USED Mercedes-Benz C-Class Estate (00 - 08)

My car

My 2003 Estate has had a few problems.- 1-Rear Windscreen wiper motor wash pipe sheared.Now blanked off. 2-Front N/S Passenger door lock.Tiny spring broken.-New lock fitted. 3-Rear brake discs renewed due to heavy localised pitting/rust. 4-Alarm Klaxon -Water ingress.Star removed constant alarm. 5-Front O/S Coil spring broken. Car has only just done 30Kmiles. This car is the worst I have had, and is my 3rd Mercedes. Next car- well possibly not Mercedes.

My car

I find the car to be as economical as many diesel cars, 35mpg around town and have had up to 53mpg on a run, this was at 55mph to see what it was capable of although 48mpg at 70mph is the norm. Was alarmed when auto box failed, two weeks inside three year warranty period, cost of new box was £3674 ! New box under warranty for only two further weeks ! Now five years old no other problems what so ever, still on all original bulbs etc. Milage now 90,000 every year passes M.O.T. without problem. This is second Mercedes would definatley buy another one, quiet, comfortable and very economical 180 petrol engine, why bother with diesel !

My car

I owned this car for three years and covered around 80000 miles in it. It was a nice car to drive and nice to look at too! I had the automatic, which was very smooth and also quite economical. I do mostly motorway driving at 70mph with the cruise-control on, and I averaged around 48 MPG.

Servicing at Mercedes main dealers is expensive, but I found an independent specialist garage who were about half the price. I had a couple of small problems with the car (ABS module failed and EGR valve sticking), which were both resolved without too much trouble. If it hadn't been for these problems, I would have given the car a five-star rating!

My car

Good car to drive and great spec. I have owned a late 2002 model for nearly four years and done 80,000 miles in it. I would not recommend the 270cdi, lots of engine problems. The diesel injectors needed replacing after 55k mls, fuel pump went around the same time.

The worst issues though were the numerous small problems. Many of the bushes especially the front roll ones are clearly designed to last for around 60k mls, as I have recently replaced them for the second time round. Transmission problems have proved expensive too with the auto box popping out of gear. The plug on this is not too expensive at £45 but according to my Merc mechanic they make a fortune because they are constantly replacing them, I've been through a few anyway.

Decent drive and practical, shame about the reliability issues as its cost me a fortune over the years.