thinking of buying a newer Mercedes.., but which one..

[John757]

Mrs 757 is the main user of our E350 cdi coupe sport ( AMG pack) which we bought new in 2010, it has covered 73,000 miles and in September will be 12 years old. ( our other two cars SL55 and G wagen are staying) It has been ultra reliable over the years, and has been looked after properly by my local Mercedes indie. We are talking about changing the car for a newer one.. possibly as new as a year old.. but as yet have not decided what to go for. Electric is off the agenda due to range anxiety issues and high purchase cost. Reliability and practicality is very important, as is tyre sidewall size, and style.
Our E350 came with 19inch AMG wheels with 30 profile tyres, so dodging the potholes has finally become too tedious every day. The GLC coupe is one possibility, ( new model out next year) or perhaps a c class estate with 4matic.. as long as the tyre sidewalls are not silly.. Personally I like the c43 AMG estate.. but low profile tyres are a worry. Mr 757 says she doesn't want a boring looking car either... but it can't be a 2 door coupe anymore. Mrs 757 is not keen on the GLA.
I can't believe the prices at the moment.. when we bought out E class for £48k you could get a nice C class for 30k.. these days 30k won't get you a new A class.. I'm looking to spend about 35k plus whatever mine is worth (10k?) but that only gets you a 4 year old decent spec model... Having had a new car.. high mileage is a no no... does anyone here own a GLC coupe..who can vouch for its reliability.. and the same for the c43 estate..
Our other discussion is petrol or diesel. power... I filled up her E class this week in Surrey with diesel.. 48 litres cost me £95.. ( roughly 1.95per Litre of super diesel.)a petrol car would be less expensive fuel , but lower mpg.. so cancels each other out... we like the thrust of a 3.0l diesel engine.. the E estate is too big, and the saloon is too taxi-like ( apologies to E saloon owners)
Whatever we buy we will keep at least 10 years.. so the choice is important.
All input greatly appreciated

John

 

[guhvies]

My C43 came with 18" rims. The other option was 19". Your roads might be slightly better than mine but the 18's are hard over the bumps. You'll be better off looking at the GLC.

 

[Gbrowncls55]

Surrey roads are some of the worst in the UK. Whenever I go almost anywhere else I am really impressed with my cars ride quality.......until I get home.

 

[Gnominateur]

With a £45k budget, you could get a really high spec, low milage 1 or 2 year old C class with plenty of change to spare. if you eschew the AMG Line trim, or opt for a C200 you could even get a brand new one. You didn't mention a C class in your post, not sure if that's out of the question. I find the C class to be a good balance between quality and affordability.

On the 2019 C300d I owned in the recent past, it was hard to get less than 35mpg on a reasonable length drive, even with spirited driving. Motorway cruises would easily return 60mpg. Very sharp and responsive in sport mode, my preferred driving mode too. You probably won't feel it sluggish compared to your E350d.

It had 40 and 45 profile tyres in rear and front respectively. I found them adequate. I think the firmer sports suspension on the AMG line is more to blame than tyre sidewall for the feedback you get on bumps and potholes.

I've currently got a w206 C300, 19in wheels with 30 profile run-flats and again, maybe I'm just very tolerant, but they seem mostly fine to me. It's just that it's too easy to kerb the wheels when parking.

On the W206 generation C class, they're all mild hybrids. It coasts on electric and cuts out the engine whenever power is not required, but it doesn't add up your electric miles to the mpg calculator, so on my petrol, a motorway cruise nets around 40 to 44 mpg, and city driving between 19 and 27 mpg depending on how much stopping and going you do. This figure is not complete however, as during the times when you're using electric power, it doesn't update your mpg.

I had a 190 mile trip recently where I averaged 39mpg on petrol and got 26 miles "free" on electric (or zero fuel consumption), so it was more like 164 miles at 39mpg and 26 miles at 0mpg. If you average fuel consumed over the whole trip, it counts as 45 mpg, I believe.

I think that was a decent return for a 255hp petrol motor ferrying 3 passengers.

 

[BTB 500]

Whatever we buy we will keep at least 10 years.

You have already ruled out pure electric ... I would also personally avoid hybrids as MB haven't had a great track record with those so far (battery failures etc.). Current diesels are highly complex (not a great long-term proposition IMHO), and in the next 5-10 years there may well be further restrictions on where/when you can drive them. If you're keeping the G Wagen I wouldn't be too worried about 4WD unless you have a specific requirement for that.

We went for a late low mileage (MB demonstrator) W205 C300 petrol estate as a 'keeper', and that ticks all the boxes for us. It's not a hybrid (unlike the C200), it's rapid (258 bhp) and comfortable, and still has reasonable economy/range. We get over 30 mpg on short trips, and over 40 on longer runs (43.5 on a recent trip to Germany). The 4 cylinder engine isn't the most charismatic, but you already have an SL55 for that (and I have my old SL500 )!

I had a GLC 300d coupe as a courtesy car for a few days and wasn't particularly impressed. It felt a bit cramped/claustrophobic inside, although it did have an all black interior (including the headlining) which didn't help! Fuel consumption wasn't a lot better than our car, and the ride was harsher. If you like the looks/styling it would be worth considering, although I suspect petrol ones are pretty rare.

 

[John757]

appreciate the insight.. thank you!

 

[grober]

BASIC LEXUS UX ?

