Discussion
I've enjoyed reading countless threads in here, dribbling over peoples pride and joys.
I just figured, I'd post up my little slice of petrol induced joy.
In my 13-14 years of driving, I've owned 2x CRX's, an Integra Type-R (DC2), an E46 330i Saloon, and a 05 S2000 Facelift.
All brilliant cars in their own way, and in all honesty, it was pretty hard to see off my low mileage S2000 when it went. It needed for nothing, was a great car to drive, and it never let me down.
I've just replaced it with a car I've wanted for a while. My mum is terminally ill at the minute, and was very much behind the 'life is too short' mindset, which inspired me to get something I wanted.
I spent a few months looking for the 'right' car, deliberating over colours, coupe vs saloon, spec, mileage, dealer vs trader, price I wanted to pay etc. In the end I found and settled for a 2012 C63 Coupe at Epsom Mercedes. I haggled the price down a bit to fit in my budget, and I was adamant I didn't want to go over my budget. The car is so well specced as standard (Pan Roof, Heated Seats, Cruise, Memory Seats, Auto Lights/Wipers, etc) I didn't really want any specific extras other than the 19's.
Spec:-
-16k on the clock
-Obsidian Black
-Black Designo Leather
-19" Wheel Upgrade
-Privacy Glass
-Reversing Camera
Enough rambling, here it is:-
It's been 6 days since I got it, and I plan on keeping this thread up to date with thoughts, costs, tweaks and general stuff.
I just figured, I'd post up my little slice of petrol induced joy.
In my 13-14 years of driving, I've owned 2x CRX's, an Integra Type-R (DC2), an E46 330i Saloon, and a 05 S2000 Facelift.
All brilliant cars in their own way, and in all honesty, it was pretty hard to see off my low mileage S2000 when it went. It needed for nothing, was a great car to drive, and it never let me down.
I've just replaced it with a car I've wanted for a while. My mum is terminally ill at the minute, and was very much behind the 'life is too short' mindset, which inspired me to get something I wanted.
I spent a few months looking for the 'right' car, deliberating over colours, coupe vs saloon, spec, mileage, dealer vs trader, price I wanted to pay etc. In the end I found and settled for a 2012 C63 Coupe at Epsom Mercedes. I haggled the price down a bit to fit in my budget, and I was adamant I didn't want to go over my budget. The car is so well specced as standard (Pan Roof, Heated Seats, Cruise, Memory Seats, Auto Lights/Wipers, etc) I didn't really want any specific extras other than the 19's.
Spec:-
-16k on the clock
-Obsidian Black
-Black Designo Leather
-19" Wheel Upgrade
-Privacy Glass
-Reversing Camera
Enough rambling, here it is:-
It's been 6 days since I got it, and I plan on keeping this thread up to date with thoughts, costs, tweaks and general stuff.
Car looks fantastic......
Would you mind sharing the price you paid ? Provide me some more details on the deal ?
Does it come with one years Mercedes warranty or were you able to negotiate more were you not bothered about the 'PPP performance pack' ? Did you drive many befor buying this one.
Epsom Mercedes recommended ?
Reply by PM me if you prefer.
I'm still toying with what car to go for next.....
Sorry to hear about your mother , best wishes to you and your family.
Thanks ,
Nick
Would you mind sharing the price you paid ? Provide me some more details on the deal ?
Does it come with one years Mercedes warranty or were you able to negotiate more were you not bothered about the 'PPP performance pack' ? Did you drive many befor buying this one.
Epsom Mercedes recommended ?
Reply by PM me if you prefer.
I'm still toying with what car to go for next.....
Sorry to hear about your mother , best wishes to you and your family.
Thanks ,
Nick
Thanks for the comments!
I'm going to be giving it a proper clean on Saturday (clay, polish, wax), so will post pics up then.
After 10 days or so with the C63, I thought I'd post up my initial thoughts.
This car is an event, I instagrammed a picture yesterday, and on it I wrote, "I cannot get enough of this car", and that is exactly how I feel. From the minute you open the door, and start the engine, it feels pretty special. It feels like a petrolheads car.
