Hello all,

I am very close to buying a 2002 model C240. It has 90K on it. Could you inform me what the pros and cons are in this car?
Thanks.

Pros...it's a Mercedes
Cons...it's a Mercedes
I'm not too familiar with the 240s, I'll let someone else chime in. Otherwise the chassis is great and makes for fun driving. Congrats on the low mileage find and welcome

It's amazingly slow.
On the other hand, it's a pretty bulletproof engine.

It's got low miles.
On the other hand, 2001/2002 C classes have horrible paint, questionable electronics, and several other annoyances - screen for the MFD will fade, the golf tees for the door locks stick up too high, the stock suspension screams to be updated, and it's hard to get out of your own way with the lack of hp

It depends on what you want, of course. If you HAVE to have a Mercedes, it's about as low price as you can get for a reasonable vintage. I don't find it particularly compelling of a car, and it needs a good amount of aftermarket work to make it acceptable. And by then, you could have bought a better car.

Tommy, thanks for the comment. What do you mean by slow? How powerful is the engine? HP wise.

Because you have (basically) the same car as me, these are my impressions:


1st off, unless you are getting a good deal, I wouldn't buy it. It's not that it's a bad car, but at 100k miles it's going to be hit or miss, depending on if it was treated well by previous owner(s)
My '02 C240 has 63k miles and I haven't had any mechanical problems. I haven't had any paint problems that were caused by weather (Houston). The interior has really started to fall apart since the car was starting to get driven again; not literally, it's just a bunch of easy fixes. Don't be scared by that.
If you do mostly city driving, you're looking at 18.5 mpg and tire changes every 15-20,000 miles.
It is a car that can be aesthetically be modded to no end. Engine wise... what's there is what you get.
I would not suggest getting this car if it came from/will be going to a snowy place where they salt roads. They rust easier than other models, don't know or care because I don't know what snow is.
It has a built in cassette player(and maybe 6-cd changer, mine does) but the tapes get stuck and you can never get them out unless you take the console out. Don't try using a tape-to-aux for your phone
It has the best stock sound system I've heard in a car
I wouldn't say it's terribly slow, but you really have to floor it if you're pulling out of a parking lot onto a street with other cars coming. It has 163 HP and 177 ft-lb torque, which is rather sad considering it's a 2.6L V6 from Mercedes. And the car weighs about 3500lb with a person in it.
Sometimes stuff doesn't work for 3 months and then it magically works the rest of the time.


If you have any other specific questions, ask.


edit- as opposed to tommy's comment, I haven't had any permanent electrical issues. Most of my interior stuff is physical, but if the car is very hot inside, the LCD screen in the dash doesn't show up.

Thank you so much for the reply. So, I have been driving a 98 Passat turbo, and having owned a German for 3 years, I have learned my share to work on these cars. So, labor wise, I dont think I will be paying much unless it is alignment etc. which is beyond anybody's scope.

I live in South Carolina. So, no snow but good amount of rain. I have not seen the car yet . I will see it tomorrow. The owner is asking 6500 but told me to make an offer once I see it tomorrow. I am going to ask 4000 ans see where it goes.
He told me he has maintained it religiously, but when I asked about the records, he said he does not have many of them but can be verified from the european shop he takes the car to. The rear right window is not working.

Why are the tires getting replaced too often?

So Cal shouldn't be a problem with paint, as far as I know. There are plenty of owners on here from there, I'd wait and see if any of them chime in.
Depending on the factory options it comes with, I think a decent price could be $5200-$5400, but obviously get it as low as possible. The rear window is probably a regulator, which costs around $100, plus labor unless you do it yourself. Personally I wouldn't see that as an issue as I hardly ever carry people with me, let alone use the back seat.
Maintenance- If it's maintained every 2 years or so I think you should be fine. Depends on what he shows you...

Honestly I think the tires/alignment on my car is screwed up. I'm bringing it to Discount Tire on Monday because the rear toe angles looks so wrong, which drastically reduces mileage, although the tires I use are only rated for 40k miles. I just noticed this today and it popped into my head as to why my last set didn't even last 15k.


One thing to check for- I have heard, though I'm not sure if it's true or not, that the Brazilian-manufactured cars are poorer quality than the German-made ones. You can check this on the drivers side door jamb, along with the VIN. It will simply say "Made in Germany/Brazil." Don't take my word for that, though.

Yeah, ildd's swapping out tires way too often, definitely something not right with his car.

I believe it's 168 hp.

6 grand is definitely way too much. Good luck with the inspection; even though it's a Southern car, definitely check the rear quarters and door sills for rust, just in case. Has the original owner always lived there?

Also, I would take some time and run the a/c until it's very cold in the cabin - having lived in New Orleans, I know how critical that is down there. These cars tend to have issues with the HVAC; search for "steppers", and you can read about what happens. Usually not a big issue. My a/c was replaced several years ago, it's not an easy fix, just so you know.

ildd's right - it is most likely a regulator with that window, and not a deal-breaker.

