Heather1

Hi ALL! Need some assistance, please!

1. When buying a pre-owned merc, is low mileage an important factor to keep in mind if I want to keep the car for long OR for future low maintenance reasons ?
2. Is C280, 4matic, 2006-2008, under 20k mileage a low maintenance car like Honda/Toyota’s?
3. Is the resale value of this car good?
4. Being a not so knowledgeable female about cars, should I go with a CPO car which the dealer is asking for more or just go with a pre-owned car and get it certified later?
****After i get help from you guys, i'll be getting my first MB

W203E35

The C280 has a pretty good engine. They use this same engine in the new C300. The maintenance isn't too crazy. Oil change for the Benz will be 100 bucks for every 13 thousand miles whereas on a Honda or Toyota 20 bucks for 3 thousand miles (atleast in Los Angeles). You'll save 15 bucks max in a year or at 13k miles with a honda or toyota (whoop dee doo).

How much is the car going for and how much extra is it to CPO it?

The C280 isn't a high maintenance car but what's important is price. How much is the car going for?

Edit:

phister

Really with any car as long as you keep up with the maintenance it should last quite awhile. A c280 4matic with 20k is going to be low maintenance, you'll just need to do you're normal service A and B at each invertal. Depending on where you get the car you can usually get them to give you an extended warranty on the car if its not a CPO. I bought mine at a Toyota/Honda dealership and they gave me 2yr/ 24K warranty on my car. I got my 06 C230 sport sedan w/ 45k for 13K out the door. I've used my warranty a couple times so far and havent had any problems with the warranty that honda gave me. I'm about to be up on my warranty so I'm going to call them and let them do a full service check and see if anything needs to be replaced that my warranty covers. You wont be disappointed in a MB when you get it, I'm always getting compliments on my car and I havent done much to it, just wheels, a small drop, and projectors, plus my bike rack lol.

phister

Yeah price is always an important factor. Shop around and compare. Getting a used one at the MB dealership is usually going to be more than if you buy a used MB at say a toyota, ford, or chevy dealership, well I know it is here where I'm from. Dealerships usually dont like having other brand cars on there lot for a long time so they usually try to sell them quick if they cant at the auctions. Think I got mine for at least 2-3k less than what other places where asking for. Also the guy at the dealership didnt know if mine was a SS or not lol

Glyn M Ruck

If you intend keeping the car for a long while then low mileage is a good start although operation & maintenance of the car is probably more important. The C280 is a tough car. In ROW resale on Benz is excellent - less so in the throwaway US.

A Benz is never going to be as cheap to operate as a Toyota. But then who want's to drive a boring Toyota.

Toyota's are great for people that just want reliable transport & have some of the lowest operating cost per mile on the planet. Honda's are great cars & a little more inspiring.

W203E35

13k?? That's a killer deal

In Feb of 09 I got my car with 21k or 20k miles for 20,750 or 21,750. I usually mix up the miles with the money so don't remember well

Ohh I almost forgot the most important part. When I went to the dealer I found out the scheme they used. At the end of the amount the last digit represents how much they can go down.

There were 4 stages. 4 being they can go down a lot. 8 being they can't go down a single penny. 6 being they can throw in free stuff and 9 being they can't go down but will very minimal.

For example if a car is priced 21,994 you know you can knock the price down a lot. 21,998 meaning they wont go down at all and so on. They use this trick on older cars as well. If the car has been sitting on the lot for a long time they use the number to basically say "hey try to sell this one first so we can get this car out of here"

Hope this all comes handy

tommy

How much more interesting of a drive is a 280 over a Camry?

To OP, sounds like you don't want to spend too much money for the short term on repairs. If that's the case, I'd go Japanese; a used TL or TSX would be where I'd be looking. If you have to go MB, a CPO would be less stress, and a safer option.

Glyn M Ruck

A different world - go drive them side by side. And - to hell with Euro NCAP etc. I'd rather be in a Benz in a bad accident thanks!

W203E35

My GF has an 06 Camry (V6), although it's a lot more roomy (not by much) I would still prefer a C280

tommy

I've driven both a decent amount, and they're both like kissing your sister. I'd take the Accord or TSX manny. Rather die in a firey car crash than be bored to death.

zerocover

You just seem to desperately want a manual, all else be damed.

