Decisions, decisions - C250CDi Estate

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gIzzE!! You and your toys!!!

What was it you said....

I like my toys, but these days they are getting less and less important

:D
 
Haha, they are.
But if you are buying a car and going to spec. the gadgets you would be pig sick if you ended up with the 'old one'. ;)
 
The media packages are like an arms race. Expect the W205 C class to have similar when it comes out.
 
£38K for a 320d...

Sounds an awful lot of money?

250CDi would be pretty much the same I reckon....Audi would be even more...
 
Will chip in as I have just (2 weeks ago) given back my 08 CLK, and taken a new C220 CDI Sport estate auto. It is great on fuel, getting high 40's and over 50 on the motorway - thats mpg not mph!!
The COMAND is brilliant. I had the COMAND APS NTG2 in my CLK (which is now for sale in the classifieds), and we have the NTG2.5 in our SLK. Well this is much much better. the voice control is very good, but I need some practice on how to ask for what I want. the directions and traffic re-routing are great, and the POI's that are included are really very detailed and accurate. The online gadget worked straight away once I got a compatible phone - won't do it via an iphone - but was very very slow. I don't know though if this was the phone connection or the car, as it was an unfamiliar phone and it may have just been using GPRS and not 3G.
Overall I a very pleased with it. I too considered the other options - A6 avant, 5 series estate and A4 avant. The A4 was too expensive once loaded up, the 5 series was a bit big but a great drive, the A6 with the multitronic (CVT) auto was like a tractor especially with the start stop. The real competition would have been the 3 series estate but the new model will not be available until end of the year-ish.
 
£38K for a 320d...

Sounds an awful lot of money?


It is, but then a C220cdi sport estate with comand, harman, and pano roof was £37k yesterday.

But, with the BMW going to a 330d is only £40500, so it is a no brainer really.

10% discount taking it to £36k, but still seems a lot for a 3 series.
 
^ Agree

My dads been playing with the spec on a E350Cdi Estate and adding around £8k worth of options he has had prices around £42K

Now that to be seems a lot 'more' car for the money?

In real terms the new E350cdi he speced up is cheaper than the S211 he bought 8 years ago, it also comes with more std equipment.
 
I've recently been through s similar thought process and ended up with a MY2012 C220CDI Sport. Here are my thoughts:

Didn't even try a C250 as the higher purchase price and poorer economy wouldn't pass SWMBO's financial auditing! I've no doubt it would be faster, but let's be honest neither are quick cars and the 220's shove is generally adequate.

We were looking to change our near-three year old car at the 'wrong' time as getting a MY2013 model would've meant waiting another 8-12 weeks for production to start and this would mean having to MOT our old car.

Given the fact that the MY2013 Sport Plus is broadly comparable MY2012 Sport, it was an easy decision to go for a Sport that was already in the dealer network as there are always deals to be had near the end of the month on such stock.

Wanted ILS and am seduced by LED DRLs so any other spec was a no-no.

I my mind, the advantages that the new Sport Plus has over the old Sport are:
  • Nicer seat finish (alcantara vs. plastic) - not an issue for you as you'll be specc'ing leather (not sure this is still an option on estate though?)
  • Red stiching :cool:
  • Deletion of the BlueEfficiency badges on front wings - Stupid looking things!
  • Swap of cruise & multi-function stalks - although I am coming to terms with their placement on mine

Things that I don't think make much difference
  • Different (nicer?) graphics on 6" screen

Things I didn't like about new model
  • 18" wheels not as attractive - bit bling and look harder to keep clean/prevent lacquer problems
  • Red seat belts?! - I know they are a no-cost delete option, but...urgh!

There were plenty of suitable cars in dealer stock, we pretty much got our pick of colour and options on a delivery milage car. We honestly couldn't have bought a 1 year old car for much less, the M-B contribution/finance on new cars is pretty compelling.

The only options we got over the vanilla Sport were:

  • Auto box
  • Metallic paint (magnetite black - just lovely)
  • Factory privacy glass

Mrs Juux doesn't like leather and while Comand would've been nice, my impression is that the Becker upgrade (<£200 off Ebay, not the £500 stealer price!) gives 80% of the functionality/integration at 10% of the cost.

The only other options we considered were heated seats (her) and DAB (me).

I wasn't really bothered about the heated seats (don't like toasty balls, Mrs must like it though...) and the DAB module is a daft price, so when a matching car with heated seats wasn't available (we'd would have had to go with obsidian instead of magnetite) it was a coin toss and the colour won.
 
True and I very rarely see any E class estates...


Yes C classes seem very very very popular.


They do seem to be changing things more often these days though... so the 'new' facelifted e class with different lights or a better more efficient engine could be out soon on the e class hence the lack of a 'gap' in price.

I would choose the E class given so close but then with two small kids and everthing that goes with it...and having an ML before my current E class I'm used to the room.

My brother had a C220 Sport estate on loan when choosing cars, his was something silly like £38k list that they gave him, pano roof, command, cameras all sorts of kit. Nice but small, especially in the back and boot.


Its like the new ML £50K plus for a 2.2L car I cannot get my head round yet...
 
