a111r
MB Enthusiast
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2008
- Messages
- 1,643
- Location
- North East London
- Car
- S123 240TD, S210 320cdi, S202 250TD.
Yes but that is also caused by rust.
Inadequate under-seal and protection, so it creeps along 'undetected'.
Yes but that is also caused by rust.
Inadequate under-seal and protection, so it creeps along 'undetected'.
Not as it was explained to me by an MB master tech : on the 210 the perches are only held on by three spot welds , which eventually fail and let go - it is poor design and not caused by corrosion .
I was going to suggest a V70...
Honestly the more I think about it the more sense it makes. If the W210 wasn't as bad as it is then I would for sure go with it. But by the sound of it I would have to be extremely lucky to get one which won't have a lot of problems or turn problematic in the future. So I would be buying a car which I can be almost certain will give me problems and know for sure is expensive to repair.
With the Omega, not only the entry cost is less, the repairs are also lower cost and it doesn't have the bad reputation the W210 does. Sure there are many who will snob it because it's a Vauxhall. I don't care about that. But I have been doing some reading and I have yet to see an Omega owner making fun of the car as I have seen many W210 owners. Like saying the W210 will pop a new rust bubble every time he turns his back on it, or others flat out calling the car a piece of c* in so many words. I read reports of rust starting after a year of use from new and all sorts of things that just shouldn't happen. Specially with an expensive Mercedes.
All together, in the end I have read way more bad things about the W210.
Yes, any car from that era will rust compared to later cars. But it's clear the W210 has a serious problem which goes beyond the normal for that era.The fact it is an expensive Mercedes makes it even worse of a fact.
On top of all that I have had good experience with Vauxhalls. Like I said mine is 15 years old now, so it was made around the same time as the Omega, so it's a good example for quality of Vauxhalls of that time. Never had any major problems with it and no rust. Passed last MOT straight up.
I also visited with an acquaintance today who has 2003 Omega Elite and spoke to him about it. His car has no rust. He had only two small spots behind the rear doors and took care of it years ago and it has been solid since. He said the 90's ones have way more rust problems. But in 2000 after the facelift they got better protection. No engine problems either. Sitting in the car it's quite big, lots of leg and head room at the back, very comfortable to drive and I quite liked the way it drives. It has over 150K on the clock but the engine doesn't feel rough at all. It's a V6 as well. It drove really nicely and feels quite a step up from my current Vauxhall and Ford.
When I mentioned I was considering a W210 or the Omega he didn't even let me finish my sentence, saying don't buy that vintage of Mercedes. His brother went through 3 of that era. E class and 2 C Class till he finally gave up on the Mercedes image and bought something else.
So based on the feedback I got here on the W210, and all the horror stories I read online, plus having an acquaintance personally telling me horror stories about them. This combined with my great experience with Vauxhalls from that era and Steve's great experience with the Omega in particular, I think it's an obvious choice now.
BMW doesn't seem to have the horrible reputation of the Mercedes of that era. You hear the same you hear about the Omega. That they also rust. Most cars of that era will. But not that they melt away plus all the other gremlins. But I just dislike BMWs and how they look. Same with the Lexus.
So I guess the Omega makes the most sense and with the price of an OK W210 I can get a great Omega. As difficult as it may be to find a good Omega today, I guess most will agree it's not nearly impossible as with the W210, according to people here and everywhere. So it will still be an easier task.
Then I may save up to get a late W211 later or one day even a W212.
External dimensions are nearly identical with the Omega being slightly longer and the E Class being slightly wider. Sitting in the Omega it seems to have the same amount of space at the rear as the E Class.
The old 24v straight 6 were nice. But also problematic. I know because my father had 2 Carltons and one was the 24v 6. The 12v 6 was way more robust and today parts for the 24v are harder to find too.
MikeInWimbledon
Hardcore MB Enthusiast
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2014
- Messages
- 14,576
- Car
- SL350 (Ex S211 E500,W212 E500, C216, S212E500, W211E500 5.5, W221S500, S211 E500, SL500, S500, E55)
In the end, it's all about budget, desire and condition.
Mass market cars like Vauxhalls, Fords, Hondas & Toyotas are all great value for money. A Merc or a BMW was more expensive in the first place and more expensive to maintain.
Lots of horror stories about ANY big car are often caused by what Engineers call 70,000 on the clock, 270,000 on the engine. Self explanatory really.
If your budget is less than £2,000 you could certainly stick to mass market cars like the Mondeo or Omega. But also consider the Corolla, Accord, Legend, and Volvo. Look for a low mileage, few owner car and try to avoid anything which smells of having been in the "carriage trade," even for a short period of time.
Going back to my original comment about taxis, it all depends on the airport you visit. If it's Frankfurt it'll be young cars, move down into Africa and the holiday islands and it'll get progressively older and older. Point remains: the E Class churns out a quarter of a million cars a year - they're VERY popular amongst people who want reliability to do serious mileages on a tight budget.
