Merc 220

[pompei]

Saw a C220 for sale on a car lot today, £1300 om an N plate. Looked tidy. I don't know a shred about these, other than that they replaced the 190, but are they any good?

[bigstraight6]

Not as good as the 190! these 'C' class cars were introduced at the time when Mercedes decided to cut costs and quality

[garethj]

They're almost exactly what you wouldn't expect from a Merc. As well as things not working, you have to examine carefully for rust!

 

If I wanted a rusty car, I'd buy a proper old one

[r.welfare]

Eh? I thought these first C-Classes were actually OK, quality-wise - it was the late 90's E-Class (with the blobby round lights) where the rot set in...in both senses!I was passed by a Y-reg E220 CDI on the A42 yesterday and there were actually holes in the front wings, and rust all over the bottom of the doors. Shocking!

[TheScrapman]

C-Class is fine as they share most of their underpinnings with it's predecessor, the 190, so build quality issues are not as bad as higher range Mercs of this era. They suffer from niggly electrical faults, but get an early one and they are less complicated - earlies don't have traction control either ;)A good friend has absolutely ragged the nuts off his trackday weapon '95 or '96 C-Class 220 manual for over 20,000 miles and it's never missed a beat.

[r.welfare]

Early C-Classes are now down to the £500 level. It's got to be the "Esprit" trim level with factory-lowered suspension and eye-watering checked seats for me! Presumably the manual boxes are of the earlier "truck-quality-shifting" type on these - but it can't be as bad as a 3-litre Omega 'box in that respect!

[Torsten2001]

the least options the better!

[dean36014]

Check for rust, rust and more rust. merc's of this era had a bad paint finish(water based paint I believe) and are really rust prone. Also check out the front crossmember, they are really prone to rotting away, and normally can't be seen due to the under body guards.

[Fat_Pirate]

Check for rust, rust and more rust. merc's of this era had a bad paint finish(water based paint I believe) and are really rust prone. Also check out the front crossmember, they are really prone to rotting away, and normally can't be seen due to the under body guards.

That's the E-class (W210) you're thinking about. I've done 60K in my 96 C200 and this is my checklist:Rust on rear arches; if it's gone here then the front arches and doors will be next.Cat: prone to failure on 4-pots. I had a couple of nasty replacements from GFS, in the end I went for the OEM part - £750Interior fan: £350, easy DIY job though.Avoid manuals, it's horrible and remember the handbrake is foot-operated.Facelift cars were built to a lower standard, but better equipped.I've got an auto Elegance, it's a big soft sofa of a car that doesn't really handle and is damn slow. Low 30s mpg though, I like it a lot

[garycox]

There's a W reg C class (C220 I think) that lives close to me thats very rusty, particularly the bootlid and bonnet... That's always put me off getting one, although they are becoming temptingly cheap

[alfetta]

saw an old duffer stare at my 190 then get in his very scruffy W reg, probably thinking 'what went wrong?' unaceptable on a 2000 Mondeo let alone merc....hmmm waterbased paint - saab+volvo experimented briefly in the late 70's, lots needed full resprays.....this was at the point the 99 turbo came out, and many cars died of rust.....