Introductions etc

[SamNotts]

Good day, folks. Sam from Nottingham here. I'm looking to purchase my first Mercedes and have tried to read as much as I can on this brilliant forum. My top budget is £2,500 and I'm looking for a C Class saloon preferably 2005 onwards.

As I say I've read so much on this forum and looking at various posts about rust, repairs and maintenance I am starting to feel that I risk purchasing a lemon with the sort of budget I have. It's a struggle between my heart and head at the moment; I've been on auto trader and there are some good deals to be had for the usual Vauxhalls, Fords etc, but I'm totally in love with the MB brand.

I'd be very grateful for advice on things to look out for with the C Class models when I book test drives. Ideally, I'll be grateful if someone could recommend an experienced forum member in Nottingham or East Midlands who knows MBs inside out and might be willing to give an opinion on cars I see in this neck of the woods. Any help at all would be gratefully accepted

Thanks

 

[A.J.]

Hi Sam, good luck with your search and welcome to the forum

 

[DREAMER NO2]

Sam Welcome to the forum . Reading up on them is a good idea .But do remember , all cars have problems from time to time as you know. This is the place to talk to other members who own the C class model that your looking for. Good luck finding one. . .And it is a good idea like you say ,to ask a local member close to you , who may look it over for you first

 

[SamNotts]

Profound apologies if links from Gumtree aren't allowed here but I've found this vehicle in the course of my search: https://www.gumtree.com/p/mercedes-benz/mercedes-benz-clk320-with-full-amg-body-kit/1186438576

The seller is willing to go further down in price and I'll be going to look at it shortly. Am I absolutely crazy for considering it at all given its age and the fact that it is showing signs of rust?

 

[AMGeed]

^ "This ad is no longer available"

You bought it?

 

[Taffy7hfa]

Profound apologies if links from Gumtree aren't allowed here but I've found this vehicle in the course of my search: https://www.gumtree.com/p/mercedes-benz/mercedes-benz-clk320-with-full-amg-body-kit/1186438576

The seller is willing to go further down in price and I'll be going to look at it shortly. Am I absolutely crazy for considering it at all given its age and the fact that it is showing signs of rust?

Aaah...rust shmust its a Merc what could possibly go wrong

 

[SamNotts]

^ "This ad is no longer available"

You bought it?

The ad itself has been pulled as the guy says he contemplated keeping it. But it's still available, and you can see the full details if you scroll down on the page, AMGeed. I've just been to see it and cosmetically, it's in fantastic condition; the interior is impeccable and besides the few spots of rust the exterior is also excellent for a car that age. It drives very well too though I could really do with a second opinion from a forum member in Leicester tomorrow evening as I've told the seller I'll be back to pick to up based on my inspection this evening.

 

[SamNotts]

Here's the blurb from the advert. The seller's happy to accept £1,000 with the Alpine speaker and audio unit included. :


Exceptional 1998 Mercedes-Benz CLK 320 Coupe Elegance. 3.2 V6 Petrol. 5-Speed Auto. 85000 miles. FULL SERVICE HISTORY. 12 MONTHS MOT and all paperwork records.

HIGH SPECIFICATION: Factory fitted FULL AMG Body kit with AMG Wheels. Brilliant Silver. Grey Leather Interior, Air Conditioning, Electric Memory + Multicontour Drivers Seat, FRONT/REAR Parking Sensors, Electric Folding Mirrors, Headlamp Wash, Electric Sunroof, Split-Folding Rear Seats for extra storage in rear. All standard luxuries such as Electric Windows, Cruise Control, Electric Boot Opening, Electric Mirrors Adjustment, Electric Headlamp Levelling, ASR, Air Re-circulation, Front/Rear De-mister, Electric Folding Rear Headrest, Electric Locking/Unlocking etc...

Through my ownership of almost 2 years, car has had new MAF Sensor, Spark Plugs, HT Leads and Coil Pack, all genuine parts, at over £500 bill and service. Car runs sweet and faultless with powerful 220BHP engine and the Mercedes reliable 5-Speed Auto Transmission.

Only noticeable rust on the car is at nearside front wing around the corner (very common in M-Bs late 1990 / early 2000) which is not very bad currently and easily repairable plus a small rust spot on drivers door just above rub strip. Very minimal amount of rust for its age compared to other CLK's currently on sale.

