Autotechnica

Hey guys, my dad has a C280 Avantguard, and I've always apprecaited Mercedes reliability. I wasn't sure about the C32 until I drove one. I love it. Had a 2006 SAAB 93 Aero (2.8L 280HP V6 turbo) and a 1996 volvo 850 turbo (2.3L 350hp 5 cyl turbo -19T). I'm impressed by the C32 and I know I want one. I've found 2 in good shape for a great price.

1. 2002 w/ 133,000kms (roughly 80K miles?) for about 16K CDN. All Mercedes records and certified. Car has original paint but there's a bubbley rust spot on the trunk that bothers me. Accident free, looks good.

2. 2003 w/ 45,000kms (roughtly 25,000 miles). That's right, it's not a typo! Selling for about $18,000, really depends on what I can talk them down to. Bad thing is, no service history and 2 rather big accidents. I think merc parts are expensive, because the carfax shows 1 rear end and 1 front left impact. I've run through the body of the car with a weak magnet, I've found a small amount of bondo just in the middle of the fender behind the front wheel. The rear trunk has a dent which wasn't fixed, and the rear bumper looks perfect, so I assume it was replaced. Each accident claim was a whooping $5000CDN each! I'm hoping it was Mercs expensive body panels and the paint job (paint did look mint with no signs of damage).

So my question, which one to go for? I normally never consider accident cars, but the repair job was mint, and where it was hit doesn't seem like it took much damage. Also, the milage!!!! It's like a 1-2 year old car. The only visable differences I've seen were, '03 had clear headlights, '02 had reflectors or something, '03 has the AMG plaque on the S/C. I've heard people say that the '03 also has an improved rad that won't cause tranny failures? Something to do with the fluids mixing. Also the '03 had a CD changer, full size spare AMG wheel and the '02 didn't have either of those. No biggie, but some nice extras.

These are both independant dealerships. The salesman said, if you're really paranoid about the damage on the car, have it taken to the Merc dealership. For $150 they will inspect the car. Now, this would give me peice of mind. However, is this $150 worth it? Do they actually check things over properly or is it just like a regular safety test? Anybody have more info on this?

thanks guys. I actually just had my SAAB written off, and basically the C32 is right around what I can afford. It's a bit older than I was hoping for, but I like performance sedans. Hope to be a part of this community soon. I'm just waiting for insurance to pay out.

I use to maintain a '94 eurospec M3. If you guys didn't know, these were limited production, only 45 in Canada, 280HP, not the crappy 240HP from the north american spec M3's (95+). I have no problem maintaining older cars. Replacing parts seem quite cheap for the C32 by comparison.

thanks guys,

Bryan

loudandheard

That's a tough one, but I would probably have both of them checked out. I know at 80k miles my car had just about all the kinks worked out of it, but at 25k miles you could probably get an extended warranty.

The tough part is the bubble of rust on the 2002 and the multiple accidents on the 03. I would check every single corner of each car and then drive it with the radio off to see if you feel or hear any thing. I wish you had more options. Good luck though.

Gene Gorman

I think you should keep looking. When I found my C32 it had a fullservice history and was a one owner from our local dealership. It was certified and only had 11,000 miles on it. The car has been perfect and is a blast to drive.

Autotechnica

How long ago was that? C32's are quite rare and not getting any newer. I don't think waiting for another one will work out. There are others for sale, but the milage is too high. There is one more for sale with about 90,000kms on it. It's missing the AMG wheels but it's priced quite high at 19K. I wouldn't even consider that one. I'm in Canada, I'm sure getting a C32 in the states is much easier. I'm still quite young, so I'm still somewhat on a budget. Plus I always reserve a good 3-4K of spare money for basic maintainence and of course repairs. I don't expect such an old car to be 100%.

sterlingc1975

Get one!!! I just got one as my daily driver I love it!! I got 03 32k miles out the door for 17g's... If that helps...

TemjinX2

i say keep looking...maybe the 2003 if you can get MB warranty on it. Warranty on these cars is actually worth it.

