ljbcac

I'm planning to buy a c230 with around 60k miles for about 13k...which year is better, 2005, 2006 or 2007?

I'm still worrying about the high maintenance cost, so anybody can tell me how much do you spend on it every year?

Is 2005-2009 GTI a better choice?

ps. college student

04mbc230

College student you say. Definitely stick with either a Toyota corrola, Honda civic, or maybe a prius if you have a little more $$$. Mercedes isn't a car for college student that maybe in a budget.

ljbcac

just prefer German cars cuz they have better safety and mechanical quality.

i know if i turn to Japanese cars i would have tons of choices but somehow i just don't like them..is it stupid

MW_ATL

I understand what you are saying completely, but be aware they are maintenance intensive cars compared to the Honda or Toyota. Having a place and tools to do the work could be a challenge, and keep in mind that services are not just an oil change. Little things like cleaning the sunroof tracks are important. I'm not saying you can't do it yourself, but just be aware what you are getting into.

That being said, 2005 - I believe - the 230 was still the 1.8 supercharged inline 4, which had an issue with leaking cam sensors, and a five speed automatic. Not a big issue as long as you are aware and they are taken care of. 2006 and 2007, the 230 was a small v6, with a seven speed automatic. I want to say there were some issues with the heads on the earlier production Unitas, but again, something that probably isn't an issue by now. 2007 had, IMHO, the best stock wheels, but, Mercedes started to skimp on some little items as a cost saving measure (i.e. all of the light switches were black instead of color matched to the interior, not having pre-wiring for the telephone system installed, etc). Again, not a big issue, unless you would go to the effort to install the factory Bluetooth setup, but something to be aware of.

I think any of the years, with good service records and in good shape would serve you well.

04mbc230

I have to add that for the 06 and 07, there might be that dreaded speed sensor (aka conductor plate) issue that affects it's 7g transmission and seems to occurs around 80k mileage. There is also the issue with the oil pump and the dreadful tc sproket issue. The three items are not a campaign (aka recall) that will call for free work and ususally runs into $1200 - $3000 each. Although, I think it should be since it's affecting mostly all cars with this type of transmission installed.

There is the cam senoid magnet that is a campaign and may have affect to all years. Although, this is due to oil seaping in that cause this, but when found too late, it usually causes more havoc and cost more $$$ to fix.

Oh, the other issue that seems to occur are the rattling noise or squeeky noise of pulleys and the tensioner. They seem to go out around 80k as well. Although, this is sometimes hard to diagnoise as it can be any pulley you see that is driven by the belt.

Timing chains expansion can be an issue as well, but doesn't seem to occur too often, but if it does, it spells for trouble as well.

The other things are like the AC/vent system flaps in the interior can break and also needs reparing when it happens and it sure would happen sooner or later. The cost to fix is expensive but it can be a diy work which will take some of your time to deal with.

As for noises, the "dude that got stuck in the trunk" banging noise. Which it's a possible point that it related to the fuel pump. Not that it's broken, but no one had got a correct diagnose or fix.

The Cat exhaust that has popcorn sound. Might be a bad cat starting to happen.

Battery seems to died out at a certain mileage and it's signs that it's about to go will give you all sorts of error codes. (very confusing).

SRS error can happen, if you are not careful with drinks in your car. Spillage on the seats or the seat belts buckle will cause this error and my understanding is that it will disable the SRS on your car which render your safety if you choose to drive it with that code.

Rattle, taps, squeek noise in the interior trims and compoents occurs through out it's life.

Other than that, yea, it's a good car. Like the above poster noted, AW, maintain it well and in good shape, it will serve you well for a long time.

Gosh, looking back, I seem to have gain quite a lot of knowledge / experience with this car. But of course you can find all these and more on the search box.

Peydidy

I have a 05 c230 and a 2002 c230. There are positive and negative points to both. The facelift makes a huge difference (interior, nicer body kit, wheels, and much more) so go with something 05 and above. As said above the 07s do have the nicest wheels, if you plan on changing the wheels that wouldn't matter much to you I guess. The nicer part about the 05s is the gas milage is better because of it being a 4 cylinder and it has a Kompressor. Its a hit or miss on the maintenance, IMO if the cars had a lot of issues in its past is going to have alot of issues with you too because likely it wasn't taken good car of before which caused its previous issues. My sedan never really had any issues with the previous owns according to the car fax and the whole time I have had owner ship of it I never had any major issues, a $400 dollar seat belt sensor replacement which was my fault because of spilling a drink on it, other then that its been perfect. The 90$ oil changes are a really good deal imo too if you think about it. You only need to change them once ever 13,000 miles or 1 year vs the other cars $30 oil changes that you have to do ever 3,000 miles or 3 months. So really your saving money on them and less trips to the shop and time waisting to get them done. The coupe I have had the EIS go out the first week I bought it which really sucked, it cost me $1450 to get it replaced plus thats after my 20% off so be ready for expensive repairs to randomly pop up. Have a cool amount of money saved up for the repairs, if your on a really tight budged maybe get a little cheeper of a car and save the extra money you end up for any repairs that my come your way. Hey if your in CA you could buy my sedan which is going up for sale this month
Good luck with what ever you end up getting

silvermamba

Im in college. I like the car so far. For a luxury car, this car is great on gas compared to other cars in its class. I get a lot of attention. Even though it's a C-Class it's still a beautiful car.

