Buying a C Class Coupe

[BrizoH]

Hi everyone, first post here - looking for some advice if possible.

My girlfriend and I are possibly buying a C Class Coupe - 04 plate C180K Auto (£8.5k list price with full Merc history, leather interior, 49k miles)

I was wondering if there is anything major I should be looking out for before buying, and if anyone has a link or info with regards to the servicing costs (or anything major that might be upcoming, timing belts etc)

Thanks in advance for any info, hopefully if all goes well we'll get the car and will be posting away here.

Cheers

Brian

 

[Nuclear Bob]

Greetings,

I have had my 2002 C220CDI coupe (manual) for nearly 4 years, and now 164000 miles. Excellent choice so far with very little maintenance requirements other than standard, and up to 55 mpg. Weak points - suspension bushes (esp front), springs liable to break. And - rust on the wheel arches!

Bob

 

[djb]

Hi everyone, first post here - looking for some advice if possible.

My girlfriend and I are possibly buying a C Class Coupe - 04 plate C180K Auto (£8.5k list price with full Merc history, leather interior, 49k miles)

I was wondering if there is anything major I should be looking out for before buying, and if anyone has a link or info with regards to the servicing costs (or anything major that might be upcoming, timing belts etc)

Thanks in advance for any info, hopefully if all goes well we'll get the car and will be posting away here.

Cheers

Brian

welcome to the forum
no timing belt. engine has a chain.
some say change the gear oil, however I was told it was not required. Also had a pair of rear springs under warrenty (coil ends not swaged)

I had a c 200 cdi, small service was about 250 large 450. (MB)
tyres about 100 a corner, fronts wear at outer edges, rears across the middle. (effect of the 5 link suspension apparantley)
loved the car, so good I then bought the clk.

 

[BrizoH]

Thanks for the replies guys, unfortunately someone pipped us to this one but I'll keep looking for a similar example.

The mrs has her heart set on one now after seeing it, but it has to be with the grey/black leather interior - women, eh?

 

[Micman]

Not really anything major that you should watch out for.

In september 2004 the facelifted C-class was available which has a much much better quality interior than the previous versions, from the outside very little appears to have changed at first glance, just subtle styling. I'm pretty sure the C-class coupe had the facelift at the same time, so try to get one of the newer ones.

I would look at the service history to see if the automatic transmission fluid (ATF) has been changed. It is recommended that it is done every 40k miles.

Had mine done at 43k. Merc don't automatically do this as part of the 40k service, it is a recommendation only so check!

Other than that it is really just things you would look out for on any car:

Check the brakes when driving to see if it feels odd or pulls, autos can suffer more from warped discs than manuals.

Check the tyre wear is even - the outer edges on the front tyres do tend to wear more.

Other than that it is about the specification and going for the right colours. Black and Silver Mercs are always the most desirable, whatever the salesman may try to tell you.

Good luck in your search.

 

[coolpot]

yeh as mentioned by someone previosuly, they changed on the 2004 - the other day i saw a 04plate with the older interior so look out for the facelift version, as for the exterior, the main thing that i can tell is the rear lights have a clear section for the indicators, whereas the old version had no clear bit)

I had a 2002, and it did have quite a lot of issues, however after looking into it, alot of mercs had problems between 2000-2003(53)
apparently even the paint on these years was alot thinner, and hence as the previous post, they did suffer rust on arches etc, although mine was done under warrenty, it was only 4years old at the time..but you get a 25 year warrenty on paint so long as it been serviced by merc and the car hasnt been resprayed elsewhere in the past..

MAF sensors are relativly common to fail, i think more so on the diesels..
Brake light switch., common on some mercs,. does anyone know if this is still the case on W203? i know my 2002 apparently didnt have a seperate switch it was built into cylinder or something???

also the 2001> i heard some of them had issues with valve guides in the head, expensive fix, id be interested to know what models or years this effects? as id be interested in avoiding that!, and some autoboxes suffer from getting oil into a wiring loom, anyone know which models that is??

Thanks and sorry for jumping on this thread, but im in same situation so be nice to get a few responses to our question

I will keep an eye on this thread, as i am also going to be looking at getting another one, 54plate or newer..

also inc pic of the two different interiors incase you havent seen yet.. (note the filenames (newint and oldint))

 

[coolpot]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MERCEDES-BENZ...3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66:2|65:7|39:1|240:1318

heres a nice one if you are interested - downsides its 70k on it and a manual...
but take a look at the pics, gorgeous car