C43ing

Let me start with an introduction. This is my first post since I am about to purchase a c43 from my good friend. The car is a 1998 with 65K on it. It's been serviced at Ray Catina MB deler ship since day one. My friend owns the car for almost 4 years and never had any problems. He is selling me the car for $14,000. He just had the car serviced a month ago so that will save me some money. Do you guys think I should buy this car as a daily driver. Right now I have a BMW 328is and have no problems with it but I always wanted to own a c43. Should I pay extra attention to any thing before purchasing it? Also what do you guys think about the price? Thanks in advance for your input guys.

e320newbie

wow 14 thousand , i payed 27(canadian) in canada...but i have like 40 thousand miles and its a 99 and there were only 100 C43s sold up here... so im even more rare ! haha yah yah im a nerd haha and buddy ur 328is is gonna feel like a jetta tdi compared to the C43 haha! make sure the tranny is good,, look for small **** too... lights , pumps, motors, lil things like seats all that .... but yo 14.. id come down and grab 2 if they had em haha peace man! GOOD LUCK!

JDoggery

For those who have these cars, what are some common issues or things to look at when looking to purchase a C43? Are there any problems that are specific to any years? What about repair costs, where do you guys take your cars? What about cost of items: brakes, etc. How is the reliability overall? Any imput from long time and new owners would be great. Thanks.

e320newbie

full brakes are a *****,,, i take it tothe stealership

e harmon

There was a recall on the harmonic balancer (might only be for certain build dates). Any dealer (or MBUSA) should be able to tell if it has been performed based on the VIN. If transmission hasn't been flushed and refilled already, you will probably want to do that, and replace the transmission filter.

I take my car to a Mercedes/BMW specialist and find that the service costs are not very different from any other car, although if you use factory parts and fluids (which you should, IMHO), some of those can be relatively expensive. Oil changes cost me more than $60 just in parts (9 quarts of Mobil 1 and a fleece filter), I think the coolant capacity is something like 13 quarts, there are 16 spark plugs and 2 air filters to replace, and so on.

Like any car, ownership experience will vary with tastes and expectations. I purchased mine about a year ago and it now has 48,000 miles, and I am thrilled with it. The only functional modification I have is a set of Eibach Prokit springs and Koni shocks, which I feel improved the handling, ride, and appearance (though it took a few tries to get it right.) Other than that it is mechanically stock, and I can't imagine needing any other improvements. The engine and brakes are top notch, even by today's standards, and especially for the price in today's market. All that said, I'm on the picky side of the spectrum when it comes to cars, and it probably took me about 10 months to get the car "just right" in terms of fixing rattles, performing what I consider to be cosmetic upgrades, fine tuning the ride, updating the sound system, and doing all the preventive maintenance.

If you're into car audio, it's nice to be able to pop in a standard DIN head unit into the dash without having to fabricate a new panel. I find the car to be amazingly fuel efficient, achieving higher mpg than either of the two V6 Japanese cars I've owned.

That's pretty much the highlights. Good luck on your decision.

Regards,

e harmon

Vardar

E Harmon!

You just made me love mu car EVEN MORE! Yes! As long as you take care of your car, it will last you longer. Do not be a pig and buy this car, cause you can't handle it!

kchristos

C43ing: I would say if you like the car and you know that your friend was taking good care of it, I would say go for it!

I have mine for 2 months now and I love it. Of course I did the preventive maintenance that "e harmon" is explaining: Flush transmission fluid/sparks/air filters/oil change etc. The build quuality, ride quality, response of the engine is excellent! You won't be able to find another car at this price range to please you as much as the C43 especially at the price that your friend is selling it to you!

e harmon: I noticed that you live in Miami. I live in Ft. Lauderdale. Who is the mechanic that services your car? I usually do it in my cousins place but he didn't have the machine to flush the trany fluid and I took it to the MB dealer. They charged me $330 just to flush the fluid!

How often do you change the engine oil? I changed mine when I bought it ~63k miles, used Mobil 1 0W-40 (wasn't due but I did it anyways). Now I have 68K miles, I was going to change it again (after 5k miles as I did with my previous cars) but I noticed that the car computer says that I still have 4100 miles! I know that Mobil 1 synthetic lasts longer but how much longer?

e harmon

I go to Best Motor Works in the South Miami area. I have had only very good experience there.

I change my oil every 6 months, which works out to about 4,000 miles. With a 8+ quart crank case full of the M1 and the supposedly longer lasting fleece filter, it could probably go much longer, but this schedule is convenient (and easy to remember) for me. If you want to see if you are changing frequently enough, you could always get a test kit from www.blackstone-labs.com and post your results at www.bobistheoilguy.com. This will also give you very detailed information about other subsystems in your car, such as the effectiveness of the air filter among other things.

Regards,

e harmon

C43ing

Thanks for your input guys. My firend just had the car checked out at the dealer yesterday on his expense and everything seems to be fine. The dealer said that the transmission plug is a little wet so that might need a replacement.
The car has been serviced at the same dealer for the past 3 years. I am also getting another set of wheels (The new c class amg's) with good michelin pilot sport sp tires for 600 bucks. I already made up my mind and I am going to get it with in 2 days. I am planning to get the tranny flushed and oil changed as soonest i get the car. I am going to get the oil from the dealer but should I also get it done there or I can bring it to a local mechanic?

C43AMG

Get it from Autozone ,Pep Boys etc. 0W-40 and take it to your local guy.

C43ing

I was reffering to the tranny oil not the engine.

kchristos

I had the same question when I got mine. Thanks to C43AMG I found out the mechanic needs what it called: "WYNN'S transmission flush machine" otherwise he won't be able to flush the fluid correctly. My mechanic didn't have that equipment so I took it to the dealer. The service specialist told me that that it is not due yet (MB recommends doing it at 100k) but I asked for it to be flushed anyway. They charged me ~$330 for it. If you find a mechanic that has this equipment it should cost you cheaper but if he doesn't have it, then just take it to the dealer.