I've given friends and family lots of passenger rides over the weekend, and it doesn't matter whether you drive it 'swiftly', or whether you're just making some noise, the response is always the same - "This thing is insane".
I've been very impressed with the steering/feel on the car. It feels weighty and it doesn't seem to have a dead zone. It's direct, and in my limited time with the car, it feels like it will give you all of the information you need in a road car. The steering wheel itself is lovely to use/hold too.
The ride is firm, and I'm still getting the tyre pressures right, but firm is definitely the word. It's pretty compliant on the A/M roads though, and it certainly doesn't feel like a drawback either. A lot of it is probably due to the 19" wheels, but then to my odd eyeballs, they look great so I'll just crack on. The traction control hasn't been eased off/turned off yet. There is a 'sport' mode, and an 'off' mode if you're completely off your rocker. The light is on a lot if you're 'on' it, so easy does it.
The engine/pace. It's utterly intoxicating. I find myself dropping the windows slightly every single time I get in the car, I can't get enough of it. The cabin is well insulated enough that the noise doesn't rattle your ear drums in the car at low speeds. It's truly the greatest engine/noise I've experienced in a car. It gathers speed like a bat out of hell, and has a lovely combination of revs (and it does rev quick) and throbbing low down grunt. I love it.... a lot. The noise is just the best though, it pops bangs and crackles, and it sounds incredible at any speed/throttle level.
One of the nicest things about this car is the ability go from a nice cruiser, to spit pop banging hooligan. It does both well, but it obviously does the naughty stuff more effectively. The interior is nice, it's probably not as well 'built' inside as I expected, but it's not bad at all. It looks great, and the switchgear feels lovely (the facelift model was an absolute must for me), but there's the odd rattle inside (centre of the dash), so I'll judge it after I've had the dealer look at them, or I may even pull it apart myself and see if I can sort it.
The standard spec of the car is great, I've never had a car with so many toys, and they all work brilliantly. It is constantly surprising me, with well thought out little 'features'. Rear camera feels like a must though, as the window line at the back is so high up. The panoramic roof is brilliant for the cabin, the seats are great, and the standard stereo is pretty decent, but in all fairness, I haven't pushed the stereo too hard.
The girlfriend loves it, my family and friends love it, and I'm becoming obsessed with it. I also am quite shocked by the attention it gets, people asking me to rev it in traffic, and people pointing from other cars etc. It's not what I expected at all.
Now... the economy... Well, it's not great, it's anywhere between 14 to 25mpg, but mostly 14-17 this weekend just gone. As soon as you get it on an A/M road, it's acceptable, but around town and low speed jouneys it isn't great. But it's not why I bought it, and I make sure I change the MPG readout on the screen straight away to something more manly like ... oil temperature!
More pics soon
I'm going to be giving it a proper clean on Saturday (clay, polish, wax), so will post pics up then.
After 10 days or so with the C63, I thought I'd post up my initial thoughts.
This car is an event, I instagrammed a picture yesterday, and on it I wrote, "I cannot get enough of this car", and that is exactly how I feel. From the minute you open the door, and start the engine, it feels pretty special. It feels like a petrolheads car.
I've given friends and family lots of passenger rides over the weekend, and it doesn't matter whether you drive it 'swiftly', or whether you're just making some noise, the response is always the same - "This thing is insane".
I've been very impressed with the steering/feel on the car. It feels weighty and it doesn't seem to have a dead zone. It's direct, and in my limited time with the car, it feels like it will give you all of the information you need in a road car. The steering wheel itself is lovely to use/hold too.
The ride is firm, and I'm still getting the tyre pressures right, but firm is definitely the word. It's pretty compliant on the A/M roads though, and it certainly doesn't feel like a drawback either. A lot of it is probably due to the 19" wheels, but then to my odd eyeballs, they look great so I'll just crack on. The traction control hasn't been eased off/turned off yet. There is a 'sport' mode, and an 'off' mode if you're completely off your rocker. The light is on a lot if you're 'on' it, so easy does it.
