Going S-Class Hunting

[John]

I can spot the bumper / body mismatch on most cars in most lights and it's not just the angle mismatch of panels so I presume this must be something to do with modern paints.

I wonder if water-based makes any difference but then cars older than that have it.

The seat wear might be indicative of lots of short trips, consistent with the (relatively) low mileage?

There again it is 12 years old..

Yeah could be. I suppose that is in and out a lot more.

The steering wheel looks a little shiny but could be a trick of the light.

I imagine you could service a car, run it for 20k > 30k, clock it, service it and MOT it and get away with a huge mileage.

An S320CDI would be a perfect candidate for clocking I would have thought.

Hopefully I am wrong though and I'm not sure what else you could do to check other than look for wear.

S Class are heavy on suspension components regardless of mileage because they are heavy so not necessarily a sign.

Hopefully the service history means the owners have been conscientious enough to keep it so and are unlikely to be the types to do that.

Saying that, these cars are capable of huge mileage if looked after so perhaps not such an issue anyway.

When I think back to my 211 55, I am a heavy get and all I had was a slightly creased bolster which was there when I bought it.

I did 18 miles to work and same back for probably 4 years and then 13 miles each way subsequently so not huge trips most of the time.

I don't wear jeans much so maybe this has a bearing.

This is my car when I bought it and when I sold it (5.5 years and 50k miles):

 

[Alex225]

Yeah could be. I suppose that is in and out a lot more.

The steering wheel looks a little shiny but could be a trick of the light.

I imagine you could service a car, run it for 20k > 30k, clock it, service it and MOT it and get away with a huge mileage.

An S320CDI would be a perfect candidate for clocking I would have thought.

Hopefully I am wrong though and I'm not sure what else you could do to check other than look for wear.

The seat could be from getting in and out the car a lot, I just helped my nan sell her car (old Corsa admittedly) and that only had 55k on the clock. Seat was utterly knackered, bolster completely collapsed so I can well believe a car seat can get worn quicker than other cars.

I think the indicator of mileage inside, will be on other things although to be honest it's hard to tell on cars that wear their miles well. Even a steering wheel can end up shiny with relatively low miles. The dirt that came off the other half's CLS when I gave that a thorough clean was surprising with 70k on the clock. That now looks more matt as it would have been new. Also even looking at lower mileage models the leather looks pretty soft, especially in comparison to E Class' seats.

Sadly I think there's always going to be a risk with any relatively modern high end car. Every car you see could be clocked prior to it's MOT and we'd never know. Scary thought haha

 

[Alex225]

Not sure if this link works but drivers seat in this example with 55k on doesn’t look dissimilar.

Auto Trader logo

I looked the about about ten different ads and this was the only one showing the entirety of the drivers door. Makes you wonder if they don’t wear well so get carefully cropped out of most interior photos haha

 

[SarahAnn200]

I always think the S class looks nice when I see them. I didn't realise they were so cheap to buy. It looks great.
Regarding the seat wear, I wore a bolster out getting in and out in my small garage years ago. It was a tight squeeze. Could be as simple as that or a massive unfit person rolling in and out

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Worth reiterating that this car is just "normally" priced. There's a steady stream of S Class cars coming along of similar spec. And they all look insane value for money.

Buy one that fits your needs. Even retrofitting reversing cameras is an unnecessary expense (waste of money?), given the availability with cars with them already fitted. Add it as "an extra" and you'll never see that money again.

Consider paying just a bit more to get lower mileage, better history, better specification. You're not "spending" the ethe xtra, you're lending the car the money. You'll be using the car for 4-5 years, and you'll get most of that money back in better residual.

The only one negative thought I'd put in your head is remember that these are LONG cars. Make sure that you and SWMBO are on-board with this. Not everyone's comfortable with it. (I speak from experience)

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[Alex225]

I always think the S class looks nice when I see them. I didn't realise they were so cheap to buy. It looks great.
Regarding the seat wear, I wore a bolster out getting in and out in my small garage years ago. It was a tight squeeze. Could be as simple as that or a massive unfit person rolling in and out

It's pretty crazy what these seem to go for when to me at least they seem like a relatively modern car which even in base spec has lots of nice features. I bought my E Class with 102k on the clock, it's still just as good 4 years and 40k later. An S Class with under 70k seems like a bit of a bargain.

Of course it may not be a bargain if it costs me a fortune but I'm aware they're not cheap cars to run. £60k car new and the running costs don't depreciate haha.

In terms of that side bolster, I'll wait to see what it's like in the 'leather'. As with my post above, I looked at loads of ads on similar mileages and only one showed the entire drivers seat. The bolster looked pretty similar. There aren't tonnes of S320's around to be honest. I'm not keen on a black car and the others I've seen with similar mileage aren't quite the right spec or colour combo.