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The Lexus UX hybrid is good to drive, economical and should be easy to live with, too

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[SL63Mark]

You could get a reasonable R231 SL63 , Worth considering, very high smiles per mile.

 

[John757]

 

[John757]

I personally love the S500 /63/65 coupe... but with fuel costs rising fast.... I think her thoughts are leaning towards diesel...

trouble is... nothing is jumping out that's fitting the bill... and it's difficult thinking about selling a car you have owned for 12 years from new, that's still a great car.. with low miles (73k)

she may end up doing nothing this year about it...

 

[BigJase88]

I personally love the S500 /63/65 coupe... but with fuel costs rising fast.... I think her thoughts are leaning towards diesel...

trouble is... nothing is jumping out that's fitting the bill... and it's difficult thinking about selling a car you have owned for 12 years from new, that's still a great car.. with low miles (73k)

she may end up doing nothing this year about it...

Then what with diesel being 15-20p a litre more expensive than petrol it then points you back towards a petrol

 

[ALFAitalia]

Bit you get a LOT further on it....so its still quite a bit cheaper overall. Its only about 12p difference around here too.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

You're looking at something you'll keep a few years.

It's a mistake to think that fuel prices will automatically remain this high.

They'll probably drop back as fuel supply lines get re-routed, as Saudis pump more oil, and tax rates change.

It's like over-projecting change during the Covid19 crisis. Flight volumes through the airports, as an example, are pretty much back to 80% of 2019 levels already.

On the other hand, we may be in the middle of a European nuclear war. "But probably not."

Just a thought

 

[John757]

On the other hand, we may be in the middle of a European nuclear war. "But probably not."

Just a thought

In that case I might need this!

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

In that case I might need this! View attachment 128210

A man after my own heart.

 

[John N]

Mrs 757 is the main user of our E350 cdi coupe sport ( AMG pack) which we bought new in 2010, it has covered 73,000 miles and in September will be 12 years old. ( our other two cars SL55 and G wagen are staying) It has been ultra reliable over the years, and has been looked after properly by my local Mercedes indie. We are talking about changing the car for a newer one.. possibly as new as a year old.. but as yet have not decided what to go for. Electric is off the agenda due to range anxiety issues and high purchase cost. Reliability and practicality is very important, as is tyre sidewall size, and style.
Our E350 came with 19inch AMG wheels with 30 profile tyres, so dodging the potholes has finally become too tedious every day. The GLC coupe is one possibility, ( new model out next year) or perhaps a c class estate with 4matic.. as long as the tyre sidewalls are not silly.. Personally I like the c43 AMG estate.. but low profile tyres are a worry. Mr 757 says she doesn't want a boring looking car either... but it can't be a 2 door coupe anymore. Mrs 757 is not keen on the GLA.
I can't believe the prices at the moment.. when we bought out E class for £48k you could get a nice C class for 30k.. these days 30k won't get you a new A class.. I'm looking to spend about 35k plus whatever mine is worth (10k?) but that only gets you a 4 year old decent spec model... Having had a new car.. high mileage is a no no... does anyone here own a GLC coupe..who can vouch for its reliability.. and the same for the c43 estate..
Our other discussion is petrol or diesel. power... I filled up her E class this week in Surrey with diesel.. 48 litres cost me £95.. ( roughly 1.95per Litre of super diesel.)a petrol car would be less expensive fuel , but lower mpg.. so cancels each other out... we like the thrust of a 3.0l diesel engine.. the E estate is too big, and the saloon is too taxi-like ( apologies to E saloon owners)
Whatever we buy we will keep at least 10 years.. so the choice is important.
All input greatly appreciated

John

You fancy the GLC but not the GLA, why not have a look at the GLB?

 

[John757]

I like the GLB but many years ago we used to have a new B class when they first came out and after a year traded it for a new CLK320cdi...because it was uncomfortable, a little mumsy and had that awful CVT gearbox.. I think previous experience of admittedly very different car is clouding the thinking process a little.. but who knows..

 

[keith of kent]

I could afford to replace my 2015 S212 E350 which has 51K miles with a newer version. But the chancellor will charge me a huge annual road tax amount because the new cost (and I would buy a 1 year old example) for driving something with presumably cleaner emissions.
So it won't happen

 

[davymead]

trouble is... nothing is jumping out that's fitting the bill... and it's difficult thinking about selling a car you have owned for 12 years from new, that's still a great car.. with low miles (73k)

she may end up doing nothing this year about it...

I SO get that. I’ve been searching to upgrade my 350 and just how do I replace a car that’s that good.
So for now I’ve given up, maybe later in the year. Nearest I’ve got so far is a GLA 45 owned by a friend.

 

[ALFAitalia]

I could afford to replace my 2015 S212 E350 which has 51K miles with a newer version. But the chancellor will charge me a huge annual road tax amount because the new cost (and I would buy a 1 year old example) for driving something with presumably cleaner emissions.
So it won't happen

Only for the first five years....then it will be much less to tax than the older one.....so if you are planning to keep it a few years than the new tax system with the "luxury car tax" will save you money long term. Personally I think the LCT should only apply to the first owner....especially if its second hand sale value is under the 40k LCT threshold. Or raise the 40k price and to a more sensible amount.....a top of the range Mondeo with a few factory extras can tip over 40k....hardly "luxury" motoring!!!
My friend pays that tax on his Alfa Giulia Veloce....even though he paid just under 38k for it brand new!.....problem is its based on list price which was indeed a bit over £40,000.