Going to look at a C220 sports coupé diesel,advice?

[trillion]

Should I be looking for anything in particular? Its a 100k miles 52 reg car with panoramic sunroof and black leather.
Do sunroof drain tubes block as on other cars do they even have any?
Should I take a diagnostic laptop with Delphi?
What can you tell me I know very little about them?
Do they have two turbos the diesel 220's?

 

[dynamicq]

Wheel arches rust. Do check them

 

[trillion]

A lot of the cars I've been looking at have rusty arches,are steel repair kits readily available? still got a welding set somewhere.

 

[Stratman]

2012 is in the dodgy Valeo radiator period.

Search the intertubes for Mercedes Valeo radiator, and learn to spot the difference between it and the Behr. If the car has a Behr you're fine, if it has a Valeo beware. It may be fine but it may not.

The first symptom is a slight, and I mean slight, vibration under light acceleration round about 1200-1500 rpm. It only gets worse and left alone will destroy the torque convertor and possibly the gearbox too.

 

[dynamicq]

Not sure. It is hit and miss really. I think they started using anti corrosive stuff in the paint only in 2003-2004. Google it. I can't find it anymore. I just went for least rusty one. So far so good. Obviously if the engine and gear box would be at steak, I would rather go for those. Diesel engines.. you need to be aware how bad chain sounds like (tuning chain). I have heard there are rarely chain problems on european cars (better fuel and oil standards) less stress for the engine. Also the standard check.. start the engine. Listen.. if the pulleys sounds like the bearings went around the auxilary belt..tensioners etc. Could be expensive to replace. Also if the diesel engine sounds like small hammers are getting rapidly, it is not good either. Openning the oil cap on a working engine (be very carefully, could be dangerous) If the oil is splattering out of the bike it is not a good sign. Look for RPM going up and down by itself. Could be anything from EGR blockages, to sensors etc etc. If you have a good reader it helps to get a few codes out of the car. Rarely a used car would have 0 faults. Typical diesel problems of w203 is also Flow Plug relay dying at about 100k+ miles. All depends really. E.g. short journeys or long commutes. Sometimes especially on the diesel, the engine vibration pads wear out. You start the car, and it just vibrates. extremly uncomfortable. Cheap to replace. 20 per pad. But requires a lot of labour.
Out of cosmetic stuff.. rear third brake light dies easily. Costs 80quid to replace. Or 55 if shipped from Taiwan. Folding mirror die very often. Fold unfold issues. Older style dials on older A/C controls break. Parking sensors (OEM) die easily if were hit at some point. 20 quid each from china. 40-50 from a dealer.

Also another thing UK used car buyers do not do is question the integrity of a car. If the front bumper looks like it is out of place. It means it was removed. It is very hard to place it back. People rarely do the job properly. As it takes 20-30min to allign properly. If one head lamp is clearer than the other, there must be a reason for this. If you notice these things, the car most likely was in an accident. Often unreported. Happens all the time in UK.

If you are very serious about buying a used car. You can buy a device which measures the thickness of the paint job. Ebay..30 quid ish. For example. You measure the roof. The bonnet. And they are 1micron thick on the device. And then you measure the door and it says 0.7micron. already you can tell the door was painted. The car was in an accident? If the guy is selling it to you with one key. Where did the other key go? Did he deactivate the lost key? Because if someone still has it.. I can't think of much more. Really it is the engine, the gear box...the body ..the rest is fixable at the price. All of this could be used to bargain against the price. I would use it..

 

[TheFoX]

Check the injector seals for leaks. You can recognise this as a tar like substance oozing in the channel where the injectors are seated.

Catch it early. If you leave it too late, you won't even know which seal has failed, meaning the dealer will need to clean the area and replace all four seals.

 

[trillion]

Thanks for the replys!
Car was full of rust on its back arches.
Had an advisory on the MOT for a glow plug light staying on.
Guess what? no glow plug light at all even on start up, so I would guess he's been at work with the black insulation tape inside the dash.
Saw an 05 reg C220 estate in Sainsburys car park yesterday,not for sale,I just saw it,again ALL 4 arches rusting.
Its really disheartening and making me consider other German cars.

 

[Stratman]

I can't edit my post now (#4), but the year should of course be 2002 not 2012.

:redfacethingy