The engine/pace. It's utterly intoxicating. I find myself dropping the windows slightly every single time I get in the car, I can't get enough of it. The cabin is well insulated enough that the noise doesn't rattle your ear drums in the car at low speeds. It's truly the greatest engine/noise I've experienced in a car. It gathers speed like a bat out of hell, and has a lovely combination of revs (and it does rev quick) and throbbing low down grunt. I love it.... a lot. The noise is just the best though, it pops bangs and crackles, and it sounds incredible at any speed/throttle level.
One of the nicest things about this car is the ability go from a nice cruiser, to spit pop banging hooligan. It does both well, but it obviously does the naughty stuff more effectively. The interior is nice, it's probably not as well 'built' inside as I expected, but it's not bad at all. It looks great, and the switchgear feels lovely (the facelift model was an absolute must for me), but there's the odd rattle inside (centre of the dash), so I'll judge it after I've had the dealer look at them, or I may even pull it apart myself and see if I can sort it.
The standard spec of the car is great, I've never had a car with so many toys, and they all work brilliantly. It is constantly surprising me, with well thought out little 'features'. Rear camera feels like a must though, as the window line at the back is so high up. The panoramic roof is brilliant for the cabin, the seats are great, and the standard stereo is pretty decent, but in all fairness, I haven't pushed the stereo too hard.
The girlfriend loves it, my family and friends love it, and I'm becoming obsessed with it. I also am quite shocked by the attention it gets, people asking me to rev it in traffic, and people pointing from other cars etc. It's not what I expected at all.
Now... the economy... Well, it's not great, it's anywhere between 14 to 25mpg, but mostly 14-17 this weekend just gone. As soon as you get it on an A/M road, it's acceptable, but around town and low speed jouneys it isn't great. But it's not why I bought it, and I make sure I change the MPG readout on the screen straight away to something more manly like ... oil temperature!
More pics soon
First off congrats, secondly super jealous as my 62 plate C63 went back to the lease company this year and I now poodle around in a Cleo
A few pointers, I found local Mercedes dealerships much better than the actual Merc official garage. Main service from Merc was £795 for my first service where local garages were £295.00 plus oil, plugs etc.
Tyres: Admittedly my car did do quite a few track days, you can see here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WMqRKAuwxY However I got through 4 sets of tyres in under 15K miles. The R888's were a big mistake and got shredded within one session, I tried cheaper options but in the end the P Zero's were by far the best ones to use.
Running costs: I owned mine when fuel was 1.45 a litre, so I didn't time it right! You'll get 22 -24 on motorway if you are lucky and 14-16 around town. If you do track day it you'll be lucky to see 2-4mpg, at Snetterton I worked out on the full circuit I could get 10-12 laps out of a fall tank (£80 quid).
Track days - As much fun as they are the car is just too heavy for the track to enjoy it properly. Be careful as the C63 has a limp mode which cut's in when the temperature get's too high and it gives you no warning, so you could be travelling at 100+ and then you're slammed into 30mph and if someone is behind you you will be in trouble as they won't know you've come to a stop. The biggest factor though on track is brakes, more so they will fade to nothing at a certain temp, so again be careful. I got through 3 sets of pads in under 18K miles, and these are £600 a set.
All in all you've got a great car which is nothing other than fun. it even used to put a smile on my face when turning over from cold with that rumble of the engine
A few pointers, I found local Mercedes dealerships much better than the actual Merc official garage. Main service from Merc was £795 for my first service where local garages were £295.00 plus oil, plugs etc.
Tyres: Admittedly my car did do quite a few track days, you can see here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WMqRKAuwxY However I got through 4 sets of tyres in under 15K miles. The R888's were a big mistake and got shredded within one session, I tried cheaper options but in the end the P Zero's were by far the best ones to use.
Running costs: I owned mine when fuel was 1.45 a litre, so I didn't time it right! You'll get 22 -24 on motorway if you are lucky and 14-16 around town. If you do track day it you'll be lucky to see 2-4mpg, at Snetterton I worked out on the full circuit I could get 10-12 laps out of a fall tank (£80 quid).
