c43 no service history

[mahadeshwar]

Hi Guys,

Found a 1998 C43 with no service history. bad bits are steering wheel discoulured and some of the intrerior and there is a bump on the side of door

it has 8 owners and has done 87,000 miles how much is it worth?

 

[dickyf]

no more than £4k. in some cases you can search the history with mercedes uk as long as you have the VIN no. explain you are in the process of purchasing the car and want to confirm its servicing history, if you are lucky you may find it is fully serviced and you can have the retrospective print outs. worth a punt.

 

[stumpy]

Personally I would run a mile.

 

[simon_wall69]

8 previous owners?

Why do people keep selling the car? As Stumpy says, I would run a mile.

 

[stumpy]

There is a 2 owner FSH car on the trader for 5k. That's where I'd stick my money.

 

[truthfindergeneral]

Service history...is it all really a big con ?
You turn up at a main dealer with one of their motors, average mileage, clean condition but with out the full service history. Salesman will tell you that affects it's trade in value and offers less than you expect. Or, you turn up with high mileage example with full service history, lots of stamps and invoices and Salesman says that it doesn't add much to a vehicle of that mileage and age. So have you wasted your money down the dealers drain by paying their top rate servicing costs ?

 

[stumpy]

Service history...is it all really a big con ?
You turn up at a main dealer with one of their motors, average mileage, clean condition but with out the full service history. Salesman will tell you that affects it's trade in value and offers less than you expect. Or, you turn up with high mileage example with full service history, lots of stamps and invoices and Salesman says that it doesn't add much to a vehicle of that mileage and age. So have you wasted your money down the dealers drain by paying their top rate servicing costs ?

Salesmen are paragons of honesty and virtue of course

A FSH demonstrates to the buyer that someone has at least attempted to care for the car. It also helps verify the mileage, and in the OPs case this would be crucial. An 8 owner car with a lowish mileage (for the year) and no SH only points one way for me. Even he admits that the steering wheel is worn.

Some cars can have many owners but these tend to be playthings bought by people with their bonuses on a whim, before they see sense and get shot. (by the wife) 911s, F cars, etc.

 

[Micman]

Service history...is it all really a big con ?
You turn up at a main dealer with one of their motors, average mileage, clean condition but with out the full service history. Salesman will tell you that affects it's trade in value and offers less than you expect. Or, you turn up with high mileage example with full service history, lots of stamps and invoices and Salesman says that it doesn't add much to a vehicle of that mileage and age. So have you wasted your money down the dealers drain by paying their top rate servicing costs ?

I think it's very important to keep a service history, however I really don't believe that having a full 'main dealer' set of stamps in the service history actually reaps it's rewards when you go for trade in! They still offer you the same pitiful value. Most of them just send your trade in away to the car auction anyhow, pretty rare for them to keep it for their own forecourt.

 

[bigasotonuk]

Hi,
These cars are worth as much as the person wants to pay for it as they don,t normally appear in the common valuation guides, like others have said check with MB UK and see if it appears on the system. Have a look at the number plates and for any main dealer stickers in the rear view mirror you could approach that dealer independantly.
If no history is forthcoming and you still like the car get a full RAC inspection to allay any fears.

 

[MarkCL]

Just a note about the number of owners - this doesn't always mean anything. Mine has had 7 yet there's nothing wrong with it and I have all the history going all the way back to 1st owner. There are a fair number of people out there who buy an AMG just for the sake of owning one - they hang on to it for a year or so then sell and move on to try something else. I'm a bit like that myself - only owned my previous Merc for 8 months before I traded up to the C43. There wasn't anything wrong with my old car, I just wanted a different one

Anyhoo, plenty of helpful advice on here but I'd tend to agree with the suggestion to walk away and pick one up that has a little more history for nothing else other than peace of mind over the mileage claims as without the previous paperwork its a lot harder to be sure it hasn't been clocked in some way. Saying that though if its looked after a C43 should go on for yonks and many thousands of miles anyway so really speaking it just comes down to your own preference really to an extent where mileage is concerned.

Cheers,
Mark

 

[Shanusacarabus]

Ive kinda verified with MB Uk Service history of a car and although they cant tell you too much cos of DPA they are kinda helpful as in not giving u exact dates services ect but give you a rough idea of its history...all you need is the reg no of the car too
Once you own the car u can have the whole service history e-mailed and posted to you.

Good luck !!

 

[gizze]

8 owners is nothing for a 10 year old AMG, most cars like AMG's, Porsches, BMW M's etc. etc. have lots of owners, for many they are toys that get dropped for the next thing.

A lot of performance cars usually have 2 owners in the first year to 18 months and then another owner each year after that.

Also I have always found the cars with one of two owners every few years are the ones that have loads of little niggles, the squeaky dash you have got used to, the knocking from the anti roll bar bushes that you no longer notice etc.
First thing people do when they get their new pride and joy is sort all the little defects out and get it mint, then you get bored and swap it for something else and the next guy notices something you have got used to and the circle continues.

Number of owners in no problem. No history? Hmmm?? I would walk away unless you get verify it has not done 150k miles.
I swap my cars every 6 months and have been caught out once, it was a hooky service book, middle pages removed leaving the last service 18 months ago at 83k miles.
Car had been sat in a garage not being used......or so I was told.
When the car was mine BMW gave me the history, last seen 2 months before for an oil service and a recorded mileage of 138k miles.

Luckily I got my money back, but it could have been £8k down the pan.

be careful, at the mileage that car is it should be pretty close to mint imho.