Mercedes E230 @ 6 lakhs

**gjbarani** · 8th Apr 2012, 11:42

Hey guys,

I was looking to buy a new Fiat Punto for my friend and somebody in the showroom bumped into me and asked if we are interested to buy a used Mercedes Benz. I havent looked into the vehicle yet but I thought this may be useful for the forum members if anyone is planning to buy a used Benz.

Here are the details.

Vehicle Make / Model : Mercedes Benz E 230
Fuel type : Petrol
Year of Mfg : 1998
No. of owners : 1
State of Registration : TN (owner is in Chetpet, Chennai)
Kms done : 67,000
Asking price : 6 lakhs (negotiable i guess)

If anyone of you is interested, pls PM me / call me and I shall give you the contact number.

Disclaimer : I dont even know the owner of the vehicle / have not seen the vehicle in person.I dont work for commission either

Now my questions.

1. Is this deal worth the asking price?

2. Do anyone of you have any specific comments about E230? ( I dont know anything about Mercs)

3. My friend seems to be interested in this deal; he is a first time car buyer. Is this recommended for a novice like him?

Thanks !

**undecover_bro** · 8th Apr 2012, 12:56

Hello gjbarani,

Thats a really bold move your friend is making there you need to know one thing when it comes to european cars they are as expensive as owning a house one, of the reasons why the owner wants to give away the benz might be the cost of ownership and another reason might be the spares, for a car that old im sure the company guys will make you spend in lakhs for replacing parts and getting it serviced however they may or might not manufacture parts for it even abroad, for a first time car buyer I would suggest your friend to stay away from the benz and start thinking on getting the punto or any other new car.

If he still wants european luxury then I would suggest him to buy a new benz or audi or even a BMW and buy the warrenty packages that come along with it so that you will not be spending huge on services and part replacements or part failures and after the package expires then he will have an option to either keep the car and maintain it or sell it.

**gjbarani** · 8th Apr 2012, 15:22

hi @undercover_bro thanks for the comments. Though i dont know much about mercs or any of these luxury cars, I am aware that these are very expensive to maintain. I posted this mainly for the benefit of other forum members. His budget happened to be around 6lacs and this one kinda was somewhere there.. Owning a benz is a dream for many and my friend got tempted too.. ;-) he can certainly not afford a new benz or bmw or audi .. Do you think the asking price is reasonable. And do you have any specific comments on E230 in particular? Thanks mate!

**mclaren1885** · 8th Apr 2012, 15:27

Tagging MechaniX. He is our in house Merc guy who mends and fixes things on his Merc himself.

For a first time buyer, I'd stay away. Not only are these expensive to maintain, but for a car that old expect a lot of parts will have to be changed and that won't be cheap unless you import them yourself.

It makes sense to buy this as a second car, when you can afford to have a few weeks of downtime should something go wrong.

For a first time car buyer, I'd just get a reliable Jap/Korean and be done with it.

**MechaniX** · 8th Apr 2012, 18:00

Originally Posted by gjbarani

My friend seems to be interested in this deal; he is a first time car buyer. Is this recommended for a novice like him?

Originally Posted by gjbarani

he can certainly not afford a new benz or bmw or audi ..

"A Cheap Mercedes is the Most Expensive", it's not about buying the car, its about maintaining one. Apart from that E230 W210 are known for electronic issues, E 230 has same M111 engine as older(w124) E 220 with longer stroke, producing same power as E 220 but with more torque. I would strongly recommend against buying one based on your above statements, if your friend is still interested a w210 E250 diesel would be better choice.

**avinash** · 8th Apr 2012, 18:38

Originally Posted by MechaniX

W210 are known for electronic issues,

Exactly my review of this car. This was the era when the merc's were not as reliable.
suggestion : stay away if you've not already dealt with merc's.

**gjbarani** · 8th Apr 2012, 20:14

thanks undecover_bro, mclaren1885, MechaniX, avinash for your inputs.. I shall ask my friend to stick to his original decision of punto mjd then..

**undecover_bro** · 9th Apr 2012, 01:06

gjbarani I would suggest your friend to buy the BMW 1 series or the Audi A1 or the Merc small car I think its called the A Class which maybe launched in India over a spam of 2 years the reason I want your friend to know this is because these cars are around 20 which is the cheapest you will ever get in owning one maybe when these cars are launched your friend could exchange the one he will buy now save up some money and go ahead and buy his dream european beauty my personal choice would be the audi A1 the ideal car for Indian cities with the luxury and style of europe !