Buying a oldish merc

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Phebs73

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May 16, 2020
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Essex
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Mercedes c class c180 kompressor
Hi everyone I’m new to this forum has I never owned a Mercedes before I’m thinking of buying an oldish c class kompressor years 2000 to 2005 petrol models c180 or c200 could anyone give me some tips and hints to look out for when buying and test driving it has to be an auto transmission Gear box I’m looking for comfort driving
 
Hi , welcome to the forum .

You will be looking at cars known internally as the W203 series .

The first thing I would say is that the range received a facelift around 2004 , and the 04 onwards cars are regarded as a little better than the earlier ones . Not to say the early cars are bad , but things like rustproofing were improved , and some minor issues addressed.

You can tell the facelift cars from the instrument cluster - early ones had sort of ‘half moon’ shaped instruments, later ones have more traditional full circle speedo and rev counter in the cluster .
 
Hi , welcome to the forum .

You will be looking at cars known internally as the W203 series .

The first thing I would say is that the range received a facelift around 2004 , and the 04 onwards cars are regarded as a little better than the earlier ones .

You can tell the facelift cars from the instrument cluster - early ones had sort of ‘half moon’ shaped instruments, later ones have more traditional full circle speedo and rev counter in the cluster .
Hi good point to take in when looking at photos of interior design I did come across the oval shaped eyebrow over counters so from 2004 upwards the models improved mechanically and inside the car
 
Hi good point to take in when looking at photos of interior design I did come across the oval shaped eyebrow over counters so from 2004 upwards the models improved mechanically and inside the car
Hi , yes lots of small detail changes and improvements.

Of course the later cars may cost a little more .
 
Viewed & nearly bought a pre-facelift W203 as a stop gap car a few years ago....lost my bottle & pulled out of provisional deal. Be very careful. Personally I would go for a facelift W203 or facelift W212 E Class if you can stretch.......IIRC later cars have some hikes in general quality, less prone to tin worm & better electrics/reliability......Sorry I cant be more specific.
 
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Viewed & nearly bought a pre-facelift W203 as a stop gap car a few years ago....lost my bottle & pulled out of provisional deal. Be very careful. Personally I would go for a facelift W203 or facelift W212 E Class if you can stretch.......IIRC later cars have some hikes in general quality, less prone to tin worm & better electrics/reliability......Sorry I cant be more specific.
Well , I did buy an 03 reg one ; most of the issues with mine were with the CDI engine , so won’t apply to the OP who is looking for a petrol one .

Three common issues with mine were

bouncing door locks , which happens when a spring in the lock mechanism breaks

one of my two keys stopped working for the ignition , and the other stopped locking or unlocking remotely , so I had to carry one to get into the car and the other to drive it !

Worn ball joint which , unlike earlier models needed a whole control arm at £130 instead of just the ball joint which could previously be bought as a separate part for not much more than a tenner
 
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What’s your budget
 
As the years pass the prices of older Mercedes go down- the price of their repair does not. The days when this was an infrequent occurence due to their inherent build quality are long gone. Most smaller engined RHD W203 UK models were built to a price in SA not Germany. If you can afford the use of 2 doors instead of 4 the W209 coupe is a better finished car / proposition imho
 
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I agree that the facelift car is the one to go for. I've had two 180k's, a new salon in 05 and an 07 estate bought at 100k miles in 2013.
Both were trouble free. The 07 estate had the very best start in life as a rental car(!) and was sold with 125k miles in 2017.
To my surprise last year the MOT details now indicate that it is over 250k miles, so someone got a really economical way of covering a lot of miles in the last few years:cool: Condition and service is important.
 
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Alec, you beat me to it ! That should have been answer number one to the OP's question, we on the forum are slipping a bit, I blame Covid/lockdown/Brexit/Boris/Greta/Elvis.... :p

OP, I have a S203 C class 2006 estate it's a C55 AMG so very different to what you are looking for ..but they are the same size on the inside and they are quite a small car inside (even the estate) version . You mention comfort in your post and immediately someone mentions an E class instead of a C class, and that would be correct if you can put up with a physically bigger car for comfort the E class will be better than a C class.
 
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Alec, you beat me to it ! That should have been answer number one to the OP's question, we on the forum are slipping a bit, I blame Covid/lockdown/Brexit/Boris/Greta/Elvis.... :p

OP, I have a S203 C class 2006 estate it's a C55 AMG so very different to what you are looking for ..but they are the same size on the inside and they are quite a small car inside (even the estate) version . You mention comfort in your post and immediately someone mentions an E class instead of a C class, and that would be correct if you can put up with a physically bigger car for comfort the E class will be better than a C class.
The interior space is something I’d forgotten, being over 5 years since I traded mine on , but now I remember, coming to it out of a 500SEL , I did find it quite ‘compact’ inside .

As with my three 190Es , I found space in the front ‘adequate’ but the back seat not a place I would wish to sit long as an adult , though plenty of room for smaller children.

