fuel economy on 300ce

[bolide]

1995 E320 Coupe, 5-speed auto, Azurite Blue with Mushroom leather, air-conditioning and cruise

Go on, you know you want to!

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[Ade B]

...these cars can be a financial nightmare.... as lovely as they are...try not to let your heart rule your head....if you have the money, fine, you will enjoy the car...if you havent....you will have sleepless nights..

Petef mentioned the same when I was looking at C124s and I think he's referring to maintenance and repairs rather than fuel costs.

And he was right in my case, mine has cost a fair bit to sort out in the last 12 months. A combination of essential maintenance, cylinder head gasket and some none essential preventative stuff has cost me over £2.5k. I could easily drop the same again on it to get it looking like some similar excellent cars on this forum - ongoing flat refurb and a 9 week old baby has kicked that into touch... for now

I did everything by the book, bought a full MB history, 51k miles, low owner, well specced car, had it professionally inspected, consulted this forum etc.. Its a great car and I enjoy owning it.

Perhaps I've been unlucky and I think I'm paying for the low miles ie. I'm experiencing the first layer of mechanical wear which a well maintained higher mileage car would have been through with another owner... luckily I expected to spend a lot on the car initially, so I've not yet had the sleepless nights (from the car anyway ) Had I been on a tighter budget, things would have been different.

Ade

 

[Dieselman]

I am with 74Merc on this one - fuel compared to depreciation is the smaller cost.

True but in either case I don't think depreciation is going to be an issue.

It's wrong to be comparing what is required here to a new car, so the fuel then becomes a significant cost probably worsened only by maintenance costs.

Say at 5000 miles p.a. and fuel at 1.05p/L the cost is £1194 wheras at 30 mpg it's £796. A saving of £397 or 33%.

At this value car it's significant although not really much in real terms.

Maintenance is likely to be more on an older car if paying garage rates.

 

[Dieselman]

I have depreciated hers by £3000 per year and mine by £500.

How convenient. She isn't going to see anything like £3k p.a. depreciation other than year 1, more like half that as an average over 4 years.

 

[Apial]

I paid £13800 for a MINI One D. 4 years later and 50k miles I have been offered £9k as a trade in for a new one. Fuel consumption? 52 mpg.

The depreciation rate is only 10% per annum on a reducing balance basis. Servicing cost £100 for the entire 50k miles. Warranty lasted up to 3 year mark, and the only fault in year 4 has been a noisy fan heater.

I'm not complaining.

 

[74merc]

How convenient. She isn't going to see anything like £3k p.a. depreciation other than year 1, more like half that as an average over 4 years.

Not true, the first year's depreciation is closer to £4K. When the car is sold after 2 years, we expect to lose approx £3K pa.
It's impossible to compare like with like in a situation like this, I was merely trying to illustrate how much depreciation costs versus fuel.

 

[Dieselman]

quote 74merc
It's impossible to compare like with like in a situation like this, I was merely trying to illustrate how much depreciation costs versus fuel.


Ah, my mistake. I thought in this post you were trying to show that for like for like driving the older car fared better.

For example my wife drives 12,000 miles a year in a Seat 1.9TDi, ave fuel consumption is 45mpg. I do the same annual mileage in my E320 coupe which averages 26mpg. Total cost of hers is £360 per month and total cost of mine is £230. For the purposes of this calculation I have depreciated hers by £3000 per year and mine by £500.

For me it's a no-brainer, I get to drive a nicer car with and a lot more character and pay less for the privilege!

 

[petef]

Sorry petef, have to disagree with you there. Yes, they are less economical than a modern diesel but the depreciation has flattened out and depreciation will contribute far more to the total running costs of a car than fuel will.

For example my wife drives 12,000 miles a year in a Seat 1.9TDi, ave fuel consumption is 45mpg. I do the same annual mileage in my E320 coupe which averages 26mpg. Total cost of hers is £360 per month and total cost of mine is £230. For the purposes of this calculation I have depreciated hers by £3000 per year and mine by £500.

For me it's a no-brainer, I get to drive a nicer car with and a lot more character and pay less for the privilege!

I understand what you are saying, but when you buy a new small car or big car for that matter, you have worked out your monthly ougoings...eg what the loan payment is etc....when you buy an older car you have to be ready for any unexpected bills...as for the older e class it could be anything up to £3 grand (worse case scenario )

Most people are on a budget, having probably bought a house etc and do not have that sort of cash hanging around. When I had mine I was in a reasonable paid job, I had two kids...sorry three !!...ran two cars, saved for holidays ( as i had bugeted for that )...then all of a sudden three 600 pound bills in a two month period..and no they were not service related etc...these were additional jobs, like gaskets, welding, diff... gearbox etc.........
Depreciation is a huge issue with new cars but at least when you buy new you know your monthly outgoings and that you have a cast iron warranty........

 

[gina2201]

More fun to have older ones, they throw things at you every month (Quite literally!) And if it went bang I wouldn't have lost too much money.

Now bought an E220 Coupe, let's hope it stays trouble free for a while, well forever would be nice....

 

[IAmRiggers]

I'd disagree here and say that the mpg difference between similar cars powered by a 220 16-valve engine and a 300 12-valve engine will be quite large

The 300 in my experience is a thirsty beast

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

I was minded to mildly disagree with this response. And then I saw that it was from Nick Froome and thought to myself, “Sit down. Shut up.”

 

[ray_hennig]

Ancient thread, I know, but I've just filled (brim to brim at the same pump) my 300CE24 after only local journeys of 10 Km to 30 ish. 29.5 mpg. Also lots of hill and bends on small roads plus stop/starts on shopping trips.

It seems to be getting better as last year it was closer to 26 on the same journeys.

Only longer, 80+ mph autoroute journeys close to 34 but not precisely calculated.

Not being smug but slightly satisfied.

RayH