Ask the owner how old the battery is. When you drive the car, pay particular attention to how easy it is to put the key in and start the ignition- there's a part called the EIS which recognizes the key, and the age of your car is a perfect candidate for replacing that - it's about a 1700-2200 fix, and has to be at a dealer.

I don't mean to scare you off, but there are definite issues with owning this generation of car. I've owned mine since new in September 01, and have gone through many issues with mine. It's still a fun car, though expensive.

And if you're looking for a ton of aftermarket parts, there aren't many. Not as easy to mod as a BMW or VW, for example.

Tough as nails engine & transmission. Power is adequate. You need to get used to revving them. Gear ratios are good. My 2003 C240 is now with a friend and still as good as new. Utterly trouble free car other than 2 caster bushes under warranty, one 5 cent tranny drain plug washer & one RH brake lamp bulb. Leather & interior good as new.

South African built car.

just for your info, i too have a 2002 C240, from my experience, it's not as simple/trouble free as accord/camry, my share of items for C240, besides oil/fluid/filter/cleaning work

have done: spark plugs, maf, cps, fuel filter, breather hoses, valve cover gaskets, mfd lcd screen, adjustable rear upper control arms(to correct aggressive camber in, which coupled with toe in, causes excessive tire wear)

to do: 1. rough/vibration at idle (could be due to engine mounts worn, also suspecting intake plastic tube mating to TB is not well sealed, rather quite loose, anyone got idea how to seal this part ? rubber seals already replaced with new ones)

2. occasionally what seems like electricity would pause/cut out for very short duration, for like 0.2 second, its cause is a mystery to me, observed by noticing unexpected cut/pause in turn signals, and seems idling engine would occasionally very quickly pause and continue

3. my c240 is approaching 90k miles, recently during cold winter mornings, turning wheels makes some noise, i am guessing struct bearings may be worn

that said, i think this car got strong engine and transmission, confidence in safety(body and air bags)

He told me the battery was just replaced as the car has been sitting in the driveway for sometime. Could you elaborate the EIS issue? What are the symptoms of it being bad?

i guess it means if its operation is sticky or abnormal,

key insertion, turn key starting engine, key removal

if you test drive a few w203/w210, you will get a feel of its normal operation

c240 can pull strongly, just not quickly,

i feel it's slower than my previous car, 1998 honda accord

unless if willing to press pedal to WOT,


now positive, if in accident, i think c240 can trash accord easily

It's simple math - 168 hp, heavy car = slow car. No offense, but if your benchmark is a 1998 Accord, the bar is awfully low.

EIS is as tikara said; you'll get a warning of a couple of days where the "handshake" (Glyn's term; I'll use it so that he gets more royalties) between the key and the EIS system will be a little sticky, then it won't work at all. Then you take out your wallet, and hand it over, do not pass go, do not collect $100. It's like the diff, which also likes to blow up without much of a warning, too.

The math is not that simple as gearing has to be taken into account & torque multiplication by the TC. Also power curve as it relates to torque curve. But that said. Acceleration is brisk at best & there is absolutely nothing wrong with top speed. I have never known a C240 spit it's diff & I know plently of them that have done 1 million Km's in taxi service in Asia.

Many people in ROW drive C180's & C200's & find power adequate.

Lets's however be brutally honest & that where they were built makes a big difference. Brazilian & Mexican sourced cars were not up to scratch & SA cars were better than German cars for at least 2000 to end 2002. Much is it might surprise everybody, Vietnam built cars were excellent. These were not good days for Benz.

I have a 04 C240 4Matic and its been pretty reliable <knock on wood>

With a 2002 should he check that radiator, to see if it has a Valeo radiator to see if the car is susceptible to transmission damage due to the radiator?

European motoring scribes considered the C240 Elegance, C270 CDI Elegance to be the best W203's & C320 to be the worst.

The car was made in Germany per VIN. Is there anybody who can run the VIN for complete history? I really appreciate it.

WDBRF61J92E001135

Hello all,
I saw the car today. I saw milky residue on the oil cap so I assumed there is a coolant leak in the engine. Also, I am 6.2, 220lb and this car is too small.

I really appreciated your posts and help. I learned a lot about C240.

Thanks.

"I saw milky residue on the oil cap so I assumed there is a coolant leak in the engine". Run Forrest run!!!

Some mayonnaise under the oil filler cap can happen if it has been a short trip town car. More interesting would be combustion by-products in the coolant. Test strip required to check.

If you don't fit, then no reason to buy. But are you sure that you adjusted the seat correctly? There is a height adjustment - your dimensions are not that bad - these cars are made for Germans, not little Italians.

As for the mayo - there was just a long thread on here about that that you should read. It shouldn't be a deal killer all by itself.

Though I do agree with your verdict.

Yeah ~ I'm about your dimensions & 250 pounds so I'm surprised you did not fit.

I am over 6' and at first thought not much head room, until I pushed that button which lowered the seat to make it more comfortable..

speaking of acceleration, when I first bought the car (for my son) I thought it was a bit sluggish at first. Now that my son has driven the car, she learned the spirited way...

I have driven my C240 for over 6 months now, most of which had a pile of snow on the ground. Drives great has good power and cruses way better then a lot of cars.