Need advice about buying a MB

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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.
 
HERE YOU GO

I bought my C350CDi from Mercland - top guys. It's the longest car ownership I've had, it's that good. Never had any issues with the gearbox either, apart from the standard lazy take off when not in the sport mode.
 
Also bought a ML 350 cdi from Mercland, no problems at all
 
Well folks, just went down and seen the C280 AMG and took it for a good run. It really does look spotless. cruising at 55mph , put it in sport mode and planted the foot and no hesitation in dropping a few gears and pulling like a train.

Dealer is local to me and does have a good rep.
Theres a service carried out before the cars handed over.
1 month warranty covering everything including brakes and electrics, followed by further 5 months on gearbox/engine etc.

Cleared up the 7 owners thing as best they could and have the full stamped service book.

Only thing is hes not budging at all on price.

In the famous words of R Kelly, my minds telling me no, but my body....

Im about 95% of the way there to dropping a deposit on it.
 
If you intend on keeping the car for a good number of years, than not getting a good price that reflects the excessive number of previous owners now won't be a problem.

But if you think you might want to sell the car in the next year or two years, then be prepared for the Px dealer to shake his head while sucking air through gritted teeth and telling you that your car is worth very little "because of the 8 previous owners".
 
If you intend on keeping the car for a good number of years, than not getting a good price that reflects the excessive number of previous owners now won't be a problem.

But if you think you might want to sell the car in the next year or two years, then be prepared for the Px dealer to shake his head while sucking air through greeted teeth and telling you that your car is worth very little "because of the 8 previous owners".
No this is definitely a keeper. I plan on putting another 100k miles on it and lots of TLC.
 
Dealer is local to me and does have a good rep.
Theres a service carried out before the cars handed over.

I'd take this with a pinch of salt to be honest. ;)
Dealers will do as little as possible to maximise their profit, even the main dealers are prone to this.

1 month warranty covering everything including brakes and electrics, followed by further 5 months on gearbox/engine etc.

A month warranty seems a total waste of time, I'd be going somewhere else such as the well respected sponsors on here.
Remember even with a "warranty" unlikely to cover wear and tear items (brakes etc.)

Cleared up the 7 owners thing as best they could and have the full stamped service book.

Stamps in a book are of little value to me, you can order your own stamp and do this yourself. ;)

Do you have a way to check the mileage and history (MOT) like we can over here?

If not it would put me off and I'd look for a low owner private seller, there will be one out there.
 
Just a thought - clean Lexus IS250’s are very easy to find.
 
12 year old Merc with 7 previous owners and only 77k on the clock??? No reg no visible in adverts making it hard to check -is it an NI car originally?- might have outstanding finance ---cue alarm bells going off- at the very least do an HPI CHECK [ the best dealers do this themselves as standard on their 2nd hand stock]
 
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yeah guys bit the bullet and put a deposit down. Will def get it booked in for a good look over. Thanks all for your help. No doubt ill be back on soon should there be any nightmares with it! But for now im happy with my purchase
 
Always find it strange when people come on here as a new member, ask questions then ignore the advice. :rolleyes:
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.

Based on the advice here, the evidence on the provenance of the car, speaking to other local people who know the garage and their cars, checking the car over, driving it and checking whats covered in their warranty. Then i made my decision on a car that feel like im going to really enjoy driving.

Most people only turn to forums when something bad happens and usually get the worst case scenario but aside from the speculation of what 'could' go wrong, im happy that until it does, ill be satisfied.

If i do end up with a nightmare ill be the first to turn round and admit my loss and hopefully this community can help.
 
The car now shows as sold, so maybe you have went ahead and bought it?

I'd advise booking it into Creevy Autos for a good check up on it, they're good guys.
Just up past Roselawn crematorium.
Thanks for the recommendation, was going to do this anyways. will give them boys a shout
 
Just a thought - clean Lexus IS250’s are very easy to find.

You might find in NI that the rear tyres have been used to leave artwork on some of the roads.

Lexus IS quite popular with those type of arty folk.
 
Good Luck, I would have bought a jap car. I got mine as was only auto for sale within 5 miles after my other car went bang, wrongly assumed a MB would be a good car.

From my experience, Stamped log book means fek all. Service by dealer selling again means fek all

From my car unless been cared for by an MB indi, they only have basic knowledge but lack the skills not to do more damage to car carrying out basics

On plus side as I bought basically a shopping trolley on wheels and in some eyes not a real MB, got the advantage of service parts are so cheap I chose to use Bosch, oil filter £6, air £11, Pollen £11, belt gates £13, fuel £11, 10 lts oil £21.50 , antifreeze and break fluid change for parts £20

if I had bought one of the other modules would have scrapped it 1 week after buying

I was lucky ( so Far )

Tezz
 
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!)
 
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It does look like a very nice car. Paying for an independent check preferably by a merc specialist before you hand over the cash would be a good idea imo.
 
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 wouldnt rule out motors across the water as long as i can factor in £500 to get it home!
Since you say you are looking for something a bit special , rather than looking at unloved 10 or so year old cars , I would suggest looking at some of the classic models .

Look up the Mercedes W124 series - your budget should buy you a nice one and they belong to the era when Mercedes were built up to a standard and not down to a price . A well maintained W124 will be totally reliable and will turn heads in a way newer cars won’t . They were available as saloons , coupes , estates or convertibles ( although the last may be out of budget ) .

You may also just find the previous generation W123 in budget , but prices for good ones are climbing . These are very solidly made cars , if you buy a good one it will appreciate in value .

Both of the above are the mid range predecessors to the E Class with bulletproof mechanicals , you have to check the bodywork for rust , but there are good ones out there .

If you want smaller , look to the 190 series - predecessor to the C Class , and arguably the best engineered , again you would get a very nice one within budget ; they are very reliable and easy to maintain.

If you want bigger , look at the S Class , either W126 or W140 series ; running costs for these larger cars are higher but you can’t beat them for comfort and safety . You will easily find a good W140 in budget , but need to look harder to find a good W126 , and you need to check the bodywork carefully on these older cars , again prices are on the rise so a good one will be a sound investment as well as a nice drive .

All of these earlier cars have reliable petrol engines , and reliable Diesel engines which will do high mileages without trouble , and without all the woes of the modem CDI engines such as ‘black death’ swirl flap or DPF failure etc - because they have none of these things . The automat
 

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