imadoofus
MB Enthusiast
- Joined
- May 16, 2005
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- This and that.
When you say E230K, I presume you mean 'Kombi', cos I didn't think the supercharged 2.3 engine was put in the E-class.
PJ
PJ
glojo
Hardcore MB Enthusiast
nickmann said:
I would recommend a thorough search on this forum as there are numerous threads listing this terrible problem.
Gently pull back the rubber door seals, look around the tailgate rubber seals and the number plate mounts. The list is endless, but please be thorough as the E-class is developing a terrible reputation.
Regards,
John
glojo said:
Thanks John. I have been idly watching the e-class threads over the last few months, and have come to the conclusion that I'd miss out the E-class from about 1999 onwards until about 2003, hoping to miss the worst of the rust problems. I've not been paying too much attention as I thought I'd keep mine for a while yet, but my dealer called me today and suggested I come and have a look a this one before they put it out on the yard. I will be looking through those threads in more detail now!
I'm not really expecting to be too excited about this one tomorrow (I fancy a diesel) but I am hoping to gain some experience of looking over and driving the model. My dealer knows this and is happy to let me play with it. It may be a way of getting my wife out of her cough/Tigra/cough. My dealer knows this too
Yes, he said "touching in a few scratches". Taking the pessimistic view this probably means all four corners have been clonked in carparks and one side has been dragged down a hedge. But, I am guessing.
My view? Well, it would be a dealer-warrantied paint-job on a dealer-warrantied car from a dealer that I know. It would have a fresh dealer service stamp, and I would expect a 4-wheel alignment.
Plus I don't think I want it as I'm not so keen on 4-cylinder engines. I would be salivating if it were a 270/320 diesel, or a 320 petrol, but this viewing will be just "practice".
Of course if its really nice...
My view? Well, it would be a dealer-warrantied paint-job on a dealer-warrantied car from a dealer that I know. It would have a fresh dealer service stamp, and I would expect a 4-wheel alignment.
Plus I don't think I want it as I'm not so keen on 4-cylinder engines. I would be salivating if it were a 270/320 diesel, or a 320 petrol, but this viewing will be just "practice".
Of course if its really nice...
glojo
Hardcore MB Enthusiast
Will said:Sounds dodgy IMO!!
Did he say what the bodyshop were doing? I'd tread carefully...
Will
Totally agree. They can very easily give it a quick rub down and flick over. It will look great for a month or so. Your beautiful island has a habit of accelerating bodywork corrosion, and I would perhaps give this one a miss?
On second thoughts do NOT listen to the dealers excuse as to why it went into the bodyshop, just look where it has been freshly painted. If the new paint is in any of the suspect areas then I would suspect a quick bodge job?
John
Yes, your right - the salty air here does do that alright. But on the flip side we don't have salt on the roads. There is a whole separate debate to be had on whether it is best to buy a local car with low local miles or have a huge choice of UK cars with higher but less stressed mileages.
I plan to call into the bodyshop on Monday to see what they are doing to it. Then when I see it at the dealer I'll ask him what they did to it, and see how his answer stacks up.
I am possibly being naive, but I don't think this bodyshop will do a different job for the sales manager right now than they would do for the warranty dept manager at any other time, so if they were doing wheelarches tailgate etc it should be a decent standard of workmanship.
I plan to call into the bodyshop on Monday to see what they are doing to it. Then when I see it at the dealer I'll ask him what they did to it, and see how his answer stacks up.
I am possibly being naive, but I don't think this bodyshop will do a different job for the sales manager right now than they would do for the warranty dept manager at any other time, so if they were doing wheelarches tailgate etc it should be a decent standard of workmanship.
glojo
Hardcore MB Enthusiast
nickmann said:
My experience with dealerships is that there is a lot of 'penny pinching' between departments. The sales department will have to pay the bodyshop to carry out any 'repairs'. This money will come out of any profit the car stands to make..... So the cheaper the repair, the better the profit. If it is a warranty job, then it 'should' be a better repair?
The sales staff will give you an excellent excuse for why the car was resprayed, but will that reason be the truth?
Buying a secondhand car is always a gamble,
Good luck,
John
Yes, but an enjoyable gamble, hopefully. I enjoy it anyway, no doubt choosing the optons for a new vehicle is just as much fun. I was lucky enought to buy a new Ducati once. It would be nice to repeat that in an MB showroom one day.
