2003 C Class Merc Estate

rubberdecky

Anyone have any experience of one of these?
Looking at a 2.2 Diesel Automatic, 95k miles.
Any input welcome
Cheers

cadaliac

What price? Any link to the car? At least we can tell you if it is good value.
The 2.2 diesel is supposed to be a good enough engine AFAIK.
Taken from HJ web site:
"

VITAL TO CHECK GLOW PLUGS OF DIESELS. These have a habit of failing, then break when the garage tries to remove them and rectification if this happens can cost £4,500.

Mobilo 30 year warranty against perforated bodywork states "From the 5th year onwards the car should have been serviced by an authorised Mercedes Benz workshop within the last 2 years prior to the damage being repaired".

Transmission oil cooler of automatics is sited in the radiator matrix, so failure can lead to coolant entering the transmission and destroying it, leaving the owner with a bill of £4k +. Apparently this fault occurred in cars manufactured between 2000 - 2003 and only when a Valeo radiator is fitted. Official VIN numbers of affected cars are: Model 203.040/061/064/065/081/084/261/264/281/284/740/747/764 .Two other well known faults which might cause expensive damage are failure of the oil seals to the wiring looms from the top of the cam cover and to the autobox which is electrically operated. "

rubberdecky

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Mercedes-Benz/C-Class/220-CDi-/201116202060022/advert?channel=CARS

Father in law has an E200 in auto but petrol and it is a lovely car.

rubberdecky

Anyone else have any experience of a C Class estate?

cadaliac

rubberdecky wrote: »

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Mercedes-Benz/C-Class/220-CDi-/201116202060022/advert?channel=CARS

Father in law has an E200 in auto but petrol and it is a lovely car.

Looks clean in the ad. Nice well cared for car I'd say. I would be looking for a few bob off the price too.
Although, they are fetching nice money on dondeal too, well the saloons are at least. Would you not consider an E class with the same 2.1 diesel?

unkel

Looks well, a bit pricey though. What's the story with the NCT?

rubberdecky

cadaliac wrote: »

Looks clean in the ad. Nice well cared for car I'd say. I would be looking for a few bob off the price too.
Although, they are fetching nice money on dondeal too, well the saloons are at least. Would you not consider an E class with the same 2.1 diesel?

Would consider an E class if I could find a decent one.
Will be heading up to see it Saturday morning if i get a chance.
Am trading in an 05 Mondeo though so will be interested to see if they are interested.
No idea on the NCT

rubberdecky

Went to see it weekend before last and wasnt impressed

Found this E class estate instead that I will be having a gander at if I get a chance

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Mercedes-Benz/E-Class/220-CDi-/201121202524257/advert?channel=CARS

coylemj

rubberdecky wrote: »

Went to see it weekend before last and wasnt impressed

Found this E class estate instead that I will be having a gander at if I get a chance

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Mercedes-Benz/E-Class/220-CDi-/201121202524257/advert?channel=CARS

The ad. says the NCT expires in Jan 2013 but the car clearly is later than January with that number (03 C 25632) so I'd double-check the documentation.

Motorcheck.ie says it's an Avantgarde but it's advertised as an Elegance, not a big deal since the specs. are sort of similar but just another discrepancy to be aware of.

Caveat Emptor

rubberdecky

coylemj wrote: »

The ad. says the NCT expires in Jan 2013 but the car clearly is later than January with that number (03 C 25632) so I'd double-check the documentation.

Motorcheck.ie says it's an Avantgarde but it's advertised as an Elegance, not a big deal since the specs. are sort of similar but just another discrepancy to be aware of.

Caveat Emptor

Cheers for that.
Emailed the guy to see if could test drive next week, apparently the mileage is wrong, its 129,000 miles but in 'spectacular' condition.
Still hasnt updated the ad to show the correct mileage.
Will prob still go see (as I am heading down that way anwyays) but am more than dubious now

coylemj

rubberdecky wrote: »

Cheers for that.
Emailed the guy to see if could test drive next week, apparently the mileage is wrong, its 129,000 miles but in 'spectacular' condition.
Still hasnt updated the ad to show the correct mileage.
Will prob still go see (as I am heading down that way anwyays) but am more than dubious now

He's updated the ad. today to show the NCT expires in 11/13 and the mileage is now 129,582 miles.

He doesn't appear to be an SIMI member and I can't find a website for him so I'm guessing that he's just a secondhand dealer in which case I would draw his attention to the 'Car just fully serviced' bullet in the ad. If there's no sign of a workshop when you visit him, ask him where it was serviced and look to see if there's a recent garage stamp in the service booklet. Chances are that someone changed the oil (if even that) and did not much else.

I recently looked at several C and E Mercs so am a bit cynical about some of the claims people made by the indie dealers who advertise in Carzone, sometimes I think you'd be better off buying privately than from an indie because the 'warranty' offered by independent dealers is usually worth zilch. My take on it is that you could save a few hundred buying privately and having done so, you could splash out the money you saved by taking the car straight to a main dealer for a full service.

The reason main dealers don't sell old cars is because the warranty they would need to buy to include with the sale is too expensive. Independent dealers generally don't pay for third party warranties so you are relying on their goodwill to fix faults which comes straight out of their pocket and if you catch them on a bad day they will effectively tell you to F off.

rubberdecky

Aye I see it now, makes a big difference the extra 30k miles and the 14 months off the NCT.
Not sure if there is any reasonable way he could explain the original details being in there and correct.

