Choosing my new Mercedes

[Scoob]

Hi all,

@ st4: yeah, I'm rather excited!

@ Ductman: Not sure if it's got that, it has that folding box thing stored over the space saver, and it has the extra fixture points. Didn't see what you describe though. I've always kept an old, but quality, thick blanket in the rear of my cars to ensure no marking when carrying pointy stuff. This was mostly when I was carrying the bikes, as I don't like hanging them out the back on a cycle rack.

Little update...

Have had a bit of a night mare this morning. Everything sorted, just needed to do the final wire transfer of the outstanding amount. Easy enough in this age of on-line banking right? NOPE! Blemmin Barclays have applied a new "anti-fraud" £10k daily limit. So, despite pre-authorisation using their own security device (like you have to do now) it still rejected the transaction!

I called their help line, was bounced around three times being told they could help me. However the final guy said simply "You can't do that, there's a 10k daily limit!". Seems this limit is random, to a degree. I get why they do this, fairly prudent in general, but for an authorised transaction (as ALL have to be now) it's a pain.

In the end, I simply popped to the bank and they sorted it with ease. The added frustration of course is that if the paperwork from the dealer hadn't been late, I'd have had more wiggle room, and felt less pressure, to get it sorted.

Anyway, all done now. Been told I might get a call from the bank to verify the transaction by 4pm, though that was only a "might".

Today was supposed to be a total chilling out day (had a bad past few days) and I had to cancel my Pool & hot tub session with friends. Ah well.

Hope the weather is better for my Thursday collection of the car, ****** miserable here at the moment!

Scoob.

 

[Ductman]

No it's not Tesco fold up box below the floor. It is a flexible plastic tray, for want of a better description, that is shaped to fit in the load bay over the entire carpeted area. Great for muddy boots, bikes or any other crud covered paraphernalia you can think of. Worth it in my view.

 

[Ductman]

That's odd. An accidental double post as I didn't think the first one worked and now I can't seem to see an edit button so I can remove the second one.

 

[Scoob]

Don't think I've got that then. Still, there were no mats in the car either but I know I'm getting those. Might be something to consider, when I sell the hide of the person who just tried to put muddy boots in my car...

Scoob.

 

[Rotorhead500]

Moulded boot tray is useful - got one in C-Class, had one in Octy Scout. If they don't throw one in, there's some tidy ones for sensible money on Amazon / Fleabay.

And don't get me started on Barclays.....! :evil:

But a good heads-up, ta!

PS Mercedes insurance came up at three times more than most likely company I'll go with!

 

[Scoob]

@ Rotorhead500: I might keep an eye out for one, or ask the dealer...they sorta owe me for dropping the ball a couple of times.

Re: Insurance, actually Merc is a little expensive as what they quoted was for just the Merc at £700-odd a year, yet I've been quoted for the Merc AND my modified (all declared) Impreza for about the same price. I've seen worse, so Merc's own insurance is fairly middle of the road it seems. I am old though, 21 for the 21st time lol. Plus my postcode is considered fairly ok.

Just debating with myself what to do with my other cars really. The Focus is a great little run around, one of those cars that goes great, but is old enough that the odd little scratch and ding it may pick up while parked doesn't worry me. As a result I'm happy parking it on the street if going out, or in a pub car park.

The Impreza I've had since new in 1999 - it's the RB5 limited edition and I never thought I'd get rid of it. However, it doesn't get driven much and, since a back injury, isn't very kind to me. Being a classic it's light, so despite just having 280bhp and 280ft.lbs, it goes like a rocket, having been tuned and modded for low-down and mid-range response. lt handles very nicely too.

I wonder if the Merc will be my first "one car" to satisfy all my needs in 14 years? The C350 should hustle along nicely, when I choose to do so. It also has a lot of mechanical grip, if not the chuckability of the Scoob. Nor will it be quite so quick technically, though in real day-to-day terms there's likely less in it than you'd imagine.

I have options to mothball and store either car - short-term it'll be the Focus while I look for a buyer / give it to family. Maybe if I do sell the Focus, I should store the Impreza - though that begs the question, what for? It might go up in value one day, being a limited edition, but Impreza's a ten a penny these days.

I don't think I'm having buyer remorse at all with the Merc purchase, though I am wondering if having three cars at once is a little silly.

Pondering...

Scoob.

 

[Ductman]

No, no, no, never silly to have three cars. My Scooby was a 3.0 Rn Outback which I loved, despite the fact it had terrible fuel consumption from the petrol flat 6. At the time, I also had a Merc CLK 320 and my Lotus Elise SC and decided I needed to rationalise by replacing both the CLK and Outback with the C350 estate but keeping the Lotus. Trouble was, I then did something daft and bought an SL 420, so was straight back up to 3 cars.
Don't regret it, although I do miss the Scooby and the CLK still. Outback was great for parking in tight places due to the plastic guards down both sides and I never needed to worry about it.
I will admit that apart from the C350, I probably don't drive the other two nearly enough. I put that down to the crap weather though! Still wouldn't stop me buying another car if I had space.

 

[Scoob]

Heh, I see you get it Ductman I've regularly had three cars over the years, the Impreza as my main fun car since '99, a Mazda 323 / Audi A4 / Ford Focus as the run around over those same years, as well as a BMW 3 Series soft top and a Nissan Navarra picup truck. All entertaining in their own ways.

However, I don't want to eat into the garden any more to park another car - so one will go, even though I'd happily keep them all.

