RIsVeryOwn

Hey, I'm thinking of buying an 02 C230K with 146K miles for 2500 from a dealer. What could I possibly expect from a car of this age reliability wise & what should I look for to have already been done previously or expect to do in the near future maintenance wise.

Been searching and finding mixed reviews, as well as things such as the supercharger needing replacement (possible big $$ job?)

Thanks in advance

tommy

I'd be one of the nay voters. Even at that low price, you'll quickly outspend your initial price on repairs. I got to 188k without needing any s/c work - the engine is strong as a horse. It's everything else that you need to worry about. The electronics fail randomly, but fairly requently - the MFD display in the cluster fades, the SAM modules die, the relays die, the sensors die, etc.

Then there's the rust issues on early W203s, which is why mine is now being dismantled for parts. If you are going through with this, definitely check the rear quarter panels, the door sills (peel back the plastic covers to look for bubbling of the metal), the front fenders, and wherever else you see.

The end links love to be replaced - they're as brittle as glass, and other suspension bits go fairly frequently.

And all of this stuff is pretty hard to do on a DIY basis, and indy specialists are fairly expensive (not to mention the dealers). I'd say that if this is to be your daily driver, and you don't have an extra $5k sitting in a slush fund for future repairs, it's not worth it. And even then, you've got a lousy sound system on a pretty heavy car that needs a good amount of tuning to be reasonably fun. I don't see much of an upside, with all of the other options around these days, even at that low entry point.

But, hey, if you go through it, check out my garage sale thread - my stuff's going cheap!

samaritrey

I hate to agree with Tommy but yeah.....

You could get lucky and get a true gem that would be reliable but for any early w203 that is very very rare.

tommy

I think I'm offended! Maybe this is why I didn't let you know I'd be in your neck of the woods when I was there. :-)
It really does hurt to say such negativity about a car I owned for so long, but I do think that an 02 is a lousy investment at this point.

samaritrey

Hey I am insulting my own car as well and I loved my c320 (the most reliable one on here probably) more than I do my E320. That said the E320 is a much much better car all around lol

Also you think you are offended? Guess I need to improve my insults.

petercrase

I've been driving my '02 C230 in California since new. I don't have any rust issues here. 257k miles now. It's been reliable, maintenance is expensive at the dealership. I just picked it up yesterday and paid almost $2400 for a repair bill. That included a fuel pump replacement for nearly $1200, new battery, negative battery cable, rear brake pads and rotors, and a service "b" If the car you're looking at has been well maintained and driven sensibly it may give you another 100k miles with normal maintenance.