Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe - Mercedes Classs Coupe Petrol or Diesel

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 11:47
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe - Mercedes Classs Coupe Petrol or Diesel - Richard Mckevitt

Right,

Need some advice is possible please

I want to buy a 2nd hand C-Class coupe and am looking at newer versions with higher mileage. Previously I have always been told diesels go forever etc but what about petrols? The extra cost of buying a diesel for the miles I do would take my about 10 years to get back in fuel economy but not too sure if getting a petrol with 80K on the clock is a good idea?

I am looking at the Automatic versions C180 most likely although the C230 and C350 look nice.

Any other ideas on what to avoid etc, I like the panoramic versions with the two tone interior.

Cheers

Richard

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 12:47
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe - Mercedes Classs Coupe Petrol or Diesel - balleballe

80k is not much at all.

How many miles do you do a year and how long do you intend on keeping the merc for?

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 13:09
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe - Mercedes Classs Coupe Petrol or Diesel - Richard Mckevitt

I do 12K a year tops and I an thinking 5 years if not more

Cheers

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 14:43
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe - Mercedes Classs Coupe Petrol or Diesel - balleballe

Therefore at the end of your 5 year ownership, car which had 80k on the clock would have 140k.

I cant say I know too much about merc petrols but Jap petrols would still be fine at 140k so I see no reason why a Merc engine wouldn't.

There are plenty on autotrader with 130k+

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 13:19
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe - Mercedes Classs Coupe Petrol or Diesel - gordonbennet

Well maintained MBs will go on for many years, as ever a good service record is the thing to have, worth finding a good make specialist indy, not a car to let just anyone tinker with.

Best with auto box, the parking brake doesn't lend itself to manual driving and few want a manual anyway so difficult to sell on, Benz autoboxes are excellent, but require an oil change every 40k or so, do not neglect this and i would avoid any that have been.

Petrol or Diesel should be good, any Diesels with injector problems should have been sorted under warranty well before the mileage considered.

My present MB is now 17 years old we've had it 10 years, its been indy maintained all the time with us, one or two minor probs cropped up but the engine/drivetrain still hasn't been touched apart from good servicing, which i believe is the secret to long life.

C Class is still on the possible replacement list, but the main reason for that is my specialist indy, if i had to use the main dealer i would't consider another.

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 14:06
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe - Mercedes Classs Coupe Petrol or Diesel - Richard Mckevitt

Many thanks

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 14:49
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe - Mercedes Classs Coupe Petrol or Diesel - barney100
Large engines aren't too thirsty, I have a 3.2 with 140k on the clock. 12 miles a year probably petrol for me. Check the discs and pads, good service history vital .
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Thu 18 Apr 2013 15:58
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe - Mercedes Classs Coupe Petrol or Diesel - Collos25

i have had many MBs including three c class coupes all petrol not a minutes bother with any of them easily do 250k miles ,Mercedes auto gearboxes do NOT need an oil change ever where people get that info from god only knows its not from Mercedes.The 180k petrol comes in two engine configurations one much more powerful than the other ,the glass opening roof I had on two of the vehicles they are a must have.The only downside to petrol over diesel is a slight difference in road tax in the UK.Once you have had one its hard to go for anything else when change time comes.One point is try and stay away from the extra large wheels they do not suit the 180 make cornering a handfull 16" or 17" are quite large enough and stay away from manuals. .

Edited by Collos25 on 18/04/2013 at 16:00

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 16:58
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe - Mercedes Classs Coupe Petrol or Diesel - SteveLee

It seem you have the "Mercedes is best" bug - even though they produce their fair share of rubbish. Mercedes do not make automatic transmissions and there's nothing special about them, your "fact" about the oil not needing changing merely means they are "sealed for death" - in other words, Mercedes expect the transmissions to last the warranty period without maintenance - not giving a stuff about the ultimate longevity or the 3rd or 4th owner. These maintenance shortcuts are to make the car appear cheaper to service to keep lease prices competitive. ZF themselves (the manufacturer of the transmissions) say otherwise about the seal-for-life nature of the 'boxes. If you get the fluid of your sealed for death transmission changed, it will last much longer. Same for any other car using the same transmission, i.e. many Jags, BMWs etc.

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 17:08
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe - Mercedes Classs Coupe Petrol or Diesel - unthrottled

The problem with the smaller Mercedes petrols is that they usually had superchargers bolted on. Superchargers and their couplings tend to have shorter lifespans than correctly installed turbos.

Mercedes have been in the diesel game longer than anyone else in the passemger car game.

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 18:32
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe - Mercedes Classs Coupe Petrol or Diesel - Collos25

There is so little bother with these engines they must be one of the most reliable petrol engines evermade and i have never heard of any turbo problems I have had plenty of MBS and the only annoying problem common across the range is the door locks.Thjey have been using the same supercharged engine since the C class was introduced in 1993.

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Thu 18 Apr 2013 18:32
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe - Mercedes Classs Coupe Petrol or Diesel - Collos25

(Duplicate post)

Edited by Avant on 19/04/2013 at 00:05

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Fri 19 Apr 2013 11:23
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe - Mercedes Classs Coupe Petrol or Diesel - Collos25

180s are unsupercharged 200s are supercharged.