Viper98912

No to accident cars with major damage. Replace a grill or a broken headlight is fine, but that's it. Next thing you know your car doesn't drive right because of a bent frame or suspension. So no.

02 is nice, minus the rust spot and being the first year. I say keep looking but if its only one or the other, it's this one.

Gene Gorman

I picked mine up just about a year ago for $22,000 with just 11000 miles on it and it was cpo.

03MBC32

Not too many C32's were sold in Canada over the three model years so finding one in good shape and low mileage will be tough. The collision damage I would steer away from unless it was repaired through Mercedes. My 03 was rear ended last year with only 70,000 KM, repaired through Mercedes with original parts and the repair is only noticeable looking very carefully under the car. The car drives straight with zero noise. $12K was the price. Rust on Mercedes was a problem 01 to 05. My 03 came with the bad Valeo rad.

SETSEROCK

Does it have to be in Canada? Can you import one from your imperialist neighbors south of the 49th parallel?

03MBC32

Importation can be done. It depends on whether the buyer is willing to go through the aggravation and can justify the total cost to be equal or less than purchasing in Canada. The probability of find a C32 in the US is definitely higher.

Autotechnica

Sweet, a fellow C32 owner in Toronto! Are you ever in the Richmond Hill area?

Anyways, I'm going to look at a higher milage one tomorrow. It's the best I've seen so far and it's selling for a really good price. The car looks mint except for that one rust spot I mentioned on the trunk. However, whether I decide to fix that rust spot or not, if it gets bad, I doubt a silver c class trunk will be difficult to source for replacement.

Car I'm looking at is selling for $15,900, has 133,000kms and full mercedes service records. I'm not sure if it's star certified.

Does mercedes star certified mean anything? Dealer quoted me $280 for star certified and $150 for regular safety checks. I know safety checks are pointless. I've heard that star cetified means they even test things like compression on the cyl. Is this true? Should I bother with this test? I'm test driving this car tomorrow and might actually buy it. The rest of the higher priced ones all have issues that I'm not happy with. The only issue with the one I'm looking at is slightly higher milage. 133K km's, isn't that bad. It's actually below average. One with 90K/$18900, missing AMG wheels and has been keyed, one with 45K/18900, been in 2 huge accidents, one with 120K/$20,000, just way over priced, they won't budge on the price so I won't consider it, last one with 121K/17500, driven by a punk kid, private sale, I'm worried.

thanks guys,

Bryan

03MBC32

Hi Bryan,
I'm rarely in RH as I'm in North York. If you are looking at a Benz dealer with Star Certified, it should come with an extended warranty. Full dealer service records will give you some peace of mind and they should tell you every service item done including any warranty work. Imho here in Canada an 02 with 133K is worth about 13-$14K.

Autotechnica

Really, that low? It would seem that all the C32's are way overpriced then. Average 100,000-120,000kms the cars sell for $18-$20K CDN. Aside from the current C32 I'm looking at for $15,900, the next cheapest is $17,500, these are all 2002's. The only C32 I've seen cheaper was for $12,000 but had 160,000kms, nuts. BTW, we're talking in CDN $$$ right? Reason I ask if you're close by is I was hoping you could point me in the right direction as to what needs to be checked or replaced right away. I would do oil, tranny, coolant flush immediately as well as plugs, wires, coil, etc.

FrankW

if you are definitely going to pick up one of the two then have both car inspected.

2002 and 2003 problems are pretty much the same common issues you'll find a solution here on the forum. The only difference is the b-pillars on the 2002 are textured and the 2003 are gloss.

if there is no frame damage on the 2003 then it would probably be a better choice since it has lower mileage.

03MBC32

CDN$. PM me and we can arrange to get together, if you don't mind hanging around an old man. I'll even let you drive my car as a comparison. I'm busy this weekend.

Autotechnica

lol, sounds like a plan! I wouldn't consider myself young either, I'm almost 30! Anyways, I would prefer if you drove my car and told me if it "felt" right. Realistically, I won't have the car until probably monday or later. PM sent.

thanks.

