flyinb501

Hi Guys,

I had plans to pick up a 2013 C63 P31 coupe from a used car dealer a few hours away tomorrow. The car only has 52k miles and seemed to be perfect. However, I was able to track down the previous owner on facebook and messaged him about the car, and he scared me off. I've been looking for one of these cars for a while and they are few and far in between. Now I'm reconsidering the C63 all together. They are so hard to find, and how can I be confident I'm getting a good one. Just kind of venting and wondering if anyone can offer any insight.

By the way, this is the message chain from the previous owner:


Him: Don’t buy it unless it comes with a multi year warranty

Me: Is there a specific issue that you know of or just general reliablity with these?

Him: Yeah, motor needs rebuilt, cam adjusters, cams, lifters, trans slaps and left front suspension is tweaked. Everything works so they don’t know the difference. I wouldn’t buy it only reason I responded to your message

Me: Wow... I already put some money down on it. Any chance I could have a quick phone conversation with you?

Him: I’ve said enough already good luck man
Don’t bring me into it
I had enough courtesy to respond

Me: I do really apreciate it, but could you at least tell me how you know this?

HIm: Because it was my car It’s also my third W204.
M156
Good luck

graphitegreyamg

If it has issues and you like the car then just fix the issues. Its an aging platform. They will continue to incur wear and tear.

flyinb501

Yeah, but those are some pretty big issues, especially for only 50k miles. I don't want to drop another $10k or so into this thing...

graphitegreyamg

10k is chump change for this car. Tires alone will get you to 10k sooner than you think in normal ownership

Accidental L8 apex

Just keep looking. That's a lot of big tickets items already.

GarlicBread

2013-2015 models are your best options.

Try to find a small amount of previous owners, preferably an older person.

And yeah, cars aren't perfect.

Not sure what this new trend is of folks getting into cars and not really understanding thermodynamics exists outside of the movies and video games.

I have an 04 cobra and its hard to find things for that because its 20 years old and Ford has moved on to a more popular/better performing platform.

Still not selling that car or this car until it becomes quite literally impossible to function as an owner.

Ask BMW E30 guys or any classic car enthusiast about the pains of finding parts, keeping things running ideally etc.

You might want to ask yourself if Cars in general are for you because if you're looking for assurances, you are out of luck regardless of what car you choose.

They break, you fix them, they break again, you fix them again. Its a cycle of work that does not ever go away so if that bothers you, just buy a newer performance car and sell it every time the warranty lapses, plenty of people do it but I still would take that with a grain of salt.

Good luck to you.

BLKROKT

Keep looking. Plenty of not-beat examples out there. Don’t let what you want get in the way of making a good decision.

flyinb501

GarlicBread,

I'm 41 years old and have owned a lot of cars and a lot of German cars and modded all of them. I understand the cost of ownership and the work it takes sometimes, and I believe it's worth it most of the time. My issue is that I don't want to spend $40k on a car that has a bunch of pre existing issues that would require very high repair costs. This is one of the cleanest and lowest mileage face lift models that I have found after looking for a very long time. So if this one has these kind of issues it just doesn't give me much confidence. I have two children and I also race motocross and mountain bike so my free time is limited and I can't be spending it all on a toy car at this stage in my life.

flyinb501

I think you guys are right. My issue with these is they are hard enough to find, especially locally so how do you ensure a car is in really good shape prior to purchase.

GarlicBread

https://bringatrailer.com/mercedes-benz/w204-c63-amg/

chassis

You won’t find a “good one” “locally” because they are “hard enough to find”. You have given yourself the answer.

Walk from this basket case car.

Search nationwide for the best car in your price range. Wire the cash to the seller, buy a plane ticket, pick it up and drive it home.

p.s. don’t buy a V8 AMG on a limited budget which, with respect, you give the appearance of attempting to do.

flyinb501

Yep agreed. I canceled the deal. My budget is not limited though. I was paying $40k cash for the car which seems to be in the upper range for a nice face lift model so I expect it to be in good mechanical shape. I wouldn't mind buying something that has some issues if it was $30k, but this was a low mileage one in the upper end of the price range.

This is the car by the way:
Used 2013 Mercedes-Benz C-Class C 63 AMG For Sale $39,900 | Cars.com

roadkillrob

Motor needs rebuilt is a bit over the top but at 50k miles all of these have some cam adjuster rattle that is reasonably cheap to fix yourself if you have decent mechanical skills or a couple grand to have done for you. Cams and lifters will have wear, unlikely anywhere needing replaced but will show wear, most make it to 100k or more before they really need cams and lifters. the trans slap is concerning whatever he means by that and the front end being tweaked is more concerning.