Going back to Engine choice - Petrols are great if you're below 10k a year. Diesels are more expensive to maintain than people realise - it's the way the engine's made.
Happy hunting
Mass market cars like Vauxhalls, Fords, Hondas & Toyotas are all great value for money. A Merc or a BMW was more expensive in the first place and more expensive to maintain.
Lots of horror stories about ANY big car are often caused by what Engineers call 70,000 on the clock, 270,000 on the engine. Self explanatory really.
If your budget is less than £2,000 you could certainly stick to mass market cars like the Mondeo or Omega. But also consider the Corolla, Accord, Legend, and Volvo. Look for a low mileage, few owner car and try to avoid anything which smells of having been in the "carriage trade," even for a short period of time.
Going back to my original comment about taxis, it all depends on the airport you visit. If it's Frankfurt it'll be young cars, move down into Africa and the holiday islands and it'll get progressively older and older. Point remains: the E Class churns out a quarter of a million cars a year - they're VERY popular amongst people who want reliability to do serious mileages on a tight budget.
Going back to Engine choice - Petrols are great if you're below 10k a year. Diesels are more expensive to maintain than people realise - it's the way the engine's made.
Happy hunting
Agreed that if you buy an ex taxi it is likely to have been to the moon and back and some owners will only get rid when the car is truly clapped out - unless local authorities put age limits in place .
However 'carriage trade' isn't necessarily a bad thing : my former W126 500SEL spent most of its life as a funeral/chauffeur drive car , had been very well looked after and was one of the best and most reliable cars I've had over the five years and 120K that I ran it ,
Agree re diesels being more expensive to maintain , newer CDI ones at least , and find that petrol cars are where the real bargains are to be had since they tend to have been privately owned and looked after better .
However 'carriage trade' isn't necessarily a bad thing : my former W126 500SEL spent most of its life as a funeral/chauffeur drive car , had been very well looked after and was one of the best and most reliable cars I've had over the five years and 120K that I ran it ,
Agree re diesels being more expensive to maintain , newer CDI ones at least , and find that petrol cars are where the real bargains are to be had since they tend to have been privately owned and looked after better .
Oh - OP - another slightly out of the box suggestion - have you considered W220 S Class models ?
They can also be bought for low prices these days - they can share some of the negatives of the W210 , but rust is easy to spot and they don't have the same terrible reputation , although most for sale are S320CDI there are some well looked after petrol ones around too .
Still not sure of budget , but here's a modest priced example and there are both cheaper and more expensive ones out there
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...adius=1500&model=S CLASS&price-to=3000&page=2
They can also be bought for low prices these days - they can share some of the negatives of the W210 , but rust is easy to spot and they don't have the same terrible reputation , although most for sale are S320CDI there are some well looked after petrol ones around too .
Still not sure of budget , but here's a modest priced example and there are both cheaper and more expensive ones out there
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...adius=1500&model=S CLASS&price-to=3000&page=2
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Yes, naturally it's a matter of budget. Otherwise I would just buy a 2017 E Class and be done with it.
But it's not worth it buying an old Mercedes, just to spend as much to maintain it as you would a new one when you know the car will for sure be a problem like is the case with the W210 e other Mercedes from that era. If it's one of the reliable Mercedes then yes. It will still be expensive but you will not have to do things as often or have so many things to address.
As for the Omega also having horror stories, sorry but no. Nothing like the W210 at least. I have done a lot of reading the last 3 days and I have not found any horror stories about the Omega for example that even starts to come close to what I have read about the W210. The W210 is basically a butt joke now. There are horror stories and then there is what you hear and read about the W210, which is like in another level of horror. With other cars is the case of you being unlucky and getting a turd. But with the W210, it is the turd!
It's like a massive wave of problems affecting the majority of the W210 cars. I didn’t find real unhappy Omega owners. Nothing like with the W210 where owners basically made jokes about the car and called it crap. I did find Omega owners reporting problems of course, even if much smaller problems than what you would have with the W210. Every car will have some problems. But nothing like the W210. Most Omega owners seem happy with the odd one here and there maybe not 100% happy. But with the W210 it's the other way around. You find a couple of happy owners and the rest are all telling you to steer clear of it.
So it's clear the W210 is a much bigger gamble and I'm just to interested any longer in gambling on it. After doing some intense research now, I started to understand why people in this thread were asking why I would even consider one. It really makes no sense. Unless buying it to be able to gloat I drive a Mercedes. But I prefer a “mass market” (funny term when E classes sell 250,000 cars a year but…) car that I will be able to enjoy without having it at a garage all the time to repair something, than a Mercedes that rusts away as it stands and has all sorts of problems.
I will buy a more reliable Omega, save some money in the purchase and ownership and put that money towards buying a late W211.