In this case it will be a fun challenge to spot what has been done and to guess why. I can't wait
In this case it will be a fun challenge to spot what has been done and to guess why. I can't wait
bolide
MB Enthusiast
Paintwork
They'll probably be painting the bumper inserts. If I'm right you'll be able to see it quite clearly when you look carefully
Almost every car has some paintwork prep done on it pre-sale so don't assume the worst if the car's in the paintshop. If it's the dealer's own shop they're paying the painter a salary and not paying per job. I don't think you should assume that the standard of paint will vary - if the painter's good (and he should be if he's working for a dealer) then the work will be good
From what I've heard about W210s I don't think it'd be possible to hide the rust with touch-ins of affected areas. If a car is rusty under the door rubbers then nothing short of a complete strip & repaint will cure it
And if the car's bad the dealer normally wouldn't be selling it in the first place - it'd go off to auction. Things may be different in a small market like Guernsey, though
Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk
They'll probably be painting the bumper inserts. If I'm right you'll be able to see it quite clearly when you look carefully
Almost every car has some paintwork prep done on it pre-sale so don't assume the worst if the car's in the paintshop. If it's the dealer's own shop they're paying the painter a salary and not paying per job. I don't think you should assume that the standard of paint will vary - if the painter's good (and he should be if he's working for a dealer) then the work will be good
From what I've heard about W210s I don't think it'd be possible to hide the rust with touch-ins of affected areas. If a car is rusty under the door rubbers then nothing short of a complete strip & repaint will cure it
And if the car's bad the dealer normally wouldn't be selling it in the first place - it'd go off to auction. Things may be different in a small market like Guernsey, though
Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk
Thanks Nick. It is the dealer's own shop. They have done some repair work on my Dad's ML , which is silver, and it can't be seen so they should be OK. I have some wheelarch/tailgate problems of my own on my C-class and they will be getting my business.
The market in Guernsey is certainly a bit different. I think the other makes get recycled round a bit (but don't know for sure), but with the Mercs the most recent ones get on the forecourt. The older stuff and the tatty stuff goes out to Dorset where it gets sold as "low mileage".
This particular car will disappear very quickly as estates are sought after here, I expect the sales manager has put out four or five calls to people that he knows will come and look (ie me) but if it doesn't go this way then I expect it would be on the ferry pretty soon.
The market in Guernsey is certainly a bit different. I think the other makes get recycled round a bit (but don't know for sure), but with the Mercs the most recent ones get on the forecourt. The older stuff and the tatty stuff goes out to Dorset where it gets sold as "low mileage".
This particular car will disappear very quickly as estates are sought after here, I expect the sales manager has put out four or five calls to people that he knows will come and look (ie me) but if it doesn't go this way then I expect it would be on the ferry pretty soon.
An Update - I just got back from a couple of hours in it. I went over it with very carefully, and had a good long drive too.
It has no apparent faults, no damage, and no visible wear and tear that a good valeting wouldn't fix. No rust on arches, small 5p-sized blisters on sides of bonnet and on tailgate, It had a sunrood, aircon, 7 seats, full leather (even the rear jump-seats!(which have their own cupholders!!)), BP head unit and 10-disc changer, auto-dimming rvm, make-up lights, self-closing tailgate, nice dark metallic greeny-black. And it was a "nice drive"
BUT, it felt a bit loose so will need attention to bushes/ball joints. Visible inspection of brakes show a need for discs within 10,000 miles. There is rust on the NSR door top that would need replacing. Headlights not too clear (ageing platic lenses perhaps), old alarm system (red+green lights on mirror), thumpy downshift on coming to rest, buzzy 4-cylinder engine (nippy though), and the wife doesn't want it as it is too big.
So I'm going to leave it. Maybe pass the C-class to her and get an e270cdi for me. Was there a W210 with a 270cdi engine
It has no apparent faults, no damage, and no visible wear and tear that a good valeting wouldn't fix. No rust on arches, small 5p-sized blisters on sides of bonnet and on tailgate, It had a sunrood, aircon, 7 seats, full leather (even the rear jump-seats!(which have their own cupholders!!)), BP head unit and 10-disc changer, auto-dimming rvm, make-up lights, self-closing tailgate, nice dark metallic greeny-black. And it was a "nice drive"
BUT, it felt a bit loose so will need attention to bushes/ball joints. Visible inspection of brakes show a need for discs within 10,000 miles. There is rust on the NSR door top that would need replacing. Headlights not too clear (ageing platic lenses perhaps), old alarm system (red+green lights on mirror), thumpy downshift on coming to rest, buzzy 4-cylinder engine (nippy though), and the wife doesn't want it as it is too big.
So I'm going to leave it. Maybe pass the C-class to her and get an e270cdi for me. Was there a W210 with a 270cdi engine
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