Cheap c250 td on ebay - opinions please

[mystic.bertie]

99 S Mercedes-Benz C 250 Turbo diesel, automatic. on eBay (end time 26-Jan-11 16:34:55 GMT)

hi guys, i seen this for sale on ebay from a trader, a 1999 c250 td for £1000, it seems a bit cheap, do you reckon its dodgy or is it worth a look, i wrote off my bmw e34 tds so i dont have transport to go and see this and its 40m away so i thought i would get you opinions incase its one to avoid

anything i should ask the seller about the car first?

cheers
rab

 

[GP801]

Looks a bit rusty especially the arches. Why no pictures of the interior? Wheels are e-class w210 type. Not sure if they were ever an option on the c-class. Would appear not to have an MOT. Probably cheap for a reason.

 

[mystic.bertie]

Looks a bit rusty especially the arches. Why no pictures of the interior? Wheels are e-class w210 type. Not sure if they were ever an option on the c-class. Would appear not to have an MOT. Probably cheap for a reason.

yeah i can live with it being a bit rough at that price, i just need something cheap to run on veg oil and there aint much in my area in scotland. I read the listing as mot to october but i rechecked after you saying no mot and its october 2010, why a fly man, i dont know why i missed that dooh

well if they aint putting an mot on it there must be a major reason for that so best to avoid

 

[gina2201]

Ask them if it was a typo, easily done! It may well have 10 months mot but out of habit put 2010. I have done it myself!

202's are cheap nowadays, especially those a little tired or rough round the edges - literally! Some that are evidently much better condition still comand a fair price though, but if you want a runaround then a bit of rust wouldn't put me off much!

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Looks a bit rusty especially the arches. Why no pictures of the interior? Wheels are e-class w210 type. Not sure if they were ever an option on the c-class. Would appear not to have an MOT. Probably cheap for a reason.

Wheels were on the facelift Elegance spec.

Extremely rusty bootlid on that! must be better nick ones around for that price surely?

 

[MercFanUk]

That does seem quite overpriced - I'd be asking for a couple of hundred off that sticker...

 

[martin_a]

There are others out there so worth looking. If I decide to sell mine (C180 so not an oil burner but very cheap to run) I'll let you know because we're thinking of going for a bigger one anyway.

To that end the C180 isn't a bad look. Ok runs of petrol but at the same time its actually fairly frugal if you don't want to rely on chip fat!

m.

 

[NW_Merc]

How does the mpg of the 250TD compare with the C180, as I might get one in the future as a second car....

 

[martin_a]

Not sure having not had the diesel but to be honest I got my C180 with the aim of it being a temporary run about. A year on and I'm still driving it. Went through the MOT in December with no advisories and still has a FSH, not many 17 year old motors doing that so it was well screwed together and its been looked after.

The main thing is, it isn't quite as slow as you'd think although you need to get the revs right for it to make rapid progress. I use it everyday for 60 miles of commuting (round trip) with a mix of motorway and city traffic and she gets 400 miles from a tank. Had more on a run of course.

For that reason I'd have thought they compare well. Smaller engine and (if you buy fuel of course) petrol is still cheaper than diesel on many occasions. The other issue is diesel tends to be the first pump to dry up in bad weather. I'd stick with the C180 NW Merc!

m.

 

[SilverSaloon]

C180 is no good if the OP wants to run it on veg.

are you aware of the saddle-tank issues with veg oil?

worth visiting Using Vegetable oil as a diesel fuel forum.

A E300D W124 would be a better bet, or a W210 saloon but still, the C250D would make a fine veg machine.

Where in scotland are you?

What veg oil are you going to be using? Waste or new? new is still over £1 a litre.... not much of a saving, and remember you'll need to do the usual filter/seal changes on these cars. If WVO have you got suppliers sorted yet?

cheers

derek

 

[martin_a]

C180 is no good if the OP wants to run it on veg.

Yes that's why we pointed that out already

Just trying to give the chap options. IMHO combined with the reasons you've said for a price of new veg oil etc there are other fairly frugal (for the size) cruisers out there and I would encourage the OP to widen their search a bit.

m.

 

[Oli]

C180 is no good if the OP wants to run it on veg.

are you aware of the saddle-tank issues with veg oil?

worth visiting Using Vegetable oil as a diesel fuel forum.

A E300D W124 would be a better bet, or a W210 saloon but still, the C250D would make a fine veg machine.

Where in scotland are you?

What veg oil are you going to be using? Waste or new? new is still over £1 a litre.... not much of a saving, and remember you'll need to do the usual filter/seal changes on these cars. If WVO have you got suppliers sorted yet?

cheers

derek

Is it over £1 a litre in the Cash and Carry now too?, I used to have a Pug 406 1.9 TD that I used to get to work when it was further away and used to run it on veg, it was about £12.50 or so for 20 litres, this was in 2008 though, I wish I had known the old C250 TD and E300 TDs had been able to take veg straight in the tank at the time I would have much rathered one of them with a nice auto box that the 90 BHP gutless 406, still to be fair to it, it did its job and ran pretty well.

