I am interested in buying a 2003 e320 4MATIC wagon. It has roughly 77,000 miles and is being offered at 7.5K. I may be able to get it at 6-7K. Is that a good price? Is there anything I need to pay attention to when I go to look at the car? I plan to take it a nearby MB dealer to do a full inspection. What are the common problems with this make and year and now age? I am also contemplating a $3,850 5-year/177,000K mile auto warranty covering the engine, cooling, fuel, electrical, transfer unit, cooling and transmission. Is that worth buying? Thanks in advance for any help!

Mike

 

You are not disclosing your location, but for this price it better be pristine wagon.
You can buy this MY wagons for $2400 showing "normal wear and tear"
W210 prove themselves to be real workhorses and 320 engine has potential for 400-500,000 miles.
Check records for transmission service as even ATF might be good, the 12 years old orings on pilot bushing will give headaches.
Also check carefully front CV boots.
Good luck.

 

I am on the Chicagoland area.The link to the car is here: http://www.starnissan.com/search/use...sbenz/tp-mk39/ I am worried about much more than the engine, such as what you talk about and the transmission and the little bit of rust and it undergoing harsh winters for the last 13 years. I have not seen the car so I am not sure of its wear and tear. It only has 77K miles which is the lowest I have been able to see in my area. You have a car this for only 2.4K?

 

Owners of W210 from Chicagoland report serious corrosion problems, so low mileage might not matter.
Those drivetrains are good for 400,000 miles, so 77k miles would not be high point for me.
But I bought our 9 years old W211 wagon for slightly less than they ask for the car.
Sure it had 140k at the time, but W211 has lot of aluminium parts what makes it way more corrosion resistant than W210.
Comparing the 2 models is not so easy as W211 come with few features that will cost you dearly down the road, while W210 run for pennies and run long, unless corrosion kills them.
Get really good PPI for the wagon and good luck.

 

Thanks for getting back to me! What is PPI? And isn't lower mileage better than higher milage given all else that could go wrong with higher milage MB's? There are 4 tiny area's of rust. I will need to take it to the MB dealer for an inspection before I buy it anyway. Aside from the rust I am worried about all else that could go wrong with a 13-14 year old car. I had a 2001 Volvo XC and put 20K into it the last 5 years I owned it and I do not want this to be a repeat!

 

I would pass. That generation e-class (w210) has significant issues with rust. If it has seen 10+ Midwest winters, then you don't want it. Only if a history report shows that it as spent most of its life elsewhere would I even bother to look at it.

 

Pre Purchase Inspection.
This spring I sold TWO of W210, both 17 years old and 266,000 miles each.
They were diesels and made new owners very happy (one is forum member)
But one more time, the rust is the only thing that can kill them and my cars spending most of the life in dry climates did not have it.
Poke at the edges of front fenders, bottom of the doors and rear fenders on front.
I have seen those cars restored from very serious rust in Europe, where labor is cheap, but in US it doesn't take much repairs to exceed car value.

 

Hello I have a 2003 e320 and sometimes it slams the rear overnight sometimes it dosent I also noticed that it made a air hose leak sound on the rear right but after I turned it on it went away it also cycled the pump a lot what could it be I recently replaced the rear airbags with same not the airnot ones