Okay Guys....so I'm a Mercedes owner once again!
I picked the car up yesterday and drove it back to Blackpool from London.
The car was doing 30mpg (Crusie control at 60mph...I know, I know, Vicar!)
The body work is immaculate (the colour is pretty amazing!) and so is the roof. Two of the four wheels need a refurb but I'm not that bothered becuase I'm going to purchase some new wheels anyway. The engine and gear box seem rock solid. The interior is showing a few signs of wear & tear but hey, this is a 10 year old car so this is to be expected...right?
It's got a decent Alpine headunit, with Bluetooth, iPOD & USB connectivity but the seller also included the original Audio30 and CD Changer. Although the Audio30 looks like it needs a good clean and need a new volume knob.
The seats seem in good shape, especially the rears. The driver one is showing signs of age on the bolster but I have seen much, much worse.
All the gadgets appear to work except for:
Driver side headlamp washer jet, it doesn't pop out but it does spray water as you can see and hear it under the bonnet. Is this an easy fix?
The instrument cluster LCD's all seem in great shape, no dead pixels, although the main centre one is quite difficult to read during the day??
The LCD on the Climate Control has quite a few dead pixels. Is this common? Is it fixable? The Aircon still blows nice and cold.
The electric seats all work okay with the exception of the "multicontour" feature on the passenger side. I can hear air blowing like crazy but nothing inflates. Loose connection / pipe maybe??
Front fog lamps need new bulbs and the 3rd brake light has a couple of dead LEDs.
I test drove it around Finchely and everything seemed mechanically sound but here comes the really bad bits!
I stopped in the services on the M6 on my way home and could hear a buzzing noise....it sounds like the fuel pump to me. The noise seems more apparent after the engine is nice and warm. The seller said the car has been standing for a while and because of this the fuel pump could have picked up some muck from inside the tank. Is this feasible? It doesn't seem to have an affect on performance but is still rather annoying.
After I got it home the wife dropped the roof and took it out for a spin and on her return she said she could here a noise coming from the rear passenger side wheel. So I jumped in and she's right, it sounds like a metallic rubbing noise which is relative to the speed of the car, the noise stops however when you press on the gas...I'm worried it could be a prop shaft. Does that sound probable?
And finally, I noticed both passenger side wheels have a stud missing! Looks like the locking wheel nut key has gone missing at some stage so they've been yanked out but not replaced....WTF!!?? Surprised it got it's MOT with 2 studs missing though!??? What are your thoughts on this?
Sorry about the war and piece but you know what it's like when you buy a second hand car. Just looking for some reassurance before I go full tilt on the seller!
