RE: Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG: PH Buying Guide

[gigglebug]

moffat said:

I leased my car so depreciation was pretty irrelevant to me, with the monthly cost and deposit the only two real key points.

My deal was pretty epic at the time:

£1,800 deposit
£600 x 23 months
£25 x 23 months (19" alloys + intelligent lights)
So total cost = £16,175 (£673.96 per month over 24 months average)

Running costs over 22k miles were:
Rear tyres (Michelin Pilot Super Sports) @ £450 fitted
Front tyres (Michelin Pilot Super Sports) @ £390 fitted
1 x service @ £350
1 x VED @ £490

I returned the car before the second service was due and the rears were on 3mm - I didn't have any lease return fines etc.

Good work!!

Edited by gigglebug on Friday 3rd April 23:21

[ghibbett]

That's a good point that Andy (moffat) raised; I returned my car to MB 2 weeks early on the pre-tense of being on holiday, but actually because I would have been liable to pay for the B service and years tax. Thus handing back 2 weeks earlier saved me in the region of £900. That's 3 years insurance for my Caterham!

[Lost soul]

gigglebug said:

Lost soul said:

Lovely looking , I can imagine you do

Luckily if your in the position to be making the choice between the three body styles they all seem to have their merits and look pretty damn good so it would appear to be a no lose situation which ever you ended up with.

One of the best looking saloons as well yes

[Redders snr]

Hi

First post and a big sanity check required from experienced owners !

I plan to spend £35k cash ( no loans ) on a 2011 c63 AMG with 22k miles and FSH etc

I will be getting opt out cash and tax reduction back from current car which is approx £980 pm

I will do 110 private miles about 3 times per week, the rest is business miles, quite variable from week to week maybe average 750

Now I will get combo of mileage allowance / tax claim up to 45 ppm as standard and 25p thereafter etc etc

So it feels like I can cover all monthly costs in budget, but I would only suffer the depreciation once sold,.....

Equally I would mix it up with my R400 caterham in summer and Q7 .........

Thoughts ?

[irfan1712]

im still on the hunt for my perfect spec'd '63.

the intelligent lighting, i.e bendy lights, i.e lights that turn with the steering wheel.. are these standard on C63s or was this an optional extra? i cant find any info on this on the MB forums but do a lot of night driving so it would be very handy and a nice touch. Some aad's ive seen make a point of saying they have this feature where as others dont seem to mention it at all..

thanks

Irfan

[stirling37]

I'm also on the look out for one of these bad boys. coming from a R32 and servicing costs and tax are about the same. i do about 60 miles a day and i will be using this as my daily. Need to read alot more and more importanly view a few to get a feel for them.

[irfan1712]

stirling37 said:

I'm also on the look out for one of these bad boys. coming from a R32 and servicing costs and tax are about the same. i do about 60 miles a day and i will be using this as my daily. Need to read alot more and more importanly view a few to get a feel for them.

i forgot i even commented in here. i had a MK5 R32 for two years and moved to a C63 last July. http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=161...

Still love every single journey in it- your right in saying tax is the same, A and B services will be sligtly more than interval and major services on the R32 but not by much. Oil cost will quickly ramp up the B service on the AMG along with a good litre top up every few thousand miles.

As a daily it will defo sting your wallet but it'll be worth the sacrifice of a few more coins! $60 of regular unleaded will get 270ish miles out of the R32,m £65 of super unleaded will get around 220-260 miles depending on how its driven.

Tyre cost is a factor - it does like the rears. Conti Contact Sport 6's were £360 for the rear pair and wont really see more than 9/10k of spirited and gentle driving from what i can see (my car is only on 19k yet so will soon find out!)

[J4CKO]

Is it just me or do they seem to be very expensive, 20k plus for a 2008 car, whenever I look at any AMG Mercs, the same ones are for sale for months, I was thinking of changing my CLS for a CLS 55 or E55, the same ones are for sale weeks/months later at the same prices ?

Are dealers terrified of letting the car go and not finding a mug who will part with five grand more than its worth or something ?

[PorkRind]

Do the saloons come with fold down rear seats, being a cyclist i often cart bikes around in the car to sportif's etc. Would prefer the bike to be in the car rather than on a bike rack !

Cheers

[VX0075]

PorkRind said:

Do the saloons come with fold down rear seats, being a cyclist i often cart bikes around in the car to sportif's etc. Would prefer the bike to be in the car rather than on a bike rack !

Cheers

Not 100% certain on the saloons, I have the estate (2012 facelift) and the seats do fold down. I was only interested in the estate, however I may be wrong but I think the saloon's you had to spec it as an option to have the rear folding seats.

had mine around 15 months, done 10-11k miles...still love it!

[irfan1712]

PorkRind said:

Do the saloons come with fold down rear seats, being a cyclist i often cart bikes around in the car to sportif's etc. Would prefer the bike to be in the car rather than on a bike rack !

Cheers

Yup they fold down flat. Not much 'height' in the boot due to the obvious restrictiosn of it being a saloon, but seats down it will be fine for a bike or two. just!

id opt for an estate for bike duties personally rather than fold the seats and take the headrests out 9to get the rear seats to clear the backs of the front seats) everytime.

[PorkRind]

Do any Saloon owners know if the rear seats fold down, I'd like to be able to get the bike in the boot (I don't mind taking wheels off) ?

THanks

[scottyfocus]

Been wanting one of these for a while but not sure if the back seats go down so i can fit the bike in.

Anyone know if the back seats go down?

[kambites]

I have seen a C63 saloon with the rear seats folded down, so it was at very least an option on some of them.

[phil1979]

Averaging 18mpg over the last 6 months....

[petelong]

I've had 2 C63's, a 2012 estate and a 2014 saloon. I loved the soundtrack and the power, but experienced issues with the 2014 saloon. I had the dreaded startup rattle when the engine was hot. Had a few parts replaced under warranty (cam adjusters mainly), but they (MB) couldn't stop it completely. Eventually I was told "it's a characteristic of this particular engine" (156). I complained to MB and eventually got a letter confirming that this was the case. Eventually got fed up with the rattle, so sold the saloon after the warranty ran out. I was really sad to see it go, but replaced it with an Audi Quattro (S4), fantastic in the snow! I was very disappointed with the response from MB, but I loved the C63.

[Uncle John]

Why has this article popped up again???

[BHML]

I had a black estate for a couple of years, great car

[J4CKO]

Uncle John said:

Why has this article popped up again???

Think its had an update.

Very appealing car, they had an image problem as they seem to be beloved of folk who like to do burnouts in busy traffic but think they have moved on leaving enthusiasts with a good selection of them at what are fairly reasonable prices. I think one of these, bought right and not used for mega mileage could be a fairly cost effective way to own a pretty special car. Cant see them depreciating much.

I get the impression they are pretty solid, most of it is C class, no complicated air suspension, 4wd or turbos, so just a lot of fuel, top rate ved, tyres and expensive brakes, never going to be cheap to run but probably a less risky proposition than say an F80 M4 ?

I think there is an impression that they dont cut it against the faster hot hatches these days though, but they probably do, and who cares anyway ?

[Ben Lowden]

This is a comprehensively updated version of an article that was first published in 2015.