Friend is considering one of these (2004 model done 95K) anyone with good/bad experiences! Views! Are they reliable, economical. He currently has a Toyota Cavalier, so the Merc should be an improvement
wasser61,
Feb 6, 4:32am
Will be slight improvement, but not much. The Cavalier will be cheaper to repair.
thejazzpianoma,
Feb 6, 5:01am
Have had a couple C200's in the family. No reliability issues, or any repairs required on either as of yet. Mercedes parts are quite well priced in NZ, especially from the likes of star tech. Just don't pay too much, the Coupe's are worth considerably less than the sedans. Economy is surprisingly good.
kcc55a,
Feb 6, 1:10pm
Bet you have never ever driven one unless you work as a valet parker.
peja,
Feb 6, 6:23pm
Thanks jazzpianoman, it is being sold for $15K inc on road costs, this from a dealer. Will check on here to see if thats over the odds. Car is ex Japan, not Hong Kong or Singapore, so shouldnt have humidity induced electrical issues which I believe BMW's etc from there have been known to have.
edangus,
Feb 6, 7:31pm
If it has the panoramic roof, run. The only issue I have seen, but its enough to send the car away forever. They could not fix it. NZ new model.
thejazzpianoma,
Feb 6, 9:40pm
15K from a dealer is probably not too bad for an 04. If you were to be patient and buy privately you could likely get one for 10K, but I can say that about most dealer cars.
Just remember, if you want to get the best out of it in terms of reliability:
* Bring ALL maintenance up to date including the transmission and diff (including filter change and correct fluid)
* Check it out well (being a dealer one is even more reason to do this IMO) and make sure maintenance is kept up to date. Be especially weary of Dealers putting mineral oil in them and other horrible things, you may have to "undo" some of their "maintenance".
If you want to keep regular service costs down, oil changes, filters, plugs etc are easy to do on these. I order a "service pack" which has everything I need form the U.K for the C200's and it saves a packet. Otherwise get your parts from star tech (google their online store), they are local, a good price and very helpful. They also know what they are talking about.
Best of luck with it.
peja,
Feb 7, 5:10pm
Thanks, maintenance will not be an issue this guy is a maintenance obsessive, perhaps as a result of Cavalier ownership :-( Will get him to get Star tech or similar Merc specialist up here to go over it.
And it doesnt have the panoramic roof
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