Autotechnica

I found a car today, 100% I want it, but the seller was unwilling to sign a contract and accept deposit because there are 2 problems....

#1, front tires are absolutely bald, rear tires are getting there. It won't certify with those tires for sure, he will replace the fronts, and thinks the rears will certify, I seriously doubt it. The rears are flush with the wear indicators. They were either SO3's or Neros, I don't remember exactly.

#2, there is a clicking noise in the fan/vent. It will be there for a few seconds when you first start the car, then go away completely. However, when you turn the fan off, the clicking comes on for about 10 seconds then goes away again for a good 5 min, then comes back again. Any idea what this is? This is the main reason he's unwilling to accept my deposit, he wants to get this fixed first. He thinks it might be an expensive fix. It doesn't affect the A/C or fan functions, everything appears to work as it should. Any ideas? After the test drive I also noticed that if you don't hit the kickdown and floor it, the S/C is almost non existent. The car barely moves until it goes down a gear. This is normal? I had it in sport mode but I kept all the TC/ESP's on. Since I was only driving in a 60-80km/h zone, traction may have been an issue. Maybe the TC kept kicking it. At any rate, it felt quick, but we also had 3 big guys int he car.

Car is 2002, never winter driven, looks abolustely mint. Has 115K KM's, no rust, barely a scratch or stone chip. Odd thing is that for a 2002 the engine actually has the AMG plaque. Maybe it's a late 2002 model? Headlights are still the fugly reflector type, not the clear ones.

Anyways, if everything goes well, hope to have the car by mon/tues. Guess waiting a bit actually paid off. Decent price for a good car. If anyone knows what the clicking is, please let me know. If it's even something I can fix myself, I can talk him down on the price and tell him that I will fix it.

thanks guys,

Bryan

FrankW

a 2002 NEVER had a AMG plaque. he either had the supercharger replaced OR it's a early 2003. august 2002 production are already considered 2003 models.

Autotechnica

I was confused as well. Did any of the 2003 cars have the reflector headlights (non clear ones)? He's the second owner and literally put 15000kms on it, so he barely knows anything about the car. Even if he had the supercharger replaced, it shouldn't have the plaque. The plaque shows who hand built the motor, a replacement supercharger therefore wouldn't have the plaque right?

FrankW

2002-2004 all had the frosty lights if it doesn't have the bi-xenon option. 2002 had the frosty xenon.

check the built date of the car.

AMG plaque are not hard to find. my local tuner shop's owner who used to work for Brabus some years back he kept a lot of the AMG plaque off the cars that he had worked on when he replaced them with the Brabus plaque.

I would say this car might be a 2002 built 2003MY.

moosejaw

Yes could be the notorious weak linkage in the vents that make a pop-pop sound at start up. The part is not expensive but the labor to pull the dash is and replace is. All C Classes have this problem. Does the sound go away eventually

Sounds like a Intercooler Pump? Is it stock. These things need to be replaced twice with that many miles (or KMs) Look up CM30 Johnson Pump to fix

Many people with 2002 C32s have purchased the plaque at the stealership. Maybe he put it there.

Autotechnica

The clicking does goes away after a while, so it sounds like the problem you described. Does this only affect the fan not being able to be diverted? That's not a major concern that needs ot be dealt with immediately.

The water pump does concern me though. I've read a lot about this before I even started looking for a C32. Is there any sure way to check that the pump is dead? A dead pump will prevent the clutch from being engauged completely or even stop the S/C from making boost? I'm completely new to S/C, I've had lots of turbocharged cars though. Anyone ever try to hook up a boost gauge to this car? The car pulls nicely when at WOT, but at half throttle the car feels like a regular C280/320, etc. Just feels very laggy, this is something that shouldn't exist is a S/C'd car. The car is unmodfied and the owner barely drives it. He might be unaware that there is even a problem to begin with.

thanks for the replies guys.

Bryan

Autotechnica

I'll just get a new pump. I'm looking for the Johnson CM30. LET motorsports website is down. Any idea where else I can get one? I see ebay has them for $150US, good price?

thanks,

Bryan

FrankW