nlinesk8s

Hi all, I'm thinking about buying a seriously discounted '03 c230 coupe with a bad EIS/ignition. It's a dark blue color I like, looks to be in decent shape for pushing 180k, it's a standard, and the guy says $1k.

I've been doing my due diligence and searches, and it looks like there are businesses out there who can repair the key/EIS for about $300. That would make it worthwhile to take a risk on a car I can't verify otherwise.

But...I've done searches on the forum, and while there are plenty of people asking if someone has used a repair service, I can't find anyone who has actually used the service, AND reported back. I say that to respond to the expected verbal beat-down for not doing enough searching. I'd prefer to go the repair route than paying $700 to get the full key/eis/ecu/lock setup from a donor car on Ebay. Spending that much and still not knowing if I'd have a car or a large paperweight, makes the car probably a non-starter.

Second question: If having a matched key and EIS bought from Ebay does you no good, as the dealer won't sync those to a car, how come there are so many of them on sale on Ebay? Just wondering.