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W202/W124 as a daily driver

J

Joe_SP

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Joined
Dec 14, 2006
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365
Location
Wokingham
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2013 E250 & 1999 M3
Hi all

I sold my W202 a couple of years ago when I was offered a company car, it is a car that I really enjoyed despite the losing battle with rust....

I am looking at changing jobs in the new year and will be buying my own car again, I don't want to spend more than 2-3k and so was thinking about either a W124 or a W202 estate. Looking at autotrader etc it looks like I could probably get a nice diesel W202 or an ok petrol W124 for the money.

My mileage will be low - prob about 10k a year (I currently drive 30k), are these cars still ok as a daily driver as they are getting on a bit now. Mileage has never worried me if a car is looked after but will age related faults become a problem? I have a young family so I can't spend every weekend fixing the car...

I am assuming there must be a few nice W202's left without crusty wheelarches....

What are peoples experiences?
 
For £3k you will get a very nice petrol-engined W124 estate. Quite a few forum members have paid a lot less for pretty decent cars.
 
I drive my W124 daily. Buy a decent one and keep it maintained as per schedule and it is fine. Things will go, but no more than cars that are younger. One of the few cars I would have no issue running at this age as though it were 15 years younger. For that price find a decent multivalve 300d and you will get excellent fuel economy too.
 
Scott_F said:
For £3k you will get a very nice petrol-engined W124 estate. Quite a few forum members have paid a lot less for pretty decent cars.
Click to expand...

I have been looking at some of Charles Ironsides cars. The cars look great but I'm not sure I could pay £5k+ for an W124. I guess these cars are superb but can cars for &3k be ok?
 
I had both (one as a saloon, the early W202 C200, and the other as a late W124 E220 coupe). I can say both were very economical to run and needed very little money spent on them. I sold my coupe due to fairly terminal rust (though the 3 young Polish guys who bought it seem to think they can restore it) and the W202 due to ECU failure having a knock on effect on just about everything (apparently it's back on the road!).

There are lots of W202s around with no rust, can't say the same for a late W124! The Honest John site is very useful for finding common faults:

E-Class W124 Estates 1985 | Mercedes-Benz | Car Reviews | Honest John
C-Class W202 1993 | Mercedes-Benz | Car Reviews | Honest John

The W202 does feel very flimsy, IMHO a Mondeo is more sturdy! The ECU issue is pretty serious, apparently it's very common, and the steering was VERY light. As you owned one, I'm sure you know all this. I would recommend the W124 as they can do hundreds of thousands of miles. The Honest John article lists lots of potential faults, I don't think it'll cause you that much grief at all (many of those faults will have been dealt with if you buy a good example, the rest wouldn't stop the car working well). They are also incredibly cheap!
 
My w202 was a 1999 c200. The running costs were ok - I got about 28 mpg. How would an E220 compare?
 
Joe_SP said:
I have been looking at some of Charles Ironsides cars. The cars look great but I'm not sure I could pay £5k+ for an W124. I guess these cars are superb but can cars for &3k be ok?
Click to expand...

Yes.

CI sells limited mileage cars at a large mark up. He pays less than your budget for most - I know one of the cars he is selling and it needed a new battery.
 
Joe_SP said:
I have been looking at some of Charles Ironsides cars. The cars look great but I'm not sure I could pay £5k+ for an W124. I guess these cars are superb but can cars for &3k be ok?
Click to expand...

Charles Ironside's cars are at the top end of the price scale. Although I can't speak from experience, posts from other members prove that a sub-£3k car can be very good indeed and I'm sure some of them will shortly add to this post with their own experiences.

If you're going to drive the car daily in all weathers and clock up 10k miles a year, it probably wouldn't be worth paying top money from one of the specialist dealers. I think you would be better off spending a lot less on a well-maintained honest example from elsewhere.
 
Last edited:
Joe_SP said:
My w202 was a 1999 c200. The running costs were ok - I got about 28 mpg. How would an E220 compare?
Click to expand...

Mine did ~23-28mpg
 
If you want an acceptable blend of economy and performance, a 220 or 230 petrol is ideal. A 200 12v is too much effort. For long term ownership and very decent economy (I get 35mpg) a multivalve diesel is superb and is probably the best riding w124 made.
 
Charles Morgan said:
If you want an acceptable blend of economy and performance, a 220 or 230 petrol is ideal. A 200 12v is too much effort. For long term ownership and very decent economy (I get 35mpg) a multivalve diesel is superb and is probably the best riding w124 made.
Click to expand...

A multivalve w124 diesel is an appealing idea but finding a nice one will not be easy. They seem to be in big demand.

A c220 cdi w202 looks a good idea to me but 202's seem to less durable than w124's. Is that my perception due to the legendary build of the 124?
 
Alas no idea - I have no idea about the W202 as I have never owned one. Car and classic have a couple of multivalve adverts which look decent for your budget.
 
Mercedes E280 Estate - S124 - 7 Seater. For Sale (1995) on Car And Classic UK
Mercedes E220 Estate 7 Seater For Sale (1996) on Car And Classic UK
Mercedes W124 E300 Diesel Estate For Sale For Sale (1995) on Car And Classic UK (expensive, but one of the most reliable engines you can get)
A very special W124 200 TE Estate For Sale (1992) on Car And Classic UK No AC but showroom condition (at least from the photos)
1992 MERCEDES-BENZ E CLASS 230 TE 5DR AUTO [W124] "FUTURE CLASSIC" Apparently has air conditioning, I can't see for myself
1989 Mercedes 300 2962 cc TE (7 Seats & Air Con) This is an early example with rather interesting trim. I can't see if it has A/C or not but the listing says it does
Mercedes 300 TE 4matic - ExchangeandMart.co.uk Apparently has AC but, again, no photo of the centre console so I can't see if it does


And here's a bad example for comparison (hence the price), second photo!

Mercedes-Benz E200 TE - 7 Seater AUTO For Sale (1993) on Car And Classic UK

Ouch...
 
The diesel I posted above (3rd down) is a multivalve W124 for under £3k
 
Joe_SP said:
Hi all

I sold my W202 a couple of years ago when I was offered a company car, it is a car that I really enjoyed despite the losing battle with rust....

I am looking at changing jobs in the new year and will be buying my own car again, I don't want to spend more than 2-3k and so was thinking about either a W124 or a W202 estate.
Click to expand...

You should be able to get a very nice W202 for less than £1000.

There's no shortage, and no need to spend £3k
 
Edit - it does have air-con, stupid me!
 
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