Anyone in Rochdale fancy earning a quick £50 sat afternoon?

[MercedesBent]

Just bought this for £3500 off of fleabay

98 S reg

Auto 70K miles

3 owners

1st claimed on insurance after 4 months from new as was flooded.

next was a garage owner who replaced all interiors and kept it in showroom nic for his wife and had it for 7 yrs

3rd is a retired couple who had it as a 2nd car, kept the same guy servicing it and was told off when he found out they's used the ashtry.....once!

Anyway........if someone from around the Rochdale area who knows about Mercs fancies a quick £50....and lunch on me would be willing to give the car a quick once over when I go to pick it up on Saturday to make sure I'm not buying a pup, I'd be very grateful.

Cheers

MB

 

[mergli]

Shude will be your best bet I reckon, I'm quite close but:
a) I'd have no idea what to look for and
b) I'll be in Rome

Looks nice though...

 

[Shude]

Hello

I don't know a massive amount about mechanical stuff but I can certainly report on the general condition of the car and take loads of pics for you

I live in Rochdale, where abouts is this car?

EDIT: I just realised that you have bought this car and therefore pics are useless, as you will be there in person!

 

[MercedesBent]

Hello mate

Thanks

The car is in Bacup, in Rossendale.

I have agreed to buy the car if it is as she has described and intend to drive it away if I am happy.

I am coming up Sat morning and expect to be in Rossendale around 2pm.

Would you be up to coming along Sat and just giving it a once over as an experienced Merc owner with me?

As I said....slap up lunch and some dosh for your troubles on me?

Not sure if it would be acceptable to send someone over to scrutinize it in the interim!!

Just not sure of things to look out for......all people I've spoken to seem genuine and honest!

She's even offered to pick me up from station etc!!

Just like a bit of peice of mind of someone a bit more mechanical savvy than me.....not hard that one!

If your ok for this it would be gratefully appreciated. Let me know and I will PM you my mobile etc to arrange where to meet etc.

Mel

 

[MercedesBent]

Just done the MOT check online and it has got some advisories on there....namely:

Nearside Front Lower ball joint has slight play (2.2.B.1f)
Offside Front Lower ball joint has slight play (2.2.B.1f)

Obviously not too serious otherwise wouldn't have passed test, but any idea of how I can check the severity of this without getting oily on my hands and knees?

Is this a big or expensive job?

Cheers.

Mel

 

[BIG Sean]

Just done the MOT check online and it has got some advisories on there....namely:

What's this?

 

[MercedesBent]

What's this?

If you have the MOT test certrificat number and reg of the vehicle(which I have), you can go online and check the validity of the MOT and it will tell you if any advisories (ie things to be aware of as potential fails on you future MOT's)

Look here

http://www.motinfo.gov.uk/internet/index.html

MB

 

[GRAV888]

What's this?

http://www.motinfo.gov.uk/internet/jsp/ECHID-Internet-History-Request.jsp

 

[Dave Lewis]

I've just tried the online MOT check for my car. It says an advisory was issued, but where do I find it?

 

[GazCaff]

I didn't know about the online MOT check. That's a useful facility and I think it should be posted in the useful sites section for sure!

Edit: I'd offer to have a look but I'm working . I'm by no means an MB expert, but I've got my hands dirty on plenty of cars in the past.

 

[MercedesBent]

I've just tried the online MOT check for my car. It says an advisory was issued, but where do I find it?

Go to the request history option on the left hand side and then put in the car reg and MOT number.

HTH

 

[gaz_l]

Very useful. Just checked mine (bought it with a new MOT), the only advisory was a split on the inner face of the N/S/F tyre. I wouldn't have spotted that in a month of Sundays. The dealer replaced both front tyres to be on the safe side, I remember the sales guy mentioning it when I picked it up.

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[Dave Lewis]

Go to the request history option on the left hand side and then put in the car reg and MOT number.

HTH

Yep, I did all that, and it says at the bottom: Advisory Notice issued,
Advisories on separate sheet. But where?

 

[l5foye]

MercedesBent- the car seems worth the money. Any dealer will be more concerned about the state of the bodywork, rather than the mechanicals. This is on the basis the latter is cheaper to put right than the former. If the mileage is confirmed (by MoTs etc) and bodywork is without any major blemish, save your £50 and put towards anything that needs doing. You will probably find the ball joints will last until the next Mot is due.

 

[dava]

Just done the MOT check online and it has got some advisories on there....namely:

Nearside Front Lower ball joint has slight play (2.2.B.1f)
Offside Front Lower ball joint has slight play (2.2.B.1f)

Obviously not too serious otherwise wouldn't have passed test, but any idea of how I can check the severity of this without getting oily on my hands and knees?

Is this a big or expensive job?

Cheers.

Mel

I would not worry to much about the ball joints as most Mercs have quite a lot of lift on them and even new ones have, to the non MB tech seems excessive. It has been discussed at great length by VOSA who now reconise that lift on them is acceptable. Even if they do need replaced it's not a major job.

 

[Will]

Worn ball joints are quite common on W202s - good news is that they are easy and cheap to replace, I'd not lose sleep over it

Will

 

[MercedesBent]

Thanks for all the re-assurance guys.

Am off there in the morning armed with £3K bankers draft and £300 in cash (will try to knock off a bit for the ball joints - told £28+VAT ea by MB dealers for parts, so with labour should be a smidge under £150 from my local non MB guy).

Would still be grateful if you were up for the task Shude, but don't bust a vein if you'd rather not mate.....from what's been said here, I'm quite happy as long as is in decent nick.

On the bodywork.....where should I concentrate on checking for potential rust traps etc?

In general, what should I look out for with this model when buying.

Cheers again guys.

MB

 

[Shude]

I'm quite happy to come along for nothing just to meet you and look at the car from an unbiased perspective.

How do you intend to get there?

 

[MercedesBent]

Cheers mate, that will be brilliant and greatly appreciated............Am gonna get there by train and then jump a cab to wherever is convenient for you that we can meet. Then maybe we can use your car to turn up at her place together if OK with you?

Expecting to arrive around the 1pm mark.....gonna book up train tickets in a min.

Is that still OK and not hindering your plans?

Will PM you with details of train and then work out ETA times from there.

MB

 

[Shude]

Cheers mate, that will be brilliant and greatly appreciated............Am gonna get there by train and then jump a cab to wherever is convenient for you that we can meet. Then maybe we can use your car to turn up at her place together if OK with you?

Expecting to arrive around the 1pm mark.....gonna book up train tickets in a min.

Is that still OK and not hindering your plans?

Will PM you with details of train and then work out ETA times from there.

1PM sounds fine, you should forget the cab as I am only 5 minutes from the station and I have to go that way to get to Bacup anyway!

My plans for tomorrow included catching up with some sleep in the morning and then much later in the day moving some boxes to Lancaster, so it's no problem to spend the afternoon checking out cars

EDIT: I have assumed that you're intending to catch a train to Rochdale, which station is nearest to the seller? Milnrow, Newhey or somewhere?