Psychotic

Hey everyone, new to the forums and I'm looking to buy a c class w204, it's from an Evans Halshaw dealer in the UK, Mercedes is a 1.6 C180K, 70k on the clock.

when I went to view it, everything looks very clean inside and out, even has full service history with Mercedes Benz and it's a fairly good price.

so here's my predicament, when I turned it over it sounded horrible for a few seconds and the engine management light was On, he told to me rev it up a bit and the engine sounded ok after that, engine light still on though. He explained they'd fix whatever was causing it and we'd go from there.

I went to view it again today, no engine light on and sounded Fine, I asked him what code was read, and he continued to tell me that it was because the car had been sat there for a while and had no fuel and that's what made the light come up. I thought he's full of ****, and decided I'd rather bring a mechanic to check everything over. He didn't even give me the code that was read, I'm more inclined to believe they just turned it off on the machine and haven't looked at it, and the noise the first time put me off a bit cause I hear these n271 engines have timing chain failure, not something I won't to go through again as I had all that drama with my old 3 series.

should I just totally avoid? I get 3 months warranty but not sure what it covers exactly. Any help or advice much appreciated thanks.

EDIT: I also rang Mercedes and asked about it, they were useless and told me they can only speak to the owner of the car because of data protection...

adro92

All I can say is that I have a 1.8l C180 Kompressor, and I love it.

Psychotic

ok well have you ever noticed the engine light come on due to low fuel lol?

adro92

Nope, that doesn't sound normal. Sounds like bull****, that low fuel would be the reason. But I cant say for sure.

alecmascot

Don't touch it. My C180K M271 had a tiny rattle at cold start that ended in less that two seconds as the oil pressure came up.
If there is a CEL and the salesman is covering up it is not worth it.
The second-hand warranty in probably not worth the paper it is printed on.

Adi-Benz

I would forget about that one for sure.

Psychotic

Ok thanks for the responses, what's the most reliable engine I should look for? Looking for 2.0l or under ideally.

superangrypenguin

Most reliable engine?

M272 C300.

xsever

This is a common problem with these engines and you can see here what it involves: http://www.slkworld.com/slk-r171-gen...sprockets.html

I would stay away from it unless the owner can show you its service history where it confirms that the problem was fixed by the dealership.

Adi-Benz

As one said above realistically the m272 3.0 is probably your best option for reliability, however if it's the gas prices in UK or whatnot, you might want to just do some research first one the popular models there.

domwild

Here in Oz I should have spent $330 for a mobile mechanic to come out with his $10,000 electronic diagnostic, when I bought my C220 CDI W204. That mobile mechanic went over my Toyota Corolla when I sold it to a private buyer and those people are very thorough.

My Merc did not have the fuel filter changed at 60,000 or 120,000km with the diagnostic telling me of a faulty water sensor and a four year life, same "no change" as for the automatic trans. oil. Thermostat was stuffed and only went up to 80 far too slowly, should be 90 degrees.Diesel Motor in Bentley (Western Australia) done it!

MrRicardo11

Yes it sounds like it needs investigation, and it also sounds like the salesperson doesn't really know what's causing it. I am surprised that you wouldn't take the extended warranty that Evans Halshaw offer which is for 2 yrs at a cost of £494.99 as this would most certainly cover the car and engine. Surely that would be a sensible idea with a purchase like this.

Adi-Benz

Sounds pretty suspicious with only 1 post lmao.