4x4... £3k to spend... What to buy?
Discussion
I have seen a couple of M class Mercedes for sale cheap, immaculate condition and low miles for not a lot of cash...
I quite fancy a 4x4 as I have never owned one... It will be very low miles so maybe a big petrol is in order, or anything really...
Would prefer a tidy car, and can do a bit of mechanical work, what do you guys suggest I look at?
Are the M class a money pit?
I quite fancy a 4x4 as I have never owned one... It will be very low miles so maybe a big petrol is in order, or anything really...
Would prefer a tidy car, and can do a bit of mechanical work, what do you guys suggest I look at?
Are the M class a money pit?
Depends if that 3k is from a loan or cash. I'd try leasing something to be honest, like an L200 or Amorak - they're pretty cheap to lease in the big scheme of things as they have a high residual.
Don't buy a Disco; Tdi200s will be rotten, even TD5s are now getting scrapped for rust due to the rust being more serious, more quickly than the Tri300/200 series. Forget a Range Rover or 90/110 for that money, you'll just be buying a pup.
Nissan Terrano, old 2.7 chain driven lump goes on for ever but put it in 4x4 on a grippy surface and it won't thank you. Toyota Rav4 - the early N-V reg. are really good but thirsty, some of the Shoguns. An old L200?
M Class - mate had one. Diesel pump failed (expensive, he paid around £600 IIRC) and the ride's sea sickness inducing
If it were my money (cash), I'd pick the best lowest mileage, with service history, early Rav4 for a £1000 (as I previously did). 1.5yrs hassle free motoring.
Don't expect snow whilst you own a 4x4.
Don't buy a Disco; Tdi200s will be rotten, even TD5s are now getting scrapped for rust due to the rust being more serious, more quickly than the Tri300/200 series. Forget a Range Rover or 90/110 for that money, you'll just be buying a pup.
Nissan Terrano, old 2.7 chain driven lump goes on for ever but put it in 4x4 on a grippy surface and it won't thank you. Toyota Rav4 - the early N-V reg. are really good but thirsty, some of the Shoguns. An old L200?
M Class - mate had one. Diesel pump failed (expensive, he paid around £600 IIRC) and the ride's sea sickness inducing
If it were my money (cash), I'd pick the best lowest mileage, with service history, early Rav4 for a £1000 (as I previously did). 1.5yrs hassle free motoring.
Don't expect snow whilst you own a 4x4.
Edited by dfen5 on Sunday 24th August 08:17
Matt 211988 said:
Do you want a 4x4? or a people carrier in the form of a 4x4?
if the first option, nissan terrano, dirt cheap, strong engines, awesome lsd! and good offroad (and 7 seats)
if the latter... audi quattro avant? why get a big 4x4 if its not going offroad?
Ground clearance.if the first option, nissan terrano, dirt cheap, strong engines, awesome lsd! and good offroad (and 7 seats)
if the latter... audi quattro avant? why get a big 4x4 if its not going offroad?
I've had a subaru and the 4x4 system is very good but its low compared to jeep or terrano , if you live in a flood prone area id want a tall 4x4 .
buzzer said:
Thanks.
I guess £3k is my top limit. Cash purchase. I want something with a high seating position, nice inside, but not bothered about it's off road ability.
ML is still looking my favourite at the moment.
Oh, and there will NEVER be a vehicle on my drive with Rover in the name!
So 4x4 isn't an actual requirement 2wd would be perfectly fine and within brief. I guess £3k is my top limit. Cash purchase. I want something with a high seating position, nice inside, but not bothered about it's off road ability.
ML is still looking my favourite at the moment.
Oh, and there will NEVER be a vehicle on my drive with Rover in the name!
Have you considered the Seat Albrahama good ground clearance lots of space get the TDI 110/130 and it will keep on going
buzzer said:
Thanks.
I guess £3k is my top limit. Cash purchase. I want something with a high seating position, nice inside, but not bothered about it's off road ability.
ML is still looking my favourite at the moment.
Oh, and there will NEVER be a vehicle on my drive with Rover in the name!
ML in your price bracket will be from the period when MB made awful quality cars. If you're going for one, look and check very carefully. Find a decent one and they are OK for lowish mileages.I guess £3k is my top limit. Cash purchase. I want something with a high seating position, nice inside, but not bothered about it's off road ability.
ML is still looking my favourite at the moment.
Oh, and there will NEVER be a vehicle on my drive with Rover in the name!
The ML is brilliant imho. Seriously under rated.
I had one back in 2003 and found it too soft and wallowy, but I had come from BMWs.
