KiloBravo
New Member
Hi,
Newbie here but have probably been to this forum more than any other in the last month or so since I've been looking at potential cars.
I already have a simple but very reliable petrol car for short local trips etc. But due to a job change I've been looking to get a second car which will be used for work (I'm home based but occasionally travel to client sites) and other long distance family trips. My criteria is simple really... A nice, comfortable motorway muncher that's reliable and at least a little fun when I want it to be, and doesn't guzzle fuel. After a lot of looking around I landed on the c250/c350 cdi as the car I wanted, but then I stumbled across the e250/e350 for not much more on the used market and decided I wouldnt mind one of those either! And so...hear I am
So after a lot of browsing of cars I came across a nice example of a w212 e350 CDI and it looks like it's been well looked after.
Met the owner, seems like a good guy, he said the car bad been sat for a few weeks as he's got a other car that he uses for work now. That said, car starts up swiftly and on the button, we took the car for a spin. I like the car, service history is there, mostly MB but later ones were specialists. Interested in all you lovely people's thoughts on the following:
1. Half way through the test drive the engine management light comes on which the owner said has never happened before (I believe him, he seems genuine), doesn't seem to affect the cars performance. We head back and after turning the car off and then on again, the light is gone and didn't come back on for another couple of drives over the next few hours. Owner new someone with a snapon code read and so went to see if there was a code but nothing comes up, all clear. The owner thinks it may just have been due to a low battery voltage or something else related to it not being used for a few weeks. Is this reason enough to turn tail and run? Or shouldn't I worry too much?
2. I've done some research on this model and common issues. In the documentation there's no mention of swirl flaps/oil cooler work being do so I guess those issues haven't happened yet. The car is 120k.... Is this car on borrowed time now and I should pretty much be budgeting form it to happen imminently? If so, would I be right in assuming I'd have to fork out between 1-2k when it does happen?
3. For my use case mentioned above... Am I being silly looking into this car? Would the c250/c350 be a good alternative? Or something else?
4. Any good Indies in/around the Bedfordshire area that anyone knows of should I bite the bullet on one of these?
5. is the MB service care plan worth considering if i were to get one of these?
That's it....for now
Look forward to your responses
Newbie here but have probably been to this forum more than any other in the last month or so since I've been looking at potential cars.
I already have a simple but very reliable petrol car for short local trips etc. But due to a job change I've been looking to get a second car which will be used for work (I'm home based but occasionally travel to client sites) and other long distance family trips. My criteria is simple really... A nice, comfortable motorway muncher that's reliable and at least a little fun when I want it to be, and doesn't guzzle fuel. After a lot of looking around I landed on the c250/c350 cdi as the car I wanted, but then I stumbled across the e250/e350 for not much more on the used market and decided I wouldnt mind one of those either! And so...hear I am
So after a lot of browsing of cars I came across a nice example of a w212 e350 CDI and it looks like it's been well looked after.
Met the owner, seems like a good guy, he said the car bad been sat for a few weeks as he's got a other car that he uses for work now. That said, car starts up swiftly and on the button, we took the car for a spin. I like the car, service history is there, mostly MB but later ones were specialists. Interested in all you lovely people's thoughts on the following:
1. Half way through the test drive the engine management light comes on which the owner said has never happened before (I believe him, he seems genuine), doesn't seem to affect the cars performance. We head back and after turning the car off and then on again, the light is gone and didn't come back on for another couple of drives over the next few hours. Owner new someone with a snapon code read and so went to see if there was a code but nothing comes up, all clear. The owner thinks it may just have been due to a low battery voltage or something else related to it not being used for a few weeks. Is this reason enough to turn tail and run? Or shouldn't I worry too much?
2. I've done some research on this model and common issues. In the documentation there's no mention of swirl flaps/oil cooler work being do so I guess those issues haven't happened yet. The car is 120k.... Is this car on borrowed time now and I should pretty much be budgeting form it to happen imminently? If so, would I be right in assuming I'd have to fork out between 1-2k when it does happen?
3. For my use case mentioned above... Am I being silly looking into this car? Would the c250/c350 be a good alternative? Or something else?
4. Any good Indies in/around the Bedfordshire area that anyone knows of should I bite the bullet on one of these?
5. is the MB service care plan worth considering if i were to get one of these?
That's it....for now
Look forward to your responses
