New to Mercs

[JasonE]

Hi All,

Have been browsing this forum for a while and thought it was ablout time i registered.

I am in the process of purchasing 2 C220 CDI Advantgarde estates about a year old from Mercedes Direct

I am a first time Merc buyer and have previously owned many BM's

The nature of my job means i see all types of vehicle including many mercedes and having had BMW's i am aware of the the quality of German cars and more to the point Mercedes. I am looking for two as company vehicles.

Any advice on buying, servicing costs, ecomony ect would be greatly appreciated.

I have noticed the sports pack on a few iv seen? Are there many of these around?
A general view to pricing would be good two? as i said i will be getting two hopfully very simular around a year old with approx 5-15k on the clock

Any response appreciated

Many Thanks

Jason

 

[JasonE]

Any1 ? ? ?

 

[SEM]

Hi Jason,
Welcome to the forum

Mercedes Direct... mmm... my only opinion of them is to shift the cars out and forget about them. The service departments are dire, if you want any info. Generally the cars are great if you know what you want, and especially if one is fully loaded. Cant say what to look for on estates, but i'm sure other members will advise you. The salesman i dealt with was kind enough to print me off an FDOK (the spec list) but you can find in the forum somewhere on online that will give you that from the VIN number.

Hope you find the right ones.

SEM

 

[JasonE]

Thanks SEM, i did have that thought myself, dealing solely in used Mercs, will have a look about but il be straight out the door if i get the feeling im being sold somthing because its there not because its right for me.

How about general servicing costs and economy? any1 got a c220 cdi?

 

[jeremytaylor]

Welcome, Jason

There are, confusingly, sports pack, sports edition, and AMG sport edition. The former are quite common - identified by 'thick rounded spoke' alloys, sports seats and 'Mercedes-Benz' on front brake calipers. Sport Edition have a body kit, white stitching on the seats. And then there's the AMG Sports Edition ... with AMG alloys as well as bodykit. They look nice, but ata price and are therefore quite rare.

Merc Direct tend to have mostly ex-MB management cars. Their cars are OK, but the salemen could definitely do with more customer-service training. Franchised dealers may be just as cheap, if not cheaper (in my experience) and there may be some good pre-reg deals around - do a used search via the main Mercedes-Benz website.

Economy. I would expect 35-40 mpg on average, depending on how/type of driving.

Servicing costs. A service £275-ish. B service £450-ish, depending upon what else they find. Depends where the dealer is and what his hourly rate is as labour makes up the bulk of the cost. If you're used to BMW service rates, I'm sure Merc rates won't come a s ashock. Parts are not too pricey.

I was very pleased with my C270 CDI Estate - more space in the back than a 3-series or A4 estate.

Hope this helps.

 

[JasonE]

Thats great thanks for your response, will be looking more in detail over the next week or so, will keep you all informed if i become a first time MB owner.
Thanks again

 

[Dieselman]

Be sure to buy a 2005 car as the bodywork will be galvanised whereas a 2004 car probably won't be.