Hello

I am after some c43 buying advice. If I become an owner (which i hope to do) I will then no doubt be after all sorts of other advice too - but first things first!

c43s that I have seen for sale here in Australia range in price from $26,000 to around $45000 USD - significantly more than the prices I see on this forum!! (they were like $120,000+ new here)...(before you start exporting your c43s, remember, RHD and weird compliance laws and serious import taxes... we suck when it comes to taxes )

Amazingly, there are two almost identical cars for sale in the same suburb as me - like today I walked from home to see both of them. Australia is a big place, c43s are not that common. That is really amazing...

Car 1: 100,000 miles, great in/out condition, one owner, full mb service history $26000
Car 2: 60,000 miles, great in/out condition, one owner, full mb service history $34,000

Both silver / black, only differences are mileage and Car 1 has a sunroof. Both cars come with a (statuatory) 3 month used car dealer warranty.

My "common sense" opinion (knowing nothing about cars other than how to drive and how to admire) is that $8,000 is equal to at least 10 mb services for potential problems that may not even happen. Traditional wisdom and the opinion of everyone else I seem to ask is - go for lower mileage - its safer. My "common sense" response to that is that $8,000 in my pocket is a pretty safe start for any potential problems.


Is my common sense completely off the mark? Advice / opinions appreciated.

 

Check the transmission for ANY issues on BOTH - it has been a recurrent problem on these automobiles. BOTH should be serviced for their transmission - the 60K one now, the 100K C43 should have had it serviced at least twice.

 

You can look at this 2 different ways : #1 ) the 60,000 mile car has less mileage and wear and tear.That means that any mechanical issues in the next 40k miles are still looking you in the face and will have to be addressed. # 2) The car with 100k has probably faced most of the maintenance issues that car # 1 hasn't or is about to - rotors , brakes , mass air sensor , oxygen sensors , just to name a few.With the 100k car you have an extra 8K ( that is if you planned on buying the other ) that you can have on the side for all maintenance issues that may arrise.Other than that it is personal taste.I will not own a car that doesn't have a sunroof.

 

I don't mean to ask a dumb question here, but you are sure that the car without the sunroof is an AMG? At least in American version, the sunroof was not an option. The only options were Xenons and factory cell phone. I am sure it is probaly just a different overseas option, but make sure you aren't gettin scammed.

 

Just to clarify, I should say, the sunroof is standard on all AMG C43's

 

There is certainly no sunroof on this one! Otherwise the seats, dash, wheel, badges and 4.3 v8 engine are all in it.

sellers link: http://www.cityautomobiles.com.au/display24.html

It certainly looks like a c43 to me - but I do know nothing!

 

I checked with the service department guys who had previously been servicing the 100k car.

As at last service (100k) they did the suspension bushing, also noticed a tiny leak in transmission - service note said "tiny leak, check next service"...

Otherwise no known problems / issues and everything that was supposed to have been done had been done according to service records.

 

You are right, that is most certainly a C43, I guess they had different options overseas, or maybe for some reasons someone special ordered it without a sunroof. I would be very weary of the "tiny" leak with the trans. That seems to be #1 area of concern on our cars.

 

It is probably on the passenger side of the tranny where the electronics enter.There is a plastic seal which has a tendency to fail.Mine was replaced when I had my tranny serviced.I would not worry too much about this , just make sure its replaced.

 

thanks for that. Im going to have a look under it on monday.
(not that i know what im looking at!)

I guess that would be under the driver side on the RHD vehicles?

 

I spoke with the previous owner of the vehicle - hehe good thing to do before buying - the previous owner has no vested interested in me buying the car - he gets nothing out of it anymore. And importantly he told me what the car yard paid him for it - $21,000 USD and the dealer has it marked up to $30000 USD ! Thieving *******s! Well, its nice to know - I am going to reduce my offer significantly

Previous owner told me he never wanted to get rid of the car but too many kids comign along had made it impractical. Said it was lovely car, and after its 100,000 mile service was actually tuned / running as good as it ever had - he had brought it into service at least every 6 months its entire life, always looked after it well. Regarding the transmission- he never had any transmission problems - and in fact at the previous service the transmission was completely flushed.

He mentioned in its life that it never had anything serious go wrong with it - no major issues - and all minor issues were adressed before becoming minor. He did mention that the mercedes service guys had done some engine work - with some cylinders being replaced - but didnt seem to make a big deal of it (and I, knowing nothing about cars, have no idea how big a deal this is either.. sounds big to me).

Is this kind of engine work a big deal? If all is well and the car passes its pre purchase inspection on Monday and the dealer accepts my revised offer then Im buying! Then I guess its time to learn a thing or two about cars. Looks like there's going to be a bit of DIY involved