280 C class estate

[scrwright]

Find myself loking at a 97ish square headlight (what model is it please?) 280 auto estate. What do I need to look out for? It has about 110k on the clock and seems in good order.
I do alot of motorway stuff, keep to the speed limit, will it see 30mpg on a run?

Ta

Steve

[74merc]

I have one exactly the same, it's sitting in my drive being used as a shed right now!
30mpg is easily achievable on a run, I think I averaged high 20's for mixed driving. I would check the following:
Gearbox - check colour/condition of ATF and make sure it changes up and down ok, google 722.6 for more details.
Rust - Check all wheelarches and tailgate.
Harmonic Balancer - that's the big lump of rubber in the middle of the crankshaft pulley. This can breakdown and detach from the pulley.
Wipers - check the wipers sweep over the screen and don't slow down in the middle.
Gearbox cooler pipes - These can rust thru causing ATF to spill everywhere and loose drive. You really need to remove the tray at the bottom of the engine to check these though.
I loved mine and rate them as a great car, other than the gearbox, none of the other issues would be show-stoppers.

[scrwright]

Nothing too nasty then. It is a w202 I am looking at?
From what I have seen the early ones are better rust wise?

[mickyveloce]

I love 202`s . There is a nice looking 2000 registered 280 estate at a garage called open road cars near Leeds . I`ve not seen it physically , and have no connection to the garage , but it looks good in silevr with blue leather and must be one of the last registered too .

[scrwright]

oh dear they have foot park brakes

Although there is a nice looking one near work, dunno if I can get past the park brake thing though, my size 13s always get in the way of them

[BlueMR2]

It's an auto, your left foot just sits on the carpet, then you lift your foot up to put the brake on at your destination.

Is the Leeds one up for £1750? I noticed that a while ago on autotrader but it disappeared, was a bit too much money and abit small for me.

I ended up with an 300e24 for a bit less instead.

[r129sl]

The foot-operated parking brake is an infinitely better solution than the handbrake (especially in an automatic) and yet because it is different to the norm it comes in for scorn and has not been more widely adopted. I drive with wellies on from time to time and it doesn't get in the way.

[scrwright]

My only experience with them was with one that I was always catching my foot on. Why are they a better solution? Same thing, different packaging

[74merc]

If your feet are that big, surely you would have more of a problem with the 3 pedals in manual? I really don't think you will find the parking brake an issue with an auto.

[scrwright]

All my cars are auto

[SuperHangOn]

I have the 3.2 of the same engine. I changed the crank pulley (£50 + fitting), tensioner (about £100, easy DIY) and the gearbox oil & filter (£150 at specialist) as a precaution. Since then it hasn't missed a beat and achieves mid 30's on the the runs I use it for.