- Joined
- Mar 12, 2006
- Messages
- 2,608
- Car
- Mini Cooper S, BMW M140i
Hi and welcome.
I ran a C43 for 18 months and it was a great car. I still miss it now.
Easy to live with? Yes, it's a medium sized saloon/estate so it's practical, comfortable and being a Mercedes - very well screwed together. It was as happy pootling to the shops as it was eating up the miles on the motorway.
Problems to look out for? Well, unfortunately Mercedes of that vintage are known for rusting and the C43 is no exception. Make sure you look out for any sign of tin worm - body repairs don't come cheap. Most C43s on the market now have done a six figure mileage and therefore have got to the stage where things will be starting to wear out. Don't forget, this is a car that was £50K new - they may get cheaper to buy as they get older, but don't get any cheaper to fix. Don't consider anything that's been abused or neglected.
Fuel consumption? I guess it depends on your definition of terrible, but going backwards and forwards to work (5 miles each way) I used to get about 17 mpg, which isn't exactly great, but at fast motorway speeds it would turn in 27/28 mpg, which I think isn't too shabby for a car with a big V8 under the bonnet. It's never going to win any awards from the environmental lobby, but if that's who you want to impress, buy a Prius.
HTH,
Cheers,
Gaz
I ran a C43 for 18 months and it was a great car. I still miss it now.
Easy to live with? Yes, it's a medium sized saloon/estate so it's practical, comfortable and being a Mercedes - very well screwed together. It was as happy pootling to the shops as it was eating up the miles on the motorway.
Problems to look out for? Well, unfortunately Mercedes of that vintage are known for rusting and the C43 is no exception. Make sure you look out for any sign of tin worm - body repairs don't come cheap. Most C43s on the market now have done a six figure mileage and therefore have got to the stage where things will be starting to wear out. Don't forget, this is a car that was £50K new - they may get cheaper to buy as they get older, but don't get any cheaper to fix. Don't consider anything that's been abused or neglected.
Fuel consumption? I guess it depends on your definition of terrible, but going backwards and forwards to work (5 miles each way) I used to get about 17 mpg, which isn't exactly great, but at fast motorway speeds it would turn in 27/28 mpg, which I think isn't too shabby for a car with a big V8 under the bonnet. It's never going to win any awards from the environmental lobby, but if that's who you want to impress, buy a Prius.
HTH,
Cheers,
Gaz
Cheers Gaz, I aint 100% on the C43 as it has everything going for it if I buy a good one that is, the only 2 things stopping me at the mo is the fact it's an auto, I haven't had an auto for years now but the ones I had in the past I sold cause I didn't like the autobox, the last 2 autos where a BMW e34 535i and a Audi A4 quattro 2.8 30v avant.
The other thing stopping me is I currently have a mint 02 225 quattro TT which I love, it looks and drives well but does feel a bit vauge at speed and though the performance is good it lacks grunt/torque which a C43 will have loads of.
I was thinking that the grunt and sound of the V8 with the driving experiance and build quality will overcome the autobox.
Only other option to have more grunt/torque is a S4 twin turbo, being a V6 will sound nice but still not a V8 amg.
Mpg sound good on a run, not too much different to my TT, though the TT at 70 mph will manage 37 to 40 mpg but thats not often usually around 27 mpg doing 120 ish.
The other thing stopping me is I currently have a mint 02 225 quattro TT which I love, it looks and drives well but does feel a bit vauge at speed and though the performance is good it lacks grunt/torque which a C43 will have loads of.
I was thinking that the grunt and sound of the V8 with the driving experiance and build quality will overcome the autobox.
Only other option to have more grunt/torque is a S4 twin turbo, being a V6 will sound nice but still not a V8 amg.
Mpg sound good on a run, not too much different to my TT, though the TT at 70 mph will manage 37 to 40 mpg but thats not often usually around 27 mpg doing 120 ish.
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2006
- Messages
- 2,608
- Car
- Mini Cooper S, BMW M140i
The C43 was the first auto I owned, always having been a diehard manual fan. I would have bought a manual C43 if they'd made one.. but they didn't.
However, Mercedes have always had a good reputation for their autoboxes and rightly so. AMG also tinker with the settings in their cars, and the box in the C43 was responsive and sporty, so I never had a problem with it. A prod on the throttle was all that was needed for a quick downshift and a lunge towards the horizon.
The C43 is really at its best on the motorway.. it will cruise along even at fast UK speeds with a huge amount in reserve. If you get to test drive one, try and take it out on the motorway to see what it's really built for..
Cheers,
Gaz
However, Mercedes have always had a good reputation for their autoboxes and rightly so. AMG also tinker with the settings in their cars, and the box in the C43 was responsive and sporty, so I never had a problem with it. A prod on the throttle was all that was needed for a quick downshift and a lunge towards the horizon.
The C43 is really at its best on the motorway.. it will cruise along even at fast UK speeds with a huge amount in reserve. If you get to test drive one, try and take it out on the motorway to see what it's really built for..
Cheers,
Gaz
I'll have a look at a test drive this coming week, the nearest C43 to me is about 75 minute drive and it is IMO well over priced, it's up for £6.5k and has over 130k on the clock, though it is a year 2000 model.
I keep listening to the sound they make on youtube and it's really adictive, makes you want one just to cruise about in without the radio on so you can just listen to the exhaust.
I keep listening to the sound they make on youtube and it's really adictive, makes you want one just to cruise about in without the radio on so you can just listen to the exhaust.
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