Which W202?

[Jukie]

Jukie's mother has a 202 turbo diesel, I forget the engine size . It has sports suspension and is a VERY nice car. Zip when you need it and economy when you want it. The ride is quite nice too. What am I doing? Talking good about an oil burner. Nurse............

There, there, Sir Walker, you must have been working too hard!! Just relax.....!!


Mum's got a C220CDi and Ian's driven it . I love it, always enjoy the opportunity to drive it and would happily have another W202 myself (my 1st Benz was a 93 C180). Would endorse the issues that people have mentioned. Well worth keeping a spare set of bulbs handy and definitely make sure the manual key works on the doors and the boot. Mum's is over 130k mileage on a 99 V plate, goes extremely well and has not given us any serious problems.

 

[Will]

W202 prices are all over the place these days, what you want is one of the better ones being sold for money closer to what the rubbish ones go for

Less than a grand gets you behind the wheel of a pre-facelift C180 - C220 saloon these days. Decent spec ones like Sp!ke mentions in his first post will sell for a lot more than you expect.

I would consider a C230K, or possibly a C280 if fuel consumption isn't that much of a factor, a C200 or C250TD if it is (but you'll pay a good few ££££ more for a decent diesel), the V6 240 costs virtually the same to run as the V6 280 (12 spark plugs, slightly thirsty on fuel etc), whilst not offering quite as good performance - worthy of consideration if you come accross a really nice one or a bargain.

Estates are more desirable, hence quite a bit more expensive, and leather is fairly rare to find on these compared to the larger models. Air con is fairly common to find faulty and will cost a reasonable amount to fix.

I wouldn't set the goal posts too narrow on spec, and just try and find the cleanest example you can. A rust free, well maintained car will make far more difference to me than a tatty, leggy car with patchy history or inherited faults from the previous owner.

Just read your first post again - if she's only doing 3K miles a year, fuel will hardly enter the equation, just buy the cleanest and nicest specced one you can - 230K (I4), 280 (I6), 280 (V6), 240 (V6) in roughly that order IMO. If you can accept the fairly frustrating pace of a 180 or 200 petrol, then go for it but be warned that they feel pretty gutless and rough compared to the older MB 4-cylinders ala 124/201 190E etc.

Good luck with the search,

Will

 

[vijilants]

Ive owned a few of these, and I think by far the best if you are looking for a mixture of performance, fuel economy, and reasonable maintenance costs, is the facelift C230K. The engine is bulletproof.

Engine wise they are fairly simple, nothing too complex, and coupled with the sprintbooster, are very quick, with plenty of torque.

Only thing is check the wheelarches , doors and bootlid for rust.

 

[Sp!ke]

Just read your first post again - if she's only doing 3K miles a year, fuel will hardly enter the equation, just buy the cleanest and nicest specced one you can - 230K (I4), 280 (I6), 280 (V6), 240 (V6) in roughly that order IMO. If you can accept the fairly frustrating pace of a 180 or 200 petrol, then go for it but be warned that they feel pretty gutless and rough compared to the older MB 4-cylinders ala 124/201 190E etc.

Well... I must confess, If its any good, I might be finding myself borrowing it






lots

 

[Will]

As Desilva has also said - best all-round engine in the W202 lineup is, IMO, the 230K.

Great performance, cheap servicing (4 plugs instead of 12 on the V6 etc), cheap insurance, cheap to buy. Can't go wrong!

In fact, consider this: they're barely any more to buy than the regular petrols - unlike the diesels which command very strong money (probably 50-100% more!) on average.

They'll do about 140 flat out (if you're that way inclined), so they'll happily cruise on the continent etc, acceleration in traffic is plenty brisk enough (lots of low down torque and a decent MB auto box do very nicely), around 8 seconds 0-60.

Reliability is also very good. In fact, in the 5+ years that I've been a member here, and from observations elsewhere, I've only heard of one serious problem engine-wise. Loads of 202s/208s/170s in breakers now so that's not really an issue these days should the most unlikely ever happen.

Time to get looking

Will

 

[Grahamcol]

Which 202 ?

I have two 202's. One is a 1996 C200 Auto 5 speed (one of the very first 5 speeders) and a 2000 C280 V6, both in Elegance spec. They are both superb cars although the 200 is a tad slow but quite economical. The 280 is pretty nippy, quiet and smooth but rather thirsty, especially in comparison with the 200. Paintwork on the C200 (pre-facelift) is superb and seems much "harder" and more resistant than that on the C280 (post facelift). I guess that's down to the later car's paint being water based. Both of my cars are pretty much rust free. I originally bought the C280 to replace the C200 but I couldn't bring myself to part with the C200, especially as they're selling so cheaply these days. The real test is to ask myself the question "would I purchase another ?" the answer to which is a resounding "yes", they're simply the best cars I have ever had.