Need advice about buying a MB

[219]

There are quite a lot of good ones out there! I remember many moons ago when I was proposing buying a high mileage E class (400K miles!), the advice from here was run a mile. So I went in with my eyes open and bought it anyway because it was honest (no-one would clock it down to 400k!), a reasonable price and it was a nice place to be. Sure it wasn't perfect but I put another 75k on it without any real issues and sold it to a nice Irishman who drove it back.

Hope you haven't bought that one! (I jest - yours is a much newer C!)

My 430000 mile W124 was one of the best cars I ever owned , and I’m sure would still be running if an idiot woman hadn’t run into it while parked and written it off .

All my cars go north of 200000 though .

 

[219]

The issue with a relatively large number of previous wonders, is mainly that they wouldn't have owned the car for very long.

Which raises two questions: Was there a reason why they got shot of the car so quickly? Did they know they weren't going to keep the car for long, and so potentially skimped on servicing and repairs?

Ultimately you buy on condition, so could be proven wrong, but a car with 7 previous owners will need to be properly scrutinized before you buy it.

And if you do buy it, be aware that when you will sell it the price you will get for it will reflect the number of previous owners (now 8), so make sure you are paying for it accordingly when buying it.

My SL had 13 previous owners , lots of things wrong when I bought it , but five glorious years of fun and 100000 miles in my hands , taking it to 200000

 

[219]

I see you’ve bought something, wish you good luck with it

 

[pmcgsmurf]

I have to say that i didnt ignore the advice, ive taken all advice on board under consideration before i made my decision. I was after all initially going to buy a diesel.

Just seems to me you bought the first car you went to see and drive though and there were reasons pointed out why this may not be such a great one to go for.

Also not seen any reply if you were able to verify the mileage or history of the car like we can do here.

If it had been myself I'd have wanted to compare at least a few cars before making the jump.

Good luck with the car, as suggested have an Indy look it over within the next 7 days.
Check things yourself like tyres etc., condition, age & make, ensure they are good and match and are preferably not some random unknown brand.

 

[growntree0889]

Just seems to me you bought the first car you went to see and drive though and there were reasons pointed out why this may not be such a great one to go for.

Also not seen any reply if you were able to verify the mileage or history of the car like we can do here.

If it had been myself I'd have wanted to compare at least a few cars before making the jump.

Good luck with the car, as suggested have an Indy look it over within the next 7 days.
Check things yourself like tyres etc., condition, age & make, ensure they are good and match and are preferably not some random unknown brand.

No i dont believe we can get as much of a comprehensive view on the history of a vehicle as what you can.

Id driven Audi A3 saloon and and a BMW320d and they just didnt have the same sparkle. Not to mention the timing chain issues with the BMWs. Id also tested an older Cclass few years back with I think a 5 speed auto gearbox? (dont quote me on that) and was hugely disappointed with how it drove. Kind of put me off them for a good while.

Id then had a hirecar for a few days while working away which was the C220D AMG touring (I think) and it was a fabulous car to drive with the 9G Tiptronic so wanted to try and see if i liked the 7G in this model and I really did.

I will be doing my due diligence with the car to make sure its all 110% and will be taking it to specialist for a good once over. Tyres look new, there isnt a mark on it that i can see so i think its just going to be down to my luck whether im going to love it or its going to break my heart!

The Garage I bought it from said that the previous owners were regulars at their place and trade in the cars every year to different performance saloons and have offered to put me in touch.

Dont actually get to pick it up until next week after its serviced and valeted again. Was able to point a few superficial things out that I wanted looked at and repaired before putting deposit down. Nothing Major or anything i couldnt do myself.

Any tips or tricks to owning one of these or making the most out of them?

 

[ianw19]

Drive, enjoy and feel special would be my advice

 

[David404]

Hey all, was wondering if anyone could advise or steer me in the direction of a nice motor to buy.

Havnt owned a Mercedes before but think its time i did. I have a budget of £5500 - £6000 so will obviously be looking at older models.

This is a fair bit of money for me personally so was hoping to find something special that is first of all reliable but also going to hold its value a bit. Im not a massive commuter, maybe 10 miles to the office twice a week but i mainly work at home.

After a fair bit of research i landed on a 2009 C320 CDI coming in around that price and with under 100k on the clock. was pretty excited to go test drive and potentially buy.

After speaking with a couple of mechanics they say the the 7G tipTronic gearbox can give horrific bother (in their experience) which has kind of sent the willies up me because I didnt come across many horror stories in my research.

Another petrolhead friend of mine was just that, said make sure to get a manual petrol. So im basically at a loss as to what I should be looking out for. Should i look at the C280? or are there any good manual and petrol models for my budget?

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated at this point.

Also I live in Northern Ireland so prices are slightly higher here but I wouldn't rule out motors across the water as long as i can factor in £500 to get it home!

If your mileage is low I'd go for a petrol over diesel to avoid potential issues with the more complex diesel emissions systems on modern diesels.

The 7GTronic gearbox is not generally regarded as unreliable but it does need regular servicing every 60,000Km or 37,000 miles. From 2008 mercedes have operated an on line service book which s updated by MB dealers and specialists independent most of whom will have access to this system to be able to update it, gearbox services where done will be included in this on-line service record.

Id look for a car with a full service history documented on this on-line system. if your car hasn't had a gearbox service or is overdue budget for a service £225- £275.

Personally I wouldn't even consider a manual C or E class vehicle and i suspect most potential buyers wouldn't which should tell you something about residual values...

On final point - if you were shopping for a C63 AMG (500bhp+) you wouldn't have a manual/auto choice, they were and are only available with Auto.

If you do buy a Mercedes find a local independent specialist.

 

[jotter22]

And this is what happens when you dont read the lot but skip to the end!