The online gadget worked straight away once I got a compatible phone - won't do it via an iphone - but was very very slow. I don't know though if this was the phone connection or the car, as it was an unfamiliar phone and it may have just been using GPRS and not 3G.

It is just very slow

I now have this working with my Android Phone and when sat on my drive, because my phone picks up the wifi signal from the house it effectively means the MB system is connecting at broadband speeds.

And it is still dog slow.

I think that everything is sent via MBs central servers which means all the connected MBs around Europe are probably fighting for the same resources.

But it does work
 
True and I very rarely see any E class estates...


Yes C classes seem very very very popular.


They do seem to be changing things more often these days though... so the 'new' facelifted e class with different lights or a better more efficient engine could be out soon on the e class hence the lack of a 'gap' in price.

I would choose the E class given so close but then with two small kids and everthing that goes with it...and having an ML before my current E class I'm used to the room.

But it depends what you want.

When I bought mine I could have had an E350 Estate for less per month on a lease deal (because the E doesn't cost that much more but has better residuals) than my C350 but I simply didn't want a car that big.
 
^ That's a fair point,

In the C class its probably far more 'sporty' also as the E is big.
 
I would prefer a C350cdi tourer over my E350cdi tourer, or even a C250cdi, but testing the boot out yesterday and thinking about it over night I would struggle with the small boot on the C.

While I have a 45 kilo dog, and a 4 year old who wants to take his bike everywhere the E Class tourer just works, don't have to think about what we take, we pop the boot, throw everything in and off we go.
In the C Class it would be either dog or bike on the back seat or leave something behind.
 
In the C Class it would be either dog or bike on the back seat or leave something behind.

my vote would be take dog, leave kid and bike behind :D
 
The big question is the new or 1year old debate...I came in to this with sensible plans to source a nice 12mth old example, avoiding initial depreciation. However, start talking to dealers and all the deals push me towards buying new. On the face of it, I should save £10k and get a year old example, but if I do that, I will get c.£2-3k less for trade-in, plus finance will be more expensive both with higher rate and lower future value...so I end up being pushed towards new....

The other factor that hasn't helped was the launch of the new Sport Plus spec which initially I wasn't aware of.....

OK, so if its a new one, I like the "Sport Plus" spec., but....it can be a bit "in your face" in some colours, and I have serious misgivings about the practicality/durability of the interior, especially with a white haired dog and regularly muddy son!!! Leather will obviously push the budget, so maybe I should look at "Sport" spec...but then you lose the intell lights...but I've never had them, so will I miss them...?? But will I keep looking at Sport Plus cars and think....I wish....??

220 v 250 - an old debate I know! 250 is the obvious one to give me similar performance to what I have now...and new, the price differential really isn't much so seems a no-brainer....however, used, there are far more 220's to choose from...and Brabus chip I'm told is the answer...maybe??

My "must have" spec. included COMAND. Having had the professional navigation pack in my BMW's I appreciate the value of all the other bits other than the basic navigation....but I'm beginning to wonder whether I really need the full on COMAND when Becker seems more of a very reasonably priced half way house...??

Maybe theres some other people in the same predicament!!

Cheers!

I am so with you on the predicament front!

I chopped in my E93 3-series for a Mini Cooper D when the recession hit. It is close to 3 years old now and I'm thinking about the next car. Having sorted my finances I want to get back to the compact executive market, but towards the low end to keep finance and running costs down.

Though there are other options, it really comes down to F30 3-series or W204 C-Class. Probably saloon as the wife has a 7-seat Qashqai bus for family duty.

The F30 is undoubtedly a better car, but it is very new so discounts are a bit crap, leasing rates awful and there are bound to be a load of problems. I'm already seeing horror stories on F30post about cars with electrical gremlins doing stuff like spontaneously starting their engines after owners have long walked away.

So, what C-class? Well, engine choice doesn't matter a lot to me as I'm only doing about 10k miles a year, even the basic C180 is okay (I've driven one) and any of the diesels would be good. C250CDI looks like the best balance of price, performance and economy.

I'm also a bit fed up with the bone-crunching ride of my Mini and the two E9x's before it, so I quite like the idea of an Executive SE with 16" wheels (look okay in the flesh) and softer suspension. Plus the plastic seats will be more resistant to my 4 and 5 year olds muddy trainers.

However, the best deals seem to be leasing rates, and a C250CDI Sport Plus seems only be about £30 a month more than a C180 Exec SE, with a much higher spec and better looks.

I'd quite like COMAND for things like the speed limit readers, but the Becker would do - hell the TomTom in my Mini only gets used about once a month so it wouldn't be a great loss to have nothing.

I reckon I'll wait until the Merc configurator is sorted then pick a spec and do a deal towards a month end or quarter end. Leasing deals get a bit silly at the end of a quarter - I was watching a stock C220CDI Sport auto go from about £350 a month in mid June to £280 a month on the 29th!
 
I'm already seeing horror stories on F30post about cars with electrical gremlins doing stuff like spontaneously starting their engines after owners have long walked away.

Can they drive you home too when you are sloshed in the back seat?
 

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