I'll say the C280 4matic is rock solid, and a very good car. Head and shoulders above any honda or toyota. I can say with 100% certainty that is more capable then a TSX, I found that out yesterday against my buddies 09 TSX. That being said that acura inspires more confidence and its more fun to drive while the C280 always feels more sedate, even when blowing past the acura (as always awd>fwd).

One thing you need to be careful of is that it will spoil you, I wont upgrade to the new C class because its a step down in interior and options, not to mention a harsher ride.

-------------------------------
Back on topic,
I paid 19.5k for my C280 4matic with 17K miles on it last year (which was way under kbb, it was the first good thing to come out of this recession). It was a smoking private party deal. If your car is under warranty, you can purchase an extended warranty from Mercedes. This is the path I recommend.

Required maintenance is average, if you shop around. Some dealers are 3x more expensive then others. They will also try and sell you lots of things you dont need (recommended maintenance like $175 FI cleaner), do not buy them from the dealer and your set.

Resale is good if your in the cars sweet spot. IE not too old. You can check yahoo autos for a graph.

----------------------------
EDIT: @tommy
An accord, are you serious. Have you driven a modern one. Just thinking of that cheap **** carpet interior is making my stomach turn. The only thing I remember about that car is the salesman explaining to me that the car has a chip in the transmission so it shifts better on hills, and the car slowing to a crawl up a hill by the dealership under near full gas. It has no power and embarrassing wallowy suspension. Maybe if you fully deck it out, it might be drivable, but I cant stand the new accord.

PS this was a new accord and it cost the same as my C280

tommy

You act like that's a bad thing.

No, it's not the only thing. IMHO, MB's goal is to isolate you from the driving experience and overnanny you.

If you agree that the TSX is more fun to drive, why are you disagreeing with me? All else equal (size, $$, etc.), I'll always pick the car that's more fun to drive.

EDIT: Heather, sorry for off-topic infighting. If you buy a Benz and stay on the forums here, you'll get used to it.

Heather1

Thank you ALL so much! I enjoyed reading the suggestions and had a smile on my face after a long time. Before writing my concern, i read different posts on this site and they were too over whelming that i couldn't sleep that night. Too much information to learn and memorize . Thank you for keeping your patiance in order to reply my next round of questions!
1- I only checked the MB official site & local MB dealerships. I never knew that other barnd names of car dealerships might carry my wish car. I'll look into it.
2-The sites have showed me a price of C280, CPO, 2006-2007 models, max 20k mileage, 4 matic around $24,000 - $25,000 with 1.99% APR. I would be stretching myself a lot to pay this price. I'm scared if i don't get a CPO, then some one i.e; private party can fool me by selling some thing bad. That's the only reason i thought of going with an already CPO car.
3- Mileage around 30k - 40k prices are coming around 20k. I would love that. So would this mileage range be still ok to buy?
4- Do i need to take a man with me when i go to buy a car(why do i feel that no one can fool me then?)
5-If i don't get a certified car then how to make sure that there is nothing wrong with it - from a dealer, no certified car. What type of extended warranty would be nice to have?

Thanks zillions!!!!!!!!

To Karo: bless you for giving me such a golden info about the "4 stages" on a price.

LILBENZ230

I'm with Tommy for the most part, but for me, if it isn't a "sport" W203 - I'd just as soon have a Camry. Sorry Glyn, facts are facts - modern cars are extraordinarily safe and Benz has no real advantage.

Heather:

1. Look at autotrader, it'll show you all of them at all sorts of dealers.
2. It doesn't have to be CPO.
3. 30-40k miles and even higher will be fine as long as the price goes down with it.
4. Take someone who knows about cars. I love going with people to buy a car. I know dealer games and tricks and like playing them (they never expect it).
5. Cars as new as you're looking at aren't likely to have problems, but just make sure you do a thorough test drive and go over everything. Extended warranties are often wastes of money, but it is hard to put a price on peace of mind. The 2005-2007 C-class is a mature chassis with lots of the problems worked out.

