mac911

Would you buy a 2007 W203 loaner that is only about 18 months old with 22,000 miles about? If people put 87 in it, I wonder how bad engine would be hurt?

Obviously, CPO, so it would have a lot of warranty left.

I know people gave the W203s hard time on reliability, but by 2007 were they pretty solid?

How do you know if you can add bluetooth? How much is it, and could I install it myself?

Thanks.

Shake

I would never ever buy a loaner. How much are they selling it for?

mac911

Ok, I guess I better pass then. There's a couple of them. Low 20s. One of the ones I was looking at had the Harmon Kardon sound. I was looking for a second car.

What about if I ever find one that isn't a loaner? Did later W203s prove fairly reliability?

PA_Pete

I think it's the loaner part that I would be worried about. I'm sure the loaners were used and abused.

alpinweiss

I agree with the above posts. The W203 was good and reliable in 2007. I think anything after 2004 1/2 is a good bet (depending on which engine you want). The ones that had the most problems were the 2001 and 2002 models.

I would be most worried about the fact they were loaner cars. Check very carefully for signs of abuse.

krisv420

here is my two cent's

Just think of it this you go to enterprise and you rent a car. Enterprise only keeps there cars up to around 18k why? because there already falling apart!! If you have seen an enterprise car last up to 50k let me know.

The reason that im getting to is.. Its a loaner ppl beat them because its not there car. But because its a Mercedes i dunno. But when i had a loaner car from benz i just floor it at every stop light why? because i could and i didn't have to worry about anything breaking because its not my car.

My car i won't do red line max like i did with the loaner..

But coming from me i would never buy a loaner car.

But who cares im a nobody =*(

( Oh and for it being a 2007 with 22k miles is very high )

There's my Two cent's
Kris

mac911

Ok, you guys convinced me.

What convinced me was when you brought up rental cars. Rental cars look like garbage, except when brand new.

I'm staying away, but will consider a non-loaner W203 in the future.

MBCClassboy

You should give this a little more thought. A loaner from a Chevy dealer might get abused but you guys are trying to tell me that some 50 year old S class owner drops off his car, gets a C class loaner and then goes out and drives it like an irresponsible teenager. I really don't think that is likely to happen. I bought one of those COP loaners with 8400 miles on it. I have a 100,000 mile warranty until the end of 2013 and I got over 10k off the sticker. Car has been flawless for the 6k I have put in it. Not a mark on it inside or out and it behaves perfectly. Add that to a warranty that will last years past my loan and it was a no brainer. Maybe it would be a better idea to buy a used car from a stranger without an extended warranty. You choose.

Greg

GGM

My first Mercedes was a loaner 2003 C240. I got it December '03 and kept it until November '07 when I got my present '08 E350. It was a great entry into Mercedes. Most every problem was taken care of by the warranty (exceptions were brakes and wipers--wear and tear items). It even came with free maintenance back then. It had 17,000 miles on it when I got it and only had 38,000 miles when I traded it in. I would think that as long as it is under warranty, you should be safe.

But I am one of those fifty-something guys that doesn't abuse the loaners I am privileged to drive just like I don't abuse my car.

MBCClassboy

But I am one of those fifty-something guys......

Me too.

Greg

04C320

Not a fifty something but in agreement. I don't see the majority of persons able to service their MB at the dealer and get a loaner beating on it. Most (granted the "older crowd") will just drive it and not act like it's an evil step child or race car.
I would consider it. Look the car over and if it looks fine and has the CPO warranty, what's the worry?

avlis

Does Enterprise rent MBs? If they did, they'd probably last a lot longer than 18k miles regardless of how they are driven. A lot of this depends on the quality and durability of the car. MBs are soild cars. My dealer loaned me a previous gen C-class (W202?) with 80k miles. Despite looking like it was pulled from a junkyard, it ran and drove exactly like my W203 which had 10k miles on it at the time.

patrick_y

I've gotten a loaner W203 when my C230 Kompressor went in for a recall (supercharger pipe).

The loaner I got was in the worst possible condition; the poor machine had spilled drink stains on the carpet and was sticky, was missing a fog lamp, had many tears and stains, was missing the Mercedes logo on the chrome smartkey (someone had pried it off), had a smell of death (literally smelled like a dead animal) coming from the fan whenever the AC was off but the smell would be reduced if the AC was on, and a few other things were wrong with the interior. It had over 30K miles for a 2007 C230.

The previous drivers were definitely not careful with the interior of this car.

The car mechanically was perfectly sound, the engine didn't miss a beat, the transmission shifted smoothly, and steering alignment seemed to be in good shape.

I personally took decent care of the car, I put in premium gas (Shell), even cleaned up the interior a little bit in the front driver seat area.

But I did take the car on a windy mountain road to have some fun in it. I did this with the loaner car primarily because I wanted to take the opportunity to use someone else's costly brakes and tires for once instead of my own.

I also took the loaner to Home Depot to buy things that I would not normally put in my own trunk.

I would not buy a loaner car. But mechanically, my trashed loaner car was in good shape.