I plan to replace my wifes car. It could be 2 weeks, or it could be 4 months. I saw a 98 C230 at an independant dealer for $13,995. with 57k miles. Price seems very good. Around these parts I have seen 2 98's with 37k and 47k miles asking $17,900. I plan on financing the car with home equity since rates are so cheap over 4 years. Probably need an extended warranty because i don't want to pay for big dollar mercedes repairs while financing.

Out of curiosity...does your "screen name" indicate your other car? If so, you'll find maintenance of a C230 will be significantly less then what you're used to paying. Do your homework on the car, ie. PPI, Carfax, test drive, etc. and if everything checks out, go for it.

__________________
Glen Tokuhara
Beauty & the Beast and the wagon that could!

Yes to my screen name. Actually my car has been reasonable considering that I do my own work. 1986 Porsche 944 turbo with 28k miles purchased 3 years ago for $10k. It needed clutch, timing belts, and water pump for the fun of it when I bought it. I had some one else do it since I never worked on Porsche before. $10k for a car that goes zero to sixty in 6.0 seconds in stock trim. It is slightly faster now at 60k miles.

In the mid-80's I had a 931...slow by today's standards but fun anyway. As unreliable as that model was supposed to be, mine never left me stranded. Even the turbo held up because I always took it easy the last few miles before I shut it down.

I've always liked the 944 Turbos, great performance and balance in a relatively light package...and the styling still catches my eye today.

__________________
Glen Tokuhara
Beauty & the Beast and the wagon that could!

My father's C230 has 140K miles on it and there has only been one problem with it, an ignition problem, at 95K miles. He had the extended Starmark warranty though so it was covered. Great little car though

Is that the kompressor or the naturally aspirated C230? I have heard that the last year (or two?) of the naturally aspirated C230 were great cars. Some people don't like the kompressor, but I guess it just depends on who you ask. Regardless, buying used means you need to do your home work:

- Service booklet stamped?
- Service and repair records available?
- Mercedes MVI report available?
- CarFax report available?
- Does the data in the above documents cross reference properly?
- Pre-purchase inspection done by competent mechanic?
- Test drive it twice in the day and twice at night to get really familiar with the car. This helps find little issues.
- Search this site for the model (C230), the chassis code (W202?), and the engine type (Mxxx?). Eech search will yeild lots of information and help you look for problems with the car.
- Get the best warranty you can.

__________________
NOW: 2017 C43 AMG, 2006 Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon, 1966 230SL, 1980 450SL (for sale!)
PAST: 2006 C230, 1997 E300D, 1994 E420, 1994 Neon Spt Cpe, 1984 300ZX, 1983 Celica GT, 1976 Electra Limited, 1984 Honda Nighthawk 650, 1979 Suzuki PE175, 1978 Suzuki DS100
www.mbca.org - www.sl113.org - www.ohio4x4.com

I put a deposit on the car and will get it checked out this week. very nice and allready have warranty quotes. Got a bumper to bumper for another 5 years or till the car hits 100k through mercedeswarranty.com for $1,986. car fax looks good. Its the normally aspirated version. With my wife and i and our 10 year old in the back screaming this car is nice, it had decent enough pickup.

Bought it. Very nice. It had some minor weapage ona sensor on the tranny, minor weapage on the rear shocks and minor weapage on the rear output shaft seals, all to be paid for by dealer. My wife is driving it today.

Good choice. The Non-Kompressor C230's are probably a better choice than the C230 Kompressor models for reliability.

Gillybenztech, a moderator on this forum and Mercedes dealer tech in Wisconsin, replied that the C230 non-kompressor model is one of the most reliable Mercedes to own:

What is the most Reliable Benz

__________________
Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

How much would this car have stickered for when new?

Here's a link to the MBUSA website for your model:

http://www.mbusa.com/brand/container.jsp?/starmark/overview/overview_engine.jsp&yearModelCode=98_C230&class=98_C&rnav=012345678&subNav=overview&menu=5

__________________
Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".