At an extra £100, the car will come with an Alpine 12" Active Subwoofer (pre-installed 700W amplifier) and Alpine 60W x 4 Head Unit + Alpine CD-Changer installed in boot + AnyCar Ai-Net USB/SD Card Module to enable external storage device connectivity (USB etc.) to stereo.

 

[AMGeed]

That has to be worth £1k of anybody's money.
Just check all the electric gizmos work as some can be expensive to put right.

 

[SamNotts]

Great

That has to be worth £1k of anybody's money.
Just check all the electric gizmos work as some can be expensive to put right.

Thanks, AMGeed. As I said I'm a total noob with Mercs so I'm glad to hear my instinct is right in relation to the value of the car despite its age. I played with the electrics and they all seemed to work OK though I'll fiddle with everything once again tomorrow when I collect it...................unless another forum member has further advice that makes me reconsider

 

[V6Matty]

welcome Sam, sounds like you have found a good one there, I'm not around today or tomorrow but if I'd see this earlier I've have popped down to take a look with you.

If you want a good indy in Nottingham then do speak to the guys at MB Centre over near the racecourse, they've looked after my cars for years now and I wouldn't go to anywhere else in Notts, just be aware they are very busy and it's normally a week before they can do work.

 

[Craiglxviii]

Hi Sam and welcome to the forum! As regards your query, this is what I posted to Solvaman who had pretty much the same request and a similar budget to you.

Solva, what exactly is your budget? To be fair if you're looking for a car to fit a budget, you need to define in this order:

1) Acquisition budget.
2) Annual maintenance budget.
3) Monthly running costs budget.
4) Requirements of the vehicle- loadspace, power, comfort, gadgets; what do you need it to do.
5) What age/ wear/ condition you are willing to accept.
6) How reliable do you want it to be (see 2).

Once you know all of that you can then go shopping. Thinking "I need an MB C class estate" can come with a price tag of £500-50000 dependent on what age, grade/ trim, engine size and condition you're willing to accept.

I bought my first Merc for £2400 a year ago next week... and it's cost me £8 in repairs on top of that figure. My learning curve has been- steep shall we say!!!

My point is (and not trying to scare anyone off MBs here, they're ace, mega, amazing cars all round)- they come with a price in either or both time, money and attention. So you'll need to be aware of that.

Answer the questions above and we can I'm sure help you pick some goodies out.

One other point- I would highly recommend Autotrader as a starting point.

 

[SamNotts]

Hi Sam and welcome to the forum! As regards your query, this is what I posted to Solvaman who had pretty much the same request and a similar budget to you.



I bought my first Merc for £2400 a year ago next week... and it's cost me £8 in repairs on top of that figure. My learning curve has been- steep shall we say!!!

My point is (and not trying to scare anyone off MBs here, they're ace, mega, amazing cars all round)- they come with a price in either or both time, money and attention. So you'll need to be aware of that.

Answer the questions above and we can I'm sure help you pick some goodies out.

One other point- I would highly recommend Autotrader as a starting point.

Just £8 in repairs and servicing? That's hardly scaremongering ! I'll take that any day.

 

[SamNotts]

welcome Sam, sounds like you have found a good one there, I'm not around today or tomorrow but if I'd see this earlier I've have popped down to take a look with you.

If you want a good indy in Nottingham then do speak to the guys at MB Centre over near the racecourse, they've looked after my cars for years now and I wouldn't go to anywhere else in Notts, just be aware they are very busy and it's normally a week before they can do work.

Would you by any chance have time on Wednesday, V6Matty? Your help would be deeply appreciated as I'm keen to make sure I'm making the right decision with this purchase. Please let me know if there's any possibility at all. I've spoken with the seller again and he's OK to hold the vehicle for another 24 hours but I can hopefully get him to agree to hold on until Wednesday.

 

[Craiglxviii]

Just £8 in repairs and servicing? That's hardly scaremongering ! I'll take that any day.

My current cost per mile is in the £16 region...

 

[LostKiwi]

There are bargains to be had - you just need to sort the good ones from the dogs. I paid £600 for a nearly rust free E class estate which now owes me a total of £680 ( and there's something to think about - I always budget at least 20% of the purchase price for repairs but the cheaper the car the greater the budget should be so on a sub £1000 car be prepared to spend the same again - if you don't need to then bonus!).

I'm based in Daventry and could possibly take a look tomorrow after work but it will be dark before I can get there which is not the best time of day to be looking!

 

[SamNotts]

As regards the 6 very helpful questions Craiglxvii asked:

1. my top budget is £2,500. Obviously, I accept at the onset that this will require some substantial trade offs such as age, mileage, specs etc and I'm happy to accept those.

