GB Classic
Member
Hello all
This is the first time I have owned a Mercedes since 1980 - when I had a 1965? 220S.
Many cars have gone through my hands since then and for the last 4 years I have been driving a 1990 Granada Scorpio 12v which has now seen better days despite having had over £3000 worth of repairs since I have owned it.
For the last 2 weeks I have been looking for a suitable car to replace it with. I like the look of the C class and wanted a rear wheel drive car which would have good performace and handling. There was no way I would look at BMW (a story I may tell later) so really it had to be the Mercedes.
I went and looked at quite a few C280's registered between 1994 and 1996, and priced between £2000 to £2750 but many weren't worth a second look for various reasons including rust, very high mileage & bad oil leaks et al.
On Wednesday I found a 1994 C280 Esprit at a local car dealer advertised at £2495. I took it our for a drive and it seemed fairly quiet and smooth compared with the other ones I had driven, and the 84000 recorded mileage seemed to tally with the service book. The bodywork seemed to be in excellent condtion and was finished in Imperial red. After a bit of negotiation I paid £2000 for it and picked it up yesterday with a years MOT on it.
I don't really know what to expect from it but after driving about 100 miles today I think that there may be one or two things awry. The handling is a bit twitchy and at times vague needing a bit of correction here and there on camber changes and there seems to be a little play in the straight ahead position. I also find the car turns in very quickly. The tyres are Goodyear Eagles - Is it right that they should be 33psi front and 36psi rear?
The brake pedal also seems to have quite a long travel compared to the other cars I have driven but they do seem to pull the car up well. I noticed that there was an advisory on the MOT that the rear pads are getting low and wondered if it could be this? If it is - is it an easy job to do?
The other thing I noticed was that under hard acceleration the gearbox does seem to whine rather although probably no more than the others I have driven and is not exactly loud so assume this is normal but please correct me if I am wrong.
I am sincerely hoping I have not bought a lemon! as apart from these niggles I am very pleased with this car and I hope to enjoy many miles in it.
Any comments appreciated
This is the first time I have owned a Mercedes since 1980 - when I had a 1965? 220S.
Many cars have gone through my hands since then and for the last 4 years I have been driving a 1990 Granada Scorpio 12v which has now seen better days despite having had over £3000 worth of repairs since I have owned it.
For the last 2 weeks I have been looking for a suitable car to replace it with. I like the look of the C class and wanted a rear wheel drive car which would have good performace and handling. There was no way I would look at BMW (a story I may tell later) so really it had to be the Mercedes.
I went and looked at quite a few C280's registered between 1994 and 1996, and priced between £2000 to £2750 but many weren't worth a second look for various reasons including rust, very high mileage & bad oil leaks et al.
On Wednesday I found a 1994 C280 Esprit at a local car dealer advertised at £2495. I took it our for a drive and it seemed fairly quiet and smooth compared with the other ones I had driven, and the 84000 recorded mileage seemed to tally with the service book. The bodywork seemed to be in excellent condtion and was finished in Imperial red. After a bit of negotiation I paid £2000 for it and picked it up yesterday with a years MOT on it.
I don't really know what to expect from it but after driving about 100 miles today I think that there may be one or two things awry. The handling is a bit twitchy and at times vague needing a bit of correction here and there on camber changes and there seems to be a little play in the straight ahead position. I also find the car turns in very quickly. The tyres are Goodyear Eagles - Is it right that they should be 33psi front and 36psi rear?
The brake pedal also seems to have quite a long travel compared to the other cars I have driven but they do seem to pull the car up well. I noticed that there was an advisory on the MOT that the rear pads are getting low and wondered if it could be this? If it is - is it an easy job to do?
The other thing I noticed was that under hard acceleration the gearbox does seem to whine rather although probably no more than the others I have driven and is not exactly loud so assume this is normal but please correct me if I am wrong.
I am sincerely hoping I have not bought a lemon! as apart from these niggles I am very pleased with this car and I hope to enjoy many miles in it.
Any comments appreciated
