I am looking to buy a 2002 or 2003 Merc E320 CDi 7 seater estate . I have read that there are reliability problems with Mercs produced around that time . Has anyone any general advice as to whether or not to steer clear of this purchase please ?
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Check out the forums www.mbclub.co.uk.
Do you mean the current W211 shape or the previous W210 shape? The W210 has had corrosion issues, but the W211 is fine. The W211 is a better car in almost every respect (as one would expect).Most problems on the early W211 cars of this age relate to electronics and the (brilliant) SBC brakes. If the car has a full service history, it should have had all the relevant recalls and software upgrades, but best to check anyway. No reason to steer
The engine is a peach, and they are such comfortable and refined cars. I get 40mpg on the motorway from mine, and 30mpg around town.
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There are some nice silver ex-police e320s kicking around, auto. 104000mls, 2003 03 reg, £12K.
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Drive Your Way - If anything can, TerraCan
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The car you are buying will obviously be out of warranty. Tread carefully because there have been a large number of electrical/electronic problems on these cars. The braking system is excellent when working properly, but I have heard some horror stories about the cost of repair work when they go wrong. Its not a simple system, so diagnosis and repair will be very expensive.
Personally, I would have any potential purchase inspected by a 'competent person' (either someone like AA/DEKRA, RAC or perhaps an hour or so labour at an MB main dealer). Remember that not many independents will have experience with these cars as yet, so you will be tied to dealers for any repair work for the next year or two at least.
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My mechanic said much the same as Aprilia yesterday. And, as an MB owner, it saddens me to point out that the much publicized corrosion issue is not confined to the 1996-2002 W210 E-Class; there are reports of more recent cars over the whole range being hit, including the SLs and S-Class, although the problems do not seem to be as widespread.
There's a 320 CDi with a serious problem reported on another current thread, but let's hope that's a one off. I await the outcome with interest.
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Having looked carefully a buying a Mercedes, my conclusions on post 2000 models are:
1.only buy from a Mercedes dealer - then you get a MB warranty
2. Be highly suspicious of cars woith low mileage. there may be a series of faults resposnible for that mileage.
3. Watch out for rust.
4. Watch out for electrics.
5. If the car is not immaculate with full MBSH, forget it.
Otherwise if you buy a lemon, thn you are in for large £1,000s repair bills with no guarantee the faults will be rectified. And MB garages are no guarantee of fixing them.
A case where the sophistication of the electronics exceeeds the capabilities of the factory to mass produce them relaibly and the dealer network to solve the problems. All imo...
I am sure that say 95% of cars are very good but the 5% appear to throw up real horror stories of continued failure to solve problems.
So very much a case of taking great care..
madf
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This has just been reported in the MB Club, by a member who has been speaking to a dealer recently about the W211: ". . . they handed over 5 new cars to customers in a week and two of them broke down on the first journey home and the remaining three in the first month." Oi vey.
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I think this Merc going downhill talk is in the main tosh. It's always the same in this country, find something good and talk it down. I have had 2 Mercs and they have been fine, £50 an hour at the main dealers after the car gets older and they go on and on.I worried over maintainance costs but in truth I spent more on Fiats. I have no grouses with Mercedes at all.
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as a rover driver, i see what you mean!
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Mercedes quality?
Read this VERY VERY long thread...
tinyurl.com/j36ww
madf
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Yes, its a bit ironic that often see 16-year-old W201's with less rust than 6-year-old W210's. Whether the W211's will be any better remains to be seen.....
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Sorry barney but it cannot be tosh - not when MB themselves announced they will cut back on quality and have subsequently publicised the fact that they are now trying to fix things.
This is not the British Public talking MB down - they did it themselves and now they are trying to talk themselves back up again.
Based on the reputation of the older models - I always aspired to being a MB owner especially when I drove my friend's C Class W202 (although the CBCB does have alot bad to say about it).
Now I can afford one (almost - with a bit on tick and all that) I will not go near them based on what they say about themselves - they are openly admitting they have a problem.
Rust in modern cars is just unforgiveable - especially on a so-called premium product.
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I've worked on MB's for 20+ years and have owned a few and bought/sold loads.
The W201, 124, 126's were great cars. Basically very simple cars (all the same basic design) but very very thoroughly engineered - by engineers.
Around the early-mid 1990's the accountants and marketing wonks got hold of the company and started to prattle about 'shareholder value', 'leveraging the brand' and all of the rest of the 'Anglo-Saxon' business-school garbage. That did a lot of damage to the company - they started to drift away from what they were good add, cutting back on quality to increase profit, and started adding 'gimmicks' to the cars. They also started designing things like the A-class, Smart and the Vaneo in an effort to extract more from the brand by appealing to a wider range of customers.
Hopefully the latest models will see a return to traditional MB values.
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