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I have been lucky enough to own 4 Mercedes, E class and SL, in the last 5 years but they were all automatic. I was told that Merc manual boxes were unpleasant to use and having one affected the resale value or even made it difficult to sell at all. Would Back-Roomers be kind enough offer their opinions on the merits or otherwise of buying a 75K T reg C250 diesel estate with a manual box?
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well second hand you should get the benefit of the cheaper price of the manual
but be careful the clutch setup isnt very good, the swapping left foot over to use the parking brake is a pain, and hill starts are therfore more hassle than in an auto
also the lever movement itself isnt the smoothest
autos are really much better in these cars
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I'd have to agree with Crazed - you might save on the purchase price, but it'd probably hurt at resale (although you might choose to run it 'into the ground').
Some marques just don't 'scan' right in the trade with a manual box, including M-B and Jaguar. However, if you do most of your motoring on the open road and don't mind a slowish lever action, then of all the M-B models, a diesel estate would suit a manual box the most.
Try an extended test run to include town centre traffic and more rural stuff, if possible. Oh, and try a couple of hill starts!
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Definitely go for an auto - manual mercs are supposed to be terrible - i did some work at a mercedes garage over the summer last year and the mechanics said that the manual box was a bad design and very unpopular - in their opinion the only option was an auto
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New, if you don't want an auto, you don't want a Mercedes.
Used, if it's cheap enough, and in good nick, it's possibly just about worth considering. I'd give £10000 for it, tops - it's one of the last of the non-common rail diesels, so is slower and thirstier. At least it's not a C220 though.
For the same money you could get a faster, better handling, more economical Audi A4 of the same age, if you want the badge, or who knows what else if you're not so bothered about image and just want a practical, reliable car.
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Don't get the manual if your better half has any plans to drive it. We ended up with a manual C180 for a while (gutless? it couldn't have skinned a rice pudding) and the stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid parking brake was a nightmare. The wife (who is an excellent driver, I hasten to add) wouldn't drive it anywhere if she'd have to leave it parked on a hill. The stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid parking brake just isn't suited to a manual gearbox.
The stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid parking brake even meant that I had to park in the street when I visited a friend of ours who has a very steep drive.
The stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid parking brake is the most utterly useless piece of design I have ever come across.
V
P.S. I don't like the parking brake on Mercs.
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"stupid parking brake"
Agreed. Told the salesman so at test drive. Forcibly.
In fact cut test drive short and told him to take "dangerous" thing away.
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A.Shanks. As you have owned several MB cars previously,you should be aware that, comparatively speaking,the manual versions
are poor.The car that you now consider is matched excellently with the 5 speed auto,that deals smoothly & effortlessly with the significant low speed torque.Should you purchase a manual version (unsurprisingly rare) you will live to regret it.
Simon T.
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just so you know, I think this thread would do well in Technical Matters. I shall move it sometime tomorrow.
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Simon T. Thanks for that; the only reason I posed the question was that I had only heard that Manuals were poor - I have never owned one and wanted to know what people really really thought! My daughter has actually put in a sealed bid on manual C250D estate (ex-lease car). If she doesn't get it I shall be pleased and if she does I shall probably have some informed opinion to post on this subject myself! Many thanks to those have contributed their thoughts on this!
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Perhaps it's worth bearing in mind that you shouldn't need to change gear so often in a diesel car. Also diesel automatics can be a lot heavier on fuel than the manual versions.
I'd still go for an automatic though, but one that hasn't got the stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid handbrake so eloquently (and accurately) described by Vin.
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Oops, it isn't a *hand* brake, is it? But you know what I mean!
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