Heart, Head (or block...)

[Simon Garrett]

I'm looking for a 300 or 280 estate to help me with my work, something clean and dependable.

I've seen a 280 I really like (1993 on a K, 130,000 miles, nice level of equipment without being bonkers, 2 owners), but kind of suspect I should walk away. The trouble is that there is an invoice for removal and refacing of the head, new gasket etc, from 1999, and there is mayo under the oil filler now. The dealer concerned (not a Benz specialist) says he will sort the problem and then offer a 12 month warranty.

My question is, is there a history of warping of the heads on these engines? It seems odd for the gasket to fail so soon after being replaced. If the top of the engine was sorted in '99, is the block maybe cracked? I'm attracted to Mercedes because I thought the engines were supposed to be strong over high mileages.

The car has a decent but not perfect history. My experience of warranties on used vehicles of this age is not encouraging.

Should I give it a miss, or work with the dealer to reach a deal?

Cheers

Simon

 

[Steve_Perry]

Originally posted by Simon Garrett
...and there is mayo under the oil filler now.

In my opinion... Walk away, I'm sure you will find a car that's just as suitable without the hassles. I also suspect the private dealer will promise Heaven and Earth to make the sale, and can you be sure their attitude won't miraculously change to one of apathy once the deal is done?

I've been in this exact same situation with my current car. I test drove the car thoroughly before buying and all was well, the dealer promised "any niggles just come back and we'll sort anything out for you". So I bought the car and after a few weeks the a/c developed an intermittent fault and the private dealer were hell to deal with. They even tried to claim the fault was a "feature" of the a/c system. Then they claimed they'd replaced the faulty unit, when clearly they hadn't, intermittent faults are the worst. In the end I got the problem fixed under warranty by another independent MB mechanic, without the dealer's help. Mind-you, the one bright side in fairness to the dealer was that I screwed a really good deal out of them on the car in the first place, so they were probably still smarting over that

No Simon, do your self a favour and walk away for a better deal.

*EDIT* BTW Welcome to the forum!! I hope I haven't depressed you too much.

S.

 

[Ian B Walker]

I bought my first Merc from a local garage who gave me a 6 month guarantee. 7 days later it melted a piston. Warranty I thought, The R.A.C. warranty given only covered £250. Just enough to remove the head. Be careful when accepting warranties from dealers. Do what I failed to do, read the small print. Having said all that I still love the car.

 

[kid-jensen]

Simon,

How much are they asking?

I've justed passed a automatic transmission specialist in Wimbledon selling a J reg one for £2999.

Sorry, know nothing more about it.

 

[Simon Garrett]

The car I saw was offered at £3600, which seemed fair in the context of what I'd seen advertised, it being a dealer jobby.

Thanks for comments so far. The writing may be on the wall. Mayo apart, it is very nice.....

Simon