 

[zipdip]

Well the S will have nappa leather,forget all that artico stuff,the thing is that people who by a S will never use all the extras of a very well speced car ,the car you are looking at has the sun roof extra,it was standard on a long wheelbase but your is a standards length,the heated seats,yes they were a extra,it has the headlamp wash which you will hardly use ,it has three driving modes comfort,sport and manual,most of these cars will be driven in comfort,hardly ever in sport and even less in manual,you get the plastic toggles behind the steering wheel to change gear,the mileage is good for the age of the car,when you take the car out for the test let it warm up and then drive along at say 40 mph and then slow right down on the brake to around 10 mph then speed up and see if the auto box responds well,at that mileage you will quiet soon need a gearbox oil change,the S is coming down in price but for £5 grand you get 120,000 milers or more,I think it is a good buy I echo Mikes caution on SWIMBO,mine will not drive the S.

 

[Alex225]

Worth reiterating that this car is just "normally" priced. There's a steady stream of S Class cars coming along of similar spec. And they all look insane value for money.

The only one negative thought I'd put in your head is remember that these are LONG cars. Make sure that you and SWMBO are on-board with this. Not everyone's comfortable with it. (I speak from experience)

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Apologies didn't mean to ignore your post.

Agreed, there are enough around to find a good one. There's plenty around with a minimal spec, this particular example has all the niceties I'd want as a minimum. Anything else is a plus. For example a reversing camera I'm not worried about whether a retro fit or standard spec, would be a bonus. Same as things like air cooled seats or night vision. Nice but not essential.

You're right about the other half, she'd probably not drive it but she's got her own CLS so she'd be fine if she had to. Plus she's only used my E Class maybe ten times in the near 4 years I've owned it. She knows I'm fussy and apparently it makes her nervous haha

Well the S will have nappa leather,forget all that artico stuff,the thing is that people who by a S will never use all the extras of a very well speced car ,the car you are looking at has the sun roof extra,it was standard on a long wheelbase but your is a standards length,the heated seats,yes they were a extra,it has the headlamp wash which you will hardly use ,it has three driving modes comfort,sport and manual,most of these cars will be driven in comfort,hardly ever in sport and even less in manual,you get the plastic toggles behind the steering wheel to change gear,the mileage is good for the age of the car,when you take the car out for the test let it warm up and then drive along at say 40 mph and then slow right down on the brake to around 10 mph then speed up and see if the auto box responds well,at that mileage you will quiet soon need a gearbox oil change,the S is coming down in price but for £5 grand you get 120,000 milers or more,I think it is a good buy I echo Mikes caution on SWIMBO,mine will not drive the S.

I did wonder if the seats had genuine leather rather than the fake stuff. I'm aware that's not quite as hard wearing but more plush. I'd noticed the back of them looking like the leather was just softer, net as taut as you see from the Artico seats like in my E Class. Easy to clean and treat to bring up to a near new finish.

Also I know I'm looking at 10+ year old cars, they're not going to be factory fresh. Doesn't mean I can't get them 90% of the way there with some TLC though haha

Some good tips on checking things. I was considering some money aside for a specialist service and gearbox oil change as well.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

It’s base leather in the W221. Nappa is a rare upgrade on S500’s but standard on the S600.

Nappa is better to the touch of your hand but will wear more quickly than the standard leather you’ll find on 99% of all S221’s




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Alex225]

Handy to know. Like you say, real leather is more tactile but not as tough. Hence I assume the arm rests etc. would all be artico regardless.

Just traipsing through some other ads on Autotrader and came across another relatively low mileage S320 of a similar year. This is a seat with 55k on the clock so looks fairly indicative of how these seats wear even with low mileage.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

That's indicative of a leather which hasn't been cleaned properly - or even at all.

Even a bog-standard valeting guy will make that look crisp again, and a proper detailing will make it look "as new," apart from the bum indent. (See John's AMG E55 photos above)

The other useful tip to gauge wear and use is to look at door pulls. Lazy cleaners won't sort them out.

 

[Alex225]

That's indicative of a leather which hasn't been cleaned properly - or even at all.

Yeah I’m not too worry and would expect to give everything a proper once over. Dr Leather for a good clean up, works wonders on steering wheels. Glyptone Liquid Leather for anything needing a bit more attention.

 

[Mattns]

Well the S will have nappa leather,forget all that artico stuff,the thing is that people who by a S will never use all the extras of a very well speced car ,the car you are looking at has the sun roof extra,it was standard on a long wheelbase but your is a standards length,the heated seats,yes they were a extra,it has the headlamp wash which you will hardly use ,it has three driving modes comfort,sport and manual,most of these cars will be driven in comfort,hardly ever in sport and even less in manual,you get the plastic toggles behind the steering wheel to change gear,the mileage is good for the age of the car,when you take the car out for the test let it warm up and then drive along at say 40 mph and then slow right down on the brake to around 10 mph then speed up and see if the auto box responds well,at that mileage you will quiet soon need a gearbox oil change,the S is coming down in price but for £5 grand you get 120,000 milers or more,I think it is a good buy I echo Mikes caution on SWIMBO,mine will not drive the S.

