BenDelgado

I was presented with the opportunity to purchase a clean 2005 C240 with 38,000 miles for $10,000. I don't know much about Mercedes, but I've been around a foreign vehicle. I currently drive a 1992 Volvo 740 turbo. It's a nice little car with a lot of life left (It's only at 143,000 miles). But I'm looking for something a bit newer. This seems like a great deal. I'm wondering about the following things:

1. Maintenance - How easy are repairs? I can do some light work, but for medium to major jobs, I usually need a mechanic. How expensive/easily available are Mercedes mechanics?

2. Fuel Economy - How is the gas mileage? I wanted at least an improvement on the Volvo which gets about 21-23 highway and about 17-19 city.

3. Insurance - How much should I expect my insurance to go up? Driving an older car and being accident free keeps my payments pretty low.

4. Resell Value - Since the mileage is so low, I'm thinking I might try to resell it after a few years.

Any other comments or suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks!

ildd

1. Basic maintenance is possible in your driveway, but you need a lot of tools, and an OBD scanner. If you just drive it down to your local Mercedes-qualified shop, it's about $400 if nothing is found wrong.
2. In my experience, I get about 18.5 in the city. On the highway, I've gotten at most 24.5 MPG, I average about 23.
3. Insurance- N/A. Though I don't think it would go up very much, if at all.
4. Let's say you sell it in 2018 with 100,000 miles and in good shape... maybe $5k? My C240 is now 12 years old, has 65k miles and according to KBB I should get $6.5k for it through a private party.


Have you driven the car that was presented to you yet?

BenDelgado

Both the resale value and the MPG have me questioning the purchase. I have yet to drive it, but an impartial third party tells me it's a very nice drive. Thanks for the input.

efzauner

Depends what you are looking for. I purchased my 2005 C240 with 45Kmiles in 2009 for $15K. I am very glad of my purchase so far. I have over 110Kmiles of relatively trouble free driving apart from normal wear items such as brakes and suspension wear parts.
I could probably get $5K for it today. That is 2K per year. Not bad for a very nice German sports sedan.
If you drive yours for 5 years and get $5K for it you have even a better deal!

On the other hand, it is already 10 years old. You don't say where you live. If it is in northern snow climates then there is rust to deal with. If it is in hot southern climate there are other heat and UV deterioration issues.
Cars have also improved in 10 years. What else can you buy for $10K?
As an example, we just replaced our 2002 Honda Odyssey for a new one. The new one cost us the same $30K as the old one was but is a vastly improved vehicle. Cars have also gotten bigger. Today's Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla is probably as big inside as the 2005 C Class.
Go shopping! You may be surprised!

Glyn M Ruck

Very good buy if the price is right. Bullet proof engine & running gear. M112 & 722.6 are well proven.

Gidgett55

the trim on the gear shifter below the boot is popping off. Why can't it pop back on? Or can u pop it on? C240 2005 wagon. for the guy above this reply. Buy the car but check if the car has been in an accident, flood, if not go for it, love my wagon !!!!

Alswag

Just my two cents.
Maintenance and most repairs are pretty easy, actually. The M112 (C240/C320/C32) was actually engineered to be pretty easy to repair. It's even easy for a beginner to get started. However, you WILL need a torx/inverted torx set, and a decent hex set. Otherwise, good luck doing any maintenance. Not to mention repairs are scarce as these cars are as reliable as they come.

Mileage, as said before, isn't that great on these cars. I drive with a heavy foot. A very heavy foot. I usually average 20 MPG combined.

It probably wouldn't go up that much. It's a 2.6L 4-door sedan, so insurance is already pretty low on these cars.

These cars hold their value quite well. As mentioned earlier, you'll probably get about 5 grand in 5 years time. Which considering, is fairly good.

These cars are very, very bulletproof. However, if the car has been neglected, they're a money pit. Also Mercedes recommends a transmission service (which you could do yourself if you have a jack and stands) at about 50k miles. I got a kit from ECSTuning for about 190 bucks, if I remember correctly. If you were to pay someone to do it, it'd run you about 400 dollars.

Also, if you're going to do your own oil changes, invest in a fluid extractor ($80-$110). Draining the fluid isn't as effective on these cars.