C Class buying advice - gearbox / engine

[Trailhead]

Hi all

I am looking to spend in the region of £14-16k on a used C Class. This should buy me a 16-17 era car with sub 60,000 miles.

There are a range of engines and gearboxes available - 7 and 9 speed autos, plus 200ds, 220ds and 250ds, of which some are 1.6 and 2.0s.

Is there any particular engine or gearbox to avoid or that is particularly good?

Is there anything else about these cars to particularly avoid or look out for?

Many thanks

[Trailhead]

Varies between 12,000 - 18,000

[Trailhead]

Ian-27xza said:

Having done 42,000 miles over 3 years in a 2017 E220d (213), I'd recommend seeking out when the 'new' 220d engine was fitted to the C Class.

This was a brand new design that made it's debut in the E Class in 2016, when the the 213 was released. I seem to recall it was introduced to the C Class sometime later.

It's all alloy (lighter), a lot smoother, mated to the 9 speed gearbox and more frugal than the previous generation 220. It's also Euro6, which might or might not be important depending on how the 'route to EVs' pans out over the next few years....

Maybe a higher mileage car with the newer engine might be a better bet than the lower mileage car with the older engine.

Thanks. That’s super useful.

I had wondered why some cars are 7G and others 9G.