soon to be merc owner

stevegbr

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Mercedes-Benz C Class w204 C280 sports a
hi

i have been looking at this car,
Mercedes-Benz C Class C180 KOMPRESSOR SE SPORTS 1.8 2dr

i have never owned a mercedes and i thought i would ask you guys, could you give me any info on this car, what to look for when buying one please, its a 2005 and its done 95,000 miles, looks very good and full service history. thanks.
 
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Craiglxviii

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970 Panamera Turbo; W221 S500L AMG Line, C215 CL500, W251 R350L AMG Line, plus several more now gone
Hello and welcome. I've never owned one, but the W203 C Class are pretty highly regarded.
 

Blobcat

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Grange Moor
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R171 SLK280, Smart R451, Land Rover 110 County SW, 997 C2S, R1250 GSA TE 40th, CBR600FP
Hello and welcome, The M271 engine has probably more than it's fair share of issues relating to the simplex cam chain. If it's not been changed then it could be well due for a change as it can stretch and jump a tooth or two are completely ruin the engine.
 

John Laidlaw

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Land Rover Discovery 4
Welcome and as Blobcat says the chain is the worry on these - you don’t mention if it’s saloon, coupe or estate?
 
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stevegbr

stevegbr

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John Laidlaw

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Land Rover Discovery 4
its a coupe john.
What I started off with!
Had a low mileage (26k) for 2 years trouble free
With your miles I’d be looking for evidence of timing chain and or sprocket work otherwise you could be looking at big bills. I’ve heard the simplex chains can be threaded through from the old one otherwise it’s a strip down...
 
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stevegbr

stevegbr

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What I started off with!
Had a low mileage (26k) for 2 years trouble free
With your miles I’d be looking for evidence of timing chain and or sprocket work otherwise you could be looking at big bills. I’ve heard the simplex chains can be threaded through from the old one otherwise it’s a strip down...


thanks for all your advice, think i will walk away from this one.
 

John Laidlaw

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thanks for all your advice, think i will walk away from this one.
Probably wise! There’s a lot of other good Mercs out there so don’t despair! Post up ant you’re looking at and we’ll give you our best honest shot...
 
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stevegbr

stevegbr

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thanks john.
 

Chrishazle

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S204 2008 C220CDI Elegance Estate Auto, 2008 R171 Facelift SLK280
When the 203 first came out, the motoring journos test drove them and the concensus was that the best engine was the c270Cdi - which is why I bought one rather than the C200 I'd first seen at our village garage. Also trim level matters - Classic, Elegance or Avanguard. Classic is very basic and to be avoided, to me Avanguard has too many electrical toys to go wrong and cost money, and Elegance is about right. I had my 2001 S203 c270 for a couple of years and intended keeping it - until the current S204 Elegance appeared on the forecourt of our local MB main dealer at a price I could not ignore!

While I had the 203 I had a few problems - MAF failure (no kickdown, would not rev above 3K, fixed under warranty), front suspension bushes (clunks hitting small potholes etc) and thermostat failure (heater useless, engine temp never over 60C). Thermostat change was about £150, front suspension sort-out quite a bit more as you cannot buy just the ARB centre bush, have to buy the ARB as the bush is bonded on, plus there were rose joints etc to be changed.
 
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stevegbr

stevegbr

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a lot of info there chris, you really must like mercs.
 

Chrishazle

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S204 2008 C220CDI Elegance Estate Auto, 2008 R171 Facelift SLK280
About 8 years ago I was walking down to the village Post Office and saw the next door small garage had a 2000 S203 C200 Classic for sale for £6k, which I thought was a lot of car for not a lot of money. Did the required internet research and found a 2001 S203 C270Cdi Elegance (low mileage, 1 owner, full MB service history) for the same money, bought it and loved it. Saw the 204 when it came out, liked the interior more than the 203 so was waiting for second hand ones to get down to my price. Saw current S204 on the forecourt while local MB main dealer was swopping my winter wheels back to summer (close to 4 years old, 1 owner, supplied and serviced by same main dealer, low mileage 46k and full MB service history), when I saw the spec I expected a price £19Kish - £15450!! Cost to swop was acceptable, she's been ours for 6 years now and have no intention of changing. Best move was changing the original 16" wheels (on Contisports) for 17" on Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetrics - car is so much better as a result. Current mileage just shy of 100k, only routine maintenance bills so far (touch wood!).
 

LostKiwi

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'93 500SL-32, '01 W210 Estate E240 (RIP), 02 R230 SL500, 04 Smart Roadster Coupe, 11 R350CDi
I briefly had a w203 C180. Bought off a forum member who advertised is alloy wheels for sale, free car included!
It cost me £250 and had 250k miles. I ran it for 3 months and replaced a wheel bearing and parking brake shoes. After we gave it a thorough clean it was actually remarkably pleasant to be in and far better than the £250 price tag would suggest. After 3 months we gave it to daughter who ran it for another three months before deciding it was too thirsty and sold it on for £300.
I was really pleasantly surprised by the car. Far better to drive than expected and more refined too.
 
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stevegbr

stevegbr

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i am going to look at another one tomorrow, here is the description

.IN EXCELLENT CONDITION FOR AGE AND MILEAGE, HUGE SPEC WITH OVER £7,000 WORTH OF MERCEDES-BENZ OPTIONAL EXTRAS, INCLUDING AMG SPORTS STYLING PACKAGE, LOOKS FANTASTIC WITH THIS FACTORY AMG PACKAGE, NEARLY NEW MATCHING TYRES FITTED ALL ROUND, FULL SERVICE HISTORY PLUS BOOK PACK AND ALL MANUALS, 2 KEYS, 3 months warranty, Next MOT due 05/07/2019, Full dealership history, Excellent bodywork, Black Full leather interior - Excellent Condition, Tyre condition Excellent, Black, 5+ owners, it has 70,000 on the clock.
 
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stevegbr

stevegbr

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looked at the car today, looked really nice, started the engine with no noise, all went well till i tried to fold the door mirrors in, found they are fixed, so would not fit my garage, it would go in but opening the door would be difficult. back to looking.
 
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