No point in buying a Mercedes if it's not a real Mercedes. Mercedes has always been about luxury and reliability. If you are not getting that it's not a Mercedes. Or I could put a Mercedes logo on any car and call it a Mercedes.
About considering the Corolla, Accord, Legend, and Volvo, I mentioned a few times now that I want a RWD [FONT="]or[/FONT] AWD car. Not interested in FWD. I already have 2 at home.
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They are just too big! And like you said share some of the bad reputation as do all Mercedes from that time. But it's way too big for me.
I know that some later Volvos were FWD , but the 'proper' ones are RWD or AWD , with very similar engineering to Mercedes - hence I mentioned them earlier .
Coming back to my S Class suggestion , my experience is that S Class cars are much better engineered than E Class models .
Coming back to my S Class suggestion , my experience is that S Class cars are much better engineered than E Class models .
They are just too big! And like you said share some of the bad reputation as do all Mercedes from that time. But it's way too big for me.
A W220 is about the same size as a W210 , and I'd suggest actually looks smaller due to nicer lines , unlike the W140 which was HUGE from every angle .
kwk
Active Member
I think a lot of the posts on here from w210 owners have said that this car is really not for you. I don't run mine because I want to say I own a Mercedes, I can afford a much newer Merc. I bought mine because it was such a nice car and I genuinely do like the particular model.
As I said earlier, I was a traffic policeman and I drove the Omega and the Senator both 12v and 24v before it. When I retired, I was in charge of the shift and had a chocie of the BMW 5 series, w210 or w211 estates. I usually opted to drive the 210 because I really liked it.
I won't knock the Omega. I used to be a demo driver with Vauxhall and you seem to be very much a Vauxhall supporter. They are very differeny cars and have different running costs. I think it should be recognised that running a prestige car properly is not going to be cheap. When people run them on a shoestring, the big problems arise.
As I said earlier, I was a traffic policeman and I drove the Omega and the Senator both 12v and 24v before it. When I retired, I was in charge of the shift and had a chocie of the BMW 5 series, w210 or w211 estates. I usually opted to drive the 210 because I really liked it.
I won't knock the Omega. I used to be a demo driver with Vauxhall and you seem to be very much a Vauxhall supporter. They are very differeny cars and have different running costs. I think it should be recognised that running a prestige car properly is not going to be cheap. When people run them on a shoestring, the big problems arise.
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Yes, but I rather avoid Mercedes from that era now.
The S70, S60, S80 and even S90 are not RWD. I think the RWD Volvos were only up to the 90's. Some of the above have AWD versions but they are normally very expensive. The rest of the versions are FWD.
It may not look it, but the W220 dimensions are considerably larger than the W210 as this is the whole point of the W220 I would think?
Yeah the W140 does look huge. It's the drug baron wagon cliche.
So many movies showed it in that position.
You seem to be implying the horrible, torn reputation of the W210 is undeserved. I believe if you have a good example you are one of the very lucky ones. Yours is the unicorn. You gambled and you won. But I'm not willing to gamble on it.
If you are not implying the horrible reputation of the W210 is undeserved, then I don't understand your statement "I think it should be recognised that running a prestige car properly is not going to be cheap." . Because the W210 is not expensive to run because it has a Mercedes logo. It is expensive to run because it's unreliable, badly made to save money and badly designed.
I'm not a particular Vauxhall supporter. I would rather have a Merc. But when my 15 years old Vauxhall still rust free and has never made me spend any major money on it, it's hard not to respect that. Specially when a W210, which is a car of the same vintage and made by a supposedly prestige marque and that cost probably 3 times as much has such a rotten reputation and is well known to be a nightmare compared to my Vauxhall.
You see, the Vauxhalls would have all the excuse to be like the W210. A Mercedes that you are paying through your nose doesn't have these excuses. Yet, my Vauxhall is not unreliable at all.
This combined with my father's good experience with Vauxhalls and friends as well seals it for me. A real Mercedes vs a Vauxhall? Mercedes all day. An unreliable cheaply made car with a Mercedes logo vs a Vauxhall? I take the Vauxhall because even if all things were equal I would have wasted less money. But I know from personal experience a Vauxhall is reliable.
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And all this talk about premium car, prestige car when talking about old Mercs is a little puzzling. It's not like they are new AMGs or Brabus. Everybody knows these old Mercs are 1000 quid a pop used cars.
A friend of mine who drives a W124 says new Mercedes drivers don't even flash him back on the road.
A friend of mine who drives a W124 says new Mercedes drivers don't even flash him back on the road.
Scott_F
MB Enthusiast
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2010
- Messages
- 4,320
A W220 for W210 / Vauxhall Omega money is best avoided.
It may not look it, but the W220 dimensions are considerably larger than the W210 as this is the whole point of the W220 I would think?
Yeah the W140 does look huge. It's the drug baron wagon cliche.
So many movies showed it in that position.
Comparing measurements 8in longer and 1in wider , so not a big difference at all - that's for the standard wheelbase version of the S Class
