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- Joined
- 24 Jan 2011
- Posts
- 2,477
- Location
- Mansfield
Hi guys,
My dad bought a 1996 W202 Mercedes C200 privately just over a year ago. He's had a few issues, nothing unexpected on a car of this age, but we're having a bit of a bigger problem now and could use some advice. Just so you know, the car has full MB service history from day 1, and it's on around 80K now I think. I appreciate at the end of the day it's an old car, things will go wrong, maybe it's not worth fixing, etc etc, but he loves it and even though it's not a massively high-end luxurious car, it really has put the fun back into driving for him. Before this he had a Vectra and detested driving anywhere if he could avoid it - as soon as he got this his attitude changed totally, the auto gearbox has been a godsend for him with his bad back and leg.
Basically, a few weeks ago he said it had started losing coolant, which he noticed right away and obviously kept it topped up. I had a quick look but couldn't see an obvious leak. He did say the car was a bit rough on startup, but I didn't look any further as I'm no mechanic, and not familiar with his car/engine at all. He took it into the local MB main dealer as soon as possible, and they diagnosed a leaking radiator, which was duly replaced along with the rear brakes (unrelated, they just needed doing anyway) at a cost of £800.
He got the car back but the coolant loss continued - not huge, but definitely losing it. Again, no obvious leaks, nothing underneath it if left overnight, or after being driven. He mentioned again that it ran rough on startup, and this time started it for me to hear. It did sound pretty rough for a minute or so before smoothing out, and alarm bells started ringing in my head. I asked him to take off the oil cap, but it was stuck fast, couldn't move it, which was annoying (wanted to check it for mayo). Undid the coolant cap, and there was quite a hiss even though the engine was cold - alarm bells ringing louder now, coolant shouldn't be pressurised when cold. The coolant looked fine from what I could see, but I was suspecting head gasket quite strongly by now.
He took it back to the dealer and this time they diagnosed a leaking top hose, replaced FOC this time. Got the car back and yep, you guessed it - same thing. I repeated my earlier fear that it could be the head gasket, and he booked it back into the dealer last monday. Today, they called him to confirm the head gasket has in fact failed, and quoted a whopping £1650 to replace it.
I find it highly unlikely that the radiator, top hose and head gasket have all failed at the same time, and I strongly suspect that the head gasket has been the cause all along - the radiator and hose were probably fine. Where does he stand now? The way I see it, he's booked it in to fix a coolant leak - they have tried and failed to fix it twice. If he'd asked them to change the radiator, fair enough, I'd tell him to swallow the cost and move on, but he hasn't, he asked for a diagnosis which it seems was incorrect. The bill for the head gasket is substantially more than the car is worth.
I think his best bet is to either try and get the head gasket done FOC by the dealer as they have misdiagnosed the issue, try and get a refund on the work done and get the head gasket done by an indie, or try and get a refund and sell the car for parts/scrap it, buy another car and start over. Do you think he has a leg to stand on here, or is the dealer likely to tell him where to go?
Any help would be greatly appreciated
My dad bought a 1996 W202 Mercedes C200 privately just over a year ago. He's had a few issues, nothing unexpected on a car of this age, but we're having a bit of a bigger problem now and could use some advice. Just so you know, the car has full MB service history from day 1, and it's on around 80K now I think. I appreciate at the end of the day it's an old car, things will go wrong, maybe it's not worth fixing, etc etc, but he loves it and even though it's not a massively high-end luxurious car, it really has put the fun back into driving for him. Before this he had a Vectra and detested driving anywhere if he could avoid it - as soon as he got this his attitude changed totally, the auto gearbox has been a godsend for him with his bad back and leg.
Basically, a few weeks ago he said it had started losing coolant, which he noticed right away and obviously kept it topped up. I had a quick look but couldn't see an obvious leak. He did say the car was a bit rough on startup, but I didn't look any further as I'm no mechanic, and not familiar with his car/engine at all. He took it into the local MB main dealer as soon as possible, and they diagnosed a leaking radiator, which was duly replaced along with the rear brakes (unrelated, they just needed doing anyway) at a cost of £800.
He got the car back but the coolant loss continued - not huge, but definitely losing it. Again, no obvious leaks, nothing underneath it if left overnight, or after being driven. He mentioned again that it ran rough on startup, and this time started it for me to hear. It did sound pretty rough for a minute or so before smoothing out, and alarm bells started ringing in my head. I asked him to take off the oil cap, but it was stuck fast, couldn't move it, which was annoying (wanted to check it for mayo). Undid the coolant cap, and there was quite a hiss even though the engine was cold - alarm bells ringing louder now, coolant shouldn't be pressurised when cold. The coolant looked fine from what I could see, but I was suspecting head gasket quite strongly by now.
He took it back to the dealer and this time they diagnosed a leaking top hose, replaced FOC this time. Got the car back and yep, you guessed it - same thing. I repeated my earlier fear that it could be the head gasket, and he booked it back into the dealer last monday. Today, they called him to confirm the head gasket has in fact failed, and quoted a whopping £1650 to replace it.
I find it highly unlikely that the radiator, top hose and head gasket have all failed at the same time, and I strongly suspect that the head gasket has been the cause all along - the radiator and hose were probably fine. Where does he stand now? The way I see it, he's booked it in to fix a coolant leak - they have tried and failed to fix it twice. If he'd asked them to change the radiator, fair enough, I'd tell him to swallow the cost and move on, but he hasn't, he asked for a diagnosis which it seems was incorrect. The bill for the head gasket is substantially more than the car is worth.
I think his best bet is to either try and get the head gasket done FOC by the dealer as they have misdiagnosed the issue, try and get a refund on the work done and get the head gasket done by an indie, or try and get a refund and sell the car for parts/scrap it, buy another car and start over. Do you think he has a leg to stand on here, or is the dealer likely to tell him where to go?
Any help would be greatly appreciated
