Me Again still looking!

[Concho]

Hello further to my previous thread what are your opinions on these 4:

MERCEDES-BENZ C200K Avantgarde Seq , 5 Doors, Automatic, Estate, Petrol, 2001 51 Reg , 49,000 (full leather) £9950

or

2002 Mercedes C180 KOMPRESSOR ESTATE CLASSIC SE 1.8
Automatic, Estate, Petrol, 52,476 miles
£9950

or

2001 MERCEDES-BENZ C CLASS C180 Elegance,5dr Auto.2.0, Y reg. 42000 miles, £8495

or
2001 51 Reg MERCEDES-BENZ C200 CDI Classic
5 Doors, Manual, Estate, Diesel, 57,000 £9990

these are all at car dealers (prices are going to be negotialble)


please help me make my mind up

 

[Blobcat]

non of the above - sorry. ;-)

 

[Balal]

please help me make my mind up

can you please recap what excatly do you want from a car? economy ? space ? style ? comfort ?

 

[Concho]

all of them! I do a 3 day week and cover 500 miles during that period at the moment i get 500 miles out of a full tank of diesel in my Passat doesel 1.9tdi estate.

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

I'd certainly steer clear of anything with the word "Classic" in it. Stick to Avantgarde (sporty) or Elegance (old person).

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

is 10k your limit Concho?

If not, I find this one too (not that far from you)

http://www.baynards.com/htm/18item.htm#start

 

[daveenty]

Elegance (old person).

Upset a few tonight Neil

 

[BarryG]

I'd certainly steer clear of anything with the word "Classic" in it. Stick to Avantgarde (sporty) or Elegance (old person).

Oooooo
Barry

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

ok, I apologise for the Elegance remark... I actually like all the wood 'n stuff and had it in the Audi. I stick to the "classic" remark though. If it were a ford think "L".


p.s. Concho, have you looked here: http://www.directmercedes.co.uk/search-offers.aspx?slRange=c25a7204-078c-4034-a5e3-fd901e8c9986

 

[Concho]

yes i am maxed out at £10000

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

its tricky because 10k is pretty much the bottom end of the market for a W203 and you are heading into the areas were Merc were at their worst. Visually a 2001 model wiil look no different to a late 2003 model but may prove troublesome. I say, and emphasise, "MAY". You may have years of untroubled motoring but it'll cost you a fortune if anything big goes wrong.

Sorry, I know I'm not exactly instilling confidance in you. I'm not trying to be a kill joy it's just that I spent quite a lot more than 10k on mine and would have spent close to £3k to keep it on the road over the last yeat (excluding petrol, tax, insurance) if it weren't for Service Plus.

btw, if you are the type that is happy to get his hands dirty and dive in with spanner in hand if anything goes wrong then it will probably cost you no more than any other car to run.

You should note though, that as yet none of the things on my car have been major. They have cost a lot but that is because they have been done a MB main dealers. None of the issues have stopped me from driving the car.

You will find what you are after at that age for that price. I guess the best thing to do would be to contact the previous owner and ask them for a genuine overview of how reliable they have found the car. Also check the number of owners. if there have been lots it may be because each has had a lot of trouble and just passed it on.


one last thing, if you can hold out long enough we are having a forum meet at Benz World on 24th Feb (http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=22174&highlight=benz+world).If you want to come along I'm sure we can show you the bad, and good, parts of W203 ownership.

 

[blassberg]

there have been some special edition classics, and a classic could have lots of extras added.

 

[Concho]

I looked at that link that someone posted earlier:

http://www.baynards.com/htm/18item.htm#start

and low and behold its now on ebay at £11995

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2002-Mercedes...55QQihZ010QQcategoryZ9855QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

he's come down £2000!

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

blimey, that's a bit cheeky. I see its still advertised on the web site at the other price. Give them a call and ask them how much they are selling it for and see which price they give you. I must say I saw mine advertised for less with them in autotrader but they said the price printed on autotrader was a mistake. Given the amount they gave me in part-ex for mine I let them off but if they do this a lot I will stop recommending them!

 

[Concho]

Service Plus

What is service plus? and how do I get it if I do go ahead and buy a merc also how much does it cost?

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

hit the search button. There is a lot of stuff already on teh site about ServicePlus, including all the answers to your questions. However, it only applies to cars up to 6 years old so some of the cars you have been looking at will be to old

 

[Blobcat]

Here are a few details;
http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=23335
http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=24023

And the link to MB - http://www2.mercedes-benz.co.uk/con...ce_Contracts/Service_Contracts_3-6_Years.html

 

[Concho]

WOW! £70 a month, I could get private healthcare for less, don't think I will be bothering with that.

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

£70 may sound a lot BUT I have had well over £2000 worth of work done on the car (probably closer to £3000). So that makes it a bit of a no-brainer in my opinion. Don't forget that is based on 20,000 mile per year. Other have been quoted closer to £40 pm.

Don't forget a typical B service will cost you a minumum of £500 at an MB dealer, and if you need plugs and pads (and possibly disks) it's likely to edge closer to the £1000 mark. Even an Indie is likely to be close to £500 if you need plugs, filters and pads on a B service.