moerbeck

I'm trading my E90 for a semi-new low mileage 2012 C250 I'm buying at an auction tomorrow. I have a credit union dealer walk the auction with me to check out the cars but I wanted to ask the forum if I should be watching out for something MB specific. I test drove one this weekend and loved the car. Very torquey, not a lot of top end power, but its not like I will be racing this thing... Hehehe

Something else I wanted to ask. Right after getting the car I will go to the dealer to make sure the car has been properly serviced. Is there any service I should preventively do anyways?

I am a bit torn by the launch of the CLA, but I don't want to wait until the fall to overpay for the CLA so the 250 will be great!

I will post pictures ASAP!!! Thanks guys!!!!

spyked

Based on my research and (limited) experience, the 250 appears to be problem-free so far. The W204 specific components should be solid by now (out since 2007). The only surprises might be DI technology, turbo, or LEDs. Consumer Reports give it a good rating so far as well.

I would make sure the 10k service was done (if over 10k miles) and be absolutely sure you get TWO keys.

Let us know what you ended up with.

ddeliber

Since you are getting it at auction, you should make sure you get a CarFax on the VIN. This way you know at least what was reported, and if say it was registered in NJ or Eastern NY in the past few months...

moerbeck

Thanks guys. One of the advantages of working through the credit union besides buying the car from an auction is that they guarantee the inspection and the auction dealer will do a complete walk-through the lot with me tomorrow. They charge a fee for the service but I feel paying $500 for the peace-of-mind is fine.

Definitely getting a carfax report prior to the auction on all vehicles I am interested in. I actually signed up on the site to have several reports, so we should be ok there.

I am not if the NY / NJ cars made it down to Florida yet, but since this is the weird and wonderful state it is, I promise I will be careful.

2 keys are a MUST - you are right. My BMW came with one key (bought it at the auction as a semi-new vehicle in 2007 the day my second child was born hehehehe) and got charged 265 for a new key. I'm sure the Mercedes Benz key is a expensive as the BMW one.

I'm hoping to find a silver or white one with black interior with some options... specially the AMG wheels. Those are awesome. I would love to have Navigation as well since I want to be able to stream music through bluetooth. Let's see what I come up with.

Wish me luck!!

ddeliber

Absolutely, best of luck to you.

I do have a request for you though, I have always been curious as to the price differences of auctions vs retail and CPO. I would be eternally grateful if you would take note of a couple C or E classes or even a 328i and let me/us know what they go for. Nothing extravagant or anything just if you are waiting for the one you are interested in and you see some others.
Thanks.

moerbeck

I will get the prices for sure. So you know, for my 325i. It's a 2006, 325i with the sport package which I bought for 26,500. The car was 1 year and a half old with 22K miles on it. It was an early lease return. Retail-wise I saved over 7K. It's definitely worth it. I will never buy a new car again.

Soon, I will trade muy wife's Honda Pilot and definitely will do the same exact thing. Get a semi-new Pilot and lose the first year 10 to 15% depreciation hit.

I will keep everybody posted...

MDMercedesGuy

The best of luck to you... you will love it! There is some turbo lag, but particularly in S mode - it's got quite a lot of power throughout the rev range. In E it can be a bit lazy, but it's nice for average commuting and the like.

My C250 is in the body shop for the next 10 or so days, and in the meantime I am in an Enterprise 2011 BMW 328i xDrive. I can't get over how different the two cars are for being such direct competitors. The biggest difference is in how it puts the power down and fuel economy - I get 23 MPG in the C250 without trying, and this 328 can't break into 14MPG for me

ddeliber

To be honest, I didn't believe you until I saw the vid. Sure getting is going to be low like all cars, but you held it at 40ish and it stayed there. You did cut the vid right when the direct meter started to move though. Regardless, I'd say something is broken there. Sure I like Mercedes better, but a 328i x does much better than that.

MDMercedesGuy

Yea - I was starting to get close to traffic so I wanted to devote my attention where it belonged . It seems to have had a rough 20K miles so far (the driver's side headlight is all fogged and points up and to the right really far - blinding everyone and lighting up highway signs, it pulls to the left under moderate braking and it is rattling like crazy inside from 3 or 4 spots).

But I digress... Yay C250!

dan87951

Car is to new to know what the problems will be. I felt the car was under powered but if you are happy with it than you should be fine.

MBSebas87

Good luck to you and keep us posted with the prices!!

moerbeck

Let me tell you that getting my E90 aligned has been impossible. The car has never been in an accident, I have the correct RFT tires but the car pulls to the right everywhere. Stealership blames crown of the road blah blah... but the real culprit here is the RFT low profile tire. I can't stand it that the car doesn't center well. However, the car handles like a dream... it's a really nice handling car.

moerbeck

just wanted to give everybody that replied to the post a heads up on mu purchase. i went to the auction today to check out the cars available and only found a couple of c classes. there was a greenish hued gray 250 and a black c300. im not interested in anything beyonf a 2012 model because the pre-update interior is not to my taste, but i was very disappointed to only see one c250 available.

