Do they really exist?

[gorgonzola]

I'm looking to buy a W210 320 diesel avantgarde estate with sensible miles and a high spec.
Each one I see though has rust. This could be on door bottoms, wheel arches, front wings.

Should i persevere or stick to my audi (which has no rust whatsoever).
If they do exist, is my budget of £4-6k realistic?

I would prefer a private purchase as i reckon a dealer might be tempted to blow over any repairs needed.

 

[television]

All I can say is that there are some nice ones out there, I have done work on a couple recently that were mint.

You must check behind the rubbers on the top of the doors

 

[Myros]

they do exist, in an alternate universe

Ours was the nicest we found, and we will be having it repaired for the second time in 6 months, as the doors are bubbling again under the seals, and the boot lock area is coming through again. this will be three repairs in its 8 year life. The rest of it's very nice though.

 

[stuartmac]

Hi,

buy a W210
I would prefer a private purchase as i reckon a dealer might be tempted to blow over any repairs needed.

With respect, then you don't understand what's important - if all you're interested in is bodywork without rust, at worst, you risk collapsing suspension or chassis!

Do a search of this forum and/or ask what's important that can go wrong (e.g. two you'll find mentioned on here are front suspension mountings and front cross-member). Then, if you're still unsure, ask the forum to recommend a local indie who'll carry out a proper inspection. If the inspection turns up any horrors, if you've bought privately, any legal comeback is costly, time-consuming and without any guarantee of success; otoh, if you buy from a dealer, comeback is none of those.

Fwiw, about 18 months ago, we bought our 2000 W210 E320CDI estate from a dealer on the understanding that, if the indie's inspection turned up any horrors, we'd be straight back for our money. It didn't and we've been very happy with the car ever since.

Hth.

Regards,