In retrospect, I made a mistake with the car I bought : a C270CDI estate , in Avantgarde spec . I was attracted to the car because everyone said the 270 was a great engine , the car had a good spec and as a bonus came with a Brink detachable towbar.

The one thing I came to realise after getting it ; the first car I’d had in years without a sunroof, and a black car with black interior was that it was positively claustrophobic inside ( again I perhaps felt it more than most coming out of an S class , but the idea was to get something cheap to run after 5 years covering over 100K in a 5 litre V8 .

The C270 did return 50-55mpg , never worse than 46 on the computer , but I sank thousands , almost as much as I paid for the car , into repairs , almost all on the Diesel engine , before getting another 190 and my R129 .

I have to say that my 03 reg car , late pre facelift car was rust free , although I could see where one rear wheelarch had been painted badly ( perhaps accident damage ) and the whole car felt very solid and well made .

Beside the three issues I mentioned in my earlier post : locks , keys and one control arm ; and my numerous issues with the Diesel engine ( all 5 injectors needing changed , thermostat ,high pressure fuel lines and turbo air pipe ; the turbo also failed in the hands of the next owner ) , the only other thing was failure of the tailgate wiper , which won’t be relevant to the OP , who is looking for a saloon .

I’d agree that if space and comfort are important to the OP , then it would be worth looking at an E Class of similar age , W211s are quite well thought of and prices are similar to the W203 range . It isn’t a hugely bigger car on the road , nor for similar engines would I expect running costs to be much different.

What I would say to the OP is that all these cars are a few years old now , and while there are plenty of nice ones still around , they are premium cars which came with lots of toys and gadgets - do make sure that EVERYTHING works - on cars that are 15-20 years old it is common for air conditioning not to be working , don’t be fobbed off with it just needs a regas’ , sure , it might , but it equally might need a new condenser , or some other expensive repair , similarly check cruise control , electric windows , sunroof , electric and heated seats - all these things can cost to repair . Also make sure you get two working keys with the car - new keys are well over £200 just to buy , then you have to pay to get them coded to the car - make sure each key locks , unlocks , opens the boot and starts the car - keys can be fragile , and again don’t be fobbed off with it just needs batteries’ , the batteries are only a couple of pounds so why wouldn’t a seller have put them in ?

When I bought my car , it had a skinny ‘space saver’ spare - there is room in the boot for a full size wheel - because I do big mileages it was one of the first things I changed - a brand new steel spare wheel was only £50 from the dealer , and I was putting five new tyres on anyway .

On the subject of tyres - you can tell a lot about a car by looking at the tyres - look for uneven wear , which can indicate suspension wear or misalignment. Also look at the kind of tyres fitted - these were expensive cars new and a caring owner will have fitted decent tyres of a premium brand - is it sitting on a matching set of Continentals or Michelins , or is it sitting on a mish mash of makes you’ve never heard of , with no two tyres the same make ? I admit I have in the past replaced tyres in pairs rather than all four ( or five ) at once ( do check for a decent spare , and that the jack and toolkit are present ) but my minimum standard will always be a matching pair of decent tyres on each axle . I will sometimes run four premium tyres on the road wheels , and if tight for cash put a budget tyre on the spare - especially where it is a steel spare that won’t be kept on the car longer than necessary when the other three wheels are alloys .

Besides the above it is the same as any other used car - look for some service history to check it has been cared for - depending on mileage , look for evidence the automatic gearbox was serviced on time - if buying privately , look at the seller and his home : the old saying that ‘nice cars come from nice people’ is still true - if the car is on the drive of a tidy , well cared for house with neat tidy gardens, it points to an owner who is likely to have cared for his car the same way ; if the seller in unkempt and in an untidy , neglected house , has the car been looked after ?

Good luck
 
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Oh , OP , if you’re new to Mercedes , these cars came in three trim levels :

Classic = basic

Elegance = a bit more luxurious, often leather seats , nice wood , a few more toys

Avantgarde = a more ‘sporty’ interior , carbon fibre instead of wood , leather , lots of toys .
 
I have an S203 in Avantgarde trim and love it. I do have the smaller V6 M112 engine. If you do not do too many miles I would consider the V6s especially the 320 which are bullet proof and not TOO bad on fuel economy but effortless to drive.

The cars themselves are not overly complicated so you can do a lot yourself if so inclined and most parts are reasonable.
 
Definitely try to find a facelift version. We had an early W203 from new when they first came out. One of the german built ones - not SA. It was a total disaster. The engine was fine. The electronic bits and pieces kept failing. Alarm, Ignition switch, couple of fairly major ECU/SAM units, AC flaps installed the wrong way round, faulty instrument display, various work out suspension bushes by 20,000 miles and various other bits I have forgotten. Allegedly warranty repairs cost MB £10,000. We got rid of it as soon as the warranty expired. It was immaculate but when part exchanged the dealer sent it straight to auction because they knew it would give them more grief if they sold it themselves.
 
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