I bought another one 18 months ago off a forum member after selling my new E350cdi Estate that I hated, I needed something quickly at a price I could sell on without loosing loads while I decided what to get next.
A I said, that was over 18 months ago and I am still in it now.
I looked at a couple locally and they were shagged, although advertised as 'perfect'!
Mine is a 270cdi, it is just about quick enough.
Make sure you go for a past facelift car, so MY02 build, the quality difference is massive.
But be aware of certain things that can and do go wrong with them.
EGR gets bunged up - You can clean this easy enough and then bypass it. Worth doing.
Cats get bunged up - You can gut them and it still passes the emissions tests with flying colours and you see a good 2mpg increase.
Swirl Flaps - Like many others these are plastic and can break, but on the ML they tend to were on the spindle they are on and then leak oil, this drips onto the motor that controls them and causes it to go into limp mode.
The best thing to do is take the manifold off and blank the flaps off. Cheap fix but takes hours as everything has to come off.
It took us 12 hours in a garage with all the tools and a ramp.
Thermostat - These go every 40k miles or so, it should hit 84ºc after 5 minutes or so and stay there no matter what, if it doesn't you need a new one. £39 from Mercedes or ECP and ECP will give you the later 87ºc one.
When they go the car uses more fuel.
Transmission - It should be smooth, not the quickest of changes but smooth. Budget for a transmission fluid change, these were classed as sealed for life but that is crap.
They are not easy to do as there is no drain on the torque convertor, so you have to empty that and then pull the pipe that goes through the cooler to drain the TC.
You will get 3-4 litres from the gearbox and another 4-5 from the TC.
You then have to fill it perfectly, it has to be 80ºc when you measure and you have to get it within 1/4 of a litre otherwise you get issues.
And use the proper Merc dipstick, the cheap eBay ones do not work.
Electronic Plate - This is in the gearbox, above the valve body and controls things, it has speed sensors on it and can fail.
You can tell when it goes as when you boot it after a long drive taking it steady it goes into limp mode and holds the gear you are in. Restarting the car clears it and it can be fine for another 6 months.
But worth knowing about.
Front shocks go quite quickly on these, around 40k miles or so, I put Bilsteins on mine when I got it and although much better they are a bit too harsh. I am going to put some KYB on tomorrow and see what they are like, these were used as OEM on some models like the Inspiration and owners rave about them, so we shall see.
Rust - These are Mercs and in the age range where it can be a real problem.
Most seem to have some under the rear numberplate so don't worry too much about that, but of it has any one the arches etc. walk away, it was start to spread like wildfire.
Tyres - When changing go from the standard 255.60.17 go to 235.65.17 and a more on road tyre like the Michelin Latitude Tour HP, this improves the ride, handling and sees another 2mpg.
I was getting 390-410 miles from mine when I got it, after doing all the above I am now seeing 500+, 516 on the last tank.
That lot may have put you off, but don't let it, my old man has a 2010 ML350 and imho the ML270 is the nicer car, it is far more comfy and feels like a 4x4 and not a jacked up over firm estate, the interior quality is far better on the W163, nice soft touch plastics everywhere and it is just far more relaxing to drive.
I obviously wish the 350 engine was in my 270, but I prefer the 270cdi overall.
This is mine, I added an Alpine W925r Double din nav unit to update the interior and some Morel speakers, sounds great and does everything, plus being alpine the build is spot on, the graphics are subtle and match the amber interior lighting perfectly and it has a light sensor so dims with the cabin as it gets lighter/darker.
Look at the history closely, what has been done recently is far more important than Merc stamps on these as he things that really need doing is not looked at by Mercedes anyway.
But great waft mobiles that can gobble whatever you throw in the back of them with ease.
I keep looking at 10 plate Range Rovers and Discos and have to decide whether I am going to have the ML350 as he is swapping next month, but I just can't see the point of selling this for maybe £4k and spending £30k on something. Not even sure if I would like the new one as much, something about it being older that makes me far less precious about it, which I love.
Where you located? If you need a hand looking at them just shout. Or if you want to drive mine to see what they should feel like also shout.
I had one back in 2003 and found it too soft and wallowy, but I had come from BMWs.
I bought another one 18 months ago off a forum member after selling my new E350cdi Estate that I hated, I needed something quickly at a price I could sell on without loosing loads while I decided what to get next.
A I said, that was over 18 months ago and I am still in it now.
I looked at a couple locally and they were shagged, although advertised as 'perfect'!
Mine is a 270cdi, it is just about quick enough.
Make sure you go for a past facelift car, so MY02 build, the quality difference is massive.
But be aware of certain things that can and do go wrong with them.
