What Mercedes Estate "cheap" runaround to buy?

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After Shock

Active Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2009
Messages
592
Location
Stratford upon Avon
Car
E320 CDI 320 Estate. AMG wheels
Hi all,

I'm just selling my 2005 E320cdi Advantgarde Estate. Absolutely love it. Can't fault it. Best car I've ever owned! I'll really miss it!

I owned a W210 before this which was brilliant!

I'm a wheelchair user and I am looking at a Vito van. Long story! However, this is the reason for selling my Estate.

Anyway I need a runaround for a couple of months. Under £1000 ideally.

Has to be an estate!

A C Class maybe??

A quick search and ....???

Mercedes-Benz E320 CDI | eBay

Mercedes-Benz E Class 2.1 E220 CDI Avantgarde 5dr

MERCEDES C 200 CDI AVANTGARE SE AUTO ESTATE 56 REG MOT JAN 2018 | eBay

Any help would be really appreciated!

Thanks,
David
 
I was going to suggest a W211 Eclass of around 03/05 age but you have one you're selling?
 
One of these --- Skoda superb estate
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There's a fairly nice E430 W210 estate on Ebay at the moment :)
 
If you want cheap , and only as a stopgap , then S210 is hard to beat .

S203 at a push , but less roomy , and the one I had was a money pit .

Passat or Audi estates can also be picked up cheaply .

Each individual car has to be looked on its merits .
 
Maybe go for petrol to minimise repair bills
 
You won't find an early model Skoda Superb estate for anywhere near £1000, unless it's in bits.
 
What about an older Japanese estate? Petrol ones should be cheap and unloved, and they are pretty reliable makes. E.g. Toyota Avensis.
 
Older Japanese cars are pretty unreliable - hence the scrapyards are full of them .

They tend to do well for the first few years , then they just fall apart - which is what the makers want so you go out and buy another one .

You just don't see Jap stuff beyond about 10 YO on the roads , unlike MB , VW etc which are or at least were built to last .
 
Hi all,

I'm just selling my 2005 E320cdi Advantgarde Estate. Absolutely love it. Can't fault it. Best car I've ever owned! I'll really miss it!

I owned a W210 before this which was brilliant!

I'm a wheelchair user and I am looking at a Vito van. Long story! However, this is the reason for selling my Estate.

Anyway I need a runaround for a couple of months. Under £1000 ideally.

Has to be an estate!

A C Class maybe??

A quick search and ....???

Mercedes-Benz E320 CDI | eBay

Mercedes-Benz E Class 2.1 E220 CDI Avantgarde 5dr

MERCEDES C 200 CDI AVANTGARE SE AUTO ESTATE 56 REG MOT JAN 2018 | eBay

Any help would be really appreciated!

Thanks,
David

Sorry if this sounds like a dim question, but why spend extra buying a different car that you don't know for a short time instead of just keeping the one you already have and you know well for a couple of months longer?
 
Older Japanese cars are pretty unreliable - hence the scrapyards are full of them .

They tend to do well for the first few years , then they just fall apart - which is what the makers want so you go out and buy another one .

You just don't see Jap stuff beyond about 10 YO on the roads , unlike MB , VW etc which are or at least were built to last .

I agree, despite their terrible rust reputation the W210 / S210 is one of the most common 15-year-old-plus cars on the road, and there are still hundreds of W124 / W201s out there :)

I'd take exception to anything by the VW group with a V5 / V6 engine though - they're an expensive heap of trouble so should be avoided, and B5 Passats are '100% reliable' except for the £££££ which you need to spend on new ecus, etc because they get water damaged :rolleyes:
 
Sorry if this sounds like a dim question, but why spend extra buying a different car that you don't know for a short time instead of just keeping the one you already have and you know well for a couple of months longer?

No such thing as a silly question! Asked many in my day!

To be able to afford a Wheelchair Acessible Van (WAV) I need to have about £4000 as an upfront payment.
 
So folks!!

No pointers towards anything??

