Merc C180 - What to Look Out For?

rickyjb

Will be test driving this car http://www.carzone.ie/search/Mercedes-Benz/C-Class/C180-K-S/201131203760373/advert?channel=CARS on someone else's behalf tomorrow and just wondering is there anything in particular I should watch out for while checking or driving it?

Some advice from merc owners would be much appreciated, thanks in advance.

E39MSport

An Octy

rickyjb

E39MSport wrote: »

An Octy

Thanks for that very helpful suggestion, I will indeed be sure to watch out for skoda octavia drivers...:rolleyes: (I presume that's what you meant)

Anyone have some real advice?

Does 9k seem like a lot for an 8 year old C class even if the mileage is low?

swhyte027

Seen as I work on these daily il give some real advice.check the mileage on it.this priticular engine requires the time chain to be done between 80k and 100k also the ball joints give plenty of trouble,other common problems are corroded brake lines.apart from that a nice car all the same.but do budget for the chain and tensioner as its garenteed to go .any other questions just ask cheers

E39MSport

Chill Winstawnnn

heate

the coupe was and always will be regarded as a terrible heap of junk - that's an opinion though! The milage is low and the spec is quite high for a base model.

And the facts - The price is outlandish €8950 and a manual Mercedes is not a Mercedes

If that kind of money is being spent on an 8y/o MB a CLK200 Auto with leather is the only MB coupe that should be considered.

daRobot

Jesus, that car is barely worth half that price. You'd be absolutely crazy to pay anything near that for it.

rickyjb

heate wrote: »

the coupe was and always will be regarded as a terrible heap of junk - that's an opinion though! The milage is low and the spec is quite high for a base model.

And the facts - The price is outlandish €8950 and a manual Mercedes is not a Mercedes

If that kind of money is being spent on an 8y/o MB a CLK200 Auto with leather is the only MB coupe that should be considered.

daRobot wrote: »

Jesus, that car is barely worth half that price. You'd be absolutely crazy to pay anything near that for it.

As I mentioned, looking at it on somebody else's behalf...

I agree with the above comments and if it was my money I could think of much better things to spend it on but a quick search on car zone shows that this does appear to be the going rate for '04 C classes.

rickyjb

swhyte027 wrote: »

Seen as I work on these daily il give some real advice.check the mileage on it.this priticular engine requires the time chain to be done between 80k and 100k also the ball joints give plenty of trouble,other common problems are corroded brake lines.apart from that a nice car all the same.but do budget for the chain and tensioner as its garenteed to go .any other questions just ask cheers

Thanks for the advice swhyte, is that 80,000 miles or kilometers you mean for the timing chain replacement? If miles then it's a long way off. How would you recognise if the ball joints were going, steering creaking/grinding when turning or accelarating?

Anything particular to look out for besides rust in a car that's 8 years old but has very low mileage? Thanks again for your input btw, much appreciated.

rickyjb

heate wrote: »

the coupe was and always will be regarded as a terrible heap of junk - that's an opinion though! The milage is low and the spec is quite high for a base model.

And the facts - The price is outlandish €8950 and a manual Mercedes is not a Mercedes

If that kind of money is being spent on an 8y/o MB a CLK200 Auto with leather is the only MB coupe that should be considered.

Something like this one maybe? http://www.carzone.ie/search/Mercedes-Benz/CLK-Class/CLK200-K/201151206221947/advert?channel=CARS

T-Maxx

swhyte027 wrote: »

Seen as I work on these daily il give some real advice.check the mileage on it.this priticular engine requires the time chain to be done between 80k and 100k also the ball joints give plenty of trouble,other common problems are corroded brake lines.apart from that a nice car all the same.but do budget for the chain and tensioner as its garenteed to go .any other questions just ask cheers

What sort of money would one be looking at for this work at an indy?

coylemj

rickyjb wrote: »

As I mentioned, looking at it on somebody else's behalf...

I agree with the above comments and if it was my money I could think of much better things to spend it on but a quick search on car zone shows that this does appear to be the going rate for '04 C classes.

If you're comparing that coupe to all C180s, I'd confine the comparison to white C180 saloons because the coupe will as difficult to sell, hence you should be paying way below the going price for a similar vintage and spec. C180 saloon.

rickyjb

coylemj wrote: »

If you're comparing that coupe to all C180s, I'd confine the comparison to white C180 saloons because the coupe will as difficult to sell, hence you should be paying way below the going price for a similar vintage and spec. C180 saloon.

That's an excellent point, when I narrowed the search to coupes the dearest was under 6k, albeit they all had more than twice the mileage. I think I need to come up with some alternatives around the same price range.

Mr. Presentable

Check for oil leaking into the wiring loom from the cam magnets.

coylemj

rickyjb wrote: »

That's an excellent point, when I narrowed the search to coupes the dearest was under 6k, albeit they all had more than twice the mileage. I think I need to come up with some alternatives around the same price range.

I'm not surprised. What you get with the C180 coupe is the front half of a C180 saloon and the rear end of a Mazda 323!

That model you're looking at is obviously early 2004. The SIMI list price in Feb 2004 for the basic C180 saloon was 39,575, the basic C180 Sports Coupe was 36,365 list. Add to that the fact that there is very little demand for the coupe and I'd say you'd need an even bigger gap in price to make it worth buying one.

IMHO you'd be much better off looking at an A3.

heate

Alternatives keeping under 2.0l and €10k
The A3 as mentioned
An A4 cabriolet 1.8t
A 318ci
CLK200

Pick of the bunch? The A4 still looks very elegant and timeless!

rickyjb

coylemj wrote: »

I'm not surprised. What you get with the C180 coupe is the front half of a C180 saloon and the rear end of a Mazda 323!

That model you're looking at is obviously early 2004. The SIMI list price in Feb 2004 for the basic C180 saloon was 39,575, the basic C180 Sports Coupe was 36,365 list. Add to that the fact that there is very little demand for the coupe and I'd say you'd need an even bigger gap in price to make it worth buying one.

IMHO you'd be much better off looking at an A3.

An A3? An A4 would be more similarily sized surely. I'm fairly sure he hasn't even thought about whether he wants a coupe or a saloon, I think he just wants something with a bit of power that looks decent and mistakenly thought the merc had either.

Seems to be decent enough value in A6's around the same vintage, I was thinking of steering him towards one of those. Friend of mine has one around that age and seems happy enough with it.

So for 6-9K a decent enough looking car that's not too slow what would people recommend then?? Something that doesn't require a huge amount of attention preferrably. And not a boxster or z4 or anything crazy now...

rickyjb

heate wrote: »

Alternatives keeping under 2.0l and €10k
The A3 as mentioned
An A4 cabriolet 1.8t
A 318ci
CLK200

Pick of the bunch? The A4 still looks very elegant and timeless!

Didn't see your recommendations before my previous post, I was thinking along the same lines alright. Never liked the look of A4s though so not sure I could recommend one in good conscience. Hadn't thought about them much before but the CLK200 is not bad looking and the kompressor version seems to have a good balance between fuel economy and power.

rickyjb

Friend ended up buying the saloon version of this car today, decent looking car with same mileage for less than the coupe we first looked at. Thanks for the replies.