On the original topic, I don't think that is worth £995 like someone else said it has got to be worth a couple of hundred less than that, chances are he has probably taken it in px for next to nothing and just wants rid so I would get it if you can for the right price.Also no one has mentioned that bright red isn't the most easy colour to shift.

 

[mystic.bertie]

C180 is no good if the OP wants to run it on veg.

are you aware of the saddle-tank issues with veg oil?

worth visiting Using Vegetable oil as a diesel fuel forum.

A E300D W124 would be a better bet, or a W210 saloon but still, the C250D would make a fine veg machine.

Where in scotland are you?

What veg oil are you going to be using? Waste or new? new is still over £1 a litre.... not much of a saving, and remember you'll need to do the usual filter/seal changes on these cars. If WVO have you got suppliers sorted yet?

cheers

derek

hi guys i was not aware of the saddle tank issues, ill look into that.

yeah i need it to run veg oil, im using waste veg oil and filtering it i have been a member of the vegoil forum for a hwile , i ran 2 x e34 525's and a toyota surf on veg oil.

its ok for you guys saying there are more available well where i live in the country is pants for buying cars thats why i have bought so many in england. my postcode is ka20 3de if you want to check yourself lol

im unemployed so im not looking for an economical car i need one that runs on veg otherwise i could not afford to run anything decent.

im checking auto trader, ad trader, gumtree, ebay, piston heads and nothing close to me,

i would prefer an e300 but im hoping for somthing that will get more mpg on veg as my e34 525tds was not great, so i thought the smaller c250 might go further on the veg oil.

also a good example would be great but im quite happy to buy a cheap reliable one even if its a tad rough around the edges.

 

[Oli]

What about a Pug 406 1.9TD?, I know it's not the same badge and a bit slower than a E300 but it will get 50 MPG and run on veg really well, some of them have quite good spec and thier cheap to buy,cheap to run and don't rust.

 

[mystic.bertie]

What about a Pug 406 1.9TD?, I know it's not the same badge and a bit slower than a E300 but it will get 50 MPG and run on veg really well, some of them have quite good spec and thier cheap to buy,cheap to run and don't rust.

yeah thats on my shopping list too, ther eis none about worth seeing its all hdi 406's

my shopping list is

a4 a6 golf passat tdi's
318 325 525 tds or td
omega 2.5 td
pug 405 1.9
merc e300 or c250 or 190d

i have been looking for aweek now and there is nothing locally, there is a 325 tds finishing on ebay in 3 days so i might bid on that if nothing else presents itself

 

[Smiley]

I know others have pointed out the bad points about that c250 and I dont particularly like the colour - but to be fair the trader does seem to describe the car honestly - at the bottom it says all cars come with a new MOT and a warranty. I bet he wants shot of this car it is hardly a prized specimen - so with what you say about a lack of veg cars I would suggest that you go and look at it with cash in pocket and see what you can blag it off him for with a new MOT but no warranty - start him at £500 and go from there (he probably paid that for it) - he can only say no.

 

[billywhiz]

^^ Agree - nothing to lose

 

[Oli]

yeah thats on my shopping list too, ther eis none about worth seeing its all hdi 406's

my shopping list is

a4 a6 golf passat tdi's
318 325 525 tds or td
omega 2.5 td
pug 405 1.9
merc e300 or c250 or 190d

i have been looking for aweek now and there is nothing locally, there is a 325 tds finishing on ebay in 3 days so i might bid on that if nothing else presents itself

I think you might have to search a bit further a field for the right car, there's plenty of bargains to be had if you're prepared to travel,none of my last 3 cars have been within an hours drive.

 

[SilverSaloon]

Is it over £1 a litre in the Cash and Carry now too?, I used to have a Pug 406 1.9 TD that I used to get to work when it was further away and used to run it on veg, it was about £12.50 or so for 20 litres, this was in 2008 though

At Booker, it went up to around £17 end of 2009, and fell to around £14 during 2010. Currently around £20 for a 20 litre cubie of KTC.

when i first started it was around £12.50 like you say in 2008..... i'm on WVO now and hardly ever go to Booker unless I am on holiday etc and need fuel, but I try to take reserves with me to last me the whole trip if i can.

OP, how about this one:

1998 Mercedes Benz E 300 Elegance TD Auto Estate £1,595 on eBay (end time 30-Jan-11 20:27:15 GMT)

a 210 so beware of the rust issues, but would be a nice veg burner.

 

[mystic.bertie]

I think you might have to search a bit further a field for the right car, there's plenty of bargains to be had if you're prepared to travel,none of my last 3 cars have been within an hours drive.

i am prepared to travel if i see the right advert, i have bought many cars in england, i get the train or plane to collect it and drive home, for me to buy a car down south the advert has to have lots of goos pics and the seller needs to have put a very detailed honest description of the car, i have not seen anything like that either, if i see an appropiate car its got a cráp desription and i try and avoid car traders on ebay. I would be prepared to travel as far as manchester or birmingham by train but the right advert has to convice me first.