Has to be an estate as wheelchair needs to fit in easily with dogs and assorted "stuff"!!
 
Just had another thought for a non-Merc:
Citroen Xsara Picasso 2.0i 16v auto Exclusive - 2003 03 | eBay

Lots of room for wheelchairs, auto (in case you need it), quite lively for an easter egg, and they're 100% reliable unless the auto-box electronics play up. So ideal for short term, but definitely not for long term use.

Or, the bargain of the year perhaps, though not an estate? MERCEDES-BENZ E200 AUTOMATIC M REG 1 YEARS MOT CLASSIC | eBay

Or the same, as an estate? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCEDES-...-HISTORY-LONG-MOT-7-SEAT-OPTION-/253009501867

Or, a nice cheap W210 with full service history:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercedes-...Seater-Full-S-History-MOT-End17-/292199728379

Basically, do an ebay search for mercedes benz e and you'll pull up more cheap W124 / W210 / S210s than you could shake a stick at. My own personal fave is the E430, but that's because I fancy a v8 ;)

BTW Ebay e320 you listed above may be a good bargain too if nobody bids on it, Autotrader one you found is a lovely colour but looks rough and the c class you listed hasn't reached it's reserve so may not be the bargain it seems to be.
 
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Some more ideas to consider / discuss:
Vauxhall Omega
Volvo V70 (or the older 740/940)
Ford Mondeo (not many old ones left though)
Saab 9-5
Audi A4
Honda Accord
VW Passat
Peugeot 406
BMW 5-Series

Autotrader has sub-£1k examples of all of these. I searched petrol only, following Calvins's thinking - plus these cars are 15 years old and petrol was still a motor of choice for luxury estates back then.

The Volvos appear to be particularly common and seem a lot of quality car for £1k. Derek's point about the lack of Japanese cars is bourne out, not many of those showing up.
 
I'd say avoid Passats / BMWs at that price range - they're bound to be knackered old nails or B5 platform vw / audis, which aren't as good as their reputation suggests.

People seem to love Saab 9-5s so that'd be a good choice for non-Mercs, Pug 406s are tough but worthless, and V70s are good as long as they're well-serviced and not late-model ex-police; the later 'tendered' servicing was done by the lowest bidder, so they're not as well maintained as you would expect.
 
Just had another thought for a non-Merc:
Citroen Xsara Picasso 2.0i 16v auto Exclusive - 2003 03 | eBay

Lots of room for wheelchairs, auto (in case you need it), quite lively for an easter egg, and they're 100% reliable unless the auto-box electronics play up. So ideal for short term, but definitely not for long term use.

I'd give a Xsara Picasso a very wide berth - 07 to 09 plate cars are not uncommon in scrapyards as they are unreliable junk even with a manual gearbox.


Some more ideas to consider / discuss:
Vauxhall Omega
Volvo V70 (or the older 740/940)
Ford Mondeo (not many old ones left though)....

Vauxhall Omegas are also now few and far between. If the budget is under a grand, I'd be looking at a well-cared for 1995 - 02 Vectra with low-ish miles.

A Mondeo would be a good possibility as would a Focus / Astra estate if they are big enough for the OP's requirements.
 
I'd give a Xsara Picasso a very wide berth - 07 to 09 plate cars are not uncommon in scrapyards as they are unreliable junk even with a manual gearbox.

That's probably down to the car-killing monkeys Citroen employ in their servicing depts. If you find one which hasn't got a full dealer service history they're v reliable ;) OTOH they're worth so little any old fault can send them to the scrapyard as beyond economic repair, so £1000 is severely overpriced.

Vectras don't have a very good reputation so they'd be one to avoid IMO. Omegas would be good, but you'd struggle to find a good one and I'd avoid diesel Astras / Vectras since their engines or injection pumps don't last very long. Don't know enough about Mondeos to comment on them, but you see plenty of diesel Mondeos belching out great plumes of black smoke when they accelerate so maybe go for petrol only?
 
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