Overall good thing you found the owner, he dumped that car and ran away and was good to warn you off as who knows the damage on the front end, sounds like some sort of unreported accident and the trans on these are pretty bulletproof so if it has issues best to avoid.

BLKROKT

Like chassis said. Look nationwide for cars. When you find a “good one”, put down a conditional deposit. Have a full PPI performed by an AMG tech center, or a well known and highly regarded indy. If it passes, fly out and purchase the car. Drive home.

Many of us have done exactly that. I did so in 2014 when I was living in NYC, bought my C63 in LA and spent 6 months driving it back. Great experience and well worth it to get the right car - there were only 2 CPO cars with the spec I wanted nationwide. 4 years later I ended up moving out here anyway, go figure.

(also an avid mountain biker here - just got back from 6 days in Squamish/Whistler/Pemberton sending that gnarly stuff)

NZ-Merc

Hi
I think first up the po is a Dick head...

If you have had a close inspection of the car and are happy with it, the issues can be fixed and that is part of the journey.

The other option is spend the extra 10k and buy the best low milage one you can find (that is what I did).

With my C63 I have identified a few parts I would like to replace during my ownership (how ever long that is) so what I do is buy an item/s when it is my birthday, Christmas or have a large pay day and it is the same method I use on my BMW E30 M3.

I don't pull something apart and order parts, it is all pre brought new in boxes & stored until I am ready to start work.
You could used same method with the top end rebuild, buy black series lifters, next time buy cam adjuster plates, lastly buy all the gaskets/seals and oil filter kit.

Dave.

Accidental L8 apex

I flew from Ohio to Chicago and drove a P31 home. Ask for as many records as possible. Any owner of these should be aware these need some refular maintenance and documents to back that up.
A PPI is worth its weight in gold too. Just having a seller agree to it is a good first sign, then whatever is found can be negotiated down on the price. This way you know exactly what you're flying/driving out to buy and price is worked out as well.
Did the same for my first AMG, a c55 in Raleigh, NC and never had an issue.
Had more issues finding the c63 just because so many ordered them in white, silver or with no P31 and LSD. Finding out a 507 Edition could come with halogens was a kick as well. Just why?

GarlicBread

I'm also not trying to give you financial advice but its probably better to finance this purchase and save your cash.

Tell the dealer you have cash though to get a better bargain or that you want to finance it through them and then just pay the loan immediately if you don't like the idea of paying interest.

Just better economics, considering the risks.

Sea63s

You could pay for a PPI at a reputable shop or Mercedes dealer then based on what they find ask the dealer that is selling the car to get those issues repaired or take the repair cost off purchase price.

1JDM911

if the budget is really not limited, why not look for a black series? forget 50k miles, only <5k miles would be considered low-miles in that realm lol.

jokes aside, on the real, non-B26 spec C63BS can be had for relatively cheap vs the C63BS w/ B26 (think of it like GT3 Touring vs GT3RS in terms of the differences in aero)

like this one, just around twice of that $40k budget, you'd land yourself a very clean/unmolested 30k mi example: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/20...nz-c63-amg-60/

or like this one, less than 2x of that $40k budget, slightly modded w/ 69k miles, still a 1 of <100 examples in the states: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/20...nz-c63-amg-62/

both of those would be considered "a good deal", especially when "the standard" is more like this 9k mi unicorn that just sold for 3x of that $40k budget: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/20...nz-c63-amg-36/

mechanically, none of these would give you any issue, and all have the same seating solution (of 4) for the practicality that you'd need.

deadlyvt

I'm guessing if he's oookihg at ~$40k cars he's not actually unlimited budget, just not maxed out at 40... willing to pay at the upper limit for the right car. If his budget was double I'm sure he wouldn't be looking at the regular spec cars... unless he just never heard of a bs or something?

flyinb501

I'm not interested in a black series. For that amount of money I would rather have another car. When I said my budget is not limited it was in reference to the posts above that seemed to imply that they thought I could not afford the car and the potential maintenance it would require. That's not the issue, and I'm not sure where that assumption came from. I could buy a brand new C63 if I wanted to spend my money that way, but $40k is what I have decided I want to spend on this car. If the motor blows up and I have to replace it, that's not going to change my life financially in any meaningful way. That doesn't mean I want to throw my money away.

1JDM911

Time > $, it's a different mindset.

lo-fi

Will you be DIYing maintenance or when things go wrong? If you aren’t the DIY type then don’t buy this car unless you a have shop well versed, and trustworthy, in the W204 C63 chassis nearby. I’m not saying these cars can’t be reliable but stuff happens. Of course this advice applies to any performance oriented car that is somewhat less common to rare.

FrankJessen

Any update?

ENV²

Dealers generally have to give you some sort of warranty. Whether it’s 30-90 days. You can buy the car and then discover these issues and have them covered under that limited warranty.