Anyways, i met with the dealer and he is going to tell mewhat the one that was there sold for so we have a baseline to go by. i also saw a couple of convertible 3series but their interiors were light beige which is a complete disaster to maintain. First choice is definitely the c250, so i told the dealer we need to find the perfect car so I will be patient.

i will keep everybodyosted on the progress of the purchase and lets see if the dealer send me the sales prices tomorrow so i can post them.

MDMercedesGuy

Interesting. Sounds like a Sapphire Grey - my color. It's quite uncommon and was only on the 2012s.

vertex

its a beautiful color. i held out trying to find one in that color with the options i wanted.

It was worth the wait.

MDMercedesGuy

I waited 5 months for mine for a factory order - it was worth every second to get exactly what I wanted.

I'm mildly concerned about their ability to match the paint on my repairs (it got painted today), but am hoping for the best.

moerbeck

I thought it was a nice color but I'm really boring with car colors. I seem to only buy white and silver colors, so my first preference would be white and the second one would be silver but I would not be disappointed with either one and silver is starting to grow on me as I have seen many nice silver 204s pictured here.

The dealer travels to Orlando which hosts the largest auction in the state so he will call me if he sees anything there. Otherwise, I will be back at the hertz auction next week. There are two auction sources that have really good cars according to my dealer. Hertz and Hollman Auto Group.

He told me that some rental cars suffer a bit of abuse but luxury models are usually driven with care by those who rent them. I could see it first hand that was true. They had ML and Infiniti trucks that had around 20k miles and looked immaculate even dirty.

Lets see... Still very excited. Saw a 250 today and couldn't help but take a peek inside...

moerbeck

Another quick update. Had a phone call with the Hertz fleet dealer and closed a deal on an Artic White C250 base model. The only option I could notice was the Harman Kardon Sound...(not sure if it is an option) and seat warmers (also not sure), but the car is immaculate even if the miles are a bit high (it comes from the rental fleet)

Im attaching a copy of the bill of sale. Monday, I'm picking up the car, so I will paste additional pictures of the car when done.

spyked

Congrats. If it's got heated seats AND the HK sound, it's probably got Premium 1 package. You will know for sure if the rear seats fold down. It comes with other goodies too. Florida is probably the ONLY place you can find a Benz without P1 (prob don't need heated seats down there). Heated seats are a stand-alone option as well though....so could just be two options.

When you find out let us know. Congrats again!

I hope it's to your liking - must give you fits to buy a car without seeing/test driving. I know it would not be an option for me - too OCD, lol.

moerbeck

I was reviewing the site and it seems that it does have the Premium 1 package and that's it. I am not a fan of Navigation and all of the other bells and whistles, so what the car has is perfect for me.

About the test drive, I met the hertz fleet manager at the auction and he asked me to go their retail store because they had 3 C250s he wanted me to take a look at. According to him, those were in near new shape (it's true they were), would cost a little more than the auction, but I would be able to get additional warranty from Hertz on them since they were certified/reconditioned models (kinda like a Hertz CPO). He invited me over email to show up on Saturday and see if I liked any of the cars.

Anyways, when I showed up, he showed me the cars and told me "you know your way around here, take the car for a nice long drive". He never asked for my DL or anything, just slapped the dealer license plate on the back of the car and I want for a 30 minute test drive - ALONE - That was weird because it never happened to me before.

When I came in he asked if I like the car and I said that I wanted to close the deal on it. He got me 1600 more for my BMW than Carmax and was very corteous. I could have driven the car home today, but since they are closed on Sundays and I don't want to apply for a loan with Chase or BOA (The only banks they work with), I said I would come for the car Monday morning. No haggling, no stress... just an awesome experience. If you are not afraid of a fleet car (he told me the cheaper the model, the more dings you will find, specially in the interior) Hertz car sales may be a good choice for purchasing a car since they are unloading whatever they have hitting 20K - highest depreciation mileage acceptable to them.

I bought a carfax just in case. Car is immaculate on Carfax. Services at a MB dealership and registered in 2012 - good news for warranty purposes. Anyways. I will try to close this monday and post some pictures for everybody! keep your fingers crossed.

ddeliber

Congrats on the car. Glad to see you got what you want.

I do have one suggestion for you before you go pick it up. Give MBusa a call and check on the warranty. I am not an expert here, but I remember reading something in the warranty docs that said something about not being allowed to use the car for commercial purposes (Taxi or rental) is what I remembered. I might be wrong here, but it is worth checking, it is better to know up front if you are going to have warranty issues.

moerbeck

Good idea, I will give them a call on Monday. Thanks for the heads up!