Mine too, however I love it and have driven it as a daily for 3 years, but don't take to supermarket or shopping centre car parks they seem to have shrunk over the years!

 

[John]

That's indicative of a leather which hasn't been cleaned properly - or even at all.

Even a bog-standard valeting guy will make that look crisp again, and a proper detailing will make it look "as new," apart from the bum indent. (See John's AMG E55 photos above)

To be fair, and I'd forgotten this, my seats were treated to a clean and condition using Gliptone although I probably did that once a year...

Although I understand from this forum that newer seats did not benefit from the conditioning... and I don't know enough about the seats to know other than they were Nappa... so perhaps only the cleaning made any difference.

(PS: I should clarify I bought the car on around 50K miles and sold it just over 100K miles i.e. I did 50K miles in it over 5.5 years)

 

[Alex225]

I avoid supermarket car parks entirely really, my other half finds her CLS a bit of a squeeze in most car parks and my E isn't far off the size. Car parks are generally crap for fitting larger cars in. Despite most families seemingly driving large SUVs.

Only shopping type place I'd consider in my car or an S would be maybe Bluewater where I know the spaces are actually pretty reasonable.

 

[Gollom]

I avoid supermarket car parks entirely really, my other half finds her CLS a bit of a squeeze in most car parks and my E isn't far off the size. Car parks are generally crap for fitting larger cars in. Despite most families seemingly driving large SUVs.

Only shopping type place I'd consider in my car or an S would be maybe Bluewater where I know the spaces are actually pretty reasonable.

Funnily enough the other day I was just thinking that Aldi carparks tend to be a good size

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

I learnt from my W220 to just park a bit further away from the entrance. Saves a bunch of unnecessary hassle.

After a lifetime in London, I can parallel park "no sweat," but it when the other kind soul pulls away that the trouble starts.

My son still shudders when he describes me parking the W220 in a 1930's art modern multi-storey car park in central Paris. The car was too big to go round the turns. And it was 15 years ago, so he must have been about 9 at the time. Wheels were scraping and we we very close to losing some bodywork. (For those who don't know, Central Paris is a nightmare for parking at night. It gets "full.")

These cars are long.

 

[Alex225]

Funnily enough the other day I was just thinking that Aldi carparks tend to be a good size

Can't say I've ventured to Aldi but all I will say is supermarket deliveries are good or click and collect! haha

I learnt from my W220 to just park a bit further away from the entrance. Saves a bunch of unnecessary hassle.

After a lifetime in London, I can parallel park "no sweat," but it when the other kind soul pulls away that the trouble starts.

My son still shudders when he describes me parking the W220 in a 1930's art modern multi-storey car park in central Paris. The car was too big to go round the turns. And it was 15 years ago, so he must have been about 9 at the time. Wheels were scraping and we we very close to losing some bodywork. (For those who don't know, Central Paris is a nightmare for parking at night. It gets "full.")

These cars are long.

Yeah I do that in all my cars, I'll park at the opposite end if I'm really pushed into going. Either that or I wait in the car and cringe watching some of the real idiots trying to get round the car park. They must be the absolute worse places to keep your car in terms of time there vs likelihood of damage!

Thankfully I won't be aiming for any Parisian car parks, more likely a service station on the M4 haha

 

[Alex225]

Well I went to see the car today and I took it for a drive and in short I left a deposit! The car is extremely tidy, despite the pictures the interior is pretty much mint. The only real wear is the shiny kick plates which I know scratch stupidly easily and the drivers seat bolder is soft, otherwise perfect.

I took the car for a drive, it was quiet, comfortable, pulled well, changed gear fine (paddles tested) and had no dodgy noises. I sat in the car for a while going through all the options, adjusting settings, checking seats etc. Everything worked fine, no errors or issues. The exterior is really good, despite being a big car there were no scuffs, couple of stone chips on the front but otherwise tidy. The only thing I picked up on were two small dings in the passenger door and we've agreed their paintless dent removal man will get rid of these before I pick up (along with a fresh MOT).

I know you're not meant to buy the first car you see but this has everything I wanted, few nice extras, right colour, right interior and the upgraded wheels.

So yes, as soon as the car is ready I'll be an S Class owner. I already have plans for it, interior clean, engine bay clean, tyre well clean up as the spare has been used in it's time and then outside. Few little marks to polish out nothing a good detail won't have right!

 

[HB]

Owning an Sclass is always a bit special, well done and enjoy it.

The biggest difference you will notice is the sheer quietness compared to the already quiet 211.