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Fri 19 Apr 2013 11:47
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe - Mercedes Classs Coupe Petrol or Diesel - gordonbennet

Richard,

i'm not going to get into a row over transmission fluid changing with Collos, MB have changed their minds over time about this sealed for life syndrome, as have BMW.

Make your own mind about it, if you ask at the MB service desk you will get the answer of today which might be different tomorrow, that answer could well depend on whether you have a pre paid servcie plan or an a la carte service customer.

If you asked my indy (or anyone involved professionally in long term maintenance) who's been a MB specialist for over 40 years he'll tell you to service the car well including transmission fluid changes....yes i know he would say that wouldn't he.;)

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Fri 19 Apr 2013 16:36
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe - Mercedes Classs Coupe Petrol or Diesel - Collos25

You will cause more problems than you solve by trying to change the oil in an autobox. Any independant in the UK is out to make money like everybody else you cannot blame them ,the official answer from Mercedes is the same today as it was years ago and is the same aswer given by good independants in Germany ,the best I have found who by the way specialises in Mercedes autoboxes recomends you do not on any account change the oil.Having had plenty of Mercedes autos and never had a autobox problem even with cars that had done over 550k km .I have two BMWs one with an autobox and starship mileage and I follow the BMW service readout which is do not change the oil in the autbox. .

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Wed 1 May 2013 18:38
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe - Mercedes Classs Coupe Petrol or Diesel - Piowolf

What ? Please stop kidding...

Edited by Piowolf on 01/05/2013 at 18:40

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Wed 1 May 2013 20:38
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe - Mercedes Classs Coupe Petrol or Diesel - Collos25

You seem to know better than Mercedes and the auto box manufacturer who should I believe you or the manufacturers.By the way have you owned a Mercedes auto and kept it for many miles.

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Wed 1 May 2013 22:29
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe - Mercedes Classs Coupe Petrol or Diesel - RT

You seem to know better than Mercedes and the auto box manufacturer who should I believe you or the manufacturers.By the way have you owned a Mercedes auto and kept it for many miles.

I've no first hand knowledge of Mercedes but other manufacturers adopt the "sealed for life" policy where the life is pitifully short if the ATF isn't routinely changed.

I treat "sealed for life" as meaning "economy model, no dipstick fitted"

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Wed 1 May 2013 22:43
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe - Mercedes Classs Coupe Petrol or Diesel - tony g
Hi collos two points ,
I currently run a c180 kompressor 2003 90k manual saloon .you say merc only do the 200 as a kompressor .?

Nice power delivery ,restricted by the awkward to use manual 6 speed .


Changing auto gearbox fluid ,I'm not sure whether the same thing applies to Lexus .i once owned an LS 400 with 200k miles .

The car would drive ok initially then lose drive completely .We changed the gearbox fluid and the gearbox filter . After that the car drove fine .

That would suggest that auto transmission fluid deteriorates ,in addition there was a fair amount of rubbish in the gearbox filter .

Edited by tony g on 01/05/2013 at 22:45

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Thu 2 May 2013 09:45
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe - Mercedes Classs Coupe Petrol or Diesel - Collos25

The answer to the question about Lexus is does not apply to MB a manual Mercedes well they were never designed for a manual box and are very difficult to sell hope you did not pay much for it being in the car trade you wil have known that but at that age it does not really matter .

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Thu 2 May 2013 14:15
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe - Mercedes Classs Coupe Petrol or Diesel - tony g
Hi collos ,why doesn't it apply to Lexus .

The c180 kompressor ?
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Thu 2 May 2013 14:20
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe - Mercedes Classs Coupe Petrol or Diesel - Collos25

Because one is probably recomended and one isnt.You would never ever find a German taxi company even think about changing the gearbox oil on one of their DM taxis or DB advicing it and you would never find a Lexus on a German taxi stand they would break to soon and are unreliable to do this job.

But you do what you want most people do.

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Thu 2 May 2013 20:09
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe - Mercedes Classs Coupe Petrol or Diesel - tony g
(Because one is "probably" recomended and one isnt.You would never ever find a German taxi company even think about changing the gearbox oil on one of their DM taxis or DB advicing it and you would never find a Lexus on a German taxi stand they would break to soon and are unreliable to do this job.)

That's a poor answer probably ? Price and the lack of Diesel engines until recently are the reason why you wouldn't see a Lexus diesel on taxi ranks ,not reliability
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Thu 2 May 2013 15:39
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe - Mercedes Classs Coupe Petrol or Diesel - Piowolf
That would suggest that auto transmission fluid deteriorates

sure it does
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Fri 3 May 2013 17:07
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe - Mercedes Classs Coupe Petrol or Diesel - barney100

Go for the petrol. I bought a W reg CLK 3.2 with 90k on the clock 4 years ago and it'on 145k now. Check the pads and discs and the service history for peace of mind. I can get 30mpg plus with a light r foot and the insurance is reasonable. Merc owners club can give you lots of advice.

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