I think I need to drive the Merc for a while and see how it fits into my needs. It'll be an epic tourer for sure, and an easy to drive (if not so economical) run about, but will it satisfy my sporty needs? We shall see!

Scoob.

 

[Rotorhead500]

Nah, I've will have three cars as of tomorrow - although I really do need to sell the C-Class, as the CLS is supposed to take its place.....

The MINI Cooper SD may have to go, as I'm just not using it enough - it is a hoot though (and only £30 to tax, and does almost 50mpg almost regardless of how you drive it!).

I do miss my Scooby though - had an 06 Spec D PPP..... fantastic car. Yes, interior could have been a little more... touchy-feely, but bullet-proof and like a limpet! Unfortunately, helicopters and advancing years means Scoobies must remain a fond memory!!!

 

[Scoob]

Yeah, Scoobs are great. I still love mine, just don't get to drive it like I used to. Maybe that will change, but we shall see.

Picking my car up tomorrow! One minor issue though potentially. The heavy rain has damaged and washed away the edge of the road where our driveway meets it. Our drive is higher than the road, so has a steep-ish ramp of tar-mac going down to it. However, where the road has washed away there's a dip so even my quite high-up Focus scuffed its front scuff guard thingy this morning. I'm a little concerns about the Merc!

Scoob.

 

[Rotorhead500]

T minus 2hrs!!!

 

[Ductman]

Must still be out enjoying the new purchase!

 

[Scoob]

Hey guys,

Got back a little while ago, only to have a friend call and chat for an hour! A long day today (6am start) but I got my car! Happy happy.

All started at 07:30 this morning when my friend collected me. We then drove back to his house (Aylesbury) had a cuppa, booked a taxi, and got dropped off at the train station. Into London, quick change to tube, and out to Colindale where the dealership resides.

Handover was smooth-ish, I might divulge details later, but not right now, but all-in-all good.

Still getting used to things of course, but had an efforless cruise back from London, stopping for lunch on the way. Let mate who was accompanying me drive for a bit too, which he loved. Got back to his house in Aylesbury, stopped there for a bit.

For my return journey (Oxford, 20 miles or so) I decided to reset the MPG counter etc. so I could see how the car got on. Getting out of a residential area (20 zones, speed bumps) saw an average of 35 mpg initially. Once I got onto a better road, so proper 30's, 40's, 50's a little stretch of 60, then recyle around again - very mixed driving - the mpg improved. Getting back into my part of Oxfordshire, again villages, speed bumps, slow travel and steep hills before arriving home I didn't really see 60mph again.

Despite this mixed driving, that little trip from Aylesbury saw the car reporting an average MPG of 47.1! I was pottering, but I'm pretty impressed by that! Eco mode all the time of course (gearbox) but the Eco engine cut thing was off.

Pretty shattered now, so will likely sign off for the night, though I'll be sure to comment more tomorrow.

Oh, one minor possible issue. On the way back the heavens opened so we were driving in pretty heavy rain. Auto wipers and lights worked perfectly so I was impressed. Anyway, after parking the car up (no rain at the time) I noticed the inside of both headlights was slightly misted up along the bottom. This would usually mean some sort of broken seal for the light, but I could see nothing and both lights were like this. I will mention to dealer, but is this at all usual?

Cheers,

Scoob.

 

[whitenemesis]

Misted headlights is not unusual and MB don't see it as a fault. Don't worry enjoy the car

 

[Scoob]

Misted headlights is not unusual and MB don't see it as a fault. Don't worry enjoy the car

Cool. I will still mention it so it's on record just in case.

I also noticed that the passenger side airbag off warning light comes on when starting the car. Manual suggests this happens when a child seat with the proper transponder is fitted. Light goes out once moving, but stays on past normal ignition "all watning lights illuminated" stage.

Need to study the manual really...bit sleepy now!

Scoob.

 

[Corned]

Anyway, after parking the car up (no rain at the time) I noticed the inside of both headlights was slightly misted up along the bottom. This would usually mean some sort of broken seal for the light, but I could see nothing and both lights were like this. I will mention to dealer...

It may be worth taking a quick peek under the bonnet to make sure the covers on the back of the headlamp units are properly and securely in place.

For the sake of five minutes...

Other than that - enjoy your new motor!

 

[Ductman]

Glad you are enjoying the car. Wouldn't worry about the headlamp covers misting slightly. Mine has done that from new, which is normal according to MB Brooklands.
My passenger airbag light does the same, as it did in my old CLK, but goes out soon after, so all sounds normal to me.
Enjoy the next few days of the promised decent weather.

 

[Scoob]

Cheers Ductman

Yes, looking forward to the weekend and having a proper play over the weekend. Sorta busy tomorrow, but I may have a little drive.

Going to pop some V-Power in it methinks - I love how the sat nav shows Shell stations

Scoob.

 

[Rotorhead500]

If its any consolation, Jaguar Cars hold the same belief re misting / condensation. Had teams on it for hours with our suppliers, even looking at anti-mist coatings being applied during production of the lenses.

Suffice it to say, breather holes were repositioned on later model years and that was that! (A few years ago this was).

 

[Scoob]

Ok guys, that's me done for the evening. Really quite shattered from today, it's been epic though. Road trip with good mate to pick up a new car, followed by excessive amounts of food in a pub on the way back. Excellent

Catch you all tomorrow.

Scoob.