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Recently been looking around at used Merc C Class. Spotted a nice example - 99V C180 Elegance 5 spd tip auto with low miles. Imagine my surprise when making further enquiries to discover it had no air con. I'm amazed they were turning these cars out at 25k new in 1999 without a/c. Worse still, they want 12k for one now! Apparently a/c was always an option on the old shape C180
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I want to know what kind of car buyer decides to buy a £25K car and not put air conditioning in it. Daft, I wouldn't even buy my Fiesta without it!
Blue
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I blame the Germans. They like their Mercedes with steel wheels, manual gearboxes and cloth seats. Mercedes historically kept its cars spartan because of the extra profit margin in selling kit as extras. Not all their cars are built to order though and some invariably come through with right hand drive and this slightly dodgy specification.
When these poverty spec models are sold in the UK, it's usually through lease companies as special offers so that the customer is only interested in a lower monthly cost - and to specify the air con might have cost a lot more over three years than it would in simple cash terms.
My parents would have preferred to have ABS and metallic paint on their Focus Flight. Unfortunately they could only get solid red and no ABS - and to go for an LX (basically the same with alloys, CD player and heated front screen, which they weren't at all bothered about) would have cost them £1500 plus the cost of the extras. Most likely this Merc, when new, was sold on an unofficial deal at a fair discount that worked the same way.
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If I remember rightly the C180 was the only C-Class not to have air-con as standard in those days.
Try looking for a C200 or 220.
I ran a M reg C220 for 120,000 miles without any problems at all, it was the best car I have ever owned and when it was sold it felt and looked like new and actually drove better as if the engine had just started to loosen up.
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These cars were sold at well under 25k from new and 12k for a v plate sounds an awfull lot.
I sold my 2000yr C240 Sport in January for 12k and it was pristine. Mind you I let my freind have it for the trade-in value so I could've got a few more thousand for it privately.
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Marcos me old mate ! When you decide to sell your £38k E320 CDi for £12k in 2.5 years time, CAN I HAVE IT ??
Oh go on...., please..., pretty please...., pretty, pretty please .... I promise I'll be your best friend ! ;-)
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My old C-Class cost considerably less than the E-Class so I hope to be able to sell the E for a little more than that but if I go mad and decide to let it go for 12k I'll let you know volvoman.
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The list price was around the 25k mark new in '99 according to an old price guide I have. Whether they were heavily discounted at the time I don't know. The dealer was keen to point out it had an optional sunroof however.
Problem is I don't feel there is anything "elegant" about stewing away inside a car in this day and age and I'm surprised Mercedes do
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I think if you look about you'll find a much better priced and equiped C-Class for the money.
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Marcos - I note from your previous reply that you had a C240 Sport. How do you rate the Sport specification to the Elegance? Externally I believe it has lowered suspension and AMG alloys - does this give it a hard ride? What are the interior appointments like?
Thanks
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I got the sport beacause it had nicer wheels ( not AMG but nice )the interior was nicer with carbon fiber trim, sports front seats ( very comfy), lovely ivory coloured dials that all lit up orange and it sat a little lower so had an overall sportier appearance. The only problem with it was the ride was a little bit too hard for our roads. It is not as comfortable as the elegance because of the suspension but it handled very well.
I see the car most weekends as my freind has it and it still looks a stunning motor. In fact it looks so good I can't work out why I got a new car and sold it.
I'm off to have a little cry now.
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