EGR gets bunged up - You can clean this easy enough and then bypass it. Worth doing.
Cats get bunged up - You can gut them and it still passes the emissions tests with flying colours and you see a good 2mpg increase.
Swirl Flaps - Like many others these are plastic and can break, but on the ML they tend to were on the spindle they are on and then leak oil, this drips onto the motor that controls them and causes it to go into limp mode.
The best thing to do is take the manifold off and blank the flaps off. Cheap fix but takes hours as everything has to come off.
It took us 12 hours in a garage with all the tools and a ramp.
Thermostat - These go every 40k miles or so, it should hit 84ºc after 5 minutes or so and stay there no matter what, if it doesn't you need a new one. £39 from Mercedes or ECP and ECP will give you the later 87ºc one.
When they go the car uses more fuel.
Transmission - It should be smooth, not the quickest of changes but smooth. Budget for a transmission fluid change, these were classed as sealed for life but that is crap.
They are not easy to do as there is no drain on the torque convertor, so you have to empty that and then pull the pipe that goes through the cooler to drain the TC.
You will get 3-4 litres from the gearbox and another 4-5 from the TC.
You then have to fill it perfectly, it has to be 80ºc when you measure and you have to get it within 1/4 of a litre otherwise you get issues.
And use the proper Merc dipstick, the cheap eBay ones do not work.
Electronic Plate - This is in the gearbox, above the valve body and controls things, it has speed sensors on it and can fail.
You can tell when it goes as when you boot it after a long drive taking it steady it goes into limp mode and holds the gear you are in. Restarting the car clears it and it can be fine for another 6 months.
But worth knowing about.
Front shocks go quite quickly on these, around 40k miles or so, I put Bilsteins on mine when I got it and although much better they are a bit too harsh. I am going to put some KYB on tomorrow and see what they are like, these were used as OEM on some models like the Inspiration and owners rave about them, so we shall see.
Rust - These are Mercs and in the age range where it can be a real problem.
Most seem to have some under the rear numberplate so don't worry too much about that, but of it has any one the arches etc. walk away, it was start to spread like wildfire.
Tyres - When changing go from the standard 255.60.17 go to 235.65.17 and a more on road tyre like the Michelin Latitude Tour HP, this improves the ride, handling and sees another 2mpg.
I was getting 390-410 miles from mine when I got it, after doing all the above I am now seeing 500+, 516 on the last tank.
That lot may have put you off, but don't let it, my old man has a 2010 ML350 and imho the ML270 is the nicer car, it is far more comfy and feels like a 4x4 and not a jacked up over firm estate, the interior quality is far better on the W163, nice soft touch plastics everywhere and it is just far more relaxing to drive.
I obviously wish the 350 engine was in my 270, but I prefer the 270cdi overall.
This is mine, I added an Alpine W925r Double din nav unit to update the interior and some Morel speakers, sounds great and does everything, plus being alpine the build is spot on, the graphics are subtle and match the amber interior lighting perfectly and it has a light sensor so dims with the cabin as it gets lighter/darker.
Look at the history closely, what has been done recently is far more important than Merc stamps on these as he things that really need doing is not looked at by Mercedes anyway.
But great waft mobiles that can gobble whatever you throw in the back of them with ease.
I keep looking at 10 plate Range Rovers and Discos and have to decide whether I am going to have the ML350 as he is swapping next month, but I just can't see the point of selling this for maybe £4k and spending £30k on something. Not even sure if I would like the new one as much, something about it being older that makes me far less precious about it, which I love.
Where you located? If you need a hand looking at them just shout. Or if you want to drive mine to see what they should feel like also shout.
gizlaroc... Thank you so much for that! That is what Pistonheads should be about!
I think it may be an ML.. Just showed a picture of yours to my wife and she commented that she would rather have that than a 12 month old Juke that we had thought of buying!
I am having a serious look now on auto trader and EBay... Still open to other suggestions though... I like my cars to be tidy, so that is as important as the type and modle...
I think it may be an ML.. Just showed a picture of yours to my wife and she commented that she would rather have that than a 12 month old Juke that we had thought of buying!
I am having a serious look now on auto trader and EBay... Still open to other suggestions though... I like my cars to be tidy, so that is as important as the type and modle...
Edited by buzzer on Sunday 24th August 17:15
Welshbeef said:
So 4x4 isn't an actual requirement 2wd would be perfectly fine and within brief.
Sounds like the Honda CRV to me! 2 wheel drive, and 4 x 4 when it decides it needs it. And Hondas last forever! (I sold mine at 120k, 10 years old - its now 14 and done 190k - still without any major repairsGassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff