About to buy the car...

[Captain Jack]

Not really thinking of selling it but the girlfriend is complaining about it being "old" and how much she preferred the Accord from hell.

I am actually currently warming up to Mercs. If I ever manage to save up some money, I would like to try my luck with some C-class oil burner. Reports suggest that reliability isn't bad so here's hoping. For now, I'll stick with the '6 (need that damn flexi hose sorted).

[turbolag]

I saw a gorgeous 1 owner 26,000 mile 1.9 TD exec go for under £2k recently. It even still smelled new. At that mileage it's not even running at peak efficiency yet. Some folk really take the pith when compared to some of the gems out there, but as long as there's a supply of schmucks gullible enough to keep buying them, they'll keep selling them.

I recently saw a 1 owner 205 diesel with only 600 miles on it (yes, six hundred) for sale recently. It looked like new and had spent most of it's life as an enthusiasts show and shine car.

[steve_earwig]

some C-class oil burner

Beware C classes made 2001/2, the ones they forgot to rustproof... Oh and get a nice easy to match colour for all your jealousy stripe needs

[turbolag]

The C class model that ended in the 2007 (I think) model year is a hound. It came something like 40 places below the Rover 45 during the Rovers final year in JD Power. The new gen is supposed to be a much nicer proposition in all areas.

[Welly]

Our accountant has a 2005 C Class 180 Kompressor and it kept getting a flat battery..................£1,100.00 later and the Merc Dealer found one of the electric seat motors had been partying every night for weeks

S'not just the C class with tin-worm either, my neighbour has an M Class [/spit] and that started to 'bubble'.......que a *full* warrenty repray later and 5? return trips to get the finish right (he now has a Volvo C70 on order ).

[sirwiggum]

I had been tempted by a Merc myself, a tidy looking 1998 C180. Always liked Mercs, memories of the old W123 and mid 80s S class my friends dad used to drive (he now has a 406 exec himself!).

This C class though had a terrible amount of rot around the arches, looked like my old 92 Orion. That is why you will see a lot of that era of Mercs with those chrome wheelarch covers.

The M class is also a dog. Had assumed that this was because it was thrown together in the US, but apparantly all Mercs from the late 90s to fairly recently have issues.
Once heard this was due to the beancounters dictating design instead of the engineers