Pity as it is a nice looking car and if well kept, could have been an option.

"We have been in the motor business for many years and we are nice people to do business with."

You know what they say about self-praise and all that.

Mileage is still not chronic for an 8yo Merc, warranty and NCT status would make me very nervous though.

coylemj

It smacks of the original ad. being doctored with false data so as to get you interested, then before you turn up with all those awkward questions he says that they made a mistake, I would reward him for this tactic by telling him to shove it.

I'm fairly certain the NCT was 11/13 when I read it at about 10:30, it's now 11/11. Next thing the number of previous owners will change from 1 to 3.

rubberdecky

coylemj wrote: »

It smacks of the original ad. being doctored with false data so as to get you interested, then before you turn up with all those awkward questions he says that they made a mistake, I would reward him for this tactic by telling him to shove it.

I'm fairly certain the NCT was 11/13 when I read it at about 10:30, it's now 11/11. Next thing the number of previous owners will change from 1 to 3.

Not even sure how the NCT could be 11/13, thats 2 and a half years!

Am not in a rush to buy and not bothered taking time out of my hols for this kind of nonsense, it is disappointing that 'dealers' feel it necessary to pull these tricks.

Would be looking at private sales except for the fact that I need to trade in my own and can't afford to buy before I sell. As I said, not in a mad rush so will keep looking.

Cheers for the heads up though!

rubberdecky

Just got a mail from himself apologising saying he got the wrong info.
Apparently he will put the car through its next NCT for next owner.
Trouble is (apart from the rest) that I am Dublin based so that and the warranty are worth buttons to me.

cadaliac

rubberdecky wrote: »

Would be looking at private sales except for the fact that I need to trade in my own and can't afford to buy before I sell. As I said, not in a mad rush so will keep looking.

!

Why don't you sell your car privately first....? Is your household a 2 car one or are you dependant on the one car?

rubberdecky

cadaliac wrote: »

Why don't you sell your car privately first....? Is your household a 2 car one or are you dependant on the one car?

Only one car between us and have 7 month old baby so missus needs the car. Would prob take a while to sell the Mondeo as it is although in the next two weeks it should have its NCT and paintwork properly fixed up.

coylemj

You can't even think about trading in an old car for a 99 model, you'll get nothing for your car no matter what notional value is quoted for the trade-in.

Example: I offered a car for a trade-in, guy said he'd give me 9,000. When I asked what kind of a deal he could do without the trade-in he said he'd knock 1,600 off the price i.e. the real trade-in value was only 7,400 so I sold my car privately for 10,750 thereby improving my bargaining position by almost 3,500.

rubberdecky

Cheers for that, that has definitely helped

Dreamer as I am, there are enough reasons now for me to just leave this one be, don't need the hassle.

rubberdecky

coylemj wrote: »

You can't even think about trading in an old car for a 99 model, you'll get nothing for your car no matter what notional value is quoted for the trade-in.

Example: I offered a car for a trade-in, guy said he'd give me 9,000. When I asked what kind of a deal he could do without the trade-in he said he'd knock 1,600 off the price i.e. the real trade-in value was only 7,400 so I sold my car privately for 10,750 thereby improving my bargaining position by almost 3,500.

Presume you mean you sold yours for 1750?

Current car is an 05 Mondeo, too many of the bloody things around.

Might have to wait til later in the summer (after I get back from hols) and try and sell it privately. Mrs parents are in and out of country and we can use their car while they're away, might allow a window of opportunity to flog ours and get replacement without leaving us car-less.

coylemj

rubberdecky wrote: »

Presume you mean you sold yours for 1750?

No, I sold it for 10,750, the numbers I quoted are all correct.

I'm just illustrating the crap deal you get when you trade-in secondhand for secondhand.

The best deal you'll get is to sell privately and buy privately, bearing in mind all the time that when you buy privately you have zero comeback against the seller if something goes wrong and you have to do a bit of research on it's history and pay one of the websites (motorcheck/cartell) to verify that there's no finance outstanding and that it's not an import.

Independent dealers I'm afraid have a very poor reputation based on the stories you read on boards and your experience with that crowd of chancers changing the details on the fly. They must be really desperate to sell that car if they're offering to deliver it anywhere in the country and guaranteeing it will pass the next NCT test which isn't due until next November.

rubberdecky

coylemj wrote: »

No, I sold it for 10,750, the numbers I quoted are all correct.

I'm just illustrating the crap deal you get when you trade-in secondhand for secondhand.

The best deal you'll get is to sell privately and buy privately, bearing in mind all the time that when you buy privately you have zero comeback against the seller if something goes wrong and you have to do a bit of research on it's history and pay one of the websites (motorcheck/cartell) to verify that there's no finance outstanding and that it's not an import.

Independent dealers I'm afraid have a very poor reputation based on the stories you read on boards and your experience with that crowd of chancers changing the details on the fly. They must be really desperate to sell that car if they're offering to deliver it anywhere in the country and guaranteeing it will pass the next NCT test which isn't due until next November.

Sorry man completely read your earlier post all wrong.
Numbers make sense now I have my brain switched on...

Am definitely coming round to the idea of buying private, just might take a bit of work to sell mine practically. Luckily am not in a mad rush

rubberdecky

Seller was in Dub today with car so I took it for a spin
Car in very good nick apart from a few little issues (central locking on one rear door etc)
Brought a mate who knows his cars and he was happy enough
Seller looking for a bit much and giving me a rubbish trade-in
Will have to think a bit more about it tbh