Thinking of buying a W202.

[Robby]

At the moment I have a 190E 2.6, with a blown head gasket, and a dog of a BMW 320i. I'm going to fix the merc and run the bmw for a bit, but after this I doubt I'll trust the merc and I dislike the bmw.

So I'm thinking of upgrading to a W202, and I'd like to know what they are like - I'd like a turbodiesel, and I see they come in a 220CDi - too small, a 250TD, and I think a 270CDi.

Are the 250TDs any good, and what should I expect to pay for one?

 

[Ian B Walker]

Why distrust the Merc? Do the head gasket and everything should be ok. Your car is too good to get rid of. As for a 202, dont they rust? Seems like you may be swapping one minor problem for a big problem IMHO.

Ian

 

[Vlad]

I must admit I've not experienced rusting 202's and I've run 4 of them in the past with the oldest being 9 years old which had no rust anywhere.

However, when it comes to W210's E class thats a different story!

Personally I like the 220 CDI engine....plenty of poke and very economical....far more so than the 250TD.

The w202's never came fitted with the 270CDi engine, thats only fitted to the latest c-class.....lovely engine!

I would suggest that you have a test drive of a 220cdi and see where you go from there.

 

[kusanku]

I've just got rid of a late 202. It was an x-reg C220CDi. I tried the 250TD as well, and thought there was very little to choose between them in terms of power. Although the 220 has lower BHP, it generates more torque, and so accelerates just as well. Better mpg with the 220. To be honest, I never really got on with it. The engine was fine at low revs, but sounded really rough when driven hard. Ride quality on the 202 is nowhere near as good as an e-class, and presonally I don't think it's as good as a 190.
The economy was good, but I got rid of it because I discovered signs of rust all over the place: under the rubber door seals on all 4 doors, and just starting on the front wings and tailgate, and under the bonnet. A work colleague also bought one exactly the same age, and when we compared them we found both cars showing signs of rust in all the same places: none of it was really noticeable unless you knew where to look. By contrast, another work colleague has one of the earliest ones, a C200 from 1994, which he has used every day for 10 years with no major faults, and apparently no rust anywhere. Perhaps the later ones are more rust prone because of a change in the type/thickness of paint used? Mine also had quite a lot of creaks and rattles from the interior trim, most of which felt cheap and flimsy, which again contrast with reports of bulletproof build quality that I had heard from owners of earlier ones. Ended up keeping the car for only 9 months, and would not want another one.

 

[sym]

Agree with you about the creaks and rattles .... very annoying, although I've been able to stop most of these in mine by careful investigation and remedial action !

The car does feel very solidly built though.

The rust seems to affect people at random ... certainly there are some common places to watch out for, but some cars seem to be affected far more than others. I don't think they are any more or any less rust prone than any other model.

 

[Vlad]

I suppose it must be down to the earlier cars having good old fashioned paint rather than the later water based paints which seem to be softer.

In reality my newer 202's were sent back to the leasing companies by the time they were 3 years old, so I would'nt expect rust to be showing at that point.

In terms of the older 202 I had, which was 9 years old, it had no rust anywhere and hardly any stone chips. Build quality seemed spot on, with no rattles etc.....saying that the younger 202's I also ran were squeek free as well.

 

[High-Lo]

My 10 year old w202 C200 has got all original panels and no body repairs have ever been carried out and still 100% rust free - For now anyway

 

[Will]

Just to add that I have owned a couple of W202s, one a '96 and the other a '97 - both had no traces of rust!

As has been said, it seems to be more of a problem with the W210 E-class, but a few W202 owners here have made warranty claims though.

TBH, If the car you look at is rust-free at more than 5 years old, I shouldn't think you would have too many problems!

Better off checking for mechanical condition/service history and accident repairs.

However, it is still worth doing a forum search on rusty MBs and checking the 'affected' areas (eg tailgate on W202 estates etc),

If you are simply chopping your 190E in because of the head gasket issue, I would think twice. Once it is repaired, you may as well get a few more 0000s of miles out of it if this is the only issue!

HTH,

Cheers,

Will

 

[Robby]

I'm thinking of getting rid of the 190E for a number of reasons, primarily I don't feel like I can trust it any more. Its something I do with vehicles, same with bikes I've had in the past that I've either crashed or had to rebuild the engines. It just doesn't feel right afterwards.

Also my 190E is no perfect example. Its had several years of use and a few of neglect, I've done a lot of work on it but TBH there is always one more job and at the end of all that I'd still be left with a clunky 4 speed autobox and a poor fuel injection system.

Looking at older 202s - circa 1995. Did they use the same old merc engine, or was it a new set of engines brought out with the C class? Specifically the 220 and 230 (not K) petrol, the 220CDi is too expensive. Quite a few 220s on autotrader for £2500-3000, which is a reasonable figure for me.