Hello - Potential Owner

[A.J.]

I`ve had 3 C class and they were all fine up to a point.
The E offers me so much more in terms of internal passenger space, luggage space and ride comfort.
Paul has been all over the place with his requirements and he needs to define what suits his needs for now and the forseeable future.

In my view that means a late (09?)facelifted w211 E class estate Automatic,with a 220 cdi engine and a full service history with not more than 3 previous owners. He should use a trusted Indy to advise him on the particular vehicle.
Just my view and I will now retire from participating in the discussion,but I do look forward to learning what he has bought.

Regards
John

Of course an E is far roomier to accommodate a young family, its horses for courses

 

[Paul Beer]

Paul, you're in Brum. Mercland Nuneaton is not far from you, it might be worth giving them a call and see if they've had anything in on tradein, or can help you find one.

I visited a few weeks ago to see a car and figuring I could have that kind of discussion. Was a bit of a fail on all counts!

Maybe a call would have more success though.

 

[Paul Beer]

In my view that means a late (09?)facelifted w211 E class estate Automatic,with a 220 cdi engine

This may be me being naïve, but I have no idea what I'd use the space for in an Estate.

220 CDIs seem about the same price as the bigger engines, with tax and MPG pretty close too - I'd rather get the bigger engine and enjoy the effortless cruising - unless I'm missing something?

 

[Paul Beer]

I've seen this lovely example:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201609157790422

One problem: Last serviced on 16/04/2013 at 26,049 miles
3 owners, so presumably the last owner just didn't get it serviced for 3 years (or did it themselves) - it has sailed through MOTs though. I was hoping to get some more details from the vendor but by the time they called me back I was busy...

Would a full service now make up for it or best just to walk away?

I'm trying to figure out if it's worth heading north tomorrow and looking at this and another or head down south and look at some others.

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Looks interesting:

16k between services won't bother that engine but do have a good listen to it on start-up etc

Does the car have a better side, I'd want to see a couple of decent photos of the nearside before I travelled

Other than that looks good

 

[Paul Beer]

Having checked a few of their cars they all seem to only be photographed on one side - I'll give them a call before setting out and double check.

Forgot to mention it was a P/X against a car they sold - no idea whether that makes them more open to a deal or not!

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

They are quite a big dealer with about 90 cars for sale and they look quite well selected which is a positive.

No mention of warranty but I would expect to see 3 months with it and it looks due a major service including gearbox oil and filter which should have been done at 37k

If it's due discs and pads this will be a big service £700+ if they won't budge on price insist they do the service

Other than that and seeing a couple of photos of the nearside I'd travel but ask the above questions on the phone before you travel the 250 miles to view

Good luck

 

[Paul Beer]

A very productive phone call... saved several hours in the car for no reason!

Garage is the used sales part of a BMW main dealer, this came in as trade in.

Car is not available to test drive yet, as it hasn't been through the workshop. Salesman is going to give me a quick video of the car so I can see the condition.

Owner had an indepedent do annual oil and filter changes and had MB services done on mileage. Next service was due at 41,000 miles so now a little over. They will carry out service before sale and give it BMW main dealer stamp - not sure how much of a plus this is?

3 months warranty as standard, extendable up to 3 years (£511) - getting the details sent over so I can evaluate whether it's worth the paper it's written on!

Dealer very keen to take a deposit from me...

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

The real issue here is that the gearbox should be serviced which was due 37k miles so make sure they do that

Other than that the video will be useful and yes they all want a deposit but it will be refundable so it might be worth doing that as I did with mine as it's a long way to travel to be disappointed

 

[Paul Beer]

The warranty states that:
Any Mechanical Breakdown resulting from Wear and Tear is specifically excluded under this cover level.

Is it paranoid to think that the warranty people would classify everything as wear and tear?

 

[jp williams]

The warranty states that:
Any Mechanical Breakdown resulting from Wear and Tear is specifically excluded under this cover level.

Is it paranoid to think that the warranty people would classify everything as wear and tear?

The Warranty will not be worth a bean and it is wholly irrelevant!

You receive a Statutory Warranty covering any significant matter which arises in the first 6 months of your ownership when you buy from a Trader.
You do not have to prove anything as the law is that the matter was in existence at the point of sale, unless the Trader can prove that it wasn`t.

Research honestjohn.co.uk for the many cases which have arisen and for the details of your rights.

Regards
John

 

[Paul Beer]

The Warranty will not be worth a bean and it is wholly irrelevant!

That's how I generally feel about them, just wondered if that wasn't the case as 3 years decent warranty would be quite nice.

 

[Paul Beer]

Video is here if anyone interested:
https://video.citnow.com/vt3xqLjCHcr

Car itself is saying service B due in 15k miles, so unsure whether it's just been serviced, or maybe the indicator has been reset?

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Depends how many miles you are planning to do, if say 5k miles a year you have a reasonable claim against the warranty conversely if you are covering 10-15k miles a year they won't be as receptive.

The 211 is a very reliable car I wouldn't bother with the warranty and self insure, put the £500 away in the bank you probably won't need it.

 

[Paul Beer]

Any thoughts on this one:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201608257117866

It's an Elegance but has sports suspension and nice nappa seats, which remove my main reservations. Other than cosmetics I think it's just the headlights worse than the Avantgarde, and brakes worse than the sport?

On the plus side it has great spec (inc folding rear seats), 1 owner, annual services at MB (last in july - presumably on trade in), clean MOT history.

 

[Paul Beer]

Off to see the above tomorrow, have actually come around to the less sporty look.

In case anyone (everyone?) is wondering about the car from last weekend - it turns out it didn't have isofix (standard on all but the sport where it was a no cost option), which made it a non starter.

Had a mixed bag of a day today too - went to see a 70k miles, 1 owner, FSH example nearby, only to find it had 2 owners, the 2nd of which bought it last year and had covered 50k of the miles - which explained why it felt a bit ropey.

Stopped of to pick a present up for the wife at a shop on the station of a heritage railway - which was running a diesel DMU today, rather than the far more interesting steam locos.

Finally took a trip to Mercland and took a look at some C classes, which actually impressed me, so may add them to the list if tomorrow doesn't work out.

Also enjoyed having the roof down and cruising through the countryside - something that will definitely be missed!

 

[JBell]

In case anyone (everyone?) is wondering about the car from last weekend - it turns out it didn't have isofix (standard on all but the sport where it was a no cost option), which made it a non starter.

On the W203 you can add it easily, it is just 2 bars that bolt to the chassis, it may be the same on the W211

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

To my knowledge all cars manufactured >2006 are equipped with isofix fixing points even if the isofix bar itself was not fitted at the time of build. As J Bell, the isofix bar is held in place by two bolts, I retrofitted one to my 2008 Focus sourced on eBay without any problems

 

[Paul Beer]

Thanks guys - didn't realise that, something to consider at least.