Buying a 2nd hand Mercedes - Advice?

Vixen

Vixen

Vixen

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My mum wants a new car and has decided it has to be a Merc, probably a C or E class saloon. I don't know much about buying second hand cars and I want to make sure she gets something that won't end up costing a fortune to maintain. We're looking at cars up to 6 years old with a max budget of £10,000, not ridiculously old but a lot have what I'd think of as really high mileages.

Can anyone advise me on what sort of things to look out for?

Thanks,

Siobhan x
 
What sort of things do you mean by condition and history? Imagine you're trying to explain to a girl who knows so little about cars that she can barely remember which side the fuel cap is on ;).
 
Don't buy a car for low miles and don't not go and look at another car because of high miles.

History/Condition - Good example would be full Merc history - a Merc service every year instead of some years no service and the other years it being done at Bobs garage. Gives you a good idea if the owner has spent money keeping the car in good condition or tried to do everything on the cheap.

Look at things like the interior, if it's very worn and rough then chances are the owner hasn't really bothered looking after the car. Same with small parking dings - why would someone not get a small dent repaired on a £10k Merc unless they really don't give two tosses about the car.
 
Go to a merc dealer, look at the new cars. You want as good as those as you can find.
Tbh, I'd find someone who has more knowledge though, as £10k is a lot to spend on something you aren't sure about :)
 
Get something 2005 or later, save the rust problem. Condition over miles.

What ever you do dont buy a manual, get an auto.
 
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The early to mid-2000s C classes were plagued with all sorts of issues if I recall. The wiring looms can have serious issues and they rust like they've been parked in a lake.

Mercedes acknowledged they were building crap cars and sorted it all out for the 2nd half of the decade.

The current C-class interior is largely similar in look and feel to the inside of the last generation Vauxhall Astra. Everything is pretty terrible in there. The E class is a LOT better in that regard.

Other than that, general advice would be to avoid the smaller engined cars. The C180 is absolutely dire and just doesn't have the muscle to propel the car properly. I have no experience of any of the other smaller engines but the 250 and 350 cars can certainly move when you need them to.

EDIT: As for mileage, at 4 or 5 years old I would rather see big saloon cars as having mileages which mean that they MUST have sat on the motorway for most of their lives rather than "low mileage" cars which may have been driven on short journeys or around town etc. On a 70mph cruise, the autobox is locked out so the torque converter isn't "wearing", there is no acceleration or braking being done, no speed bumps etc. Chances are that with this sort of useage it has been a company car too and so will have been serviced properly, on time, by a main dealer and without regard to the expense. That is why people say buy on condition/history rather than age/mileage. A 3 year old 80,000 mile car might well have experienced a much easier life than a 6 year old 40,000 mile car...
 
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Morba said:
Go to a merc dealer, look at the new cars. You want as good as those as you can find.
Tbh, I'd find someone who has more knowledge though, as £10k is a lot to spend on something you aren't sure about :)
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It's not a huge amount for a car and I'd rather research it for myself :p. We're going to a dealer tomorrow because they have a couple of cars that my mum is interested in, I'll see if I can find the same models to compare.
 
DRZ - One of the cars she has been looking at is a 2004 E class. Would this have similar issues to the earlier 2000s C class cars or would it be ok?
 
Vixen said:
DRZ - One of the cars she has been looking at is a 2004 E class. Would this have similar issues to the earlier 2000s C class cars or would it be ok?
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It will suffer from rust, get at least a 2005 car, i wouldnt discount an E200 or a C180 for your mum, it wont win any races but its a nice place to be still.

Up till 2004 those series of cars really did have a rot problem.
 
In all seriousness though, everything in life is a calculated gamble. My parents' next-doors have an early-2000s E Class and it still looks as fresh as the day it rolled off the production line, no rust anywhere and it hasn't let them down (to the best of my knowledge, anyway). They could have got lucky, but if C and E-classes were dropping like flies then I'd expect to see a) fewer of them on the road and b) the used values taking even more of a hammering than they have.

Having said that, for this car segment and at this money, Mercedes would certainly not be the marque of choice and I would instead be looking at something like a 2005/6 BMW 525i or an Audi A4 2.0T S-Line of the same sort of age.
 
I would have a Jag all day at this money over anything German. It would have to hit 15k for me to go German.

Maybe even 20 and then it would be a CLS not an E class.
 
Dont Merc's have a lifetime warranty for rust or something of the sort? (Correct me if i'm wrong)

Got a 53 Plate C180 sitting in the driveway, never had any problems with it at all. Good cars.
 
scaza said:
Dont Merc's have a lifetime warranty for rust or something of the sort? (Correct me if i'm wrong)

Got a 53 Plate C180 sitting in the driveway, never had any problems with it at all. Good cars.
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After about 7 years they start trying to get out of that warranty and before that they are very strict about any previous repairs.
 
As said mileage isn't an issue. The up and downy spinny bits on a mercedes is generally not a problem as long as its been properly serviced, make sure the book is stamped and it has the reciept to go with it check dates and mileage match.

However the electrical toys are known to fail and the bodywork is prone to premature rust ever since the early 90's.

As said i'd buy a jaguar xj or a bmw.

However if your going to stick to a merc, check underneath, under the window seals, around the door hinges, all inside the engine bay and inside the wheel arches for any hint of rust. If its there walk away as once it starts they are like a soluble aspirin on wheels.

Look for a generally clean engine bay without a build up of leaves etc in unseen places (this leads to rust). Oils should be clean. Make sure the car is stone cold when you test it. As the engine warms make sure the engine idle comes down smoothly without going up and down ie (hunting).

Check every single electrical gizzmo it has works as it should, Also make sure the engine check light comes on when you turn on the ignition. A lot of mercs suffer sensor problems and a common fix is to remove the bulb.

Hope this helps.
 
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