Peydidy

do you go to las positas?

Midnight05C230

'05 for sure, I just put 4 new tires on and was getting 37mpg, prior I was getting 32-33mpg. Take care of the car and it will take care of you, Ive put 20K on mine in 11 months and only complaints are the thermostat, bushings, and occasionally the stereo doesnt work. As for oil changes, $50-60 if you DIY. P.S. Stay away from Autozone for parts, and stick to online or the stealership for parts. I bought an oil filter at autozone for 23 bux.. it was only 13 at the parts counter!

Peydidy

+1 on auto zone ripping off on pricing. I asked them how much for new wipper blades for my car and they said they need to special order it and it would cost $140 for a set. A forum member told me about a mercedes part website and I got them off there for a little under 40 for the set, dealership was also something around that too.

LILBENZ230

37mpg in the 05? I don't get that, but I don't drive it like a granny either.. which you do not want to do with the M271, by the way.

I'd say your best bet would be a 2007 with the V6 and a 6-speed manual. That would be the 1st choice. Next up, I'd say a 2005 with either transmission. I recommend against the 7G transmission. They are showing a couple of trending problems, both expensive, and for sure one requiring a dealer fix (conductor plate). They also have TC issues which are very expensive. Dealers basically refuse to service them correctly to top it all off.

Of course, my 1st recommendation is some different type of car. Japanese cars are not mechanically inferior or less safe by any real measurable amount.

Midnight05C230

Yep, it was a 50 mile highway journey I was cruising 75-80 the whole time. Ive read people getting 35.. 37 was quite impressive.

Peydidy

37s crazy good, these cars get a lot better MPG's then what I expected

LILBENZ230

I drove over 1,000 miles over this past weekend and didn't do much better than 27mpg. Granted, I spent a good deal of time at over 80. I have to really feather foot it to get into the 30s.

My car is at 136,650 miles. The MAF has never been cleaned and the O2 sensors are original. Maybe that's why I seem to have lost some efficiency over the years.

Glyn M Ruck

Nah! Your foot has just got lazier & heavier!

LILBENZ230

Before I left to go visit Drew in St. Augustine on Friday evening, I opened the hood for the first time since last service - it had been about 3000 miles. The air intake hose had disintegrated. It was not connected to the air filter box or the grille-mounted air intake port.

I reconnected it all and need to order the new hose. Car seemed a little different once reconnected but that could be placebo.

Midnight05C230

Im at 119K purchased in June lastyear with 99K.. not sure what service has been done but my airfilter is clean, and was changing my oil every 5K. I thing a great deal is the new tires Im rolling on. Not to sure about the whole 'wrapped' intake tube.. all seems a little silly to me, not to mention the duct starts on the passenger side, I do plan on opening the driver side duct and running a carbon fiber tube 'short ram style' and dropping in the K&N filter.. hopefully Ill get a noticeable gain.

LILBENZ230

Who said anything about wrapping the intake tube? My factory one is in bad shape.. they degrade over time. There are no gains to be had on the W203 from custom cold air intakes. We've had it come up again and again.

tommy

Bad grammar aside, he's right. It's your car, but most likely, you won't see real gains.

C230 Sport Coup

Of those, the 2005 is likely to be less maint. intensive.
So many issues once they changed engines and trannies 06 & 07.

Only thing on the 05 is, don't baby it. Blow out that carbon baby!
And a stick is much better on the 1.8L. Keep in in the power band.
And some folks here have come to the conclusion that regular timing chain replacements on the 1.8L make for a more reliable car.

The 2.3L on the 2002 coupe, is a bulletproof motor, but isn't so nice on gas.

MIKESV8

i probably shouldn't be buying an E63 then

Midnight05C230

Why is it you say not to baby the '05? Just curious, I usually beat the **** out of it on the street since it is dogass slow.

LILBENZ I was referring to the style of tube in the '05.. its like a cloth wrap.. Im sure the same for prior years with the 4-banger.

castlev

Carbon builds up around the valves, when you redline the vehicle the exhaust blows all the carbon away to keep the valves clean.

Midnight05C230

Good info, glad to know the beating she is taking is actually doing her some good... no pun intended lol

04mbc230

There is always an exception! If you have dough shooting out of unknown places, then why not? The typical college student who may have loans and going all economical doesn't makes sense with an E63, would they?