Track days - As much fun as they are the car is just too heavy for the track to enjoy it properly. Be careful as the C63 has a limp mode which cut's in when the temperature get's too high and it gives you no warning, so you could be travelling at 100+ and then you're slammed into 30mph and if someone is behind you you will be in trouble as they won't know you've come to a stop. The biggest factor though on track is brakes, more so they will fade to nothing at a certain temp, so again be careful. I got through 3 sets of pads in under 18K miles, and these are £600 a set.
All in all you've got a great car which is nothing other than fun. it even used to put a smile on my face when turning over from cold with that rumble of the engine
Thanks for the nice comments everyone
This car is strictly a road car, no track days. However, interesting to hear of/see the costs of what track work does. My older Hondas were used on track, and cost buttons to use due to the weight I guess.
Any recommendations for places to get it serviced? It's due a 'B' service in December.
Thecarper said:
First off congrats, secondly super jealous as my 62 plate C63 went back to the lease company this year and I now poodle around in a Cleo
A few pointers, I found local Mercedes dealerships much better than the actual Merc official garage. Main service from Merc was £795 for my first service where local garages were £295.00 plus oil, plugs etc.
Tyres: Admittedly my car did do quite a few track days, you can see here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WMqRKAuwxY However I got through 4 sets of tyres in under 15K miles. The R888's were a big mistake and got shredded within one session, I tried cheaper options but in the end the P Zero's were by far the best ones to use.
Running costs: I owned mine when fuel was 1.45 a litre, so I didn't time it right! You'll get 22 -24 on motorway if you are lucky and 14-16 around town. If you do track day it you'll be lucky to see 2-4mpg, at Snetterton I worked out on the full circuit I could get 10-12 laps out of a fall tank (£80 quid).
Track days - As much fun as they are the car is just too heavy for the track to enjoy it properly. Be careful as the C63 has a limp mode which cut's in when the temperature get's too high and it gives you no warning, so you could be travelling at 100+ and then you're slammed into 30mph and if someone is behind you you will be in trouble as they won't know you've come to a stop. The biggest factor though on track is brakes, more so they will fade to nothing at a certain temp, so again be careful. I got through 3 sets of pads in under 18K miles, and these are £600 a set.
All in all you've got a great car which is nothing other than fun. it even used to put a smile on my face when turning over from cold with that rumble of the engine
I've had it down as low as 10.2 MPG, but was giving it the full berries.A few pointers, I found local Mercedes dealerships much better than the actual Merc official garage. Main service from Merc was £795 for my first service where local garages were £295.00 plus oil, plugs etc.
Tyres: Admittedly my car did do quite a few track days, you can see here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WMqRKAuwxY However I got through 4 sets of tyres in under 15K miles. The R888's were a big mistake and got shredded within one session, I tried cheaper options but in the end the P Zero's were by far the best ones to use.
Running costs: I owned mine when fuel was 1.45 a litre, so I didn't time it right! You'll get 22 -24 on motorway if you are lucky and 14-16 around town. If you do track day it you'll be lucky to see 2-4mpg, at Snetterton I worked out on the full circuit I could get 10-12 laps out of a fall tank (£80 quid).
Track days - As much fun as they are the car is just too heavy for the track to enjoy it properly. Be careful as the C63 has a limp mode which cut's in when the temperature get's too high and it gives you no warning, so you could be travelling at 100+ and then you're slammed into 30mph and if someone is behind you you will be in trouble as they won't know you've come to a stop. The biggest factor though on track is brakes, more so they will fade to nothing at a certain temp, so again be careful. I got through 3 sets of pads in under 18K miles, and these are £600 a set.
All in all you've got a great car which is nothing other than fun. it even used to put a smile on my face when turning over from cold with that rumble of the engine
This car is strictly a road car, no track days. However, interesting to hear of/see the costs of what track work does. My older Hondas were used on track, and cost buttons to use due to the weight I guess.
Any recommendations for places to get it serviced? It's due a 'B' service in December.
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