W204 Reliability

[ALawson]

Hello

At the moment I am considering a s/h W204 estate either brand new via our company car scheme or via a private purchase of a 2/3 year old car with up to 60k miles. Having spoken to a main dealer on the south coast I am a little worried about reliability as he was really pushing me to get a pre face lift car (5-6k saving over the latest version) on the guise that they still have full 3 years warranty, I did tell him this gave me no confidence in the product if he thought that over three years it might break!

As a Honda owner at 10 years old and 170k mile with no major failures I kind of expect decent build quality.

Would I be mad to not extend the 12 month used car warranty MB provide on all s/h cars?

How unreliable are they? Mikey you see these every day, any stats from the service managers?

Got to go as our 7 month old son has just learnt to crawl and is climbing up the sofa!

Any other thoughts I would appreciate, as my business milage is highly variable i.e. 5k-25k a year I don't really want to have a PCP.

I intend to keep the car until it is 10 again.

Ta.

Alex

[redspecial2000]

As a W204 owner I can honestly say that it has been the most stress-free car I've ever owned. Mine is now coming up for 4 years old and the only sign of wear and tear on it is a little discolouration on the wheel nuts (standard Merc issue since they stopped chrome plating the tops of the nuts) and a little corrosion on the lacquer of the alloys (I blame hand car washes and their wheel cleaner).

Other than that, it has started first time every time, the MPG has been fine, no surprises at servicing, the only thing Ive had to change has been tyres (the OEM Contis are a nightmare in temperatures below 5C, I've switched to All Season Hankook Optimo 4S, which have been amazing in the snow) and one set of wipers.

I've got a B Service coming up in a couple of months and its 2nd MOT, which I expect will be a breeze.

Great car, love driving it!

[ALawson]

What engine have you got and what sort of milage have you done?

[Mikey_W]

Hi Alex,

I've only just seen this - sorry.

All in all I'd say there reliability is very good. They did have a spell with problem injectors when Merc brought out the new OM651 engine, but these should all of been recalled and changed.

Up until recentely we looked after an 07/57 C220 Sport with over 150k miles. All it ever needed under warranty (from memory) was a pair of rear shockers and a front wheel bearing. The driver had it serviced on the button everytime.

If you go the secondhand route make sure you buy one with FSH, this will keep the Mobilo breakdown cover and corrosion warranty intact.

[redspecial2000]

It's a C200K engine that has just turned over 35,000 miles. As mentioned, there's a history of issues with the injectors on the Blue Efficiency engines, so I was warned off them at the time!

[ALawson]

Our company car policy has literally been changed this week, I have only just read the email. While you can get 318d/320d, C200/220 and the equivalent A4 as a comp car, if you go the car allowance route they have now added a <160g/km CO2 limit on your own car.

That is going to limit quite a few s/hand cars. I think all the previous C-Class cars are above this and probably all but the latest facelift cars. Only some 4-5 320d will come below that.

I might just keep the ATR for work and try and get the missus into a better car, he wants something bigger than the 3d clio, I reckon a 5dr R32..

Mikey I saw this http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

but it is 179g/km.

I will have to wait for the new facelift cars to come down in price. Any deals at your end on new ones?

[Mikey_W]

What's your budget Alex? If you want something below the 160g/km you can get a pre facelift Blue Efficency model. Something like this..

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

I think we've got some brand new (pre reg 11 plate) pre facelift estates with 5-6k off..

[va1o]

A C180K Blue Efficiency would also fall under the 160g/ km co2 barrier - http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

Its a 1.6 Kompressor with 156bhp so probably quicker than the 200 CDI.

[Mikey_W]

va1o said:

A C180K Blue Efficiency would also fall under the 160g/ km co2 barrier - http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

Its a 1.6 Kompressor with 156bhp so probably quicker than the 200 CDI.

But very, very thirsty. We run 3 as service loan cars and your lucky to get more than 30mpg! On a long run I've never had more than 34/35mpg..

[va1o]

Mikey_W said:

But very, very thirsty. We run 3 as service loan cars and your lucky to get more than 30mpg! On a long run I've never had more than 34/35mpg..

That doesn't sound too good, which version are you using? IIRC there are 3 different W204 C180 variants - C180K (1.8), C180K BeF (1.6) and the newest C180 CGI (1.8).

[Mikey_W]

The C180s are a bit of a mine field! We've got the C180k 1.6s. The newer CGIs (turbocharged) are much better.

[ALawson]

Mikey_W said:

But very, very thirsty. We run 3 as service loan cars and your lucky to get more than 30mpg! On a long run I've never had more than 34/35mpg..

I get 30mpg minimum from an almost 20 design year old honda engine!

I didn't know those C200 were under 160.

My budget is up to about 13-14k.

[Jem0911]

I have a new C220 estate arriving on Friday after Audi messed me around chronically.
Pleased with the reviews and write ups.
I haven't driven one but I am looking forward to it's arrival.
It's a sport with some AMG bits so my Contract company tells me.
Not sure what that means but will see on Friday.

[ALawson]

Well further to this thread and one I posted here.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... new or s/hand saloon/estated under 160g/km.&mid=24740

I have seen this car for sale. Any thoughts?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

This is what you could get from Skoda for the same money, is it really that much of a no-brainer?
http://gaac.r66.co.uk/GenericAllApproved/Vehicle.a...

To me the merc walks it. I know asking in here for non benz option isn't going to get a lot of suggestions!

Cheers in advance.

[Jem0911]

Well I have had my 220 for four months and 11000 miles.
It's a cracking car.
The only bug is the adaptive lights. (wee bit slow to dip)
Apart from that faultless fast frugal 55mpg of the 11k

[Dunit]

Living on top of Europes biggest auction house at Fratting i often pop into the Merc sale and there have been loads of 204s in the sales that really look very tidy only to look at the sheet to see they have done starship mileage 150-200K
The interiors look gr8 and under the bonnet unmollested some even still have the sealed cap on the auto dipstick so no filter change!

[ALawson]

Dunit said:

Living on top of Europes biggest auction house at Fratting i often pop into the Merc sale and there have been loads of 204s in the sales that really look very tidy only to look at the sheet to see they have done starship mileage 150-200K
The interiors look gr8 and under the bonnet unmollested some even still have the sealed cap on the auto dipstick so no filter change!

Any ideas on prices and spec for cars with those milages.

Could be worth a punt if you can sort out an extended warranty, although I expect a MB warranty would not be cheap at that mileage.

Cheers

[Dunit]

ALawson said:

Any ideas on prices and spec for cars with those milages.

Could be worth a punt if you can sort out an extended warranty, although I expect a MB warranty would not be cheap at that mileage.

Cheers

I think you only get the warranty on cars bought thru the merc dealerships.
But Manheims Auctions often have 200 cars in the Merc auctions , All models from Smart to S class, Some only a year old so warranty in place and all differnt miles . Mostly they seem to be ex fleet cars but alot of them seem to have a Dealership service just before the sale to make certain their ok
And unlike the BMW auctions there the public can bid on them where as the BMW is closed to trade bids only.