rrich49132

Hi all so I have been on a search for a nice C55. It seems the majority of what I find hover around 100K miles given the car is 10 years old now that is what I am finding. Anything that seems like it is in good shape and priced in my budget seems to be lacking maintenance as it seems very few people keep these up to date but I might be wrong.

So the latest example of what I have found is a 2005 with 99K miles and over the last 4 yrs of ownership the guy changed the oil twice, and coolant, that is it and claims the car runs a bit rough which I think the Plugs, wires, and fuel filter should fix. So given that this is what it would need right after purchase:

trans flush
fuel filter
plugs and wires
brake flush
Power Steering flush

I am probably looking at close to $2000 as I am in the process of trying to figure how much this all will cost. It also seems that the valve cover gasket was never done as most of these cars need that done. The car is 400 miles away from me as I will have a PPI done if I can get the car for the right price. Many owners take much offense when I seem to ask all of these service questions and just come back and say the car is great and needs nothing.

Anyways my search goes on. I would pay a bit more for one of these if it was enthusiast owned but given you can buy one of these for the price of an Accord I find many of these AMG cars have owners that are not like me and rare for them to be up-to-date on service.

Traction143

I just took the plunge and bought a low mileage (35K) C55 with good basic maintenance records. It took a long time to find - over 5 months but good ones are available.

An enthusiast owned vehicle is ususally the way to go and may cost a bit more but worth it.

I would not buy one that is not running perfectly and a PPI can be a big help in negotiations. Keep looking and you will find a good one.

rrich49132

Thanks,
Ya I am going to take my time and get the right one. I just PMed you by the way.

winks911

Please try to find the lowest mileage one
I did purchase the higher mileage one but the price on the parts I've changed was not worth it
Things I changed to get it running properly
Plugs
All coils
All wires
All air intake hoses and Maf ( running Rough at idle)
Air filters
All fluids
Shocks
Some front and rear end arms bushings links
Rocker cover gaskets
Engine mounts Tranny mounts
Universal joint on driveshaft This is not usually a replaceable part universal joint comes with the shaft dealer price 1800.00 rebuild was 450 with blancing
Ac expansion valve
Rotor and Calpiers
Throttle intake needs a good cleaning
Now I also upgraded everything while doing all of these parts.
Good thing is I now know my car inside out.

tw2

I would also advise against a car not running perfectly- lack of records isn't so bad if it drives perfectly, you can always get maintenance up to date again. Any problems with rough idle can be very difficult tp fix. It might be just cleaning the maf or it could be $$$ in tracking down electronic problems. Also assume everyone is lying. Unless there is an itemized bill you should assume every car needs brake and transmission flush. They would have to be the most commonly neglected.

rrich49132

I passed on that one and actually find a very nice 2005 with 78K miles that has had many things done in the past 2 years:

Trans flush
plugs
valve cover gasket
Fuel filter
Serpentine belt
crank position sensor
New tires 3K miles ago - Nitto brand which I was not happy about

The car looks great from the pictures as it is about 1000 miles away from me. The owner says it has a slight oil leak at the rear seal which is a $1000 repair but says it is so slight that it does not have to be done now. Also front brakes are towards the end of life as I factored in that the rotors need to be done as well thinking worst case scenario. We have a verbal agreement on price as today it will get a PPI done and if nothing else major comes out of this I will get it this weekend.

Hope it works out as not too many sub 80K mileage cars I see for sale.

Viper98912

Meh, I've got double that mileage.