Glyn M Ruck

You must hasten to your Honda dealer & buy that FIT

Glyn M Ruck

I come from a country that has one of the highest road fatality rates in the world - not something to be proud of. Here there is clearly a better survival rate in the German big 3 vehicles.

Toyota is our best selling car - then come the Germans. We are a good test bed - those are my facts.

While recently on vacation in Dallas my daily driver was a Lexus SC430 with 15,000 miles on the clock. Wonderful engine - awful vehicle to drive. Soggy, sloppy & like most Lexus cars it rattled.

W203E35

The C280 is far more superior than a Camry or Accord. Have you guys seen the interior of the 06 Camry?? Or even worse the interior of an 06 Accord???

FraKctured

I bought my 06 280 4Matic, CPO in Spring 2008 for $20K (CPO included) from the dealer. Had 30K miles so your quotes seem high to me by at least $5000--talk 'em down from there. CPO is worth it--don't skimp, buy it. In fact, if you can get the extended, do it. I kick myself for not buying the extended warranty at the time.

I had an issue with the stereo that is well-documented on here, so you might want to check into that (they replaced the amp, which can be upwards of $1800) and there was an issue with the transfer case oil that I luckily found before any damage was done (small job, $200 to fix--the report and info is here in my posts, so have a look). Yea, the stereo is an odd problem, shouldn't happen, but it did but the CPO took care of it and paid for itself.

I love the car--smooth ride, quiet, responsive (it's not a fast car, but it has plenty of juice for normal driving in my opinion--paddle it to 3rd gear when you hit the onramp if you want a little more power) and beautiful to look at and drive. I enjoy it EVERY time I get in--never gets old. This is my second C-class, and both have been rock solid compared to the Japanese cars I owned before (which I dreaded driving as the trim fell off at 90K). I also have an ML in the garage, and it's been fantastic--110K and the only thing other than maintenance has been a new catalytic converter at 100K! I know that's not what the stats say, but it's my experience so take it for what it's worth. If you're looking for a fast car, this isn't it, but if you're looking for an affordable, reliable and solid entry level luxury car, you're there.

PS If you live in a snow area, the 4Matic with ESP and the rest is AMAZING! Got me out of a pileup two years ago with (literally) a scratch rather than turning the car into scrap metal.

FraKctured

+1 Then go drive one!!!

fookoo303

FIT FTW

Heather1

Thank YOU all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let me do my search again after getting the super feed back from you guys I feel much stronger now. Earlier buying this car was like a rocket science ! (i'll come back with other round of info )

SGTzAMG

honestly. it doesnt matter if u have a higer mileage vehicle or not.

al in all it comes down to HOW much the car was taken care of from previous owners.

a car could have 18K and be a 2001 model, and yet been abused and have had neglected maintenance, and same for higher mileage cars.

anywho..JUST make sure u get CARFAX and trust your instincts.
if u feel as if the car is NOT the right car...DONT pull the trigger....u would want to buy the car with confidence without any doubts!

LILBENZ230

Sorry Karo. I love you. But . I have experience with all three - the W203, the 06+ Camry, and the 03-07 Accords. The Accord/Camry are faster than the C280 (V6s), when equipped right (SE-V6, EX-V6) they are better looking than the C280, statistics say they are much more reliable, they give up very little in terms of features and give up nothing in terms of safety. They are great cars and that's just a fact, opinions aside. I don't own them so I'm not defending a purchase. I'm just stating... I respect great cars no matter who makes them and whether they're the right fit for me or not. Non-Sport W203s are every bit as hopelessly boring as ANY CamCord, only I expect appliance like attributes with them. I expect better of a German sedan.

Heather, saw your profile comment. You're very welcome!

W203E35

You can keep this interior, I prefer my C class interior

Talk about a big time Piece of Sh*t.

I respect great cars too but the Camry and Accord are straight up trash compared to a C class. You can never compare the electronics of the Camry and Accord with the C class. Might be a faster than the C280 but that's the only advantage it has.

W203E35

You are right about one thing though you will never get bored in a Camry or Accord because you'll always be dreaming about driving other cars