Defecting from Volvo to Merc

[emmdee]

Hi to all.

I'm a Volvo owner and member of the Volvo Owners' Club.

What I want from a car is reliability, good build quality, plenty of room, and good fuel economy. I don't care about speed or looks (which is why I drive a Volvo in the first place). I have a very nice 1996 960 Estate that is reliable, well built, enormous, and very thirsty, what with having a 3litre straight 6 petrol engine under the bonnet.

I'm looking for something to replace it - a diesel estate - and I'm drawn to Mercedes over other things like BMW, Audi, or even a newer diesel Volvo. I know absolutely nothing about Mercs other than that they are the car of choice for taxi drivers and comfortable as hell. I'm looking to spend not more than £4000 and have been looking at E Class cars (220, 250, 270) but don't want to get another 3 litre or bigger.

Are there any specific makes, models, years, types to avoid, or specific Merc problems that a non-Merc driver wouldn't know to look out for? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks, guys.
m.d.

 

[Bolide]

That budget will put you in a late W124 or an early W210 diesel estate. Which of those is the more comfortable place to be will depend on your outlook. The W124s are older, and have a stronger following, whereas the W210s are newer and of a more modern design

There are plenty of threads here and on the other Forum about just this topic. I suggest you have a look around and read lots

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[padrig]

which merc for £4000????

hi emmdee, and welcome to the best and most informative MB forum, for me with the money you have to spend i would go for an e300 diesel auto 136bhp, good fuel economy, confortable,and massive inside, elegance and avantguard are the trims to go for, or an e300td 177bhp quick but you get less mpg, all good for 200,000mls+, if you can go for one with a complete s/h MB or indy, it will end up costing you less in the long run. you will get plenty more advise from others on here with a better knowledge of other models good luck.

 

[The Crooner]

I have a W124 230TE estate, I used to have a Volvo 740 estate. There is no doubting that the Mercedes is better built, but the Volvo 960 is still a well built, extremely capable and likeable car.

Before you dispose of it, and it gives you everything you want apart from fuel consumption, have you considered having it properly and professionally gas converted?

My next door neighbour has just gassed his Volvo C70, and the result is impressive, he has halved his fuel per mile, and sacrificed little, if anything in performance. Note I stress properly and professionally.

Unless you buy a later diesel turbo, I suspect that the sort of fuel return you are looking for will not come from a W124 diesel estate.

Worth a thought.

Tony

 

[emmdee]

Thanks for the help, you guys. I'll follow these up.
m.d.

 

[Juddian]

MD, don't be in too much of a rush to dump your Volvo, many here wish their MB's were as rust free as your chariot. My sister is still running my old 93 740td estate and there's still no rust at all.

I second The Crooner, get a quote for gassing your faithfull Volvo first.

 

[Pynchon]

go with a Merc

I've not owned a Volvo but I have had 6 Merc estates.

The W210 E320 CDI is fast, comfortable, extremely spacious and can be bought for £4000 upwards. It is faster, more comfortable and significantly better on fuel than the W124 non turbo E300 Diesel .

I wish you success in your search.

 

[Stu_CDX]

Go for an 300TD W124.

Possibly the best engine I've ever had the pleasure of working on. Powerful, torquey and uber reliable.

It'd be my first choice over the newer, bug eyed W210 E Blass.

 

[Ashley H]

Reliability

Hi MD

Bear in mind that Mercedes went through a "Lancia phase" (apologies to Lancia fans - but you know what I mean) from around the late '90s to early '00s and many - though far from all - cars from that period do not possess the classic MB traits... I speak from experience with a rust-bucket E320 CDi with u/s air con since I bought it 15 months ago (despite serial attempts by both authorised repairers & independents to fix it)

I too had a Volvo before the Merc (an 850 GLT, if I remember correctly) and although there's no comparison at all between the driving experiences - if only because of the power - the Volvo was very reliable and generally better built (except it wouldn't start if it was left for more than a week...)

These things are very subjective but given the criteria you outline, and your budget, I would go for an upper end W124 instead of a bottom end W210.

Good luck - and keep us posted!

 

[Alex M Grieve]

I'm looking for something to replace it - a diesel estate

Although I'm a keen MB buff, I had 2 Volvos with the 5 cylinder direct injection engine and they were excellent. A quick jog around Autotrader revealed:

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...del=V70&min_pr=&max_pr=4000&max_mileage=80000

I got well over 100,000 miles from a similar car and never less than 40 mpg. It is very different to the 960. :idea::idea:

 

[The Crooner]

I had a Volvo V70 D5 SE as my last company car.

Make sure that you can get it round any tight corners or roundabouts or car parks where you live. You will need two parking spaces in the Tesco car park.

My experience with that car, and its woefully inadequate turning circle confirmed my long held suspicion that RWD is best.

See if you can find one without badly curbed front wheels.

Tony

 

[Splatt]

I had a Volvo V70 before defecting to Merc. What pi$$ed me off with my last car was that when the headlamp halogens failed you could not just lift the bonnet and insert new bulbs, no, because of the way they had redesigned the ducts behind, the front bumper had to come off together with the trim so that the headlights could be withdrawn through the front. I decided Volvo had lost the plot.

 

[NewMB]

I had a Volvo V70 before defecting to Merc. What pi$$ed me off with my last car was that when the headlamp halogens failed you could not just lift the bonnet and insert new bulbs, no, because of the way they had redesigned the ducts behind, the front bumper had to come off together with the trim so that the headlights could be withdrawn through the front. I decided Volvo had lost the plot.

Strange. What year was that?

I bought a new V70 in 2003 (ok, fitted with Xenons) and access was directly behind the lamp fitting.

Many people (also in Sweden) converts to MB after Volvo's. Seems to be a very normal way of changing makes.

Also heard of MB to Volvo....

 

[Splatt]

Strange. What year was that?

I bought a new V70 in 2003 (ok, fitted with Xenons) and access was directly behind the lamp fitting.

Many people (also in Sweden) converts to MB after Volvo's. Seems to be a very normal way of changing makes.

Also heard of MB to Volvo....

This was a 2005. Agreed, all my previous , and had owned them through all the models from when it was the 142 you just accessed them through the cap on the back. When the bulb popped on my last I just reached for the spare upped the bonnet went to try and get to the cap on the back, at which point I called them all the ***** under the sun.
One thing I noticed on my change to MB was a vastly better petrol consumption. The Volvo V70 20 valve auto gave me 28mpg at the best. The MB C180 Kompressor Auto gives me 38. A little less low down grunt but I love it.