1998 C180 Advice needed

[lauriem]

H i Guys (and gals),

Just looking at buying my first Merc (after 6 BMW's!! ), and have seen a 1998 S plated C180 Esprit Auto at a local dealer.

It has 78k miles, FSH at main dealer up to 63k, and specialist dealer at 72k, so due a service soon.

Good Bits

The car has the auto box, aircon, 16" alloys, no rust, few stonechips, and an unmarked interior. It starts first time, and the oil and coolant are clean.

Bad bits:sad:

One bald tyre, slight blow on exhaust (sounds like from front box), and the heater blower packed in while on road test. Oh and its Magma red .

I beat the dealer up on price, and he has agreed to fix the heater, warranted that the aircon works fine, give it a valet, and fix the exhaust. I agreed to do the tyre (still just legal), and we have agreed £2850.

I am re-visiting the car with a mechanic mate, what should we look for. the car drives very well, there is no smoke, the box is smooth, and the engine bay very clean. What else should we look at. This car seems very cheap, and I always look gift horses in the mouth.

 

[bibamus]

Sounds like a good deal to me at that price, especially if the dealer is going to fix all those bits, will you be getting any sort of warranty with it? Might be worth asking them to MOT it, lower front ball joints wear quite quickly.
I recently bought a 97 C180 Elegance for £3600 with full MOT, MBSH to almost 70k and local specialists to 90K (its now done 95k so due a service soon)
I havent found many issues with it since, but I recently had the MAF changed. One of the springs on the boot lid had come off, easy fix, I also changed the plugs, air and pollen filter and fitted a decent radio/cd player.
Apart from that, the car runs beautifully and looks almost like new.
I have 2 months remaining on the dealers warranty, after that, I may get a years warranty from one of those warranty companies, if I can find / get recommended a good company. Any offers?

Anyway, good luck with the car, sounds a good one.

Allan

 

[jberks]

I may get a years warranty from one of those warranty companies, if I can find / get recommended a good company. Any offers?
Allan

Have a look at http://www.forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=18621&page=4&highlight=warranty+direct

 

[big x]

H i Guys (and gals),

Just looking at buying my first Merc (after 6 BMW's!! ), and have seen a 1998 S plated C180 Esprit Auto at a local dealer.

It has 78k miles, FSH at main dealer up to 63k, and specialist dealer at 72k, so due a service soon.

Good Bits

The car has the auto box, aircon, 16" alloys, no rust, few stonechips, and an unmarked interior. It starts first time, and the oil and coolant are clean.
Bad bits:sad:

One bald tyre, slight blow on exhaust (sounds like from front box), and the heater blower packed in while on road test. Oh and its Magma red .

I beat the dealer up on price, and he has agreed to fix the heater, warranted that the aircon works fine, give it a valet, and fix the exhaust. I agreed to do the tyre (still just legal), and we have agreed £2850.

I am re-visiting the car with a mechanic mate, what should we look for. the car drives very well, there is no smoke, the box is smooth, and the engine bay very clean. What else should we look at. This car seems very cheap, and I always look gift horses in the mouth.

Coming from BMW's weren't you a bit disappointed about the somewhat course nature of the MB 4 cylinder engine and relative lack of go? I was when I changed from an old 525i.
To be honest,for that sort of money I would be looking for a BMW E39 5-series,a far superior drive,creamy smooth IL6
that likes to rev,lower noise levels and less rust ! Or try to pick up a V6 C-class which are great (but out of your price range) or an earylier C280 IL6 which have a great engine.

adam

 

[lauriem]

Hi,

Sorry for late reply, been on holiday in sunny (too hot!) Italy. Still havn't bought the car, which has developed a few other electrical related faults since going in for the heater blower, suspect the ECU/harness has a fault, with a number of engine lights coming on itermittently. The dealer is trying to fix it, but I may well walk away. The Merc is a bit coarse next to the BM, but I still have a 325 convertible which I use for my weekend car!! Plan to use the merc for my 800 mile a week business running around, and fancied something different, and have never owned a Benz.

 

[Ron Palfrey]

Hi, Welcome back to the cold UK!
Don't blame you for having second thoughts. Why buy a car with problems when there are plenty of others without them? Try seller named homefred on eBay. He has a good reputation for selling good Mercs. No I am not on commission, nor do I know him, just of his reputation.
Ron

 

[hawk20]

And don't believe the baloney about beemers, the C180 classic 2002 I had was smooth as silk. It was 2 litres with no Kompressor and all the motoring press praised it. The ride on the Merc is incomparably better than any Beemer. Again virtually all the Press agree on that. Better driving position (lot of Beemers are offset -bad on along run), and much more legroom. I did 25k miles in a 2002 180 classic and loved every trouble free minute of it.