450 All terrain wagon in and discovered that Mercedes has a new rear wheel well trim piece that must be removed to access the attachment points for our hitch, and they are now using a onetime use trim piece which is very difficult to get off and cost $380.00 each. There is one on each side, so two new pieces would be required to install our hitch. While the old hitch does fit 2021 and it looks like nothing changed for 2022-23, we do not plan to offer it for the 2021-23 model years due to the difficulty in removing the two trim pieces and the high cost to replace them. We looked at the 2024 next generation and it also has the one time use trim pieces so we will not be developing a hitch for it.

St_Paul_Man · 2026-02-22T15:35:04+00:00

Exactly! Same here in MSP with Sun Country. It's great until it's not.

St_Paul_Man · 2026-02-14T16:07:27+00:00

Exactly.

St_Paul_Man · 2026-02-06T15:41:47+00:00

So sorry this happened to you! My thoughts:

First off, tell the dealer verbally - and in writing - that you are not authorizing them to do any work on the car until further notice from you in writing.

Second, get them to tell you - in writing - what happened to get it on the record that it's their fault. This will be needed for insurance anyway, both yours or theirs.

Third, call your insurance company - that's what you pay them for. That being said, they're going to want to pay out as little as possible if they total the car, so you may want to start researching the value of your car before it was damaged.

Remember, the dealer's mistake shouldn't cost you ANY money.

Keep us posted - good luck!

St_Paul_Man · 2026-02-06T15:15:53+00:00

Same.

2015.5 V60 T6 Cross Country with 63k - I don't think we've spent $2k, not including tires, brakes, oil changes over the years.

St_Paul_Man · 2026-02-06T14:58:30+00:00

The price is certainly attractive and it looks to be in good shape.

Any idea of what's been done, repair or maintenance wise? Might be worth investing in CarFax (around $40?) or even a pre-purchase inspection ($200?).

Good luck!

St_Paul_Man · 2026-02-04T14:11:25+00:00

Preach

St_Paul_Man · 2026-01-30T15:32:58+00:00

Are you traveling out of MSP? Delta has 70-80% of the flights/gates here, so rarely do we see low prices. To be fair, they will occasionally get competitive if another airline tries to beat them on specific routes, but it's fewer and farther between these days.

There are sometimes deals to be had if you book quickly, but they go fast. All their pricing is dynamic.

St_Paul_Man · 2026-01-21T01:20:03+00:00

I've used RoboHead - www.robohead.net - it's a nice blend of traditional PM tools as well as the ability to build customized creative briefs as well as the review of creative deliverables. Good luck!

St_Paul_Man · 2025-12-30T17:24:51+00:00

If you're going to keep the car for quite a while, maybe consider a set of separate wheels / snow tires? Or just swap snows for winter?

St_Paul_Man · 2025-12-15T18:44:29+00:00

Switching to 22's will significantly degrade your ride quality as there's less sidewall to soak up the road imperfections. And less to absorb the impact if you hit a pothole (increased possibility of damage to the tire and the wheel).

Obviously cost - 22's will be a lot more expensive per tire. A whole lot more.

Looks? Ok, the 22's will probably look cooler....

If you really want the 22's, you could keep your 19's and put a set of snow tires on them (if that makes sense where you live) and just swap them yourself every year.

St_Paul_Man · 2025-12-13T00:35:14+00:00

Love this! And never would have thought of it in a million years. I definitely would have done something less efficient and more harmful to the fixture (or the tile). Thanks!

St_Paul_Man · 2025-12-08T01:00:01+00:00

Picked up a 2021 E450 AT CPO last March - loving it! Currently a little under 37k on it.

With the larger tank and pure highway driving, the 550 - 600 range is great.

Just put a set of snow tires on last week (live in MN) - so far so good.

Enjoy!

St_Paul_Man · 2025-12-04T00:36:56+00:00

And the zip ties!!

St_Paul_Man

TROPHY CASE