2. Money's quite tight with a kid on the way so ideally I'd like to keep the maintenance budget as low as possible; preferably, no more than the cost of an annual servicing for whatever model I find.

3. For monthly running costs, I'm aiming to keep things below £100 mainly on fuel for the roughly 5 miles daily commute to work. I don't live very far from my workplace and can actually cycle when the weather's OK. This cost doesn't include tax and insurance.

4. Requirements: ideally 4/5 doors. Large trunk space and spacious enough for a family of 2 adults and 2 kids. Given that I'm trying to keep running costs down, a 'reasonable' engine size in terms of mpg will be very ideal. Say 30mpg or better city driving which is what the car will be doing mainly.

5. Age: Given the budget I've got I accept that I'm not going to find a newer Mercedes but anything 2002 or newer with service history and catalogue of works carried out on it plus at least 8 months MOT.

6. Reliability is my priority above all. Indeed, I'm willing to compromise on everything else if it means I'm getting a solid car which won't become a money pit in a month after buying it. That's why I'm interested in the 1998 CLK 320 AMG despite its age, massive engine size and rust spots.

Thanks for all your help this far. Very good people on this forum!

 

[SamNotts]

There are bargains to be had - you just need to sort the good ones from the dogs. I paid £600 for a nearly rust free E class estate which now owes me a total of £680 ( and there's something to think about - I always budget at least 20% of the purchase price for repairs but the cheaper the car the greater the budget should be so on a sub £1000 car be prepared to spend the same again - if you don't need to then bonus!).

I'm based in Daventry and could possibly take a look tomorrow after work but it will be dark before I can get there which is not the best time of day to be looking!

That's an idea! It'll be super helpful if it's not too much of an inconvenience checking it out after work, LostKiwii

 

[Craiglxviii]

As regards the 6 very helpful questions Craiglxvii asked:

1. my top budget is £2,500. Obviously, I accept at the onset that this will require some substantial trade offs such as age, mileage, specs etc and I'm happy to accept those. OK we can work with this.

2. Money's quite tight with a kid on the way so ideally I'd like to keep the maintenance budget as low as possible; preferably, no more than the cost of an annual servicing for whatever model I find. But what is the amount that you want to budget for? £100/mth on top of running costs? £50?

3. For monthly running costs, I'm aiming to keep things below £100 mainly on fuel for the roughly 5 miles daily commute to work. I don't live very far from my workplace and can actually cycle when the weather's OK. This cost doesn't include tax and insurance.

4. Requirements: ideally 4/5 doors. Large trunk space and spacious enough for a family of 2 adults and 2 kids. Given that I'm trying to keep running costs down, a 'reasonable' engine size in terms of mpg will be very ideal. Say 30mpg or better city driving which is what the car will be doing mainly. I'd be astonished if you get 30mpg round town with an inline 6 petrol from the 90s!

5. Age: Given the budget I've got I accept that I'm not going to find a newer Mercedes but anything 2002 or newer with service history and catalogue of works carried out on it plus at least 8 months MOT. MB have corrosion issues from 1999-2005 or thereabouts, just to steer you.

6. Reliability is my priority above all. Indeed, I'm willing to compromise on everything else if it means I'm getting a solid car which won't become a money pit in a month after buying it. That's why I'm interested in the 1998 CLK 320 AMG despite its age, massive engine size and rust spots. See my comments below...

Thanks for all your help this far. Very good people on this forum!

Being serious, if cheap running costs and reliability are your king, go and buy a Honda. I don't want to depress but sooner or later you will run into a horrid issue that will cost some serious money. The bigger the engine (in general) the more bells and whistles fitted (averaged) and thus the higher the cost to fix. Take the quoted engine size of the car and figure it as ££, that 320 will have a typical "job" cost of £320... it works on all of my cars.

 

[Craiglxviii]

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...EDES-BENZ&body-type=Estate&radius=1500&page=1

If you are dead set on owning an MB (praise be unto you) then here are some other examples which might prove a better bet for practicality (it's ****** hard getting a baby seat in and out the back of an MB coupe, trust me I know whereof I speak here).

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...DES-BENZ&postcode=ng11aa&price-to=2500&page=1

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...DES-BENZ&postcode=ng11aa&price-to=2500&page=1

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...vertising-location=at_cars&radius=1500&page=2

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...n=at_cars&body-type=Estate&radius=1500&page=2