As the title states, some clown driving recklessly smashed the front right end of my 2016 C450. The car was mint, and insurance is giving me a good amount for the car.

Question for you C63 guys... I found a used one for high 50s, 2 owners, clean title, no accidents, and the maintenance looks regular. Is there anything I should look out for?

It's a 2016 C63s, has 20k miles or so on the dash... Just wondering if there is anything you guys would suggest I be leery of, as I have never bought a used car!

Thanks, apologies if this is vague, or silly questions.

Any input would be sincerely appreciated, I went to look at the new 2021 C43, and frankly, the car looks, felt, and drove so similar to my 2016 c450 I immediately thought wait a minute....what else should I think about? That's when I looked at the used market place for c63s...

 

Pics or it didn't happen.

 

The C63 is generally pretty rock solid, unless you got a bad one from the factory which should show its true colors pretty early in the lifecycle. The engine is pretty much bulletproof and there aren't major issues as far as I know, at least the later MYs. 2016 is an early model year, though. Personally, though I'm leery of such low mileage cars. A 2016 with 20k miles essentially hasn't been driven much. I'm a strong believer that cars need to be driven regularly to remain problem free, especially those with lots of complicated technology in them and high strung engines. This car essentially left a lot of the factory warranty on the table, and there might be issues that haven't been shaken out and would have been taken care of under warranty. I've never bought used, but my criteria to keep a car past the factory warranty has always been how it performed during the warranty period. Essentially I'd like to see all loose ends being addressed during the first 2 years/20k miles and if for the rest of the warranty the car mainly just needed regular maintenance and replacing wear and tear items, then it was a keeper. My 2019 is currently following that trajectory. Haven't had any big items over the last two years that weren't caused by me and I've passed the 20k miles mark, and so far it looks like the next service is just gonna be a straight forward Service A. I might for the first time actually be able to take advantage of the Express service at my dealership instead of having to drive some crappy loaner.

 

Thanks for the response. Is there any merit to your belief of driving " I'm a strong believer that cars need to be driven regularly to remain problem free" ? Going along the lines that if the car is bulletproof, has had routine maintenance, and a clear Carfax, I'd say the car would be ok...but curious as to what your belief is rooted in?

Thank you again for the response. I've been so back and forth, either getting this C63 or going another route all together.

 

lol thanks for the informative contribution

 

At the root of that believe is that cars are designed to be driven and not to sit around. For example the fluids should regularly flush around the system and keep things lubricated, so that moisture can't settle in the engine and cause corrosion. The suspension etc. is also meant to be moved and not sit in its rest state constantly. Tires develop flat spots over time and dry out if they are not used. Same for the rubber bushings throughout the suspension. They dry out a crack sooner if they are not regularly used. Moving parts start to seize if they are not moved frequently. Simple example in your house for example. If you have faucets that are not used regularly they seize up from lack of use and the standing water in the pipes can become a habitat for bacteria, while those that you use regularly work fine and the pipes get flushed. It's really similar in the car. You want the hoses and the pipes to be flushed regularly and kept moist from the coolant and oil in the engine and protected from corrosion etc. The battery will also stay healthier if it goes through regular charge and discharge cycles. Keep in mind, no manufacturer does long term testing on how their cars fare if they are just sitting around day after day. They are testing them to make sure they hold up if driven. You can apply this to pretty much all machines. The airlines for example currently have a major issue with having to maintain all those parked airplanes and make sure they don't deteriorate while they are not being used. You can have a collector's car, but it requires special care to make sure it lasts.

 

Damn thank you. Perhaps I need to think twice about this vehicle then. The fact that this car is a 2016, despite regular maintenance, with 20 something thousand would be a deal breaker for you? Thank you for your informative post.

 

Not necessarily, but I'd probably wanted to find out more about why it wasn't driven much and where it was parked as well as the climate. If it was garaged all that time that's one thing, but if it was sitting outside, that's another thing. It's all relative to some degree. My wife's car is rarely being driving. It's 17 years old and has only 38k miles, but it has had several age related alignments from not being used enough, but I know the history of the car and it's always been garaged, plus I live in a dry and mild climate with no snow. It just had a major electrical failure due to the harness shorting out between the battery and the alternator, killing the alternator in the process. Not something that normally occurs at this mileage, but certainly being 17 years old is part of it. I've replaced tires over the year not because they were worn, but because they were old, so it's just the kinds of things that you normally don't have to think about if the car is driven and stuff wears out based on mileage. Honestly, my C63 is starting to become a "low" mileage car with the pandemic and everything as well. My last service was the first time based service ever on a car I've owned other than my wife's car. Looks like the next service is gonna be time based again. I am trying to keep the mileage down somewhat as I'm thinking with this being the last V8 and where things are heading and the current situation with the pandemic and shortages I might wanna hang on to it for a while. I've started to drive my wife's car more often for short errands around town, not just to put some miles on her car, but also to avoid frequent short drives with the AMG. They don't like that very much if the engine doesn't reach operating temperature. But I regularly take the AMG on 250+ mile canyon runs, so it gets exercised.

 

I think the most common problem that I've gathered so far and it also happened to my car is the chirping in the engine. We believe this to be a belt tensioner issue. What makes this issue worse is that in order to replace it, you need to lift the engine. Pretty ridiculous design if you ask me...

 

I had this issue last year and had it replaced under warranty. I might be able to find the service records and see exactly what they replaced to get rid of the noise.

 

That would be awesome if you could...maybe if it isn't the tensioner, we could save ourselves some headache.

 

Found this on a previous post of mine.

It's either the belt and pulley or secondary guide rails

It was the secondary guide rails on my car.

 

Jesus, so how much does that cost? This car will be out of warranty so I’d be paying.

thanks guys so far people have given great insight!

 

how much did this cost you?

 

Is the chirping completely gone after that? And do you have the part number?